Sadie's 9th Birthday

Sadie celebrated Canada Day with our next door neighbors,

since they are Canadians too.  

Myriam and Sadie had a sticker on their face that said,

"Made in Canada."

We decided to focus birthday presents on developing talents.

Grandma and Grandpa bought Sadie a tennis racket and balls.

We borrowed a violin for her 

so she can be in the 4th grade orchestra next year.

We went to Lagoon on her birthday,

her aunt's stake Lagoon day happened to land on her birthday.

Grandma GG

Donny's 93 year old grandmother moved in with us in June.

She is a delight to have around.  

She loves to sit on our front and back porch-

She loves the Utah air.

Grandma loves the children.  

They call her "GG" since she is their great grandma.

She loves to sit by the piano and hear them practice.

Here she is kneeling down to calm Holland while
I am busy cooking dinner. 
(It was very difficult for her to get back up)

 When we are gone, she misses hearing the children.
She loves to listen to them play.

SPORTS that begin with S...

SOCCER

Sadie played soccer this spring for the first time.

(We made a family rule to be on team sports,

 they have to be 8 or pay for it yourself)  

Mollie coached her team for the first few weeks 

while the coach was in the middle of a family crisis.

SOFTBALL

Sadie and Myriam are on the same team.

They are both doing well- especially because mom practices with them a lot.

The games are fun to watch when you are cheering for 2 girls.

SWIMMING

Mollie has gotten obsessed with lap swimming since she has 

restrictions this pregnancy with running.  

Her friend has been going with her and giving her great pointers.

Mollie tries to teach the kids herself since she bought a pass to the pool.

The neighborhood has a ball floating down the canal through our backyards.

BABY, BOOK, BASEMENT

This spring has been a full one for us.

--Mollie is expecting our 6th child and is slammed by 

morning (all day and especially evening) sickness.

--Donny's baby (his first book) was delivered and published.

He had a fantastic opening night/Release party at the Book Table.

--Our basement was finished single handedly by our friend, Chris Merckley.

(Donny did do the bathroom tile and the movie room surround sound) 

Hunter's 4!

Could we possibly be ending the terrible two's and three's with Hunter?

We are trying to be 100% with time outs when he hurts others and he has lots of charts and rewards.

We made a special place for him in the coat closet.  He usually isn't this smiley in there!

For his 4th birthday, 

the kids bought most of his presents for him with their own money: 

a watch, a ball, a puzzle, batteries for his toys, kites, etc.

They also made his birthday cake: Rice Crispy Chicks

General Conference

Sadie and her aunt Sophie went to Saturday afternoon session
of general conference together.

While walking to the conference center,
our neighbor, who is a niece of President Monson,

grabbed them and took them
in the tunnels and gave them great seats.

They got a picture with Elder Holland afterward. 
It was a neat experience for both of them.

Lizzie's Wedding