Danny, Katie, and the Kids: July iMoments

Just a typical Saturday afternoon. I love how Joey thinks he's playing too. :)

Sophie had treats for FHE, so she researched a recipe and made them almost entirely on her own! Strawberry shortcake cupcakes. They were delicious!

My little yogi...he totally rocks "downward dog". :)

Our good friends the Ellsworth are, well, braver than us! They took in two Chinese foreign exchange students for a few weeks in July. Their family loved the experience! The Chinese boys really wanted to swim, so we invited them over to the school for a BBQ and had a great time. They ate so much food!! And the older boy, "Wilson", really loved Joey. It was a great experience for our kids to interact with other children from another country and culture.

Joey is so into weapons. In fact, everything is a weapon! With the sound effects to go with it. He's such a boy! The light saber is his favorite right now, and he goes around hitting everyone with it all day long. He's such a crack up!

Joey and his joey. :)

I made a passing comment to Grandma Call about how cute it would be to have a section of the garden for every grandkid. Well, she took me literally! Now we have "Claire's Cantaloupe"...

...and "Sophie's Sunflowers"...

...and "John's Beanstalk" (because he helped to plant them)...

...and of course "Poseph's Pumpkins"!

We are so spoiled having our own private pool. It really is the best. We had so much fun having Isabelle, Eli, and Ava over to swim.

And getting 50 cent ice cream cones at McDonald's afterwards was summertime perfection.

Danny found a scholarship at work for the girls to attend a STEM Camp (science, technology, engineering, and math). They had a wonderful time! They made slime and bouncy balls, made a computer circuit, and even played with a robot named Dash. They can't wait to do it again!

There really are benefits to Facebook. :) When Danny saw that his cousin's husband was coming to do an organ recital at Temple Square, he cleared his Sunday afternoon and we took the family. It was incredible! David is an organ professor at Kansas State. He first showed the audience the unique acoustic properties of the Tabernacle, and then he performed a number of organ pieces that showed the variety and breadth of what the Tabernacle organ can do. It was phenomenal, and we are so glad we went!

Joey is a child unlike any of our others! The older he gets the more destructive, inquisitive, cute, and naughty he gets! And we love him for it. :)

Johnny had the treat for FHE, and since Pioneer Day was only a week away he searched through the friend for an appropriately themed treat. His covered wagons were so much fun to make and eat!

Coleman Orthodontics Patient Appreciation Party! When we saw how many people were there, we got to thinking that maybe Danny missed his calling and should have become an orthodontist! ;)

Once upon a time, we lived in Orem and just had one (or two) cute little girls. We had these good friends, the Hulberts. We introduced the Hulberts to the greatest sci-fi show of all time...Stargate SG-1! Now, all these years later, the students have become the masters. We were invited to the 25th anniversary party for the first time the team walked through the gate...and it was awesome! I made Jaffa Cupcakes, complete with the Apophis symbol. We had a wonderful time with old friends and new friends!

If it wasn't crazy enough to end up meeting and becoming friends with the family that built our house, it turns out we're family!! The Damianos stopped by to see the house on their way through town, and in the course of conversation we discovered that Danny and Jared are cousins through Danny's Lovell line. The crazy connections never seem to stop! The Damianos are about the coolest people you could ever meet.

Our weekly shopping trip was better with a 50 cent ICEE from Sam's Club. There was no way I was going to give Joey his own, but Sophie was a sweet sister and was happy to share. :)

It was very, very belated...but we finally got Claire out for her birthday lunch! Per our tradition, we tried somewhere new and ordered some fun food. Claire had to have her calamari...this time paired with fried artichokes. Definitely among the best calamari Danny and I have had.

Claire is such a little foodie-in-embryo, and we had so much fun sharing lunch with her! Can't believe she's already ten years old!

Danny had a business trip to St. Louis this month. As much has we miss him when he's gone, it was a cool trip for him. He got to stay in the same hotel that we stayed in as a family on our way to Georgia, and he had time to do a session in the St. Louis Temple. It's a beautiful temple!

The harvest is beginning in earnest! Danny taught the kids how to prepare a brine for cucumbers like his grandparents used to do. They weren't so much a fan of the sweet-vinegary cucumbers slices, but Danny and I sure were! They'll grow into it, I'm sure. They're Calls after all!

I hate car-carts. But the kids insisted we let Joey try it out. It was worth the photo-op if nothing else. :)

So Danny called me to be one a Gospel Doctrine teacher. This year's curriculum is the Doctrine and Covenants...which is intimidating in it's own right. But next year is Old Testament!!

Fresh corn on the cob is always Johnny's favorite part of the harvest. :)

We love our Sunday visits with Great Grandma Call. Danny has often told us of his memories of going over every Sunday evening, and his grandparents would have ice cream cones for the kids. We also know how much Great Grandma loves black licorice...and we've been dying to try Red Button's black licorice ice cream! So we decided to bring the ice cream cones to Great Grandma's this time, and she LOVED the black licorice! We're so blessed and so grateful to have this wonderful woman in our life.