Anderson is stuck inside - he really really want to get in the water but he has to

wait until someone will go with him.

Every pool needs a cute pool boy - crack and all.

Tyson lives in the pool - loves it. Here he imitates an immersion blender.

OK, I'm ready to swim. Come on! Someone come outside with me so I can swim!!

Chillin'

Boys Being Boys

KK started the summer off afraid of being in the water without one of those floats that he could sit in. He's come a long way. I love how his big brother helps and teaches him. Now it's floaties only and brave jumps off rocks. He tired a back flip - scared us all to death as his face came very close to the rocks. We have restricted his back flip activities until he gets better. Now Tyson is another story. That boy is a daredevil and can pull of pretty much whatever he tries.

The signs of Summer

The pool

is the gathering place during the hot days of summer. Actually it gets used a lot all year. Just like animals in the wild gather around water, my family loves to swim. The Hatnots are the biggest pool users. I can usually count on them to come once a week or so. I LOVE seeing people enjoy the back yard. It makes my heart happy. We've hosted several parties for the ward, the YW, and the neighborhood where the plan was for food and fun. The pool figures into that every time. I'm so lucky to have it.

Dog Days

OK, anyone who knows me understands that I love my animals. Vicki once said she'd like to be reincarnated as one of my pets because they are spoiled to the max. I've gotten a little better of the years - no more trips through the McDonald's drive thru for happy meals - but I still manage to keep them happy. I think a home needs a pet

to be complete, whether it is a hamster, a dog, or even a goat. Animals bring out the love and caring part of people and teach kids responsibility.

We currently house two dogs and a cat - although Zelda refuses to come into the house. Boo was adopted from the Town Lake animal shelter. Beezer choose him and named him. Luke came to visit while his family moves to Ireland and we're hoping he'll get to stay in Texas with us. The two are best buddies and always together.

At first Luke - the weimaraner - was a little scary to the kids. He's a big dog. But no more. In fact KK told me that Boo can be my dog and Luke is his.

They ran away together once - I found them a few miles away, tired and sore. They willingly got into the car (very unusual behavior for Boo since he knows he's in trouble) When we got home Luke headed to the pool to cool down and Boo laid spread eagle on the tiles. Then the slept so peacefully. It was a very quiet afternoon.

Camp Cooky

When I was first asked to be camp cook for girls camp my response was "yes - if I can get my mom to help". Poor mom. The camp renamed her the energy bunny. She never seemed to wear out. I, on the other hand, wore out regularly.

We cooked 3 meals a day for 200 people, and even provided some late night snacking and helped with a couple of required activities - like making trail mix. There were 3 of us to start with, but two of the stake leaders took pity on us and helped out. Our days usually started around 6:30am and ended close to 11pm.

I cut out cute aprons for the job and mom sewed them together when I got frustrated with my sewing machine. Loved those aprons. I still use mine - it's reversible, bright, and has pockets. Everything an apron should have.

At night we were allowed to sleep in the RV. Wonderful! We were the only ones at camp with A/C and protection from bugs. It would have been even nicer if we had time to enjoy it . Before going I pictured being done around 8, sneaking off to watch a little TV, pop some corn, and put my feet up. Nope.

The crew that came to cook after us brought 25 workers. I guess our 3 full time and 2 part time were a little short sighted.

When camp was over I was exhausted. It took days to stop waking in the middle of the night and worrying about getting breakfast done. One day - weeks after camp - I panicked because I couldn't remember making biscuits . I called Mom. She couldn't remember making them either. We both remember serving them with gravy. Maybe the biscuit fairy came along and helped out.

After a month I finally got feeling back in most of my fingers. Next year - if they'll have me - I'll plan better.

Beezer

Jazz Fest - eating is part of the reason to go!!

These are the shoes of a hard working man.

He actually shaved the other day and I didn't even notice. So silly of me.

His boss commented on how good he looked and I had to go home and see for myself.

Had to include info on My Baby Boy - the youngest of the Bills' clan. Beezer is working hard these days - making sport courts and running tracks. He leaves early and often drags in late, but still finds time for fun. I'm pretty proud of him.

Lets ALL go to the Baseball Game

Anderson wondering what the fuss is about

Dani came to cheer to for her cousin

Papa made almost every game - as did KK.

And the All Star of it all - TYSON!!

So far I haven't found a sport he can't excel at.

It was fun supporting the Hatnot guys in baseball this season. I didn't get to see many games but Papa saw almost every one. Tyson is, of course, the best!! John and Tanna and Dani came to a few, and I got to see a few. Tyson made the All Stars and so the season was stretched into the summer. I can see why Baseball became America's pass-time. It was so peaceful sitting there listening to the parents root for the team, and watching the game. It reminded me of the days my own kids played.

Tom and Jim

Jim's daughter contacted me this week. It was great to remember that there is family out there I sometimes overlook. All this got me thinking about Tom and I wanted to post my favorite picture of Tom and his brother Jim. Jim was the quieter of the two - at least that's how I remember it. Tom was always full of jokes. Those stories and jokes will love through the ages as we tell the stories to our children.

Dani chooses Papa's next Car

For any outing you have to look your best. Dani prepares with a manicure and pedicure!

Then it was off to the auto show to help Papa find a new car. She really got interested in the displays, especially the sports car. She got to play with a race track and explore the car.

I think her dad liked the motorcycle more than she did - once she knew she could not sit on it.

When it was time to get down to business I got to hang with Dani and we visited almost every car in the show. At one point she took a salesperson by the hand an dragged her off to look at things without me. Who could resist Dani? I can't.

At first she sat in the front seats - then we found a car with video screens in the back seats and after that she approved or disapproved of each model judging by whether or not they offered movies.

Finally we shared Dippin Dot ice cream then headed off with Papa and John for Chicken in a Cone on South Congress.

Ice Cream Social

Danny decided we needed a good ol' ice cream churn off at our house one weekend. We planned for a few weeks and sent out invites to everyone - church, friends, neighbors etc. I make 10 gallons of ice cream in flavors ranging from chocolate marshmallow to habanero. We had a lot of people there but of course I didn't take pictures. I did, however, capture one of the experimental days when KK helped me make the ice cream and Anderson was my taste tester.

Anderson started off trying to eat with a spoon but then really got into the spirit of the thing. After that - it was bath time. The fun part was - it was KK's ice cream. He has set it down and Anderson made his way over there and finished it off before KK knew what had happened.

Anderson approved - the Vanilla was a big hit.

Happy Fathers day!

The whole family gathered to help celebrate Danny on Father's day. He got to play dominos and games, listen to his grandchildren, open gifts, and hang out in the Man Cave. What more could a man ask?

Yum! Bacon.

Danny got Bacon popcorn and Bacon mayonaise. And a cooler that plugs into the usb port on the computer and keeps one tab cold at a time.

Jelly anyone?

You start with grapes - over 100 pounds of them gathered by my sweet husband from the trees at the ranch. I would not gather the grapes myself because those same trees are full of really big spiders - Danny is much braver. And Josh helped.

Boil the grapes, stems and all, to get the juices out. And boy did I get a lot of juice.

Add 75 pounds of sugar and a lot of pectin and now I have jelly, and jam, and juice. I bottles 72 bottles I think. Pretty yummy. I tried grape - grape/cherry - grape/cherry/strawberry - peach/strawberry - and a few others.

Flood Waters in Back Yard

It rained this year in Austin. A lot. This is a shot of our back area - note the brown water? There is not usually any water out there. On this day we had a river. It was cool, but we worried that the fruit trees would get waterlogged and die. Nope, they're fine. Hmmm, maybe this is when the goldfish arrived.

How did he GET there?

We have this shallow indentation in the ground we dug to prevent rain runoff from the neighborhood from flooding the back area. It only holds water during really heavy rains. A week or so ago Beezer found dozens of goldfish floating - dead - in the evaporating shallow water. After a few days, and a lot of sun, he found this little carcass in the mud. I'm wondering how the fish came to be in the "pond" in the first place and what I can do to save any future fishies from drying out.