Month in Review: July 2008

Welcome to Month in Review: July 2008, documenting events for our family history. Thanks to my stubborn memory card, it's another month of lost photos...

• Bryan and Anna came to town. The boys had so much fun swimming at their hotel, and Chris and I enjoyed a night of sushi and ice cream with them.
• Chris and I saw Reed perform in a play which was the culmination of the theater workshop he was attending at BYU. We went with Bryan, Anna, and Stephanie and Brooke--who were also in town for a few days. Reed was amazing in the play!
• Chris's brother Pete is back in the US for the summer, on break from the jobs he and Celine have teaching in Turkey. Pete came out for a visit. He gave me a break by taking the kids out on a few outings. Then Chris joined him, Phil, and Tom for a quick trip to Vegas. They saw Penn & Teller, ate at buffets, and played Settlers in their hotel room.
  
• I saw a performance of One Clear Voice while attending a fireside up at Brighton Girl's Camp. I found their music to be quite touching, especially the song, "See Things My Way." But that may just be my weepy-pregnant-hormones talking.
• The kids had a great time when Chris's Dad came to visit. The boys and I had a few fun days with him (and Katie & Quin) riding mini-roller coasters, playing arcade games, etc.
  
• Chris took a business trip to DC where he was receiving some HR compensation training/certification. I have been promised that that was the last business trip before the baby arrives. That's all I have to say about that.
• I helped plan and attended Youth Conference--a two-day excursion with about 100 teenagers. We stayed at Brighton Camp where we did ropes courses, heard inspirational speakers, and enjoyed the quiet beauty of the outdoors. There was a really steep hill there that we were forced to climb to get to our cabins. At least pregnancy gave me the excuse to sneak off and take a couple naps during the weekend. (A big thanks to Ron--Chris's Dad--who stayed with the kids on the day that our trips overlapped.)
  
• The kids finished up their swimming lessons. I wasn't quite as disappointed as they when it was over. I am so glad they are learning the skill, but it really was exhausting for me (and my pregnant belly) to get them ready, get them there, keep them safe, get them changed, convince them to get back in the van, get them home, etc.

We have a short summer, since Tommy's school starts right at the beginning of August, so we're ready to get back into a nice routine...

Memory Card Error

Today was the last day of our third session of swimming lessons.  I've had all three boys in classes, which has kept me pretty busy getting them ready and out the door, keeping sunscreen on them, getting them in the pool at the right times, keeping track of the ones not in the pool at any given time, keeping suits, towels, and goggles ready, withstanding the heat, trying not to interfere with the teacher ("but maybe if I got whisper something to them, I can convince them to try it..."), getting them dressed after their lessons, convincing them to leave the pool area, etc, etc.

For all of the above reasons, I decided not to take my camera to swimming lessons until the last day.  We were hoping Chris would come watch, but he had a meeting he couldn't get out of, so I reassured the kids that I would take plenty of pictures and videos on the last day, and Daddy would love seeing it all.

Taking photos while trying to keep everyone in the right place and not interfere with the classes proved to be pretty difficult, but worth it.  Until halfway through the morning, when my camera shut off suddenly.  I turned it back on to see the message, "memory card error."  I tried viewing the photos, only to see the message, "no files."  All the pictures and videos were gone, and I couldn't take any new ones either!

Had my memory card come through for me, here is what we would have shown to Daddy...

• David (2) has no problem going underwater when he jumps into someone's arms, or is pulled across in a floating position, but mostly just loves to stand on the steps, reach down for pool toys, and blow bubbles.
• Michael (3) overcame a lot of fear/negative attitude during his first session.  During his second session, he got very brave and started going underwater more.  By the end of the third session, nobody can keep track of him, because he wants to be underwater, wiggling around, kicking, floating, picking things up off the pool floor, exploring, sitting on the bottom, etc.  Today he jumped off the diving board  and went down the pool slide (with the teacher getting him after he landed on his own).
• Tommy (6) has become a little fish.  By the end of last summer he was just getting comfortable swimming on his own, but couldn't take breaths or swim alone in the deep end.  Once he spent the first session getting warmed up, he took off and can now swim above or under water, swim the length of the pool, do somersaults underwater, jump off the board or slide without anyone in the deep end to catch him.  He loves to make up tricky ways to jump in, work on improving his strokes, and play games like finding hidden pool toys.

It's too bad we lost all the proof we were going to show Chris, but fortunately we have a pool in our complex, so we can reschedule a little show-and-tell of our own.  And the teacher gave out treats today, so all was well in the end.

National Slurp-Day

Kind of late notice, but maybe a few of you will still catch this...

Since today's date is 7-11, you can get a free 7.11 oz Slurpee at your local 7-11!

We just got ours, and they hit the spot on this hot summer day.

(7-11 News Release)