Summer Wrap Up

Here's what happened to us this summer:

1. We started the summer by moving to this house in Duncansville, PA. It's about an hour from Johnstown. The short version of the story is that the other house we were renting got sold and Matt was already commuting to work, so it just made sense to move closer to work. We miss our old house. a lot.

But who am I to complain about a real grapevine over an arched lattice?

Or a covered porch with a porch swing and a raised garden. I know it looks overgrown, but we had tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, squash, strawberries, romaine lettuce, basil and cilantro. Not to mention grapes!

2. Merrody, Joel and Jack each took a round of swim lessons (probably the 5th or 6th round for Merr and Joel, but first for Jack). We also joined the YMCA as a family, so there was a lot of swimming there this summer.

3. Grandma Malone took each of the oldest three on individual 2-night stays to her house a couple of times. This is always the kids' favorite thing!

4. This summer I did "school" with the kids. We did a lot of reading, writing, worksheets, math games and art projects. We also made these pinecone bird feeders.

5. My Mom came home with me after the Nauvoo Reunion. We had a fun visit AND she taught me how to can. I have now canned 5 dozen jars of jam and 4 dozen jars of peaches!

6. We visited the drive in only once this summer. Smurfs. Don't bother. But it was a fun summery thing to do!

My sister, Whitney was in town visiting before she went to SVU for the fall. We made her take our family pictures.

And that pretty much sums up the summer. This week Merrody started her 5th new Elementary School! She's only in 4th grade! And she was excited to go! Resilient little bugger.

Joel started 2nd grade.

And Jack is a kindergarten boy!

This little princess is all I have left. Not bad!

Now on to fall!