What I DID know and DIDN'T know 21 years ago....

21 years ago.....I knew I had met the man of my dreams.

What I hoped for, but DIDN'T know for sure 21 years ago,

was that he would end up being:

---just as good (if not better) a person as I thought he was...

---kinder and more thoughtful than I thought possible....

---more forgiving than most humans will ever be....

---a wonderful father to 5 kids....

---a terrifically good provider...

AND...I definitely had NO idea that after 21 years and 5 kids....

he would still be such a CUTIE PATOOTIE!!!

I could say that I'm a lucky girl, which I think I am.

However, I think it would be more accurate to say that

I'm a blessed person

Lest we forget the other Munchkins....

With all the blogging about the July birthdays,

I would hate to be remiss, and not post pictures of Kristen and Ryan too....

That could cause definite childhood trauma....

(Honest, Ryan---one day you'll be glad I did this!!)

(And you will too, Kristen!!)

The Blog Drought is over (hopefully...)

One might think we have been keeping secrets this summer

by the lack of our blogging.....

Hopefully, the drought is over and you can now have a peek

back into our lives.....

VISITORS!!! ....finally....

At the end of July, Heidi and David and their family came for a visit.

We were thrilled to have them here.

And, let me tell you, we had the

best. time. E.V.E.R.!!


No visit to Chicago would be complete without TRUE Chicago pizza.

(Complements of Giordano's.)

Pizza was enjoyed by all.
While they were here, festivities included (but were not limited to)

Chicago's Science and Industry Museum (my fav),

a movie afternoon,

Pedicures for me and Heidi,

and lovely evenings in the backyard.

Lots of pictures were taken.....

And we were all sad when it was time for them to go....

(and I was sad when I realized I didn't have a picture of Malia!!)




Note to Linde, Chris, Kristina and Erick: If you come an visit me, I will treat you

to the museum, pizza, movies and Pedis too!!

July --- Birthdays Galore!!

We celebrate the majority of our family birthdays in the month of July.

Elizabeth always starts our celebrations out on July 6th.

This year she turned 19!! (Unbelieveable, if you ask me....)

As part of the festivities, one of her BFF's

from BYU, Megan, was able to join us for several days.

Elizabeth and Megan



As part of the celebration, Elizabeth invited some friends from her
Chicago singles ward to join us for cake, ice cream and F.U.N.!

A lovely birthday celebration....


HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH!!!

July Birthday #2

We celebrated out second July birthday on July 13th.

Michael turned the big 16!!

We continued on with his annual tradition of inviting friends over

for an evening of pizza, video games, a movie, sleepover, and

then breakfast in the morning.

I think everyone has fun---they keep coming back year after year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!!

July Birthday #3

On July 29th, we celebrated our final July birthday. Taylor turned 13! We had some family here to celebrate with us---a VERY rare treat for us Illinoisians. Heidi and David and family were visiting.

Happy Birthday Taylor!!