Wow! Where did the summer go. Andre’, Aliya, and Anthony went back to school today! I can’t believe how fast 7 weeks flew by.

We had an amazing summer full of family and friends! My sister, Amy and her kids - Cassidy, Whitney, Mason and Malory - My mom and dad, my other sister, Emily and her daughter Aspen all came for Anthony’s baptism on July 5th. Amy and her family stayed until the 10th. We did nothing but lounge around by/in the pool and laughing (our favorite pass time). It was great!

Aliya played Volleyball for the city. Andre’ went to basketball camp and is currently on a city basketball team. We’ve stayed pretty busy.

We just got back from California. That was a blast! It was a family reunion with Kevin’s mom’s side of the family. The Leishman’s. The last time we had seen all these people was eight years ago. Anthony was just a few weeks old. So some of their children were on missions, just home from or just about to go and now most of them are married with children. It was really fun to see them all again and hear about what changes in life everyone had gone through.

Day 1: We celebrated Grandma Balch’s Birthday. We spent the day on an air-filled slip n’ slide. They put dish soap on it to make it more slippery. What talent! Later that day we went swimming and had a BBQ followed by cake and ice cream and a DVD of our last reunion. Everyone grew up and it was painful realizing just how old I am!

Day 2: Boating. Uncle Dale rented a Party Barge! We relaxed and talked on the barge while others were wake boarding and tubing. We had Subway sandwiches for lunch both days. We snacked on chips, cookies, watermelon and grapes.

Day 3: More boating. Some crazy kids decided to sleep on the barge so they could be the first on the water the next morning.

A little extra: I went for a tube ride with Andre’, Anthony and Aliya. Cody (AKA: Flame-on dude from Fantastic 4) was driving the boat. His intentions were to throw us off the tubes. It was in sane! Every once in a while I would catch glimpses of my children’s body parts bouncing and flailing around, but no one fell off. At different times Aliya and Anthony hung on with only one arm. Aliya is skin and bones. A little muscle. Anthony is 8, but looks 6. They both should have been fish food. I later asked Anthony how he was able to hang on so tight. He said, “Well I just didn’t want to end up in that water with the sharks.” Yikes! I guess he thought he would be shark bait. I explained to him that sharks are only in the ocean, not lakes. He felt better!

Day 4: Drive to Vallejo CA. We checked into the Hotel and then headed down to San Francisco to pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf. We did some shopping. Kev, Kelly and Andre’ bought these ridiculous bug eye sunglasses to wear to Six Flags the next day. (Watch for pictures) Ridiculous! Aliya bought a cute hat and some stylin’ sunglasses. Anthony got a crazy rubber cap that has spikes. It’s ridiculous too! (All in a bad way). We ate dinner at Bubb Gump Shrimp Co. We sat next to a window that looked straight out to Alcatraz. It was Ridiculous! (In a good way!)

Day 5: Six Flags, BABY! Yeah! Need I say more.

Day 6: Drive home to Surprise, Arizona.

We were so anxious to get home and see Toby. We had left him home and asked some girls to come over to feed him and play with him twice a day. He was stressed out, but he survived.

It’s good to be home. Strange to be back in school again already. Life is good! Couldn’t ask for anything more!

Thanks to the Uncle’s who were constantly snapping pictures!

July 15th - 19th was Girls Camp. I was the 2nd Year Cert. Leader. I was stressed about going. I thought I was prepared. I was not. It still turned out to be a very rewarding experience. It’s always a little scary going anywhere and being confined with all females! You know what I’m talking about. We’re sooooo moody. Fine and happy one minute, sad and lonely the next, then happy, then angry all for apparently no reason at all.

This was my fear. That I would witness all these weird emotions of girls all around me. Having to be a mediator between three girls because one of them was feeling left out or they weren’t including her in their conversation.

None of that happened! It was a very enjoyable experience. I met and got to know some amazing women! I had fun listening to their stories of past camp experiences.

We had a secret sister night. I was informed that I had a secret sister and that’s about it. I didn’t know how much to spend or what type of gift to get, so since I usually go way overboard, I settled for a pair of foot-softening booties and called it good. I put them in a nice bag with tissue paper and stuffed it in my duffel bag.

Oh, was I embarrassed when gift after gift was worth probably 40-50 bucks! I spent $10. I guess I should have done my usual overboard and got the toe nail clippers, 5 different shades of polish, lotions and bath gels. Plus the bag and tissue paper got cremated in my duffel bag and had to use a rubber band to hold it together!

We were also supposed to get some funny stories about our secret sisters too. That didn’t work out too well either. I called and talked to her son, but she was in the room and the phone only worked in that room. So I just asked him a series of “Yes” and “No” questions and told him to pretend I was a friend asking him about a girl. Didn’t work out very well. He did say, “She’s pretty solid!”

I have known this woman for several years and I have always admired her. So it was easy for me to get up and say some things that I already knew about the type of person she was. It turned out that a lot of people knew her well too and wanted to share a few funny stories that they knew. It turned out alright. I apologized for the booties and not getting her a Porche. She was very understanding!

For the grand finale of the camp experience: Testimony night! Always a highlight of girls camp. Bishop had invited all the husbands to ride up with him and spend the evening with us. None of the others could make it so he had each of them write a letter so he could bring it up to us. After testimony meeting Bishop passed out the goodies. I got a box! A box full of goodies! A family photo similar to the one on our title page, Swedish Fish and gummy worms. And a letter to put all others to shame!!! The most lovely loving words I have ever heard! It made my week!

I am the luckiest! I also posted at findingmyedward.com - W.W.E.D.? What would Edward do?

The first post of our family blog!

Dedicated to share the wild, crazy, hilarious, devastating issues that go on in life with the world. Or at least all of our family and friends!

Here we go!