The Past Month

We had to say good-bye to two really good friends of ours. In early June, Steve and Mandaree left to go back to Alaska for two years to work and take care of her parents' house while they leave for a mission. We were so sad when they left. We became such good friends with them. We were doing stuff almost every weekend together. Steve and Michael became pretty good buds. I really appreciated Steve's example to him. They both kind of have a laid back humor and lifestyle with a strong dedication to the gospel. Who knows maybe we'll see them soon. The end of June, Adam and Erica moved to Missouri for school and work. We became really good friends with them also. They were so generous with having barbecues at their house (Adam is a great cook on the grill) just to hang out or for football games. They both have such an inviting spirit about them. We sure are missing both couples already!



Shalom LOVES talking on the phone! Occasionally, she'll call people from my phone and hang up, which I'm sure is a little annoying to some people. She can already navigate her way around the phone to watch videos, look at pictures, or play games. I've definitely created a monster. (Oh, and there's Roxy, in the background, playing in the water.)




Father's Day was pretty low key. We went to the pool at a friend's apartment so Shalom could go swimming with her daddy. They are so sweet together.



Fourth of July weekend, the whole family went to Dallas for the baby blessing of Brent's second baby, Camilla Kay. It was pretty amazing ALL 22 of us were there for the blessing so, of course, we had to get a family picture. (Somehow I'm gonna have to photshop a picture of my mom smiling.) Brent gave such a sweet blessing for Camilla. They are such a sweet family. I wish I could visit with them more often. It was a lot of fun, though, riding from Shreveport to Dallas with Amy, Judd, and their kids. Shalom might've been a little annoying with her constant screaming, but nonetheless it was a lot of fun hanging out with them. We were so close to getting In-N-Out Burger in Dallas, but the wait was 20 minutes. Go figure. Man, Amy and I were so excited, but somebody didn't want to wait that long. Oh well. It was fun hanging out and bonding in the car with them. It was a quick and whirlwind of a weekend, but it was super fun and special to be with everyone!


Trying to get a picture of Big Daddy and Grandma with their grandkids was next to impossible. It was pretty hilarious with screaming babies, well mine, and others trying to escape.



The day before, on Saturday, most of us met up at a swimming park. It was such a cool place with a huge kiddie area for swimming with slides and water guns, a smaller swimming area, a loop pool, a diving board area, and a big slide....all for just $3. Needless to say, we had a blast, and we've already got a little swimmer on our hands. She's already jumping out of our arms to swim on her own. She is so fearless.