Freckles

Oh my, there are a lot of freckles on that face!

And right now, that freckly face is my face. Tokens of a summer's love.

I want you to know, I earned those little brown beauties, doing something that I absolutely love:

Teaching children how to swim.

Each summer since moving to Colorado, I've taught evening swim lessons--when Andrew gets home from work and can man our kids.

This year lessons lasted for six weeks, beginning June 27th until August 5th. That's when I taught exactly 39 kids and babies (and 6 of their parents) how to swim, ranging from beginning toddlers and preschoolers getting comfortable with putting their faces in the water, to advanced swim teamers trying to improve their technique. It was fun.

A Few Side Notes:

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This year, my two kids were among that large bunch of swimmers!

Taylor swam with me during my first session in June, for his first-ever formal swim class. He was in Beginning swim lessons with three other 3 year-olds: Brynley and Samantha, who live in our neighborhood and attend our ward, and Cole, a boy from Roxborough whom we met this summer.

Taylor was a bit hesitant when asked to try some new water skills, but overall he really enjoyed the experience. Once his lessons were over, he seriously begged me for more swim lessons and wanted to sing the songs and play the games we had learned during class all the time--whether we were at the pool or not. Gotta love it.

So it's a given, since I completely agree with him that swimming totally rocks--I made sure to take him back to the pool on a regular basis. :)

During the second week in July, Russell and Andrew joined me on sunny evenings for my Parent/Toddler Aquatics class.

I think there were only two nights like that.

Holy cow! In the Denver area, almost every day in July had afternoon/evening rainstorms that could rival Seattle's rainfall. I'm telling you, it was really, really RAINY and chilly that month. I figured that baby Russell wouldn't particularly enjoy being in that environment, so I left him at home most of the time (while I froze my shanannigans off).

http://www.littletongov.org/weather/history.asp

See what I mean?! The rainy nights were rough.

But on the sunnier evenings...

...we played with toys,

we blew bubbles, we kicked, we splashed, sang songs and played games...

...it was tons of fun.

On one of the sunnier Parent/Toddler days, our good friends the Steadmans joined us in the pool. Glad they came.

The lovely Alison Steadman is not just a great friend, she's also my inspiration! That woman is a Super Mom, creative crafter, teacher extraordinaire, professional blogger, and gifted photographer. Almost all of the pictures on this post are her photography.

If you would like to see more of Alison's creative genius, click on the link below to view her crafting blog, "Oopsey Daisy" (but beware...you might get hooked!):

As much as I love teaching swimming, after six weeks of being in the pool for two hours every night--often in the rain, I think it'll be nice to have a break for a while.

Yes, this summer was full of work, and even more full of fun. And I am proud to show off the evidence: my abundant, hard-earned freckles. :)

Dear Elder

If you're reading a "Dear Elder" post for the first time, these are letters to my missionary brother serving in the Sao Paulo, Brazil North mission for my church.

For more on this, see my first post HERE.

Spoiled!

Just before Jenny left, my mom suprised me with a phone call reminding me that my Aunt Robin was coming into town the following week, and asked if I wouldn't mind if she joined in on the fun. Well, to Mom--my answer is always HECK yeah! I LOVE it when she comes to see us.

So again, my sweet mother bought a plane ticket to Denver and braved her struggles of traveling alone and being in airports--all for the greater good. She's my hero.

And as if that weren't cool enough, her coming to visit got even better when I learned that my Uncle Ron and cousins Levi & Brittany had made plans to come to Denver during that last week in July too! I was about to be totally spoiled!

And I was spoiled. We never had a dull moment while my family was here:

We spent hours playing at Grandma's pool.

We had a wicked celebration for this dashing man's 85th birthday.

Taylor and Andrew loved goofing off in Grandma's backyard during Grandpa's birthday party.

The reversible Superman/Batman cape he is wearing was a gift from my mom during this visit--which quickly became one of his favorite things! We struggled to convince him to take it off for naps that week (compromise: he could use it as a blanket while he slept).

This photo tugs at my heartstrings every time I look at it...this is Russell and Trevor (Brittany's sweet little 4 year-old, who has autism) playing together at Grandpa's party. I'm loving these sweet moments of friendship my littlest guy is having!

Love this photo too. I wish I had Russell's gorgeous eyelashes.

On party night, at Aunt Robin's invitation, all friends and family there shared memories of Grandpa and expressions of love for him.

He has led an admirable life. It touched me to take part in honoring him, by sharing memories of his giving me my first bicycle and drawing funny pictures for me when I was little. Love that man.

I had a hard time deciding which dessert to enjoy that night. I could choose from homemade vanilla ice cream, Blue Bell ice cream (SO GLAD that delicious southern novelty has found its way to Denver!), or Grandpa's favorite: homemade maple nut cake. I couldn't choose...

...so, I ate them all. (*blush!*)

My mom also watched our boys while Andrew and I had a date night to see "Captain America" with Levi and Brittany--some of our closest friends in the world.

Brittany has been my closest cousin in age and in friendship since we were teeny. Besides playing together as kids, we also lived together when we were both going to school at BYU-Idaho. I love that gal tons.

Just three months after I married Andrew, Britt married Levi, who became quick friends with my hubby. While we were newlyweds in Rexburg together, the four of us attended the same married student ward, Levi and Andrew worked together (painting & other misc. construction for a local contractor), we were constantly playing at each others' apartments...can I just say that we really, really miss them?!

Among all the fun we had during that final week in July, I think one of the ways that I was spoiled most was in having my mom stay at our home.

It's a pretty modest place; she had to sleep on our couch-a-la-bed the whole time! And for being in such a humble environment, she made us feel like kings. She bought groceries, made dinner every night, babysat our kids...and visited with me a lot (my favorite part). I have no other friend like my mother. She has insights and understanding that add perspective and enrichment to my life. I wish that we could share that one-on-one time together more often. I love her tons.

Isn't she beautiful?

Jenny

If you searched the world over for true, loyal friends, you most definitely would find this lady among them. Her name is Jenny, and she and I have been buddies since we met at Grandview South Stake girls' camp (Provo, UT) when we were twelve.

We have shared many adventures and made many sweet memories together...

(Oh how I love these ladies)

And now our lives keep us both so busy and, unfortunately, spending quality time with each other is an infrequent luxury. But such a luxury happened this year in July-- when Jenny flew to Denver for a few days while enroute to and from her study abroad in Costa Rica! I don't have a lot of friends who have gone out of their way to visit me like that...she's a treasure.

While she was here, we stayed up late talking, spontaneously made and ate two kinds of sweet potato pie (what ever were we thinking?!), and she made my typically mundane daily tasks far more enjoyable.

To appease the very real nerdiness in her, we also went to the Nature and Science Museum together to view its latest exhibit, "Real Pirates..."

..which makes me chuckle every time I think about it. :) Ahh, having Jenny fun is unlike any other kind of fun. I am SO GLAD that she made the sacrifice to visit me. I love this gal!

Haselden Zoo Picnic

Every summer the company Andrew works for (Haselden Construction) hosts a picnic for employees and their families at the Denver Zoo.

This makes for a fun family night for us...free zoo admission--might I add, after the general public has left and the weather has cooled down for the day--, and a fun barbeque with entertainment for the kids.

As our kids grow, it gets more and more fun each year too. This year both Taylor and Russell were crazy about seeing the animals and exploring the park! It seemed like no corner was left unturned or unexplored.

This is Taylor showing super enthusiasm for seeing the seals. I'm telling you, this is the way it was for so much of the evening! These kids were so cute.

Unlikely Friends

My little Russell and Bro. Bob Gilligan from our ward. So sweet.

Fourth of July

Is this summer flying by quickly or what?? Yesterday was the first day of school for kids in our area, and I'm still blogging about the 4th. It's hard to keep up with! This has really been a busy, fast-flying past several months.

Not long after getting home from Alabama, the 4th hit us. I was so happy to NOT be pregnant this year so that Andrew and I could participate in Highlands Ranch's "Family Fun" Independence Day 5K together (we had done that the summer before last and loved it). It was, luckily, a cool morning and we could bring the kids along in our jogging stroller, and...the race ended where the town's 4th of July parade began. Perfect.

All was said-and-done with our fun run just after 9:00 a.m. and we were starving! We had been awake since 6:30 without eating breakfast, so we walked to a place across the street from the parade called "The Egg and I" and heartily scarfted down a YUMMY omlet and pancake breakfast on their patio. We could hear the bands and see the floats & large balloons from our table. Perfect.

There was a city celebration right where we were too. We saw a number of booths from local businesses offering activities and food, and Taylor couldn't keep his eyes off of a large inflatable tiger and the face painting there. We were suckers and treated him to both ($2.00 each). While he loved the "fire" that a local artist painted on his forearm, the little nerd didn't do anything in the inflatable. Maybe he was soaking up his special memory of being in a tiger...not sure, but I'll keep telling myself that. :)

We took our boys home for afternoon naps and in the evening we met-up with my grandparents at their neighborhood park to play in their pool a little and have a holiday BBQ.

Afterward we caravaned to our favorite spot for fireworks near the corner of Belleview/Windermere. We played with sparklers and visited while we waited for the big show--which was awesome this year.

By the end of a very full day, we had worn our boys to exhaustion! Those sweet little guys crashed on our drive home from fireworks. I love watching them sleep like that. Angels.

Dear Elder

If you're reading a "Dear Elder" post for the first time, these are letters to my missionary brother serving in the Sao Paulo, Brazil North mission for my church.

For more on this, see my first post HERE.

Dear Elder

I've been regularly sending letters via email to my little brother Kyle, who has been serving a mission for our church in the Sao Paulo, Brazil North mission over the past year (we anticipate his return home in June 2012).

In addition to my joy of being able to communicate with my brother who is so very far away, just recently I've been realizing that there's yet another great value to these letters: they're also small records of my life's history! Someday when I have a few more wrinkles on my face and have walked a few more miles, I'll love to be able to look back at my journaling and remember what life was like "back then."

As I've thought about this, I know that for me, there's probably no better way to immortalize my letters than by posting them to my blog after I write.

I must say, I feel a little more vulnerable doing this, because I am often more candid with Kyle than I usually am on my regular blog posts. I guess we'll just see how this plays-out; see if this works...

So for my benefit, here's my first recorded letter--written last month on August 1st.

Camping and iPads

As soon as we returned home from Alabama at the end of June, we knew that we had one weekend before our lives would pick up quickly with church callings, out-of-town visitors, and my commitments to teach swim lessons for the next 6 weeks ahead.

So we jumped on the opportunity to take our boys camping that Friday night (6/24). This would be Taylor's third time camping in his lifetime and Russell's first.

Andrew did his homework; learning that we could camp for free in national forests, so we drove to an area northwest of us in Arapaho Forest to find our "spot."

But I always under-estimate time. That was no exception on this special Friday, where we left home later than planned, it took longer to find a camp site than planned (talk about poorly marked, badly maintained dirt roads!), and it took a while to set-up our gear, etc.

By the time we were finally settled, it was nearly dark and the little boys were starving! Andrew and I fed them dinner--campfire hot dogs and buns, grapes, and water--and put them to bed.

Then Andrew sat down and began to fall asleep in his camping chair. It was slightly dissapointing to my vision of s'mores and a romantic evening in the wood, but I recommended that he just go to sleep with the kids while I cleaned up our dinners. He didn't hesitate at my suggestion.

What happened after that, I can only describe as the longest, hottest (surprisingly), most uncomfortable night I have had in a long time. The tent felt too small for 2 adults, 2 children + a pack n' play (for Russell). We were sleeping upon each other, struggling through high altitude headaches, kicking aside blankets because of the heat, occasionally waking baby Russell up, and having to tiptoe through a mini-maze to get outside if we had to pee.

I didn't remember camping being such a pain!

Well, my night seemed like the most difficult to endure, because when Andrew and the little guys woke up the following morning they were mostly rested, happy, and eager to enjoy the day.

Taylor especially remembered the trip for it's great opportunities for exploring, collecting "rock treasures" and sticks, and helping his dad make fire. :)

We hurried home late that morning so Andrew could help a new family in our ward move in. I think it goes without saying that between taking care of our boys, unpacking from our trip, and Andrew hurrying to get out the door, our house was a little crazy when we arrived at home.

In the midst of the chaos, I placed my new iPad 2--what had been our temporary road map during the trip--on the roof of our Volvo wagon. When Andrew drove away to help move, I didn't even think about the iPad sitting in such a dangerous spot.

That night as I got ready for bed, I searched for my iPad to charge it. Then it dawned on me-- and I knew exactly what had happened.

It made me sick to think of my iPad falling off the car roof! But the especially sickening thoughts were the possibilities of it landing in the middle of the road somewhere, or being smashed to smithereens from cars driving over it, or it being picked up by a "lucky" bystander, etc.

It was another sleepless night for me.

The following day was a typical Sunday for us, involving late afternoon church from 12:30-3:30, putting the kids down for late naps, and then an early dinner for me and Andrew.

Right as the day was slowing down and Andrew and I had finished eating, Andrew noticed that he had a voicemail on his cellphone that had been left for him while we were away at church. It was from a young guy named Kevin, who said he had found my iPad. I almost couldn't believe it!

Kevin's side of the story is nothing short of a miracle: he said he had been driving at the intersection of Coal Mine and Kipling, not far from our house, on Saturday, 6/25 and noticed what he thought was a purse in the middle of the road . He stopped and picked it up and was surprised to find an iPad 2 inside!

Being the honest person that he was, he first listed the iPad on Craigslist under a "Lost and Found" ad (above). When he didn't hear from anyone that Saturday, he cleverly thought to call the Apple Store and give them the serial number of my iPad. The Apple Store was then able to trace the it back to Andrew, who had registered the iPad when he bought it for me a few months ago.

I was floored when Andrew played Kevin's message for me. We immediately got our boys up from their naps and drove over to his house (only 2-3 minutes away from us). When we got there, so was the iPad.

As if the miraculous return of my iPad wasn't surprising enough, Kevin himself was a little bit too--he was very young, probably between 16 and 22 years old, and wearing what I can only think to describe as "punk/cool" type of attire. Not my personal vision of a hero--I now know that heroes come in many different forms!

And here she is--the iPad, that is. There wasn't a scratch on the iPad itself, thanks to the homemade case that Andrew gave to me. There are now a few battle scars on the corners of the case, and that's the extent of it!

It might be funny to some of you reading this, but this experience was a significantly spiritual experience for me. I felt then, and still feel now, that I have a Father in Heaven who really cares about me--really cares. What kind of God would bless me with the return of a material possession, especially when it was lost due to my carelessness? A loving one. I know that it's me who He loves, and not materials.

What a whirlwind of a weekend that was! One that I will always remember and always be grateful for.