The Big 4-0!

These days, with the various activities we have going on, it seems almost impossible to schedule time to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays. This year David turned 40 so we knew that we had to do something fun but David is such a party pooper and never wants to do anything to celebrate.  We decided that a day at Rehoboth Beach with the kids would be the perfect way for him to enter his 40's!  We had a ton of fun!

The kids hit the water as soon as we set up our stuff but I don't think they were prepared for the massive waves that kept rolling into shore.

Watch out, Noah! These waves are stronger than you!

Thank goodness big brother Xander was there to help him up. The kids all had quite a few wipe outs!

The birthday guy!

Savannah spent most of her time collecting sea shells, as usual, and gathered quite the collection. She even got some help from an older couple doing the same thing.

It was the perfect day. Although there were a TON of people there, it wasn't too, too hot and there was just a slight breeze to keep us cooled off. We can't wait until we can go again.

As part of David's birthday celebration we ate dinner at Red Robin. David hates that I take the camera everywhere thus the needed help from the kids to get a smile out of him.

At home we had a small family party although we did skip the birthday cake since David and I are keeping to a more healthy diet. David's big present this year is to go to Utah in October and attend the Utah/USC football game but a person still needs a few small gifts to open on one's special day. I think his favorite of the evening came wrapped in a dish towel, tied with Noah's belt, and was a Ninja Lego poster.  From Noah, of course.

17 Years!

David decided that the usual card and gift exchange for our anniversary wasn't good enough; this year he decided to make it real memorable! Tuesday morning, the day David and I celebrated our 17 years of marriage, I received a phone call from him informing me that he had been in an accident but that he was okay. Apparently the car driving in the lane next to him didn't realize that their lane was coming to an end, indicated by the roadside vehicle with flashing lights visible from a quarter mile away. David said that he started to slow down to let the car merge because he could see that they would need to get over. Who knows what kind of conversation must have been going on in that car for the driver to be completely unaware of the road ahead of him and he hit head on, at full speed, into the trailer of the roadside truck. Their car spun twice and, even though David had slowed down and was behind them about 2-3 car lengths, he was still hit by their car. Thank goodness David was fine, having seen it play out in front of him and was able to brace for impact. The poor family in the other car suffered from pretty severe injuries and 3 of them were boarded up and taken away in an ambulance. Hopefully they all survived. One of the numerous officers that arrived at the scene told David he was amazed there were no deaths.  David was extremely shaken up but otherwise just fine. When he sent me the pictures I got sick to my stomach and quickly said a prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father for watching over my husband.   Although this was not exactly the way I wanted my anniversary to go I am so grateful that I had my husband walk through our door later that day.

The roadside truck with trailer, crumpled.

The other car. Another major blessing for us was that David's car received minimal damage.

And yes, I did receive some beautiful flowers!

The Haircut

Noah has always had such crazy hair and when there gets to be too much of it David will buzz it all off. Nice and free! But I've always told Noah that when he started going to big boy school he would get a big boy haircut to go along with it. That day has arrived!

Noah's first official haircut!

What a cutie!  All ready for kindergarten!

A Special Day

The temple is such a wonderful, special place but even more so on days when one gets to attend with special friends. The Bergs have been good friends of ours since we moved here seven years ago. Genny and I served together in the Young Women program which is where we first started to associate with each other and I discovered that Genny is one of the most kind, loving, and supportive women I know. She and her husband Chip and two of their kids joined the church a year or two before we moved into the ward and I have always been sad that we couldn't be there when they went through the temple the first time.

Their youngest son Chad has been mentioned in some of our previous posts; for several years Savannah had a crush on him and latched on to him at any church function. Chad was always such a good sport about it! He is adored by my boys as well because to them he is one of the best babysitters, playing sports with them, taking them on hikes, and rough housing when the girl babysitters won't. Over the years David and Chad have developed a really close relationship and I have been so proud of my husband in the time and care he has given this wonderful young man. It was definitely a blessing for us to be able to attend the temple with the Bergs and other friends this past Saturday as Chad went through before leaving on his mission.

Chip, Chad, and Genny.

The beautiful DC temple on a gorgeous August day.

Cincinnati Highlights

We always treasure our time in Cincinnati where the days are filled with family and fun.Some of our favorite moments were:

• playing outside and cooling off in the little pool

• tea parties on the back deck

• lots and lots of dress up

• watching the movie Ice Age 4 at the theater and getting a picture with one of the chipmunks

• basketball camp with Grandpa where Xander practiced dribbling, rebounding, shooting, and passing

• waiting in long lines along with the rest of those who supported Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day

• the water park

• the playground

• helping Grandma and Grandpa around the house and yard

• celebrating Grandma's birthday; first we made cards, then opened cards and gifts...

and then headed to Graters for some yummy ice cream.  My brother Bryan spent a lot of time with us but amazingly enough this was the only picture I got of him this visit!

• holding Ciara A LOT!  Whenever we got the chance!

• watching the Olympics.  Our favorites were soccer, especially the exciting USA v Canada semi-final game; that was definitely one of the best soccer games I've ever watched!  Also swimming, gymnastics, volleyball and beach volleyball, and track and field.  I also thought the team rhythmic gymnastics was beautiful!
• after watching the Olympics the kids decided to have fun with their own events that included races, duck duck goose, and wheelbarrow races

We can't wait for our next visit there!