Crawdad Sunday

Sunday we went crawdad hunting and caught 4 crawdads and a bunch of fish! These photos tell our story...

Samantha was in awe of these little creatures. I took lots of photos of her

watching over them.

Brad was on the other side of the lake when he caught another fish. He had Sam transport the fish in her hand to our bucket. This is her running as if the little fishes life depended on her. It was hilarious!

Brad offered Emily a crawdad and all we heard was "Ewwwww!"

The kids wanted to bring them home with us. (At first the girls wanted to cook them, which seemed weird!) Anyway, we told the kids that they might die if we move them from their natural habitat. Once we got them home we made a little home for them in one of Jack's old food bowls.




Then it was time for Joe to eat dinner and he couldn't do it while the crawdads were in the kitchen. (those of you who know Joe remember that he grosses out at things like this easily) So, I moved the crawdads to the front porch while he ate.

About 30 minutes later, Joe went out to see them and one of them was gone! So, we all started our search party on the front lawn, careful to not step on the little guy. Then Samantha yells "HE'S IN THE STREET!" And there he was in the middle of the street! So, we moved him back with his friends and hopped in the car and took them back to the pond. And that is our happy ending!

Summertime so far...

Sam and her friend, Kira, set up a "Fruit Punch Stand" in front of our house. They were very innovative. First, they tried using our cute daycare kids as part of their advertising. We live on a quiet street, so after an hour of no customers, they decided to take their product on the road. They hired Joe and Emily to pull them in our wagon and went all around the nieghborhood yelling "Fruit Punch! Only 25 cents!" I was taking the garbage out to the backyard and heard them on the next street over yelling! It was so cute! Their efforts were a success and they made $3.00 a piece!
The summer Freshman Arapahoe Basketball team proved to be a challenge! There were 3 tournaments that took place this summer against some pretty tough opponents! Joe did great and we love to watch him play. It is surreal watching my little boy play HIGH SCHOOL basketball. This is a shot I took from our back patio of Emily babysitting a neighbor boy. I knew she was babysitting and while I was making my bed I looked out my window and to my surprise saw her there! She sent out a mass email this summer advertising her babysitting services and has been getting lots of calls!

Another 10K!

Brad ran another 10K-The Goosechase Run in Greenwood Village. Not as big as the Bolder Boulder, but still a good race. His time is improving!! Stretching before the race with his fans.

Coming towards the finish line!!

Girl's Camp 2009

Girl's Camp at John Wesely Ranch was awesome! I was fortunate enough to be called as one of the camp directors and was able to spend time in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with Emily and the Young Women. This is Emily with the "First Years" and her amazing YCL's, Sarah and Sophia!

What a view! The mountain behind us is the backside of Pikes Peak!

Emily and her friend, Megan, performing as the emcee's during their skit "Fear Factor"

Our 5 mile hike in Mueller State Park. Stopped to take a rest at a beautiful pond.
The girls played a game of Capture the Flag!

Cousins Emily and Taylor at the craft table. I see a family resemblance!

It was a family affair...Lesa, my sister-in-law (camp director), and her two daughters, Taylor and Madelyn were there with us, and my brother-in-law, Tom, came up for one night as one of the Priesthood! We had to get a photo of this, because who knows when this will happen again!

Emily became close to her "First Year" friends. That's what camp is all about!

The drive home was an adventure. Just south of the Airforce Academy on I-25 our tire blew! The girls in my car were screaming "the pieces of your tire are blowing off!" We pulled over hoping one of the other drivers from camp would spot us, but that didn't happen. My wonderful husband got the first call from me and he ended up coming to save us after my second call to AAA said they would take an hour and 45 minutes to get to us. I was mostly nervous about the traffic speeding by at 75 miles per hour! The girls were so sweet and patient. We were all on such a spiritual high from camp that nothing could get us down!