"Life Is Lemons"

Highlights from the last seven months. I'm the worst blogger. Ever.

Cambrie's spring viola concert.

We surprised the kids with a trip to Utah for Christmas.

Best surprise ever!

My parents pulling the kids behind the four wheeler on sleds.

I love them so much.

All the grandkids in their Christmas jammies.

Fun to spend time with friends.

More Sledding.

Cort and I on the back of the four wheeler, trying not to get thrown off.

Utah winters really are beautiful. Cold, but beautiful :)

Cambrie at Girls Camp the end of May. This is a great group of girls!

More sledding...

We took the kids to Sundance for an afternoon of skiing/snowboarding. Lovely!

The boys got to spend time with the Sorensons while we were in Utah too. AND, Zach had just gotten off his mission. These boys LOVE Zach!

Max was baptized while we were there too. It was a wonderful day, and we are so grateful for all the many family members and friends who were there to support him.

Bowling the night before we left :)

Cambrie swims year round at a club called Swim Atlanta. This is her at one of her meets. You should see this girl swim the butterfly, she's awesome! Those long arms are a blessing ;)

George sent me away for a few days to visit Teisha, in Florida. I had just found out I was expecting before I left, and was nearing a total breakdown. It was a good time to have a few days alone. It was fun to spend time with Teisha and her family.

We told Drew he could play tackle football if he brought his grades up. That was all it took, he pulled A's and B's and is now a Millcreek Hawk football player. It's CRAZY here! These parents are nuts, and it's totally over the top. Drew loves it though, he's so excited for the season to start.

My parents came to Atlanta for Spring Break. We love having them here! We stayed very busy with a Gwinnett Braves baseball game, bowling, basketball (I think my dad must have played about 79 games of HORSE with Drew while they were here), horseback riding in Helen, movies, etc...

Max had surgery in April. He was such a trooper and never really complained at all. He thought these clowns were creepy (which comes from me. I think all clowns are creepy, and I refuse to attend any circus. My kids now think they're creepy too, it's a beautiful thing).

My boys run in the Peachtree Jr. road race each year. It's a 3K for the two older boys, and a mini for Mitchell. This year, Mitchell and his friends were interviewed by a local news station.

Why the neon shirts? This is a HUGE race in Atlanta and there are hundreds of kids that run in it. It makes it so much easier to find them at the finish when they're glowing!

Summer swim teams are huge in Atlanta. All four of my kids swam this year, we just finished the season last night. It was CRAZY busy, and we still haven't slept past 7:00 am since school got out, but it was worth it. They had practice every morning starting at 8:00, and then meets on Thursdays (which last over five hours). It's a lot, but the kids learned so much and had the best time with their friends. I'm looking forward to a little down time before they go back to school though.

Cambrie and Mitchell enjoying shakes at Sonic.

Stone Mountain. Playing before the Laser Show and the fireworks.

Mitchell doesn't care too much for fireworks. We thought these would help...not so much. He is terrified of them, we end up having to take him on a walk until it's over. Poor guy!

The kids get a free doughnut at Krispie Kreme for every "A" they get on their report cards...16 doughnuts later. They were so thrilled!

Drew turned 9 in March. He got a bird, but it died 3 weeks later. I can't keep pets alive, it's awful.

We had a visit from Grandpa Simon too, which we always look forward to. He helped the boys with their pinewood derby cars, and fixed a lot of things for me around the house. We love Simon!

More from Gpa and Gma Mitchell's spring break visit. This was in Helen at an Ice Cream parlor, just after we rode horses.

Hiking at Kennesaw Mountain.

Cambrie at her 7th grade awards night.

She received an award for all "A's," and was one of four kids who received an award for "A Perfect Score" on a state writing test. They were given a prompt for this test, and she had to write about one thing she would take with her if she were going to Mars. She wrote about the fact that she'd take her Book of Mormon. I love this girl. She's so beautiful, and has such a good heart. She's smart, talented, kind, stands up for what she believes, and doesn't give us any trouble. I hope she stays that way. I adore her.

Max and his soccer team.

Max at his end of the year party. He's quite the Hoola-Hooper!

Drew at his end of the year Luau.

Memorial Day parade.

Having lunch in the tent. In the living room.

Mitchell blowing bubbles. He loves bubbles!

Mitchell at his first official meet. The "minis" only swim in one meet, and have assistance from the coaches (because they obviously can't swim the length of the pool). Brie helped him make it across, he was so proud!

Max.

Cambrie, Maya, and Aidan, at their last meet.

Drew swimming back stroke.

Max diving. He's just learned how NOT to do a belly flop...

Cambrie swimming a 50 fly. My favorite stroke of hers, it's beautiful!

We have a busy day planned with friends for the 4th tomorrow, Friday we pack our bags, and Saturday we head to Utah. Whew. I'm really looking forward to a few relaxing days on the farm with no real schedule. Can't wait!

Drew drew this picture at church last week.

And this one.

And, then he wrote this note to me. Heartbreaking.

Max saw Drew's artwork, and decided to join in by drawing this (I love that apparently during the summer in Georgia, we are all sweating, but we still have smoke coming out of our chimney)! Life will always be more fun at "Grantpa's" house regardless of where we live. However, if we don't get a little closer to Utah when we move, these boys will be devastated!!!

I had to document this. This is the way Mitchell eats donuts, it cracks me up. He refuses to eat the inner ring of the donut for some reason, it doesn't matter if it has frosting or not. I love it.