August 22

Only one week until school starts. We're all getting excited. We've gone shoe and clothes shopping. We just need to do school supplies and lunch boxes this week. I had fun going school shopping for Rachel this time because she's starting to care a little about what she looks like and wants to get cute things, not just comfortable things.

We had sickness at our house this week. I took Danny to the dr on Monday and he had a sinus infection. Then I took Seth in Wednesday for an ear infection. Now I have an eye infection and maybe sinus infection. I need to go in tomorrow. Also Seth has a well check tomorrow so I'll get 2 doctor appointments tomorrow and all three kids go to the dentist in the afternoon. The good thing about all the appointments we've had is that school is still out so I can get a babysitter to come watch the kids who don't have to go to the doctor.

Hopefully we'll all get healthy and be able to do more fun things this week before school starts. We'd like to go to the Springs Preserve and Silver Mesa one more time.

We signed both boys up for soccer. Aaron misses the deadline to play by two weeks. But if Bob coached, they'd let him play. So Bob signed up. And Danny is going to be his assistant. So all the boys are excited. And I'm going to sign Rachel up for Tennis tomorrow. Jaclyn is going to do it to. Hopefully she'll have fun with it and not complain that it's too hard or makes her legs hurt.

Seth went to his second nursery today. He doesn't like it. He cries like crazy as soon as we leave. I hope he gets over that soon.

August 15

Last weekend we were at Bryce canyon for the Woolley family reunion. Everyone came to our house on Thursday and then we all drove to Zions and rode the tram and did the little hike to the entrance of the Narrows. We played in the water and had lunch and then walked back. Then we continued on to Bryce. We had cabins rented the first night. We had a campfire and the kids ran around with cousins. The next day it rained and was cold most of the day. Bob and my siblings and their spouses tried to hike in Bryce canyon, but they got really wet. We went swimming in the indoor pool and we hung out under the pavilion with everyone and tried to stay warm. That night it cleared up and we sat around the campfire and listened to the brothers and grandma Donna share memories and watched some family movies on the projector. That night we slept in Teepees. Seth did really well in the cabin, but not so much in the teepee. Sunday we got up and had breakfast then drove home. Everyone came back to our house Monday for Girls Day. We went shopping, had massages and went to see a show. I just did the shopping though. That was our last trip of the summer, though, so it's a little sad that summer is getting over. We still need to go to Disneyland in the next month, though, to use our free tickets.

We have sickness going around our family again. Danny and Rachel got sick on Wednesday. Rachel got better quickly, but Danny has had fevers and is still a little sick. Today I'm home with all the kids from church. Seth got it Friday night and Aaron woke up this morning with a runny nose. Rachel is the only one who isn't sick, but they were all playing so well this morning that I let her stay home too and only Bob went. We watched "The Testaments" movie while Seth was having his nap instead.

Friday night was the Daddy Daughter campout. Rachel and Bob had a good time. The boys and I had a boy party at home. We went to Blockbuster and got Star Wars Episode 1. We got slushies at Circle K and had macaroni and cheese for dinner. Then we watched the movie and had candy and popcorn.

Bob and I keep telling Rachel that she can't get any older, but she isn't obeying. We sure love her. She is such a kind, fun, beautiful girl. She loves to be with her family and friends, she's always thinking of things she can create and she has such a strong testimony and sense of who she is.

Rachel turned seven on Saturday. She had a birthday party at our house again this year. The girls had pizza and cupcakes and made bracelets. Bob loved his young audience and was cracking jokes all over the place. And the girls thought he was hilarious. Bob was in heaven! He also entertained by playing "rolling log" with them and letting all the little girls jump over him.

Between all her grandparents and friends, Rachel ended up raking in over $100 this year. And she is not a saver. So after her party, Rachel and I went to Target. She wasn't interested in saving any of her money, she knew exactly what she wanted: a huge hamster house for her zhu zhu hamsters. The kids have all been playing with it constantly since it was set up.

We're still just waiting to find out more about Debbie's house. They won't even list it for a few weeks and then we need to see if anyone will put a better offer than ours. I'll just have to be patient. Because then even if we get to put our offer in, we'll still have to wait months to see if the banks approve.

August 1

We stayed at Mandalay Bay this week on Thursday night. We had a great time. The kids and I checked in at 3 and Bob came straight from work just a little after that. We went down to the pools then. They have a wave pool, kid pool and lazy river. There was something for everyone. And Seth loved it too. All summer he's tolerated swimming, but never had much fun and never lasts more than 45 minutes. But he was great the whole 2 1/2 hours we were there. Then we went back to our room and ate PB sandwiches and got a pay per view kid movie. We went to bed about 9:00. The next morning we got up and ate and were back at the pool at 8:00. We swam until 10:30 and then went back and got dressed and checked out. Everyone fell asleep on the way home.

Monday night we went to another 51s baseball game. This time we left a little later and it just wasn't as hot that day, so it was much more enjoyable. They have $1 food at the concession stand on Mondays; the kids thought that was great. Seth has discovered that he can run out of the grassy area, though. So he's not so easy to keep with us.

We went yesterday to the party store to get things for Rachel's birthday. She is definitely her own person. We went down the girly isle and she chose fish for her plates and cups, but they didn't have any invitations. So I talked her into some pretty pink butterfly ones. Then she decided she didn't want to do a pinata, she just wanted to do gift bags. So we went down the little trinket isle to pick things to go in the bags. I pointed out some glitter bracelets and necklaces and other things; but she chose rubber snakes--that's all. She just wants snakes and candy in the bags. I love that girl.

We met with Heidi, the realtor, this week. Things are still looking positive. We qualified for the loan amount we'll need and we kept getting compliments on our credit score. That felt nice. They are going to start the selling process at the end of August because if they start before that they think there's a chance it'll go through before Christmas and neither of us want that. And they have to open the house up for other offers at that time, but the realtor will try to deter that. So hopefully no one will put a better offer than ours. And we'll just wait now for the next month and see what happens in September.