What we've been doing

This summer is going by way too quickly. I have already been to girls camp, and Youth Conference is coming up next week. Mark has had a ton of meetings for it, and I think everyone involved will be happy when it is finally over. Mark leaves for Youth Conference next Thursday, he gets back on Saturday, but then he leaves again for a scout camp on Monday and is gone all week. What a bummer. I'm so spoiled to have my hubby around a lot (he doesn't usually work on Friday's), and I just hate it when he's gone.

The last week of June we went Camping with our friends/cousins, Craig and Heidi Carlston and their girls. Heidi is my good friend from HS, and she is also Mark's cousin. Craig is Mark's good friend from HS. They have been our friends for along time and we love hanging out with them. They have three adorable little girls, almost exactly the same ages as our boys, but no, they will never date seeing as they are 2nd cousins! I took a few really cute pic's of our trip with them, but alas, our camera stopped working the day we came home. We camped up Blacksmith Fork Canyon, ate yummy foil dinners, played in a little creek, made s'mores, and we actually got some sleep. Both of our babies (ages 2 and 5 months at the time) did fabulously well and we didn't hear a peep from either of them until 8am! It was so fun that we have decided we need to do it again before this summer is over.

The 4th of July was great! My parents and my little sis, Melissa came up for our fireworks on the 3rd. We also had some of Mark's family over for dinner and some fun. Our neighbors always rent a giant bouncy castle for all the kids in the neighborhood each year, and the kids had fun doing that and playing in the hot tub. I also need to mention a little something about my sis, Melissa (I hope she won't mind). She is 19 and she has been dating this guy who lives in Florida since they were both 16 (they met through a mutual friend). Anyhoo, a few weeks ago, this boy (his name is Jared) got his call to serve a mission. And where did Jared get called to??? That's right, the Salt Lake City, UT mission! The exact mission my sister (his girlfriend) lives in! Poor Melissa. Neither of them are too thrilled about the idea. They are great kids. We'll see what the future holds for them.

Last week, the Carlston's took us boating and our boys LOVED IT! Neither of them wanted to get off the tube! Oh, and James and Andrew have started swimming lesson's and I can't believe it, they are doing awesome. These are the same two boys that wouldn't even get in a swimming pool, let alone put their faces in the water just 2 weeks ago! Hooray for Gin Manning! She is a miracle worker! I was so excited, Mark and I took our boys to the Aquatice Center yesterday, and it was so fun to watch them have fun and just enjoy being in water. James was practicing his underwater swim, and he actually does it really well! Caleb is just as cute as ever. He is still a little chunk and growing like a weed! I'm sure he is up to 15lbs already and he's not even 4 months old yet!