Happy Birthday Annie

It has been quite a week. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it. Jacob started Kindergarten, which he seems to like just fine. Annie went back to pre-school. We also celebrated Annie's 4th birthday. She had her first friends-only birthday party, which was a lot of fun for her. Lots of girls, doing lots of "girly" things. Hopefully I'll get back on track with taking more pictures soon.

Montana Vacation

We took a second vacation this summer (what a great thing!). The family headed up to Montana to enjoy the scenery, cooler temperatures and all the activites that the state has to offer. We mostly stayed in Missoula, where Brian and I lived while he was getting his master's degree. It was a fun trip back, and we realized that we like the city as much as we did 10 years ago. Brian fished the Clark Fork River, which runs right through Missoula, and we spent time walking the park along the river and through the downtown. We did take a jaunt up to Whitefish and the Glacier National Park. While in Glacier, Brian fished the Flathead River & Lake MacDonald. The kids and I did a hike and took the shuttle up "Going-to-the-Sun" road to Logan's Pass. While in the park, we saw a moose, big-horn sheep, a marmont and lots of deer. All around, another great vacation.

The Sweatland Clan

Aunt Sandy

Grandma, Papa, Annie, Jacob

Papa and Jacob

Papa & Annie

Grandma, Papa, Jacob & Annie on the Porch

Cousins Erik & Elisabeth along with Annie & Jacob

We've finished the visit with family - this time with the Sweatlands of Abilene, Kansas. We mostly went to the pool and hung around visiting. We did take one very neat excursion to the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve & Z Bar Ranch. The grasslands were strikingly beautiful, and one could imagine buffalo herds by the thousands there (before Americans settled it). Anyway, we wrapped up a very nice vacation with family. Thanks to everyone!

The McVay Clan

Grandpa John, Grandma Linda, Carrie, Jake & Annie

Grandpa John & Jake & Annie

Aunt Annie & Annie

Johnnie & Jake

Uncle Mike, Johnnie, Jake & Annie

We've had some good time with the McVay family over the past week. First, my dad and Linda came up to Page. We stopped by the Grand Canyon and Sedona on our way down to meet up with Aunt Annie. After a rendez-vous in Phoenix, the kids and I flew to Kansas City to see Uncle Mike, Aunt Kathy & cousins, Kelli and Johnnie. It's been a whirlwind of family, which is a nice change of pace for us. We're still out of town, visiting the Sweatland side of the family, but I'll post those pictures later.

Happy 4th

We had a nice holiday weekend with lots of swimming & sun. On the 4th, we went to the parade (the pictures), had a small BBQ at our house, and watched the fireworks go off. The pictures are from the parade. The top is Jacob & Adam, the middle is Eve & Annie, and the Kirchner family plus Jacob & Annie in the bottom picture. Jacob and Annie's reaction to having "bunny ears" is typical of their personalities.

More Lake Powell

No surprises - we spent the weekend on the water. On Saturday, we went to the Chains, instead of our usual Lone Rock beach. (the bottom picture) The Chains is closer, is more sandstone than sand, and is far less crowded. We ran into some friends there and spent the time swimming and laying about. Brian brought his fishing pole, made a few casts, gave-up, and jumped into the water. On Sunday, Jyn & Chris, and their daughter Lauren, invited us out on their boat. Brian was off on a hike with the park botanist to find an endemic species, so just the kids and I went. We spent about 8 hours on the lake and could have spent even more. All three kids spent 90% of the time swimming or rafting in the water. (They only came out to eat.) They were all brave enough to go tubing behind the boat, as well. It was very relaxing. And many thanks to Jyn - she was such a sport the entire day, considering she has a lingering bout of morning sickness.

Jake on the diving board

Jacob has been taking swimming lessons this summer. One day, all the kids in his group were instructed to jump off the diving board and swim to the side. He was so proud of himself for doing it, that we came back to the pool later that afternoon and he jumped off the diving board for an hour straight. Not wanting to leave Annie out, I snapped a video of her jumping off the side of the pool. Of course, she has a Barbie-doll, clad in a stylish swimsuit, in hand.