Monkey Bread!

For General Conference, the kids helped me make one of our favorite treats. To help them listen to the talks, we had different snacks they could eat when they heard a certain topic. They listened so hard for each word, but probably didn't really listen. At least they sat and were quiet for me. I ended up giving half of the monkey bread to our neighbors so we wouldn't eat it all. So yummy!

Looking at Fish

Elli was trying to touch a little sting ray kind of thing. You have to stick your arm all the way up to your armpit and they go pretty fast.

This is the glass to the huge tank. They have sharks and sword fish and everything in there.

NC Aquarium

Posing by the big alligator.

Cheese!

Here we are trying out the camera in the computer. As soon as I figure out how to get the pictures from the camera, I'll really update this thing. It's been a while.

KaPOW!

Look who Riley got to meet! Chuck Norris himself! Riley said he couldn't stop smiling when he saw him. No one knows, but Riley has spent many Saturdays watching Chuck on TV, refusing to do anything else. Rough times.

Days of our Lives

I know it's been about a month since we updated this. I was waiting for some really exciting pictures of us doing something great. Beach pictures are getting old, so I thought I'd let you see what we do everyday. Here's Amy while the kids are at school. She likes to make lists and take care of her "kids". She never likes to be the mom, just the big sister who is babysitting. She plays pretty good by herself for a while. We go to the library, get groceries, go jogging, and clean together. She's a great mopper and weed puller.

Elli and Amy like to make "sheds" on the chairs. Each one is like their own house. They put purses and animals underneath and visit each other. Thank you Grandma for all the blankets. No one wants to clean up when they are done though.

Here they are ready for church. Rarely will you see all three with clean faces and combed hair all together. Only on Sunday mornings.
Pretty exciting, right? Sometimes we do cool stuff, just not lately.

End of Summer

To cool off from the heat, the girls favorite thing is to put the sprinkler on the trampoline. They drink, sit on and play in the water. Adam claims he doesn't like it, but the one time he got on, he had a lot of fun.

This is the beach just down from the house. Adam got to go for a canoe ride with the Elders from our church, so the girls and I said farewell and played a little. The water's not the best, but you can sometimes find shark teeth and little crabs.

Beach Kids

Trying to see how deep they can dig

Elli was just learning how to ride the waves. Adam wasn't happy about sharing, so we'll have to bring both next time.

Amy has been so scared to get in the water. Even when we hold her she wants to go back to the sand. For some reason, she tried this day and had so much fun. The water was warm and she liked how it pushed her back. You can go out pretty far and still touch. It looks like she has one big 80's side pony, but there are two.

Adam making me nervous. He thinks he is invincible. He could do this all day.

End of Vacation

Adam's birthday was the day before school started. He opted for a new bike this year instead of a party. Way nice for the party planner. Maybe next year. Now he's seven! Yikes!

This was Elli's first day of school. She got to ride the bus and was so excited. Luckily I didn't start to cry until I turned around and was walking toward home. She starts a full day next week. Adam had already been a few days and wasn't so excited.

For a little fun, we went to Beaufort where there is a museum with some stuff about Blackbeard the Pirate. Beaufort is where the Navy finally caught and killed him. Boy was Adam excited! Unfortunately, the museum was a bust. It had mostly fishing boats and beach wildlife. The highlight was some yummy strawberry ice cream.

Family Photos

Elli and my sister, Elise. Elli just licked the frosting and left the cake.

My mom and Amy. Amy was pooped!

Riley and me in the kitchen at Aunt Nell's house. She always lets us stay for free when we come to visit. We got to see most everyone from both sides. The kids hated to leave and keep talking about what they want to do when we move back to Idaho. Keep dreaming. Who knows when that could be.

Heise Hot Springs

The family at Heise. Riley and I used to come here when we were little. (not together... before we knew each other... though I've often wondered how many times we were at the same place at the same time) There's a pretty big water slide and hot pools in the back. Good memories.

Riley and the girls.

I love how Adam is in the air. He loves to jump off the diving board. He even felt the slap of his first belly flop this year. He said it felt like a bunch of arrows hitting his stomach.

June Happenings

This is the spot the kids stand and eat so that they are technically in the kitchen, but can still see the TV. When we moved, I was so excited to have a dining room where the TV was far from view. This is what we have resorted to. Sad.

Here are the kids at swimming lessons. Elli and Amy were in the same class and Adam was in a level up. It kept us from being too lazy this summer.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day we took a little road trip to Cape Lookout Lighthouse. If you look at a map of NC, we were on the little strip of land that runs along the coast. It was really pretty. On the boat ride over to the island, Elli lost her hat when the boat turned. Luckily it floats! The driver turned around and Riley saved it for her.

Amy stuck the googly eyes to her head by licking them. I thought it was pretty funny.

Wild Life

We have been able to see so many different animals right in our neighborhood. The lizard and toad are on the side of the house. We've had tree frogs, snakes, and turtles in our yard. When we go for walks or runs we see deer, raccoons, foxes, and turtles. Down the hill to the beach we see crabs and dolphins and find shark teeth. I think we've seen 20 different birds around including really bright woodpeckers. NC has the biggest and ugliest bugs and spiders. There are always opossums and squirrels in the road and I've heard crazy sounds in the trees that I can't even imagine what they come from. Who knows what's out there that we can't see! Oh, and watch out for fire ants!

Just Right for a Kite

It was windy and cool and perfect for flying a kite. Amy was waiting for me to get it untangled.

We finally got it up and she did a good job all by herself. This is our front yard!

Riley's Promotion

Here's Riley and another Lt (Maria) at their promotion from 2nd Lt to 1st Lt.

I got to put on the new silver bars. I accidentally dropped one of the old gold ones and thought I was going to be in trouble. His platoon was standing in formation behind him and I'm sure they saw the whole thing.

Congratulations! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! and Thank you!