first days of august

We're past the middle of August, almost to Olivia's birthday.  I can't believe it. I am just posting my first,now memories of August, things to be grateful for.

Sunday, August 1 Ben was ordained as a  deacon.  Grandpa Bob performed the ordination.  Uncle Bryan and Uncle Don, Aunt Miriam, and Grandma Julia were there too. The room felt very small and hot with all our family and all the young men and leaders, Samoan and howlie (not sure how you spell that.)  But the spirit was very strong.  It was a blessing to watch Ben pass the sacrament that day.  We could see Sam giving him little pointers.  They are good brothers.

August first was our last day at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We had a barbecue with Aunt Judy and Aunt Bekah and Rob's other visiting siblings. The cousins started warming up before dinner.

Getting everyone ready for prayer is harder than it looks.

The little cousins were still singing with that microphone we got in a Wendy's kids' meal during dinner, so Grandma suggested we have a talent show following the meal. All the girls were excited.

Trying to set the stage...

a duet...

William's talent was cookie eating.

Aunt Miriam...

Monday morning, I thought I had taken more stuff down during our preliminary move. It seemed to multiply. Here we are ready to load all this, and ourselves in to the van.

William said "Don't forget me."

When we arrived at our new apartment, Granddad and Judith and the Browns were there to help us unload. Granddad and Judith brought us sandwiches, salad, and brownies for dinner.
The next evening Sam cooked our first meal in the new place, spaghetti with red sauce and Italian sausage. Everyone loved it.

Wednesday we had our first guests in the new place, the Carrillo family our friends from Beijing. They are spending the summer here. We were so happy to see them again. We planned to barbecue hot dogs in the park, but there was rain and even lightening. The microwave was faster anyway.  It was wonderful to get caught up.  There is Xotchitl's mother too.

This summer we have had more storms than I have ever seen in Utah.

That night we watched the news with some trepidation.  The next day was our long awaited Lagoon Day.  Everyone went to bed praying for good weather.