And the Utah pictures....and birthdays and football.

We got to meet new cousin Jeffrey. 11 pounds, 5 ounces at birth. Here he is only 5 days old.

And big brother Alex showing off his cool room and basketball skills.

Matt, Josh, and Alex share a cheesy moment.

Alli and Jeff (and his monkey)

Josh and Jeff

Matt and Jeff

Shawna loves Jeff.

Jeff saying hi.

We took the train downtown.

Posing with a handcart in the Visitors Center.

The boys walking together.

More Visitor Center moments. It took all of us to keep track of Alex. He has so much energy.

Hanging out by the fountain.

Inside the J.S. center overlooking the Salt Lake temple

On the steps of the temple, we paused for a family + 1 photo.

And the Banda family by the reflection pool.

On top of the conference center

Matt had a conversation with Jesus.

Josh needed a talk too.

Josh and Alex were best buds all week.

We rented a house. This was the media room. Also made for a good wrestling room.

We went to Lagoon theme park for two days. Josh did his best to scrunch down a few inches and ride the kiddie rides with Alex.

This was before the big tube ride. Notice that we are dry.

Before the big splash.

After the tube (all wet) and ready for the log ride.

On board the pirate ship, ready to rock.

Alli was determined to ride all the scary rides. The swing was tame.The train ride is always a favorite, especially for Alex.

Alex was so excited to ride the bumper cars for the first time.

Getting ready to get wet....again.

Another kiddie ride.... this time as a pilot.

Josh had to literally pour himself into the car, but they had a great time!

Mousetrap, anyone?

Shawna and ying-yang. We just had to take a picture!

Getting ready for mousetrap. Josh's favorite ride.

Josh was too big for the boat, but Alex loved it!

Steve and Josh rode the bat ride. They had shoulder harnesses, but their legs hung loose.

The sea odyssey was another favorite.

Alex told Alli to keep him safe on this one, and as dry as possible.

Jeff was awake and was waving hello.

This was outside our rental house. It had a basketball hoop and lots of toys to play with.

Jeff was great. And Amber was amazing. She was out and about within days of having Jeff.

Just chilling in the sun.

Alli and Alex made a chalk train picture together.

Farewell dinner at Red Robin.

It was hard to say goodbye. We just had so much fun together!

My Alex.

Getting ready to leave the rental house... we just had to take a picture.

Happy 15th Alli!

Alli and her almost clone....Katie.

Rebeccah made Alli a hat.

Happy 9th birthday Josh.

Josh and his birthday crew

Woohoo!

Josh started grid kids football....and loved it.

Well that's about a million pictures. We love you and miss you. I promise to post more often. Luv, Deb

Ok so it has been a while....

When we got to Utah, we made it to the final evening of the open house for the Oquirrh Mountain temple. It was beautiful, but we were all exhausted after traveling all day. Aug. 1, 2009. This is the kids by the fountain outside.

Taking time to pose.

The boys were so very tired.

Banda family before going inside the temple.

We visited Ryan and Leah's family in their new home in Prineville, Oregon. Ryan and Steve went golfing (so no pictures of them), but the rest of us enjoyed major cousin time in the house. Don't Break the Ice was the favorite game of the kids. Banda girls with Leaunna and Lydia.

Ryland and Reagan loved train time with Allison.

Oops, we broke the ice!

Ray & Carrie Lindsey came to visit in July. We all enjoyed some serious pool time.

Shawna, Jasmine, and Allison looking great.

The boys had some serious camel fights.

The boys and Jenna looking fabulous!

After the walk, everyone emptied their pockets to show their treasures.

Josef and Josh enjoyed some sprinkler time in the hot sun.

Sue and Shawna walking along the sand spit in Gig Harbor.

Blackburn and Banda kids enjoying Age of Mythology.

Steve took Shawna, Alli and Josh to visit Sue & Ken's family in Gig Harbor. I was busy in Sacramento and Matt was out scout camp.

It seems like summer just flew by. We were so busy, that it just evaporated. Here's a lot of pictures to help catch you up.

And we're off....

Matt leaves tomorrow morning at 4:30 am to scout camp. He is packed and so excited to go. I leave in about an hour. Steve is driving me to Spokane where I take a flight tomorrow morning at 6 am. (yuck). I'll get to Sacramento about noon. Then I'll spend the next few days in training sessions with all my principals and a few teachers. Fun????? I'm bringing 6 bookds with me. That can't be a good sign. Steve picks me up in Seattle Friday where we'll have his birthday dinner. Matt comes back on Saturday. Can't wait for HP6! Hugs to everyone. Miss ya, Deb

July is here already???

Ok, so I've kinda been in denial since school let out. We have spent many days pulling weeds out of the flower garden area, shopping and then planting new plants, laying down fabric and moving 6 yards of rock into the flower gardens. It looks great, but let me tell you that my arms have never hurt that badly before. I'm just glad that project is finished.

Then on June 27th, we had Matthew's 12th birthday. He had 7 friends over for a big splashing pool party in our backyard (pictures to follow). Linda came up for the afternoon. I love birthday parties at this age because I can pretty much say, "Pool. Go." The boys swam for about 2 hours. Then we brought them inside for cake and ice cream and presents. After all that, the boys had about 10 minutes to play foosball in the basement before parents arrived.

Starting Wednesday, I had jury duty this week into Tuesday of next. I had to go in on Wednesday, but we were dismissed by 10:00. I haven't had to go back yet, but we'll see how my luck holds.

I've been taking advantage of this "bonus time" by cleaning out my scrapbook room. I was within 6 months of being caught up before we moved to ML in 2005. Since then, I've gotten really good at piling things up, but not scrapbooking. As a result, I have 4 years of certificates, birthday cards and papers seemingly everywhere. So I've been sorting through and basically stuffing papers into sheet protectors and putting them in the right books. I figure I'll address the picture part of things when I am caught up on all the paper. It's a start anyway. So for three days, I've been holed up in my room. My favorite moment was when I opened a birthday card from Steph (at least two years old) and found a ten dollar bill. I had opened the card when I got it, but obviously not taken the money out. So that is my payoff for getting organized. :) A pleasant surprise anyway.

I'll try to get the pictures posted asap. More soon, Deb