Catching up on May, June, and July

It's been a really busy time since our last post. The end of the school year is always full of concerts and trips. Amanda went with her choir group to Lagoon in Utah.

Both Daniel and Amanda had choir concerts as well. They were in the Caldwell High School Auditorium. I think this was a nicer venue than Albertson College, er... the College of Western Idaho for the performances. The FX Choir performed the musical numbers from "Hairspray", and I must say that they did a really good job. Daniel really does shine on stage, you can see what I mean in this picture.

This was the end of David's first year of school. He graduated from Kindergarten. He had been our most shy child, he didn't really take to nursery right away, so we worried that school would be difficult on him; we shouldn't have worried. He took to it like a bird to the skies; learning all he could, especially about reading. He discovered that he could play all sorts of video games if he could read the instructions: that is all it took, and now he is reading really well. The picure is of David and his teacher.

My birthday was in June, the big 4-0; and DaraDee arranged for a little "surprise" party for me. We went down to Boondocks, and raced the cars as well as to the park in Boise for a picnic. It was not as bad as I expected it to be (turning 40, not the party).

We also went on the ward campout. Great fun with old and new friends in the mountains of Idaho. Dara Dee went on a morning hike with Annika and many friends, here is a picture of Annika along the path.
One fun project that Dallin and I worked on was a Tree Fort. He got the plans from the Dangerous Book for Boys and we worked on it with his friends. In the end, it is probably the most impressive tree fort I've seen in a long time (if I do say so myself). It has an 8 ft x 8 ft platform that is 10 feet up in the air. It has cedar decking and redwood beams with a trap door and the guard rails are supported by tensioned aircraft cable. I think he's probably slept up there ten times since Dara Dee declared it "safe". Here is a picture of Dallin and I working on his Tree Fort.

Our annual family pilgrimmage this year took us to Phoenix, Arizona; a great place to visit in July! We drove down there with Brandon, Goldie, and Gideon in the Big Blue Van with our nine, so the van was as full as it could be. Well, at least our miles per person per gallon of gas was very efficient!

On the way there, we stopped at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. There is no way to overestimate the amazing grandure of this place. The picture can not do justice to the scale of this amazing place.

When everyone finally got to Phoenix, we had a great time. The weather was hot, but the company was terrific. There were several swimming pools, and lots of good air conditioning. Here are just a few candid shots of our reunion in Phoenix:

We stole two nephews after Phoenix and brought them home with us (ok, it was part of the plan). But along the way we stopped to see my good friend Jim Lutz and meet his family. It was wonderful to get to know them, we plan on going back to see them again soon.

Also along the trail home, we stopped to see Dara Dee's Uncle Dart and Aunt Young Sun. It was so nice to see them and renew those friendships as well.

There is more to post, but this will have to do for now. I'll put more pictures up and link to them so everyone can see our goings on.