Cliff's Farewell

Yesterday we went to Corona for my brother Cliff's mission farewell. He will be serving in the Florida Jacksonville mission and leaves for Provo in a week! We had my Grannie there, and my Uncle Ivan and Aunt Julie, Megan and Joe. My sisters and I, minus Callie :( sang "The Olive Tree" in Sacrament Meeting right before Cliff spoke. He gave an amazing talk about enduring to the end. I know he will be such a great missionary. We will miss him! (Sorry I didn't get lots of pictures, Callie.)

Julianna's First Day

Julianna started her second year of preschool on the 25th. She was so excited to go on the bus again and sit by her friend Drennen. She really likes preschool and I'm glad she'll get 2 years in before kindergarten. VIP Tots has been great for her so far. I can't believe she's going to kindergarten in one year! She is growing up so fast. As far as the potty training goes, no success. I actually had to take her to the emergency room one night a few days ago because I thought she had a bladder infection. Turned out she had no infection, but she was in a lot of pain, and Thursday really tested my patience as a mother as I waited many hours for her to relieve herself. Luckily she did, so we didn't have to go back to the ER, and she's just fine now. So here I am again, at a loss as to how to potty train this girl! She will start some new occupational therapy out of SD Children's hospital next week, so hopefully they can give me some answers. Regardless, she is doing great and we are proud of her.

Olympics are over--now watch this funny video

I'm so sad the Olympics are over--I had so much fun watching them. I was a devoted fan of the USA. Now any TV shows just won't compare. My favorites to watch were beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. Swimming and gymnastics were pretty good, too. Julianna liked to watch at night with me before she went to bed. I'm surprised she hasn't asked about them since they've been over. Joel's uncle sent this video to us--it's very funny and I think it actually happened (a few decades ago). Enjoy.

Me as I really am

TAGGED: ME AS I REALLY AM. Here are some pictures of us and our house as they really are--no cleaning beforehand or even tidying up. Here goes...

The Sink: A few dishes, rinsed. I prefer to do all the dishes at night, not throughout the day.

Laundry Room: Pretty clean, but some clutter on dryer, which is normal. Usually from projects around the house.

Bathroom: Clean but clutter from my makeup and blowdryer and curling iron, which I did NOT use that day.

Fridge: Pretty empty because we bought a fridge a while back that was WAY too big for our family, and also it's grocery shopping day.

My favorite shoes: Tennis shoes. I love to walk and go to the gym. I'm trying to start loving running. They're also the most comfortable shoes I have. Otherwise I'm always wearing flip flops.

My favorite room: The dining room. It's away from the TV and it's usually clean.

Our Kids as they Are: Julianna got a dumdum because she sort of went on the potty for the first time (yeah!), hence the long shirt and no underwear, and Blake of course had to have one, too. Her potty training is slowly progressing (only day 2 now of probably my 4th real attempt--let's hope this one works).

Joel as he really is: Relaxing after his first day back teaching again and after his Elder's Quorum meeting, watching a new DVD he got for his birthday last week.

Me as I really am: Yes, here I am in all my no makeup glory (well, a little mascara.) It was laundry day so I was busy with that and hadn't gotten ready yet. A typical day for me!

I tag: Lindsey, Alexis, Cassie, Kristen, and my sisters. Be honest!

Foote Family Reunion

Aunt Jalaire showing the kids the pinata for later. They got lots of candy.
Loving those skirts and bubbles!
The swing is always a favorite at Nana's (Joel's sister Briana sitting with them).
Blake gets very dirty playing in the backyard. So dirty that we had to give them baths before we drove home. I think Joel's not happy about the dirtiness (just kidding.)
Enjoying some good food.

We had a great time at the Foote Family Reunion on August 2nd. This is Joel's mom's side of the family and most of them live in Orange County. The reunion was at Joel's grandma's house, or Nana, as everyone calls her. We played volleyball, badminton, ping pong, shuffleboard, board games, and had great luau food. The kids had fun playing in their grass skirts and blowing bubbles. It was a fun time for all!

Weeding is wonderful

I call it "Weed Mountain"
Still have more to hoe.
And more on the other side
And don't forget the side yard
But amidst the weeds, we found a watermelon growing. We'll see if it gets any bigger.

In just one month, our weeds have grown like crazy. Our goal is to keep them from overtaking the backyard until we actually put in grass and sprinklers. But after just an hour of hoeing one section, I had the biggest allergy attack of my life. So bad that Joel had to rush to the store to get me some medicine. My adventures in weeding might come to an end after that experience.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Happy birthday to Joel! I hope you enjoy the videos of the kids saying happy birthday. Julianna had just woken up, so she wasn't very happy. But Blake had fun saying happy birthday.

Don't worry, Cindel, I didn't forget about you! Happy birthday to my cool, talented, amazing sister. I hope you had a great day, too!