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Welcome Summer!  We're pleased to have a break around here.  But I had forgotten how long summer days can be.  :)  Here are some highlights from our first week…

Derek left on Monday morning (with my Suburban) with the older Boy Scouts (youth from church) for High Adventure.  He is there all week.  They are working hard at Camp for All – a camp for disabled children.  One fun note is that the camp is in the same town as our family farm (Burton, TX)!!  We miss him, but it's great for the Bishop to spend time with these boys.

 
(One of the boys, Joseph Brown, designed and made all of those t-shirts – the design says "Camp for All")

We are HUGE Mavs fans and are spending lots of time cheering for them in the very intense NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.  The fourth quarters of these games have left me with some serious ulcers!  I'm typing this in the 3rd quarter of Game 5 – the series is tied 2-2.  Come on Mavs!

I have a modest garden this year but it is thriving – cherry tomatoes and yellow crooked-neck squash.  I love my little harvest!

Me and the boys have been spending the mornings doing chores.  I have gotten a workout in at the gym twice so far.  I made spaghetti with a wedge salad one night and thai food (chicken, veggies and a peanut sauce) on another.  The Italian was appreciated, the Thai was so yummy but under-appreciated by the 12 and under crowd (which leaves me to enjoy it!).

On Monday night we enjoyed a swim and pizza with Mark & Anne.  I loved seeing Baby Graham's adorable nursery.  Can't wait to welcome him in a few short weeks.  The boys climbed the magnolia tree.  The mosquitoes were out in full force, but time with M&A made up for it.

Jacob enjoyed his second Arena football game last night – despite a 42-0 loss…ouch!  Jacob is hitting well and not holding back – proud of his progress and heart. 

Caleb is STILL in baseball season (we started at the end of Feb) – we have one more regular season game and then the playoffs next week.  I love this team that he's playing on – what a blessing – great coaches and wonderful families.  We're currently a top seed for the playoffs – go Rangers!

Samuel's mosquito bites swelled to the size of golf balls!  Poor guy is so sensitive.  Having his big brothers home this week has been a bit of an adjustment.  In some ways he loves it (playmates!) – in other ways he's missing the one-on-one attention (I know this because of his grumpy screaming!).

I got a sitter today (Autumn) - I had two doctor's appointments and enjoyed some time at the temple. 

We've spent some time in the pool every day this week – oh boy do I love having a pool!

I think the first week of summer is always a little hard – working out the kinks, re-establishing a routine, settling in, etc.  But so far so good.  We're looking forward to having Derek back home tomorrow night.  He leaves again for more camping on Monday – 4 am to be exact.  This time Jacob will be going along for his first Scout Camp.