Its summer and we gotta swim!

Auntie Jess letting Malachi surf!

malachi is lovin this stuff

We all went over to Unlce Micah's and Aunt Jessica's house yesterday after church. We swam and grilled. Uncle Micah the professional diver was teachign the boys how to jump off the diving board. Josiah is a VERY strong swimmer, he is really getting his kicks down and moving his arms awesome, and as for Malachi, he wont leave the water, loves it. I think he for sure loves it more than the other boys did at 18 months. He goes under water just fine and floats on his back awesome. I think next summer he will be swimmer, wouldnt that be great. After hamburgers Micah made the kids snow cones to enjoy in the 110 heat. The are the funnest Uncle and Aunt. Look for the air Micah caught has he soared during his front flip, and then check out how he had to let Malachi feel the feeling of flying through the air! Thank God for men to do those crazy things! It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

Duke Gets Selected as "CHIEF" in the Navy

Yesterday morning, my brother Duke was notified that he has been selected to become Chief in the Navy. This is a huge step and ranking as he is an "E7" now, which E9 is the highest for his listing as a Sailor. He has some stuff to go through, but on September 15th is his ceremony! You have to be pretty extraordinary to recieve this title and we are so proud of him...we took him out for dinner last night at Islands..here are some photos! Congrats Duke and thanks for serving!

The small moments of life

Two small comments today...On the way to the store it was just me and mal., well, he was yelling.."Ma., Ma,, Ma," over and over. Finally I said, "what malachi," and he says, "love you (uuh ooo).." I said, "love you?" and he replied back, uhh. (which is yes!!)So today was the first day he told me he loved me! How special!! Thank you God for the gift of children.

And, of the second comment...the picture says it all, sometimes you just gotta capture these shots. Need I say much?! Also, I told Josiah I felt like I was going to thow up because sometimes the little baby makes your tummy feel that way, and a concerned look was over his face. He says, "what we going to do with you?" I told him Id be ok, and he says, "you want me to pray for baby?" And he did. God thank you for these children youve graciously given me and Rick, May I take care of them and instuct them in your ways!

and they will swim...

Well, swim lessons are well underway. This year Josiah can finally start! He does so awesome. As I make my way around the pool checking and watching all the boys in their lessons, Josiah continually shouts at me from clear across the pool, "Mom, watch my head bob, mom watch me go under..." He just LOVES being in a class of his own. Judah is a total swimmer as he is just trying to perfect his back stroke. And, Levi made a switch to do dive lessons. He has the most concentration...like his daddy. He is working hard on his 4 step approach and his soft entry dive. He loves it. The first day of class he said, "mom I was really nervous when I first walked up to class, but then it got really fun." He conquered the high dive. But on that note, his 4 year old bro, Judah, actually got kicked off the high dive after being told he was too young to jump off it! When I asked what age he had to be,...7!! Judah, after jumping off several times already was pretty disappointed in learning that! I love taking them to swim, I dunk Malachi's head in and we endure the 115 degree temps, all worth it! A couple times this summer, mom (h) has watched the younger boys so that I can take Levi and Judah to the pool for the afternoon, that is a blast. Reminds me of when I was young.

10 Adults, 11 SMALL children....= 1 good time..

4th of July..It was finally time...for us all to pack our bags and head to the cabin by the meadow! Enjoying some home town fire works, made the weekend complete. All the boys had their fair share of fun. Levi and his cousin Carter, spent several hours out at the pond in the meadow, catching small fish and crawdads...(which were later fried up and eaten!!, not by me of course)...the sight of them walking back with soaked clothes and mud covered feet several times, was a sight any mom had to hold back the initial...."WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" and say, wow, those boys are really have a good time! Judah and Levi have gotten very good at the quads. Papa set up a nice trail for them to blaze over and over again. We all pray a little harder when Judah Rick gets gearin up on those quads! We all know he has a spark for adventure! Josiah keeps his time filled by running around smilin, playing in the dirt, smilin some more, and catching any ride he can on the Rhino..of course it is one funny sight to see all 11 grandkids turn their heads up when their hear Papa or Gramma...(or anyone) turn on the Rhino...just wanting on more ride. I know for my kids...Rhino ride is one of thier first words! Malachi spent his time exploring the new territory he can now cover on his feet, and trying to get a chance to ride the quad...the desire starts soo soon! On one Rhino ride we were taken up to "spooky trail," where a salamador was spotted in an old well, that was pretty neat. Uncle Doot (duke) joined us too, which was great. He and I and malachi and josiah enjoyed lunch in Flagsaff and some hippie cafe! I took the 2 boys into town for the 4th of July parade. We had a great time, and Josiah loved watching everyone drive by. He was very satified with the 1 piece of gum that was thrown to him by a parade go-er. I always love going into Flagstaff, I love that place. By Sunday it was time to head home..I was dreading coming back to the heat..but know that we will be back soon!

Greer Camping 09

For 3 years now weve joined other families from church and headed up to Greer to enjoy a weekend of fishing, campfires and cool weather...and lots of yummy food. This year we enjoyed lots and lots and lots of rain! The good thing was, when it rained the fish were biting, so for my hard core fishing boys this meant soaking wet faces but lots of fish! You guessed right, it was all worth it. My and the little boys ran to the truck for some shelter. The food was yummy, each night the dinner was provided by different families. The boys enjoyed playing wiffle baseball, going on a hike, playing in the dirt and making a mess. I will say this was the best tent sleeping since Levi was born! We slept the ENTIRE night with not ONE scream from anyone! Rick and I finally bought sleeping bags for each of the boys and that meant some cozy sleeping for us all. My favorite part of the trip was Rick getting up before us all and preparing the fire so that we could all be warm as we enjoyed or morning hot chocolate. Then for some neat reason Rick loves to cook out in the wilderness so as I arose there was warmed breakfast burros waiting for me..yum! Thanks babe! Its a 4 hour drive but definatly worth it!