in an attempt to stay caught up i'll keep this brief. july has been a whirlwind of adventure. max had swimming everyday. we had our memorable green river trip. here in utah we get to celebrate pioneer day - another reason to eat great food, go to parades and light fireworks.



i ran in my second 10K race - in 3 weeks time. never ran a race before and i crammed two into july. i must be crazy. it was so fun -- thanks to the fabulous girls i get to run with! i was thrilled with my finish - i shaved 4 minutes off my time. still not in the winners circle...never will be...but i finished. and could still walk and breath. that's saying something!

next week the adventure continues...

just keep swimming

max is in swimming lessons. here's a snapshot of what he's learning to do. one more week and he should be a pro!

floating the green

i suppose i should continue to document our summer. much has happened and i have been too busy to sit and jot down the happenings. just after the 4th of july m y mother in law and her hubby came to town for a trip down the green river. the plan was to drive to the cabin on thursday, get a good nights rest and begin the float friday morning. we planned on camping on the river for 2 nights and then head back to the cabin sunday. nothing can go as planned, but we had a blast anyway! we floated friday and came back to the cabin to sleep.

saturday we packed up and were all prepared to float all day, sleep on the river bank and then finish the float sunday. we had a pretty laid back float and arrived at our campsite (which we had signed up and paid for on 'the board' like you are supposed to) only to find somebody already camping there. now, there really aren't any options. either you kick them out (which wasn't happening, because they were certain they had reserved the spot 2 weeks ago...) or you keep floating and bag the whole camping idea. we had to keep floating. i was pretty mad. i had planned on camping and the boy were SO excited to camp...but we didn't get to. it was frustrating. we got over it and floated to the end. back to the cabin to cook our tin foil dinners in the oven and make smores over the smokey joe bbq grill. make shift camping, right?

that night max decided to be sick. it was gross. i'll spare the details, but know there was puke and stink. glad we weren't in a tent on the river!

sunday mike ended up taking luke and jake out for another trip down the a section. they loved it! max and i stayed back at the cabin with grandma. we all needed the rest! one more night sleeping at the cabin and we headed home monday.

oh, how could i forget...the air matress i was sleeping on the first night had a hole. we tried to fix it, but i ended up on the floor after about 3 hours. the sewer line broke. we were flushing into the backyard. gross. as we were packing up on monday and cleaning the fresh water main pipe broke. no water. time to leave.

it was an adventure, that's for sure! the kids had a great time and we made the most of some pretty crazy circumstances.

enjoy the pictures. there are a bunch:










***once home, luke was sick. followed by me - for a day. not fun but we survived.***

playing catch up, again.

boy. a lot has happened in the past month. where to begin? june was rainy...didn't feel like summer at all. i really didn't like it. now we're enjoying dry 90+ degree weather. heavenly.

mike spent a week at scout camp. i spent a hellish week at home while he was gone. a sampling of what happened: flooded basement, impromptu birthday party, park with friends, doctor appointment, 3 prescriptions, visiting teaching, haircut, car to shop, taught a stories by me class, did laundry, lawns mowed, house cleaned, pure exhaustion. i was glad when scout camp was over. i needed a breather!

the weekend mike got home my sister and her family arrived from california! then the real fun began.

sunday we enjoyed a yummy gourmet bbq at my mom & dad's house...cooked by chef janetha. amazing. dinner was followed by a fashion show - thanks to neefs leftover garage sale stuff.monday we spent at raging waters. all day. the kids were lobsters and i was so tired. no pictures of that day.

tuesday = lagoon. again, all day. it was so fun! we discovered that luke and izzy LOVE the music express and wanted to ride again and again. they would laugh hysterically. it was so fun! luke was quite the trooper and went on rides i didn't think he'd enjoy. so fabulous. near the end of the night my dad handed out $ for us kids to go on the catapult. oh my. so so so scary. and so fun. i went with mike. janetha and marisa. eric and doug. it was a riot! then right on over to the sky coaster. even more scary...wednesday was a little calmer. we went to the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. i love the temple. and i love being there with my kids. it was a beautiful few hours. my sister and her family headed down to provo for the rest of the weekend.thursday was busy - not sure what i did, but know i was up until 10:30 decorating cupcakes for our fabulous primary teachers! oh ya - i did an inspection for my mom, baked cupcakes, cleaned the house, did laundry and i am sure a handful of other odd jobs.

friday mike took the boys to the cabin to fix some plumbing and tile the bathroom floor. they stayed overnight and gave me a day to myself! once they were off, i was out getting patriotic clothes for our 10k race on saturday when my mom called me. doug and lindsay were at the hospital and the doctors couldn't find a heartbeat for their unborn baby boy. the weekend sort of fell apart after that. their baby (peanut) was to be delivered via c-section on august 11th. peanut didn't make it. friday at 6pm lindsay had the c-section. we are so sad. heartbroken and sick. wondering why. trying to be strong. thankful for the plan of happiness. digging deep for increased faith. praying extra hard for my sweet brother and sister-in-law and izzy. we love you.

with friday's emotions came a sleepless night as we prepared for the freedom festival 10k run saturday morning. but, i was SO proud of myself! i finished. and not only finished, but kept up with my rockin' little sister! it really was fun...and good to be distracted and working out some energy. thanks neef and eric for encouraging me...and not leaving me in the dust!i stayed in provo with my sis for the parade and then headed back home to enjoy a few quiet hours before the boys got back. i stopped at the hospital and had a good visit with lindsay. i love that girl...and am hurting for her.

saturday night we had a fun bbq with our neighbors followed by an amazing fireworks show put on by the boys. seriously. i think mike loses 20 years at these events. it's all good though!sunday was another yummy dinner at the benson house...followed by festive strawberries. yum!yesterday max started swimming lessons - loves it. after swimming we went with the cousins to kangaroo zoo. they had a blast! i don't think max and luke stopped for more than a sip of water. they loved it!after the zoo business we headed up holbrook canyon for an evening hike. it was beautiful and perfect. the boys did great and had fun making wishes and finding beetles.and here we are at today. swimming this morning and then running around here and there. then it was off to see the movie Up with nana sue and the cousins. again, a great time!

what a crazy couple of weeks. and it doesn't stop! late movie tonight with the girls. sewing and jewelry making tomorrow. then thursday we are off on a river trip for 4 days.

it definitely feels like summer now!