about the basement

Thursday night only momma had ice cream at bedtime on account of sour children. What was so wrong with the day? Maybe it had to do with too much cleaning up the basement. Every time we turned around it was messy again, so I thought to prolong a clean moment with a few pictures.

Above is the family room and the futon the girls are sharing. Usually someone decides to sleep on the floor and I only have to breathe out threatenings three or four times before they stop kicking and elbowing each other and fall asleep.

Here's the big boys' room. Ben usually likes to sleep in the family room by the television, so Sam and Kyle are quite comfortable here.

This is where I sleep with the little boys...not so clean right now. Can you see William's foot?

Who had the most business being sour? This was my before picture...

but it felt great to get it all put away. No laundry is definitely cause for a picture. We just use this kitchen for laundry and storage. Grandma has been gracious to let us use their kitchen upstairs, and we have fun eating together.

That broken cabinet makes me feel right at home. We had a chronic problem with that in

Beijing. The kids seem to like to swing on them. If we hadn't broken that door...it would have only been a matter of days...
In the evening we were back outside with the hose...this time the slip and slide, which was surprisingly exciting on the hill.

I was a splash victim.

Caitlin was timid but enjoyed herself. Grant even came around to playing too. William watched and clapped his hands.

Before bedtime, it was discovered that someone had made a whole in the bedroom door in the basement. The culprit will remain unnamed, a disgruntled child sent to time out...the method...Grant's Jessie doll thrown against the door in anger. The whole was perfectly round like her head. Now that's a Toy Story twist. Poor Jessie. Grandma and Grandpa were gracious (again) about the hole.

So after a day of ups and downs I felt entitled to my own dish of ice cream...then wished I hadn't around three in morning....stomach to scrunched by the baby.

our roommate reunion

Where Mormon paths cross...here is a picture of Wednesday afternoon... Kristi and Kathy, two of my Miller seven roommates.

( We missed you Carrie and Christina!)

More about that... but first Wednesday morning.... Grant out for a bit of shopping at "kid city."
I love the prices at this rec center. We all played and swam for about twenty dollars.

That's Bethany in the tree house.

Sam and Grant got the flying- elbow- ham-it-up award.

Joe and Courtney's family, Bekah and cousin Mylee, and Grandma and Grandpa swam with us. I was grateful for thier help at the pool. Mary couldn't get enough of that slide.
After we swam, I took my kids to the Del Taco with the too small indoor playground for lunch.
Tried to convince the kids it was fun to share two drinks...what a frenzy that caused. I bought one french fries to go along with the tacos...just to share...Grant hasn't grasped that concept either. That caused a lot of screaming, but I like to think of that indoor playground as a kind of sound proof booth. The big boys helped William discover hot sauce, and then Ben involved everyone in a Star Trek kind of game in the upper decks of the play area. They didn't want to leave. Sam and I sat and drank too much soda.

After our long lunch, we drove to BYU for our Miller seven roommate reunion. Kyle spotted this goldfish cloud along the way and wanted to take a picture. What do you see?

It was so fun to pull up to the Creamery and see Kristi and Sam sitting with their four children at a table outside. Then Kathy arrived with her friend from home.

Here is the girl table. My girls loved Kristi and Sam's girls and thanks to Sam for keeping them entertained while Kristi and Kathy and I got caught up.



Kristi's Sam was impressed by William's ice cream eating prowess. Will and Grant ate "Lavell Vanilla." Great- Grandma Raines would like that flavor. Who else loves the BYU mint brownies?


We eventually took our ruckus out of the Creamery. I should have spent more time there when I was in college.

Pictures outside.


And then we all said good-bye...we should get together more often!

Stopped by Granddad and Judith's house to say hello then drove back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Stopped at Smith's to roam around...what to feed the kids at nine o'clock? Meanwhile Sam took this picture. "What this doing here?" I asked. "I wanna show that I'm living the American dream," he said. But he settled for chips and fiesta bean dip.

As we drove up I told the kids to be quiet since Grandma and Grandpa were probably sleeping. "I don't think so," they said when they saw all the lights on. They were in full-production mode with Grandpa's new juicer. Carrot apple juice is delicious.

goggles for gimmicks

Tuesday morning we responded to the groans of Grandma's kitchen floor, barely audible beneath the layers of spilled milk, juice, and cereal bits. The girls helped me sweep and tidy. I mopped and vacuumed. Caitlin enjoyed cousin Mylee's visit and everyone was excited to open the two Happy Summer packages from Grandma Martha. After lunch (hot dogs... I must have all beef) the girls watched their new copy of Barbie and the Mermaid Tale, the which Caitlin, later and unwittingly, referred to as Barbie and the Holy Grail (sounds like a project for some young movie makers) while I took the boys shopping.

In the evening, we broke out and broke in the new, brightly colored, multiple hosed, mostly gimmicky, run-in-the-sprinkler, sprinkler that I conceded to buying last week. I wanted Kyle to model it, but he wouldn't get near enough because he didn't want to get wet, which made Sam wonder why Kyle was wearing goggles and swim shorts.

Mary sampled Grandpa's homegrown strawberries, while Grandma and I washed up the grapes and cherries, mushrooms, and peppers I'd bought for our impromptu family barbecue.

We barbecued chicken, mushrooms, and corn in the husk. It was delicious. We soaked the corn in water for a half hour before. The texture was just right.

Aunt Judy and her kids came to dinner. We celebrated Joe's birthday, with and without him.

Joe and Courtney went out to dinner together, but left a cousin to play with, though not the one pictured below..that's Judy's.

Ben completed the Bionicle that he bought with his birthday money. He found it on sale, reduced by sixty dollars.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Courtney returned from their date in time for us to sing happy birthday to Joe before the brownies and ice cream.

Judy's kids set up their tent and ours slept "under the stars" with Grandpa.

In the morning, Courtney, made eggs and biscuits and gravy for everyone. Of course, Grant is a cereal man.

social creatures

Monday, June 21, I took the kids to Hogle zoo. We stopped to buy bread, meat and fruit for a picnic lunch. We ate in a meadow next to the parking lot. Grant was impressed by the mountains. They are so green this year because of the cool, wet spring.

I bought a year pass for the family. The kids were excited to visit the Nature's Nightmares exhibit, featuring creepy creatures,

like this creepy vulture,

and these creepy fruit bats.

When we got out of the building Grant said, "We made it the scary animals!"

Monday was the first day I didn't feel jet lagged. Sam felt it for me.

I always stop to admire this garden by the giraffes.

Waiting for the elephant to blow air out of his trunk....