Helping? build a tree house

Here are the kids at the Fox's. My friend Rebecca's parents live in our ward and she was here for the summer with her kids. We had a great time.
















The kids stayed there one afternoon while Bro. Fox was building this tree house. Rebecca, Elias, and I went to see a movie. They had a great time playing with Joshua.











They got very wet playing in the water which was a good thing as it was very hot that day!










Here are Joshua, Jesse, Eva, and Saul. They were such good helpers!!

What I find interesting......

Is how many other Latter-day Saints are out there blogging. I sometimes just click on next blog--many times, I come across an obvious LDS blog. I think it is great that there are so many people out there who set a good example in their writing and pictures for others to partake.

I have been working on a friend of mine, working to get her to my house so that we can meet up with the missionaries. I worked with her about 10 years ago and she always seemed interested in the Book of Mormon and other aspects of the gospel. The boss lady didn't like us talking religion, unless it was about her church.... so we mainly talked during lunch breaks, when she wasn't around. I lost contact with her after a few years. I have seen her twice now and have her phone number. Her husband remembered me by name and she said he had been wondering about me. I know there is interest there. I hope I have been a good example so that the gospel can be taught and I think they are ready!

That is exciting because in our ward, we have been having about 2-3 baptisms every month. Sometimes more. The kids are a little tired of going to baptisms but I think it is good for them.

So, there you have it, all my thoughts in a jumble. I know the gospel is true. I can't believe I have let myself become shy about sharing it again. I'm going to change that now. Having the gospel in my life is the most amazing thing. Nothing else can bring the peace and happiness it brings----

What have I done with summer?

Here is the ball court. We poured concrete last Saturday. It was quite the job, but the kids have a great time riding bikes on it and I know they will have a great time playing basketball, once we get a goal!, and tether ball out there.









We have been working hard around here. We finally started on our carport (here at the left--the lower portion in the vans parking place). Chad decided to also put in a basketball court(upper portion), with enough room for a tether ball pole also. We also have a lean-to in the works--for all of Chad's work stuff that shouldn't get wet, I want it all out of the pump house! So here are some pictures of the progress.









Here Chad is working on getting it as level as possible.










Here is a front view. Left is going to be the court and on the right will be the car port. The kids had a fun time placing their hand prints in the footings for the car port. It was Jesse's first hand prints and he wasn't sure he wanted to do it at first. Now he likes to point it out to us all the time.








Here is Jesse taking a break from 'working'. He thinks he is such a big kid!












A boy and his dog. Jesse loves his Bitsy!








The summer seemed to crawl along until all of the sudden, it is at an end. We went to the school
last night to meet the kid's teachers. It was a fun evening and the kids are, for the most part, excited about starting school Monday. I'm a little apprehensive about having only on child at home......it usually means I have to entertain more than I've had to do all summer!

I, on the other hand, have been dealing with some kind of infection. The Doc was pretty sure it is MRSA, an antibiotic resistant staph infection. The results from the culture are due any day now. Apparently, I've been carrying this not-so-lovely stuff for quite a while. It manifests itself on my skin as absesses (or boils). They are very painful and usually last a long time.

Thankfully, I found that Essential Oils work wonders on shortening the length of time for each sore.