The big payoffs for growing up as the only girl with four brothers clearly come during adulthood. What a great weekend we all had together for Tyler and Chelsea's visit. I don't think I will ever stop being amazed at how well my brothers married. My sister's in law fascinate me. They are all four strong women with very distinct personalities, tastes, and preferences. At first I loved them because they loved my brothers. Now I love them because I have discovered what incredible individuals they are. I love Stacy's confidence, Jill's complete lack of "woosiness", Kimberly's poise and class and Chelsea's focus and ambition.

Friday night we all went to dinner as adults (all Rippy's love Thai) and then back to Mom and Dad's to talk and laugh and eat ice cream. Hainsworths watched my kids and even let us crash at their house for the night. What would we do without them.

Saturday Grandma took the little girls to the mall to the "Build-a-Bear" store where they all got to pick out a stuffed animal and outfit. The girls LOVED it. We also spent a bit of time shoe shopping at the Nordstrom Rack. As much as I hate shopping in malls, I have to admit that shoe shopping unites women.

While the women bonded over shoes, The guys went to play minature golf and race go-carts. Apparently Max scored two holes in one. We met up at Riverfront park for picnic lunch, a walk to the falls and of course, a ride on the carousel. It was perfect weather and other than the fact that it was gay pride day at the park, the scenery was beautiful. That evening the guys squeezed in another waterski at Long Lake while the kids had water-balloon fights and the moms and babies rested.

Sunday after church we had the pleasure of hosting Natalie, the Kolb's Swedish exchange student, and her parents for lunch before they flew out. The discrepency between hick mormon families with 5 kids and classy European professionals with one kid was gratefully overshadowed by their overwhelming kindness. I think the Kolbs are amazing for hosting Natalie this semester and I know Natalie had a life changing experience.

We met back at Cameron's for dinner on Sunday for delicious ribs and homemade ice cream. We took family pictures and enjoyed Cam and Jill's new house. I put Dad on the spot and asked him to say a few words. He pretty much summed up what I had been feeling all weekend. It is such a blessing to be in a family that just gets along. What makes it even better is that because of the blessings of the gospel, we can continue to have these happy get togethers forever-eternally. I could tell Mom and Dad were genuinely happy. Having my kids get along makes me happy. It must be extra special when it includes spouses and children.

We had such a busy weekend that I was very glad to have my summer schedule ready to go Monday morning. It helped immensely that the weather was beautiful and the pool opened on time. We had chores done, scriptures read and lunches packed by 9:00. The kids had piano lessons and played until lunch, had mandatory reading hour without complaint and then were off to the pool. The snack shack opened at three and was a big success. I loved that no one asked for food all day because the KITCHEN WAS CLOSED!

Today was Tuesday Field trip day. We started with a visit to a prosthetics office to assess the possibility of a helmet to straighten out Marcos' head. Despite the fact that he has a head surface you could literally eat off of, the helmet people report he has good symmetry and his flat spot is not considered severe. Lucky Marcos--now he won't have to wear that hot helmet all summer. We'll just have to compensate with good haircuts.

We spent the rest of the morning hiking at the Dishman Mica trail. I stepped back just for a minute and tried to etch in my mind the picture of my 5 kids walking through the beautiful forest with the light filtering through the pine trees on their heads. They were walking close to each other listening intently as Wilson told them a story from his self described "intense imagination." That moment is exactly what I think summer should be about. We finished our hike with a picnic a the park and then ran a few more errands. We visited the Museum of Arts and Culture to fill in a little time before our movie. I don't think the kids enjoyed the art, but it was good exposure, even for a few brief moments. We ended our day with a movie at the dollar theatre and enjoyed popcorn and root beer floats for dinner. Tony was on call tonight so I let the boys swim while I put the little ones to bed. I let the big boys put themselves to bed and went for a moonlight run (reason #4576 why I love living in a small town).

It's been a great start to summer.