Summer Fun recap...

Okay -so I have not done well this summer about updating my blog.  I've been a wee bit busy - but I know everyone has been, so its a lame excuse!  I got called to be the new Young Women's President in my ward at the beginning of July and what a big change that has been!  I was overwhelmed with emotion when the Bishop extended the call to me and all I could think of was, "Heavenly Father wants ME to be responsible for looking after the future mothers, leaders and teachers in this Ward???!!!???  Are you CRAZY??!!??"  My husband thought it was great and beamed a huge smile at me as I was overcome with tears.  At least someone has confidence in me... I have since gotten used to the idea and "settled into" my new role.  I have been warned that I will be in this calling "for the long haul".  The last YW President was in there for over 4 years!  Jared is super supportive and is an awesome dad.  Often the bedtime routine falls into his hands and he does wonderfully at it.  The girls absolutely adore Daddy and sometimes I think they prefer him over me!  They are definitely his princesses - Emily, Lindsey and Julieanna.  Tanner is starting to get won over by him too - although I think he will aways be a bit of a Mama's boy (but not in a sissy way).

We stayed close to home this summer and relished the time in our pool!  The kids, as always, enjoyed fun in the sun - riding bikes and scooters in the court with neighbors and friends, swam daily until eyes were blurry and skin was pruney, and we had some company come and stay.

Here, Julie's getting one of her first exposures to the pool and sun!  She really took to the water and enjoyed it!  Of course it helped to be in Daddy's safe, strong arms and to have all of her siblings surrounding her with smiles and comments of encouragement.

Here Julieanna plays with Mommy close by.  

She loved to sit on the shallow sundeck step
and splash and play!

This summer the Stosich Family came to visit and stay with us for a week.  Last year we went to their house and stayed for a week.  This will be a tradition that our two families plan on continuing for a long time.  We all had a great time, playing in the pool and hanging out together - while the babies got their regular naps and schedules could remain intact.  Brigham and Julieanna had a great time teaching each other how to army crawl and trying to share toys for the first time!

Anna and Julie Stosich,
Julieanna and Brigham Stosich
Poolside!

Julie, "Ooooh, it's cold!"
Brigham, "Eeh!  Don't be such a baby!"

Julie, "Aren't these toys yummy?!"
Brigham, "This thing is soooo cool!"

Then just a few weeks later, my sister and her family came out from Boston for a visit.  They moved out to the East Coast from AZ after Spencer received his Doctorate and took the job offer as a professor at Boston College.  Their visit was so great!  We got to meet Lincoln (who is only 3 days older than Julieanna) for the first time and see Emerson (2 years old) and Spencer (Christina's husband) again!  We had a great few days together - we all went to Fairy Tale Town together (and for a lovely description of our adventures in Fairy Tale Town please click here  to view my sister's blog).  My children just loved helping Emerson out on all of the play equipment!  They all had a blast!  On another day they came to our house for BBQ and swimming.  Check out Christina's blog entry about our family BBQ - click here!

It was so much fun to hang out with my sister again.  I miss having her around - having a sister is the best!  You know, I just love this quote, "I loved you too much to just be your friend, so God let me be your sister."  We played Marco Polo in the pool - what a throwback!  As kids, my brothers and Christina and I would play that for hours during the summer - we practically lived in the pool!  Ahhhh - good times!