moving forward

With Summer break over, the kids and I are doing our very best to still enjoy the great weather. We started by going for a walk. Next we went to the Library where both kids were able to claim their first and second level prizes. They each got a free book and a packet of coupons that included a coupon for a free toy. Aimee also got her third level prize which is a pass to Coco Keys Water Park. Once Porter gets his we will definately have to put them to good use to spend some awesome family time together. Once we arrived home we were lucky enough to see one of our good friends/neighbors hauling out the swimming pool. It was a great way to spend the rest of the morning! Aimee and Porter LOVE playing in the water and the impromptu pool party was great. That is just one of the benefits of living in such close proximity to so many friends!

This was an expecially good weekend. Both kids, but especially Aimee has had a hard time with Chad suddenly bing gone again. He started his orientation on Thursday. It was a big switch after having had a whole month of Daddy being around all of the time. It was so great to have one more big weekend to ease into Chad being back to the grind. Because it was the 4th of July weekend. There were plenty of activities to keep us busy. We went to birthday parties (note one of the cute party favors that my family is sporting), neighborhood cookouts, fireworks, bowling, family walks and even just some good old fashioned games of Candy Land(Chad gave it to me on our first Christmas for our "future children"). We also had our awesome missionaries over for dinner. Aimee has a friend crush on Elder Palmer. This visit he and his companion built the church out of cups for her. She had a good time getting all of the attention during the lesson, and an even better time destroying the pyramid they built. It was so much fun to just be together and know that what ever this year of school might bring, we have each other, and we have the gospel to help us keep our priorities and goals in perspective.