July and August

Hey everybody it's Aaron during july we went down to Oregon and had a blast!! Thank you so much for letting us stay with you and for providing entertainment, like the Zoo, the fountains, and the beach which by the way has -10 degree water and a surface temprature of 50. I'd also like to thank Aunt Tanya and Uncle Mike for bringing the cousins over and for letting me stay those couple of nights. I had a ton of fun catching frogs with Ryan, Jason, Josh and the occasional andrew, Isabelle, Jenna, and Noah.

It's now nearing the end of August and Tooele's school is about to start I am going into Jr High and Kira and Elijah are in HIgh School Noah is in 1st grade and Issa is in her second year of Preschool. Kira got her wisdom teeth pulled out and now has the chubbiest cheeks I have ever seen. I went camping in the beginning of August I went down to bear lake and got a tan. Last friday we had our Father's and Children campout at the church with a bouncey house, a popcorn machine, and a fifteen foot blow up water slide. Sure it was fun but it was supposed to be a father's and son campout somwhere in the mountains or something like that...Everyone had fun and my mom finally got a day to sleep.

Life's Greatest Blessing is Family

Dear Family,

It was so wonderful to come to Utah for Pioneer Day and the following week. It was truly the best vacation I've had in while (even though Jason had to go home earlier than me to work). Jason and I stayed with grandma and grandpa for the first few days, during which time we ate wonderful food (Thank You!!!), chatted, and played games (including a game called Quirkle, which we enjoyed so much that we bought it and play it often). It's always fun staying with grandparents =). The remainder of the week was filled with family and friends. Mom set up family portraits, so hopefully we'll be seeing how those turned out soon. It was also wonderful for me to have a long enough vacation that I had time to visit some of my girls from Olive Garden, spend a day reading and playing video games with my siblings, and/or just do NOTHING. How nice to have that option!

The day I flew back to CA Jason picked me up and took me to the beach. The water was cold, and we had fun laughing at each others' faces as we got in deeper. Jason got the biggest laugh, though, when I tried to "catch" a wave, and ended up doing something of a somersault on to the shore. Good times. ;-)

Since vacation it's been back to work as usual, though we did have our first dentist appointments since we've been married (which Jason enjoyed as much as Katie enjoys the dentist ;-). We also used one set of our Knott's Soak City tickets, followed by the most exciting dinner I've ever experienced in my life at Medieval Times. For those of you who don't know, Medieval Times is a place where you eat in a stadium type setting and feast without silver-wear as you watch knights joust - on real horses - in a tournament and fight to be champion with swords and axes (sparks were literally flying off the blades - SO COOL!!!). All the lords and ladies in attendance are sorted into groups to cheer for different knights. Jason and I ended up being on the green team cheering for the "bad" knight that all the other knights were trying to defeat in the name of the King! It was a spectacular show, and I highly recommend going if ever you get the opportunity.

I'm writing tonight because summer break is over and life gets crazy again starting tomorrow. Jason's substitute teaching for the next three weeks at the college across the street (where I start back to school tomorrow), plus painting car windshields with me on Fridays and working at the ice-cream warehouse in the evenings. He's going to be working a lot, but he took the sub job because it makes him happy. The college students are his favorite special-needs students to work with, and they like him too. When he's working and I'm not, I'll be doing as much homework as possible so that we can utilize the time we have off together. =)

I'm realizing as I write that I have put an awful lot of smilee faces in this message. I guess that is just because I'm happy. I feel so blessed to be part of such a wonderful family and have such a sweet husband. I am thankful to be able to serve in the Primary and am looking forward to the Primary program in a few weeks. I am thankful to be in good health and to have a job and a roof over my head. Life is good.

I'll stop my ramble now, but there are so many things to be grateful for and my heart is so full. I hope all of you are well and that you each feel the love that Heavenly Father has for you. We love you too. =)

Brittany and Jason

P.S. I have pictures to post, but I have to scan some of them in, so they will come at a later date... =)

Hi Everyone. We have had an incredible month. It has been so much fun to see everyone. It was especially nice to celebrate my birthday with all the family except Tanya and Julie (we missed you). The month of July just flew by. That is what happens when you are having fun. Thank you everyone for coming and being here for us. We love you and appreciate you. Also, thank you for all the presents and kind words for my birthday. You are one GREAT family.

It was even nice to go to Lagoon. That was the nicest day I've ever experienced at Lagoon. I think we should always order that kind of weather when we go. We also went with Mike, Ryan, Makell, Pauline, and the kids. Dad/Grandpa and I went home early. The weather wasn't quite so nice that day. It was pretty hot. It was a nice day for the kids to ride the water rides, however. They must have had a good time because they got home pretty late. Mike's kid had never been to an outdoor theater, so we went to the Drivein. I was glad we had already seen both movies, so I was able to have a little nap during the show. It was so fun to have the house full of people, but it made it awfully quiet when everyone left. We were lucky though because Brittany and Jason came from California and spent a few days with us.

Dad/Grandpa and I went early to Salt Lake to save a spot for everyone at the parade. All of the good spots were taken, so we had to take a concrete driveway. Luckily it had a big tree by it, and we were in the shade for most of the parade. I really enjoyed the parade. There is something about bands and floats and lots of people. Afterwards, we went to Steve and Lynette's for a barbecue. It was really fun. Jason and Brittany wanted to play games, so we got in some game playing also. Luckily for me they didn't want to play Acquire.

It looks like it is official. Dad/Grandpa will be retiring on September 30. There is sure a lot of paperwork to do. It makes us really feel old, because we have to sign up for Medicare and everything. I guess we are getting old.

We hope everyone is doing well. We love you and miss you. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Love, Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa.

Thank