July

I spent most of July in Utah. The girls and I left the hub and the swampy Houston weather. It was great to be with family. We did something different everyday from minigolf to touring down town Salt Lake. We went to the copper mine, a star gazing party, and Boondocks. We hiked, fished, and biked. We even did a little house hunting for my dad. But honestly the best part of the trip was being somewhere that cools down at night. Growing up in California, I never thought I would think that Utah had good weather; too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Nothing like a few years in the Lonestar state to change that opinion.

Happy 7th

My baby is 7!!! I can't believe it either. We decided to have a last minute birthday party before we headed out of town. Last night the hub made the hot air balloon cake (based on a power point presentation that the birthday girl made). Pretty awesome cake, all of the Cake Boss watching, is paying off. Today we opened presents. They were a silly blend of legos, barbies, and art stuff, just like the birthday girl. Tomorrow a bunch of friends are coming for a Marvelous M&M party. It is on Monday, we are playing marshmallow games, monogramming tote bags, and eating mint brownies. Should be fun. And then we get on a plane and head to Utah. Happy Birthday, Little One, I can't believe you are 7.

(Here is the cake, it is round cakes stacked and then shaped. And I love this sweet pic of the birthday girl making a wish.)

Eldon J Bodily

After a week in the hospital, my 89 year old grandpa, passed away this week. He and my grandmother have been married 70 years. Can you imagine? When I think of Grandpa, I think of a tall, tan, smiling, deep voice, and silly songs. He loved to tell stories. He taught me how to fish. He tried to teach me to be patient. We would fish off the boat in the same spot for hours. Just waiting for those trout to nibble the marshmallow cheese or salmon eggs. Waiting and waiting and waiting. 30 plus years later, I still haven't learned it.

It is with great sadness that I will head to Utah for a funeral on Tuesday. The death notice appeared in the Examiner today.

The Monsters

For Father's Day the girls gave the Hub the book, What's New, Cupcake? They love to bake and decorate cookies and cakes with their dad. So over the rainy 4th of July weekend we cleaned the attic, went to a movie, ate out a few times, and watched all the recorded shows on the DVR. But the highlight of the weekend was making monsters. Aren't they so cute?

To the Lake

So how do you get over a tough spring? You buy a boat of course and head to the lake. The hub's plan is to head to water every Saturday in the summer. My plan to always take a Ryan with me. Literally, my hope is to have another family with us so that someone else can drive the boat, help get the thing in and out of the water. So far the plans are working. But be proud of me. I drove the beast last weekend and flipped the Hub and CB off the tube.

We even take Olive. We bought her a cool orange life jacket. We tried it out in the pool. It has a strap that holds her head up and she just doggie-paddles along. We stopped to swim last week and she got out and splashed around. I am sure she loved it. ; )

Swim Team

May and June around here means swim team. The three lovelies all swim on the team. They practice at 3 different times 4 days a week and then swim in meets almost every Saturday. Yes, that is 6 trips up and back to the pool which luckily is a half mile from our house. It is a huge time commitment and a lot of fun (or so I keep trying to convince myself). We have had two meets this season. Our goal for the girls is just to swim faster each time they race. I am proud to report that last Saturday they did just that!!!

For those of you who do not live in the great state of Texas, it RAINED buckets and buckets and stopped and then rained buckets and buckets again last Saturday and the meet continued. We all huddled in our EZTent city(thank you Sarah for lending me yours) and tried to endure the mud and the wet. It was tough to stay positive and focused. There is a lot of skill in swimming some of the strokes "clean." For example, when you swim breast stroke your fingers have to stay together and your hands cannot come below your waist. You also need to turn your toes out. I had no idea. There is a lot to remember, oh and do it all as fast as you can while you hold your breath. Don't tell my kids, but there is no way I could do it. Some times CB's warm ups are 200s (8 laps) just to warm up. : )