A Sensational Summer

This has been the busiest summer ever, I'm sure of it! Since there is so much to cover in one little post, I'll mostly let the pictures speak for themselves. I hope that you've enjoyed your summer as much as we have!

The summer started out with my baby graduating from Kindergarten - *crazy*! Also crazy to think that all four of our girls were able to have the same kindergarten teacher - Renee Zentz. Lucky girls!

We rescued an opossum! We had it for 3 days before we found a Wildlife rescue expert. We have faith that our sweet baby opossum is happily in the wild with his adopted brother (the expert had another baby about his age she was going to raise together until they could be released.

June 11 was Madison's first Triathlon - It was on Detroit's Belle Isle. . . GORGEOUS but run down park. She raced with her friend from swimming, also named Madison. They tied for 1st in swimming, our Madison came in 2nd in biking and then 1st again in running (even beating out all of the 14 year old boys!) She came in 2nd overall - transitions were tricky for her. She's looking forward to doing another one soon.

Milo and I got involved in our new business - Reliv - amazing source for health and seeming miracles! Click here for more information.

I helped pack up Melissa, one of the best friends a girl could have, and saw her family off on their big move to Buffalo, NY.

Roscoe had to have an unfortunate surgery... it was SO sad seeing him in so much pain - he's such a great dog!!

Our awesome friends, the Thurmans, came to visit for a few days - so much fun hanging out and catching up!

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Bloomfield Hills Stake Girls Camp. What a fabulous adventure that was! I thoroughly enjoyed every sleepless minute! It was Madison's first year at girl's camp - and she declared it a huge hit!

Milo and I crossed the river into Windsor, ON to attend a Tragically Hip concert. Tristin was managing the tour, and had a few days off after the Windsor show, so Emily flew in and we all met T after the show and then spent the night at Caesar's Windsor. SUCH FUN!

Tristin and Emily stayed for a few days and celebrated Independence Day with us. We took a late-night ride on the Huron Lady II for a fireworks river cruise. Best fireworks show *EVER*!

The girls and I went to a performance of the Michigan Concert Choir, and they performed all musical theatre numbers. Many of them were familiar to the girls, but many weren't, so I decided this summer would be a good time for the girls to watch some of the musical classics. So, instead of our usual random outdoor movie nights, this summer we hosted a Summer Musical Movie Extravaganza!" It was fabulous! We project movies onto a blanket on the side of our house. Our friends bring sleeping bags, pillows or camp chairs, we watch the movies and eat some of the most delicious treats!! We showed Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Sound of Music, Enchanted and the King and I.

The girls and I helped Milo's office by working at their Health Walk at Metro Beach Park. Perfect weather, lots of fun.

We went to a number of graduation parties, tons of birthday parties and spent a lot of time with good friends.

Milo was able to go to Calgary for the Thurber Family Reunion. He had an incredible time with his family, parades, good food and a whole lot of fishing. Sadly, the girls and I were not able to attend, so I tried to do fun things with them while he was gone. The big girls were dying to go to the midnight showing of Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows part 2 when it came out, so I conspired with my good friend, Peggy Dell to make it work. The little girls went to sleep at the Dell's, and Peggy and her two oldest brought Madison, Lillian and I to that much-anticipated movie.

We went through a few weeks of SUPER hot weather - over 100 degrees for days and very high humidity. We played in the sprinkler a lot, went boating with the Dells, the girls went swimming with their friends, the Simon's, and we went through a *TON* of water balloons!

Vivien turned *six*!! Where has the time gone?? She had a fantastic Garden Party and is loving being 'so old'!

We spent 4 days in Ypsilante at the Michigan Swimming Long Course State Championships, Pirates of the Natatorium, on Faster Tides! They were held at EMU (Eastern Michigan University) and she did really well. It was HOT and PACKED in the stands!

Just a few days later, we were in Indianapolis at IUPUI (Indiana for the Central Zone 14& Under Championships, Indiana Zones and the Temple of Zoom! We left the 3 youngers with the fabulous and VERY generous friends, the George's. The girls had an amazing time (and slept for a few days straight afterward to prove it!) and Madison, Milo and I had some incredible time together. Madison's BFF, Abbey was also swimming, and since we're great friends with Abbey's mom, Julie - we had a completely enjoyable time. While in Indy, I even got to hook up with my guitar-partner friend, Kristine! We went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art's outdoor amphitheater for a "Grease" sing-a-long. FUN!!

Again, just a few days at home before I left on the trip of a lifetime!! I think I could write a book on all that went on that weekend - the shows, the restaurants, the fun I had with my sisters, the stars we saw, the sights we took in. I need to write every detail down so I don't forget about any of it, but that will come later. . .

Just two days after getting home from the Big Apple, I took the girls to Buffalo, NY to check out the Jablonski's new digs. We stopped at Niagara Falls on the way - *AMAZING*.




We had a lovely visit and even worked in going to see "One Day" at a nearby theater. Melissa and I loved going to movies together. . .

We spent an entire day going through the girls' clothes. What a job that was!! Not entirely exciting, but a HUGE job, indeed!

We enjoyed a little "Staycation" last week when we spent the day with Alysia and her cute kids to downtown Detroit. We walked along Detroit's River Walk, rode the People Mover (which is a very cool way to see the city!), rode a carousal right on the river, and played in a splash park. We finished the day enjoying $0.99 ice cream cones at TCBY's Waffle Cone Wednesday.

On Friday, we attended "Bowling with Doc" - my very favorite patient appreciation activity that Milo's office does. McLeod Chiropractic is a great place to go to for your chiropractic needs!

I've also kept very busy with my church calling as the 2nd counselor in the Stake Young Women. We've had meetings, training, ward conferences, activities, and lots of fun. I love the ladies I serve with and am grateful for the things I learn in this capacity!

We've enjoyed hanging out with friends, bbqing, jumping on our trampoline (HUGE thanks to grammy for replacing our broken mat - and broken hearts!!!), going to Greenfield Village, watching movies, having bon fires, and our biggest news of all - selling our house. We close on September 5th, but are renting it back from the buyers until further notice.

We're loving life and feel so blessed by our friends and family. School starts next week and I'm starting to feel the dread of this wonderful summer coming to an end. Wish the summer of 2011 could last forever!