Hiatus is OVER!

OK - so I have had a very long hiatus from blogging and to be honest (it's been really good for me).  I spent a lot of great time with my family this summer and instead of blogging and posting about it, I was able to LIVE IT and ENJOY IT!!!  (no dig to others who are able to do both really well----It just was nice for me to take a break from the computer for a while)

So, here's a quick June catch-up:

 Hailey got her ears pierced!  She won a big music contest and to celebrate afterwards, she picked out a pretty pair of blue earrings!

 Hailey was chosen to submit a composition that she wrote on the piano for her Let's Play Music Class.  Her teacher submitted it (along with all other teachers across the nation) and Hailey won "Best Overall Piece."  We were SO proud of her!!!

 She was invited to come to the National Convention in Mesa and perform her piece for all the music teachers.  They gave her a standing ovation and it was an amazing experience for her!

 We also went and supported Maya and Nate in their Musical Theater Performance.  They are awesome singers and dancers!

 My Mom and Dad were also able to come visit for a while which was super fun for us!! (Mary Kay is about 7 months pregnant!)

 Kelsey was able to go to EFY in Flagstaff with a terrific group of kids.  She had a blast and was able to receive some great inspiration that helped her make some important decisions for high school.  

 Father's Day was just plain fun . . . my kids have the best dad ever!

 One of my favorite weeks in June was when I was able to fly to Utah by myself and help my sweet mother in law with her recovery from her chemo treatment.  We spent 4 days together and both she and I will never forget the laughter, tears, stories, dark chocolate sea salt caramel sundaes, and even make-up shared that weekend!

 We spent literally HOURS sifting through letters, journal entries, pedigree charts, photos, etc. of her personal and family history.  The stories we found were so inspiring and the long-sought search for information for a particular family ancestor came right at the end, which was the icing on the cake for us!

 This is a photo of Tom's Father.  I think it looks a lot like Tom!

 Then, just 10 days after I flew home from Utah, I turned around and drove back with Hailey and Spencer to be with Mary for another week.  We stopped at the St. George temple and even visited Brigham Young's Winter Home which was really cool!

 They got to see the actual chair that was painted in that portrait!

 Here is that chair.

 While Hailey and I took care of Grandma Chamberlain, Spencer went off to BYU Football Camp.  This was his first year and he was able to spend the night and hang out with his buddies, Dallin and Zach Everton from our ward.

 Here is Dallin, our Bishop (Jared), and Zach Everton.  These are some our closest friends.  We absolutely LOVE the Evertons!

 After dropping Spencer off, I had to show Hailey where I rehearsed Dance (and basically spent most of my time at BYU).  I just HAD to take a picture of the mirror that I looked into sooooo many times to make sure my costume fit just right!  It felt like yesterday I was there.  How does 20+ years fly by so quickly???

Of course, I had to show them that my poster was still hanging up in the Folk Dance Room!  ha ha!

 On Sunday night of Football Camp, there was a fireside given by Bronco Mendenhall that parents were invited to.  It was great to hear him speak and the boys were able to meet him afterwards!

 This is my dear friend, Jill Everton, with her girls Ellie, Audrey, and Claire.  SO cute!

 Tom's mom felt up to going out to eat, so we went to the Pizza Factory.  The kids enjoyed some crazy yummy breadsticks while Mary and I ate veggie pasta (which was also really yummy!)

 The kids and I helped put stickers on boxes for Alex's wedding reception.  

Mary was so wonderful.  She did her best, despite feeling terrible, to make it fun for the kids.  They love her no matter what!  It was an honor to be able to spend so much time with her this summer.

At the end of the week, we packed up our things from Tom's mother's house and headed up to the mountains to stay in Midway for a week to endure yet another year of . . . Stadium of Fire!!!! 

  . . . . to be continued . . .