Fourth of July weekend begins...

The long Fourth of July weekend is here. Saturday, we went to Tyler & Lindsey's for some good homemade pizza before going swimming. Innertube diving, Speed, handstand competitions and a bit of synchronized swimming made it was extra fun! The ones that were up for it went to see the fireworks outside of Stadium of Fire... playing duck duck 'move' with the kids until they started. Bedtime never felt so good.

-Brenda

Graham Crappers

Our Grandson Carter is here for the rest of the summer, so we welcomed him home with a BBQ and smore's. The girls made yummy side salads. When Conrad got there, Carter's first words to him were, 'You can talk!'. Conrad was so happy to see him and they played and wrestled together the rest of the night, going around the yard and finding anything 'brown' that they could burn. I love how building a fire turns dinnertime into a long summer evening outside. Perfect weather. Conrad would hold his wood on his lap and waited patiently for the fire to burn down. We asked if they wanted to go to the park and play... they would not leave the thrill of the fire. Carter did a good job making us s'mores with graham 'crappers'. Ashlee gave the guys haircuts, playing around with Ransom's style... then it was off to play four square.
-Brenda

Taking a Dip

Tonight we went swimming at Larry's Mom and Dad's. A good cool down after a long work day. We picked up dinner on the way over and jumped in quickly. Larry has been working long hours and took our picture right before he fell asleep under the patio. The girls still like playing 'Colored Eggs' whenever we go there and surprisingly, the guys will play along too!

-Brenda

Waiting

It has been a busy week, filled with a lot of praying and waiting. Wednesday, it was Josh waiting for his mission call. Friday, Kelsie waits to see if she is accepted into the UVU nursing program. All of her studies, testing and interviews are completed and now the waiting. 11am the mail is supposed to be here. It's not. Every car that drives by, brings Kelsie to the window. Finally, they just wait outside under the shade of a tree. The mail finally came, but no letter. It came Saturday though and she was accepted and I don't believe I have ever seen Kelsie filled with such uncontainable joy. The best part was when she gleefully said, "Mom, I'm going places!" We couldn't be more proud of her and know she will make a wonderful nurse.
-Brenda

South Africa

South Africa? I swear I didn't hear it right. Josh got his mission call today in the mail and we got together for the envelope opening. Elder Joshua David Balmforth has been called to serve for two years in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission this November for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We all guessed where we thought he would be going, but no one guessed right. The winner would get to take Josh out for ice cream. I have a feeling we will take him anyway. I was hoping for a safer place in the states, but I know that mission calls are inspired and he will be in the Lord's hands doing His work, where he needs to be. The experiences he will have and the foundation this will give him will be life changing and I am so very proud of him.
-Brenda

A day off.

For Father's Day, the kids surprised Larry and pitch in at Pebbles to get his workload done. Yesterday was his day off from the hospital and they told us we were not allowed to go into work. Could the work world exist without us for a day? In the busy-ness of life it is easy to fall into the mindset of the need to get things done. For us, the question was "What do we want to do?" Not need to do, not have to do... but really want. Honestly, we didn't know. We slept in, we went to the health food store, we picked up lunch at Milagros and went up the canyon and read for hours on a piece of shady grass by the river. Heaven. We have a lot to think about as we try to find better balance in our lives... we need more time to just be together. We came home to the girls making us a homemade dinner. It was an especially wonderful day...
-Brenda

On the road again...

Hard to believe. Our Abby just completed drivers ed. & her road test and is now ready to go get her driver's license. Now, if only she had a car... for now, she can share with me. She has been a good driver ever since I would take her and Kelsie driving at night time on the roads near our home. She loved to practice parking in the parking lots too when we played our parking lot game. She does tend to speed up when going around the corners and is getting to know how to get to the different places in town.
-Brenda