Our cute little "plaid family"

When Derek and Abbie came downstairs today, I noticed that they were both wearing plaid shorts. Then Sammy walked into the kitchen wearing them as well (although she pretty much wears plaid shorts daily). It was so funny. Next Lamar came out dressed in his plaid shorts as well. Of course I had to take a picture...

If Jonathan had been home, I know he would have pulled on one of his plaid shorts as well. I guess I'm the oddball out since I have no plaid shorts. But aren't they so cute???

I know what you did last summer...

This summer consisted of soooo much! A lot of it was either traveling or work "stuff".
Here's a run-down of what I can remember...

June 7-11: Sammy and I traveled to Virginia to visit Lamar and Grandma Miller while Jonathan was at scout camp.
June 14-18: Sammy went to girls' camp while Jonathan and I carpeted the basement and moved his furniture downstairs.
June 18: Jonathan and Sammy flew to see their dad in Nebraska for a month.
June 20-24: I spent a week at Austin Peay for the UMATH Summer Institute.
June 24: I left for Virginia (driving all night) to see Lamar.
June 25: After a short nap, Lamar and I drove to Richmond to have dinner with Paul and Scarlett. Then we drove all night to Princeton, West Virginia to meet/visit his brother, Stephen.
June 27: Next we headed to Lewisburg, West Virginia to visit Dad. Unfortunately, Christy wasn't there when we dropped in.
June 28: Lamar and I headed back to Virginia to get him packed up for the big move to Tennessee.
July 3: We drove (separately) to Tennessee with both cars totally loaded down with Lamar's things.
July 4: We unpacked the cars and headed to Atlanta, Georgia to meet Lamar's father, stepmother and brother.
July 5: After having dinner with Belen's family, we drove back to Tennessee.
July 7: I attended a half-day STEM training at Clarksville High School.
July 8-11: Lamar and I drove to Hilliard, Ohio to visit April's family.
July 11: We left Ohio and drove back to Tennessee - but wait! On the way home we stopped at Lamar's friend's house in Kentucky for dinner.
July 13-15: I spent two nights in Falls Creek Falls at another UMATH Conference. THis one was awful because I got totally car sick on the way there, there was no cell phone service, and I ended up getting very little sleep.
July 17: Jonathan and Sammy flew back home - finally!
July 20-21: I attended a two day STEM training. Productive, but tiring.
July 21: Lamar drove all night to get to Virginia to clear up some school issues, finish moving his things, and attend court for the kids' custody hearing.
July 25: Jonathan and Sammy leave to go to Nauvoo for Youth Conference.
July 26: Lamar drove to Pennsylvania to pick up Derek and Abbie form their mom's house. On his way back to Tennessee, he stopped at Dad's house (once again missing Christy) and Stephen's house.
July 27: Lamar, Derek and Abbie get home.
July 28: Jonathan and Sammy get back from Youth Conference.

Holey moley!
It didn't seem as bad while we were doing it. Now, looking back and listing it makes me realize how out of control all that traveling was! Never again...

Sweet Rewards

Abbie ate all of her lunch, so she got rewarded with a trip to Steak-N-Shake for milkshakes with me today. Okay, I admit that I was the one who really wanted milk shakes, but we did have a fun time. She was so silly sipping her shake, coloring and wearing that silly hat!

By the end of our time there, she was tunring into a little stinker and wouldn't cooperate for pictures anymore. She found that to be really funny...

Youth Conference 2011

This summer, Jonathan and Sammy both got to attend Youth Conference in Nauvoo. Since I wasn't there, I don't have a lot of pictures, but I do have a few that were shared by others.

Sammy and the other girls stayed in the hotel in Nauvoo. Jonathan and the boys stayed in the Nauvoo House. They did a bunch of sightseeing and even watched the Nauvoo Pageant. What an incredible experience for both of them!

New Room Decorations

Since Lamar, Derek and Abbie moved in, we needed to rearrange some things. Take a look at the results!
Jonathan took the basement and set it up as his bedroom.

That freed up his old room for Derek and Abbie.

Sammy kept her old room, but got a few new decorations and Jon's old desk.

And Lamar is sharing my room - of course.

It's gonna be a little scrunchy for a while - especially as we get used to having twice the number of people in our family, but at least everyone has a space to call their own.

The BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER!!!

Today I baked.
And baked.
And then I baked some more!
You see, I have an amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies that has become more and more popular lately. Today I figured I would bake several batches of cookies and send them out to Lamar's brothers as a surprise. Little did I know that I would be baking for almost SIX HOURS today.

My oven is not a great one. I mean, come on, I live in a little rental house, so what do you expect? But because my oven refuses to cook evenly unless I bake one tray at a time, it took me FOREVER to cook all the dough I made.

But the results were lovely. And YUM-MY!

Sammy thought it would be funny to pretend that she was eating all the cookies we made, so I snapped a picture and we texted it to Stephen. He was quick to respond and warn her away from his box of cookies.

Several other family members asked for a batch of cookies to be sent to them, but by the time I was done cooking the ones I had already made I was pooped. I'm not sure when I will feel like making chocolate chip cookies again - if ever! (just kidding)

Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot...

The weather has been ridiculously hot lately. I know it's July, but COME ON!!! Over 100 degrees every day with no relief in sight. So, today I took the kids to Tie Breaker (a pool about 20 minutes away from our house). It has a couple water slides, a lazy river, and a wading pool.

Ususally when we go to a pool, I lay on the side and read a book while the kids play, but today was just TOO hot for that! I found myself in the lazy river most of the time. Eventually we gave up and headed home. Even with the water to cool us down, I felt like I was baking in the sun...

Today's Treat

Today we got cupcakes from The Sweetest Batch Cupcakery near our house. Oh, wow!!! They were so good!

 I got two cupcakes - of course. Wedding Cake - just because it's about that time - and Starry Night (strawberry flavored cake with strawberry buttercream icing).

Sammy chose "Minted Perfection" - a chocolate mint cupcake with mint frosting. I actually got her to share some of hers and I liked it even better than mine! Such a yummy combination of flavors.

Jon chose "Campfire Delight" - a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow filling topped with marshmallow buttercream icing and a mini chocolate bar and piece of a graham cracker. Whew! He was so nice and shared it with his friend, Hannah.

 

The only reason we even went there was because I had a coupon from school, but now I am afraid that I am hooked on them!

A Day Out on the Lake

Today April and Pete treated us to a day out at the lake. We rented a small pontoon boat and spent a couple hours in the sunshine. The weather was perfect and the company was excellent. The only part that wasn't wonderful was the speed (or lack thereof) of the boat...

Granted, we know it wasn't a speed boat, but seriously? Pete had the boat at full speed and it barely made a wave. He actually ended up calling to see what the deal was, and the boat rental people laughed at him because the boat had a tiny motor and that was as fast as it could possible go. It became the joke of the day. At least we had a nice time visiting and laughing without kids for the afternoon.

"Katie Bug"

She is a doll.
An absolute doll!
When we went ot visit April and Pete, Katie was so darn cute! She talks all the time and wants lots and lots of attention.

She was so fun to watch when she was playing - such an imagination! Here she is acting like a puppy dog... 

And driving a car at the grocery store...

And playing with her buddy, Maddie...

And pretending to take a nap with her new "Luncle Lamar".

I can't believe I actually posted that last picture with Lamar wearing that ridiculous shirt - he's "so fresh" huh?

Family Stickers

It's a little thing, but something that we were both so excited to do...
Get those silly family stick figures for the back of the Pacifica.
I found a website that let me pick from a bunch of different styles for each of our family members.

Isn't Lamar a cheeseball? One of the reasons I love him...

Trip to Atlanta

One of the trips that Lamar and I took this summer was to visit family in Atlanta, Georgia. We spent the fourth of July with Lamar's father and step-mother as well as his brother and his fiancee. Aaron might be much smaller than Lamar, but his attitude is just as big!

While we were there, we went out to eat at this great little diner. The breakfasts were HUGE and delicious!!!

It was so wonderful spending time with my new family. They made me feel welcome - and that is exactly what I needed. Can't wait to see everyone again really soon!

Cheap Thrills

After spending an absolute fortune on groceries at Giant over many months, Lamar and I decided to cash in our fuel points for money off our gasoline. The way it works is similar to Kroger...for every $100 spent on groceries, you earn $0.10 off per gallon of gasoline. You can even save up your discounts and use them all at once.

When we pulled in and tried to access our fuel points, something wasn't working properly on the machines so Lamar went ot get the attendant for help. He came out and helped us and his jaw dropped when he saw that we had earned $1.80 off per gallon. That meant we only had to pay $1.69 a gallon!!! I can't remember the last time I paid such a low price for gas!

We seriously laughed and took pictures while we filled up our cars with super cheap gas. In all we spent $50.97 to fill up two cars, but we got a whopping 30 gallons of gas!!!

I have to admit, I feel a little silly getting so thrilled over saving money. Luckily Lamar was just as excited....

My birthday celebration...

This is the first time I have really had a big party for my birthday.
And when I say big, I mean BIG!!!

Let's start with listing some of the ways that the celebration was so big:
(1) BIG menu - ribs, chicken, pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, spicy hot links, potato salad, baked beans, pasta salad, chips, drinks, and chocolate chip cookies
(2) BIG guest list - People dropped in all day long starting around 11:00 in the morning! Lamar invited everyone he knew - brothers, sisters, cousins, parents, nieces, nephews, other assorted random relatives, friends, workout buddies, missionaries, the bishop, neighbors, and even the guy who cut up the ribs for us at Giant (seriously).
(3) BIG cake - a chocolate one that said "Happy 30th Birthday - again!" (Gee, thanks babe!)
(4) BIG cook - Lamar stood outside in the ridiculous heat for hours cooking meat on two charcoal grills so that there would be enough food for everyone.

The truth is, even though it was primarily a birthday celebration, it was also an engagement party and a farewell party since Lamar is moving to Tennessee tomorrow. Everyone is going to miss having him in Virginia. I'm lucky he thinks I'm worth moving for!

I wish I had taken more pictures during the day, but I really spent most of my time relaxing, visiting, and eating lots of food. Luckily some of our guests took some...

Here is a cute one of Lamar and his cousin, Moe, on the back deck in front of the grills. If you look closely you can see the BIG silver pot that was literally filled with ribs at the beginning of the day.

Another example of BIG things at my party...
Some of the men in Lamar's family. My new relatives.
Left to right: Stephen (the "little" brother), Lamar (The big brother who is actually the smaller one), Moe (cousin), Joshua (the littlest brother who is actually still little - for now - he's only in fifth grade so far), Anthony (another cousin), and Ramon (a friend from when Lamar was in the Navy).
I feel so small around them!

This picture includes the assorted women and children of the group.

I have to admit that one of the best moments of the day was earlier when we were getting things ready for the barbecue: Lamar said to me, "Woman, know your place!" Then I looked around and realized that of the four people in the house (three men and me) I was the only one NOT doing any cooking or cleaning. Jamar was ironing, Lamar was grilling, and Stephen was doing dishes. I sure love being the birthday girl!