We took our annual trip to North Carolina in July. It's always great fun. We visit Oak Island with some friends of ours-Mitzi, Erin,Jaxson, and Addison. Erin's family has been vacationing here every summer for the past 20 years. We now tag along for the fun. We all rent beach houses right in a row. Every night someone in Erin's family hosts dinner and lots of fun.

Oak Island is about 30minutes away from Wilmington, North Carolina. It is truly a vacation-there is nothing to do but play on the beach! From the moment JMU woke up, it was "let's go to the beach." We played in the water (which is as warm as the bath tub), gathered sea shells, looked out for sharks, and went ghost crabbing every night. The weather was pretty great the whole trip. (Apparently we missed some hurricane that was headed our way.)

I think these two deserve space to show their intelligence. You would never guess that their combined age is almost 80!

July 4th

Name that foot!

We spent the 4th of July at Kim & CJ's cabin. It was so much fun! Everyone was there-Granny, Gramps, K1,K2,K3,OK, Linda, Boyd, Robyn, Tom, A1, A2, ML. We spent the day eating, playing, and boating. The water was a bit choppy but CJ gave us a good ride in the tube. Thanks Kim & CJ for all the fun.

The boys show off their muscles for everyone. (They get the fine form from their mothers.) You would never guess that they are only 3 months apart in age.

OK! What a cutie! She loves the water & her gum.

I was sitting out on my patio the other night and realized it had the makings of a perfect night. The kids were riding their bikes in the circle. I could hear my neighbor cutting his grass. It was that perfect time of night when the sun is setting, the sky is skimming pink, and nothing more needs to be done for the day. I'm not a fan of the heat so summer is typically not my favorite season. But...I started thinking of all the great reasons to enjoy summer.

• Flip-flops. I think this could actually be the #1 reason. It's a great way to show off a pedicure and it stops JM & I's endless argument about shoes.
• Garden tomatoes. They are not ripe yet but just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
• Tremonton Corn. Enough said.
• My bike. It's cute & fun to ride. My new basket (thanks Robyn) makes it even better!
• Someone else doing my yard this summer. I can't begin to express how happy this has made me. I love my yard. I love planting and I love when the grass still has those neat lines in it from the lawn mower. But man does it take a lot of time to keep it up. So, I'm grateful this year to have someone else doing most of the work.
• Six year old boys in their swim trunks! They get that great tan and their hair turns all blond and cute.
• Early summer mornings. I love being outside before everyone else. It's a great time to just sit and have a minute.
• North Carolina. We love our annual beach trip!

Let's start at the very beginning....

Ok, the time has come to get this blog functional, if only to get Kim off my back. I had a willing subject today so I had to seize the opportunity for a photo shoot. I asked JM to go put on some "pocket pants and a button-up shirt" and much to my surprise he said "ok." So, I bought him some gelato and we were off. We went to my favorite "secret church" and had a great time. He even found a dead fish-the highlight of the afternoon. (Hey, I take whatever I can get.)

I was trying out a new lens to see how it would work. The new lens has shown me that I need a new tripod. What a great learning day!