Neil, the 24th and more

The 24th started out as many summer mornings do…with a little reading.  I can’t believe how many Calvin and Hobbs comics my kids have memorized.Then David took Mark up Spanish Fork Canyon for a little fun.  Now Mark has done something I have never done – shoot a gun. Then we had a tasty BBQ with Ken’s family.  I love pulling into his parents driveway and opening the car door to the smell of hamburgers on the grill.Ken’s mom, Randy and Megan joined us for fireworks down at the baseball fields.  We had a ton of fun playing with the glow sticks we brought while we waited for the fireworks to begin.  Glow sticks just keep getting better.It is so much fun taking pictures of Neil.  He’s just so cute!!  Happy 7th week Neil.I made Ranch Bread to take down to the ward swimming party.  Yummy!  The water wasn’t too cold and Ken caught Abbie and Spencer, jumping from the side of the pool, until they had to get out because of lightening.  We hung around for a bit hoping to get back in….but alas it didn’t happen.A few more pictures of Neil.Jessie found some clay that my dad had left for the kids and she made a horse, of course, that is sitting up on the piano to keep her company when she has to practice.  Abbie made this cute duck.  It was so good of the kids to remember to get out some paper to sculpt on because scraping clay off the table is no easy task.I made these cupcakes for a gal at Ken’s work.  I was really pleased with the finished product.I’m so thankful for all my kids help with Neil.  They are so gentle and love to make him happy.  When David called to see if he could live with us until school started his first question was when would the apricots be ready to make fruit leather.  We assured him that he would have plenty of opportunity to help.  And he did.  Thanks David.  Spencer was an awesome helper when it was time to pit them.I love pictures of Ken sleeping with the baby.  I think we have at least one of him sleeping with each of the kids.  Isn’t it sweet.For a Sunday activity the kids and I wrote letters to my family about the fun things we got to do together while they visited.  We used words clipped out of magazines to complete our letters.  It was a fun and easy thing for Sunday.After Mark and Abbie finished their letters they started on some crescent rolls for dinner….we just love hot bread around here.  One day I wasn’t watching the Bosch to closely while I made a batch of bread and it fell off the counter and cracked a tiny part of the lid.  Now you have to hold the lid on while it mixes or the bread pushes it off and makes a big mess.  I guess Abbie was the lucky lid holder today.  (And in case you are wondering, if the recipe says mix the bread for 7 minutes you should not mix it for 20 instead.  Mark was holding the lid for me a week or so ago while he read a book.  He lost track of time and we ended up with a bowl full of bread glue.  GROSS!  I was proud of myself for not coming unglued – no pun intended – and yelling.  But I also wasn’t ready to whip up another batch that day.)I think it’s so cute when I come to take a picture of the kids with Neil and they scrunch down to be right by him.