Father's Day

Xiana made Brian this stellar tie for father's day.  He was kind enough to wear it to church.  It was hilarious. I made ribs and a delicious fruit tart.  Mom and dad were still on their cruise to Alaska so it was just us... we celebrated with dad the following Sunday... two days before his bicycle accident.  I'm grateful for dads more than ever now that he's gone.  I'm also grateful for Brian and his influence on the kids now more than ever.  A loss of this magnitude certainly helps you to re-evaluate the important things in life!

yard work

Brian had to add a new sprinkler head where he seeded grass, so we put the kids right to work.  We are starting them young!

Some outings

Kolton the unicorn!!!  And the sumo wrestler/swimmer.... and the fisherman!  He's so darn cute!
We went with some friends to the Carson swimming pool and had a great time. Later that week, we went with Uncle Garrett shooting.  He had to get some practice on the rifle since he drew his first big game tag this year!  It's the same as mine last year... doe antelope. I'm excited for him, and grateful that Brian is introducing all of us to this sport.  Xiana hiked all the way up to put up the targets twice! She's getting to be quite the climber.

Water Slide

Kate got an amazing water slide this year, so the tradition of Tolman water park continues!  It's so much fun... the kids, including pre-teen Ekco, loved it!  They played for hours while we visited.  I'm so grateful for our friendship!

Dance Recital

As I go back through these posts and write with them, it's hard to imagine that I didn't take pictures with my dad.  In every shot for Xiana's first dance recital (and last that dad will be at) I can see him just to the side.... or holding the camera.  It never occurred to me that I would regret, not the lack of pictures of my children as I previously supposed, but the lack of my parents! 

For the recital, they did Snow White and Xiana was a chipmunk.  It was darling! They danced to "Shake your Groove Thing" and shook their little booties with tails wagging from side to side.  None was so delighted as my dad.  It was seriously the cutest thing. We brought Xiana flowers at the end which delighted her.  It was a great day.