The kids are so so so fun, they make my jaw hurt because I clench my jaw because I love them so much.  Coy is ROCKIN’ IT!   I love that boy so so much.  We were able to attend a concert at the U of U that culminated madrigal retreat, which was a 3 day workshop with a doctor of music. It was AMAZING!   One song was about the heavens, and they used Tibetal bowls and crystal glasses, it was transcendant.  Coy said after they sang it the first time the boy next to him said “I’m ready to die”.  It sounded just like the soundtrack for that transfer. They did a big gospel number with huge amens and wild solos, Oh, it was so fun.  He is just so good. He’s reading Les Mis, and he’s gotten into Frank Sinatra lately. He downloads three free songs a week from the library and then blasts them through our new sound system.  He got new glasses. He’s been an abused child, he hasn’t gotten new glasses since he was twelve and his prescription has doubled and his glasses (coastal, thank you, first pair free) are in such bad shape, but we LIVED THROUGH OUR CRISIS AND WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT!  He is such a sweetheart, never complaining. He is such an example to me on scripture study, every day, without fail, marking, pondering, studying for what seems a half an hour.  He checks out old murder mysteries from the library and he does a huge batch of dishes every day. He’s asked me for voice lessons, and he signed up for ballroom dance. He got a letter from BYU ASKING him to apply.  Only a few know what a miracle it all is, and you are one of them. You loved him through those painfully shy years, and it’s your miracle, too.   I love you girl for every wig, every forced dance, every movie and costume and spazzy date, every time you would drag him out to do something fun, every time you made him such a priority.  May I kiss your darling little feet you angel? 

            I told Mom yesterday you are moving in her house with your triplips because I want to live by you forevers and evers.

            Mooks is so fun. I respect him so much. He is so so much fun.  He has such an insatiable social appetite.  Yesterday while waiting at trax he stood up and invited the whole crowd to play a game of ninja.  He is very low maintenance, can play for 7 hours on just a granola bar. He’s always up for anything.  He was in Laura’s play this summer, and he was so darling. I really respect him for football, four straight hours of physical activity, and his coaches have really really noticed his willingness to go the extra mile. He is so darling and that is a worry, but he seems to have his standards set and his decisions and goals made. I pray hard for him.  He is so fun, still making everything fun.  I adore that boy. Another fun thing about Mckay is that he PLAYS with the little kids, they climb all over him, wrestle him, he dances with them.  They are going to have fun memories of him.  When the cousins were here he would run over to the tramp growling and screaming and tackle them and play with them for an hour. Lolly’s little ones started coming to the door to ask for mookie to come play. He is such a good boy, and his smile is gorgeous, just melts my heart. He was so darling buying school clothes. We took our insurance money from getting hit in the van and bought the kids school clothes and glasses and etc. etc. He has worked SO HARD on landscaping this summer, hours and hours of good hard labor.  I love love love that boy. 

            We haven’t seen Spencer all summer! He got invited to work for the Japanese camp that Nate worked for last summer, and it was just going to be a week, and it turned into almost six.  They even paid for him to go to Disneyland. When I talked to the boss he said “Spencer smiled the whole time and worked so hard!”  What an incredible feeling to have a 13 year old who is so trustworthy he can go for a week with people he doesn’t even know, and I didn’t feel worried at all. I’m only bragging because you love him like I do.  He’s going to be the lone man in middle school. He has been huggy since he got home, I think he missed us a little bit. He worked hard in landscaping, too, but we found out he doesn’t do too great in the hot hot sun. He is a little man. He loves to be with friends

Joseph has grown so much this summer.  He is so awesome. He has already started school and is loving it. He has Mrs. Rawlings.  He was so inspired by the Olympics, he wants to be an Olympic gymnast, so he’s going to do gymnastics now.  He loves to read, loves loves friends, and is living at Avery’s house right now. He only visits us.  He is a project/goal oriented boy. He has been saving for a bow and arrow, but now he wants to buy bungee cords for redneck Olympics. He is a fun boy.  He’s worked hard at landscaping, too.  I can hardly stomach sending him to middle next year.  He may homeschool and do gymnastics 6 hours a day, which is great with me.

Annie is an angel.  She loves having her ears pierced.  She is getting so funny, she has such a cute little personality.  It was so so so fun to see her so happy with her girl cousins. they dressed up in fancy clothes and took pictures of each other on Grandma Jan’s pink car.  She and Ellie are quite a pair, little diva pants.  She started school, and then decided to homeschool again after all, so I’ll have my Annie and my Seth all day, and I’m so excited.  When Jeff got his job I didn’t know what to keep doing, if anything. It’s taken a lot of the summer to get my groove back in a lot of ways. Sometimes I just had to lay in my closet and pretend I was a raisin for a while, just healing I guess.  I’m so glad homeschool is back on the docket with her.  She is a love.  She can see right through me. So she got something new!  It’s a bra zore, (rhymes with more).  She is so cute about it.

Seth is SO CRAZY CUTE!  The other night we asked him to pray and he said “Can I pray backwards?” We said no, then began helping him and he started talking jibberish.  Jeff said “say it nice!” and he said “I’m praying in Spanish!” He loves to say “your face” all the time lately.  We’ll say, “Seth, do you want a sandwich?”  He’ll say “your face is a sandwich!”  “Seth, go potty!”  You got it,  “Your face is a potty!”  The other day we were out doing errands forever and got to Walmart an hour and  a half late, and he was starving. We did something he has never done in his life and went to the Walmart McDonalds. We got three dollar sandwiches and water and sat down. There was an old scruffy fisherman sitting by himself near us, and Seth asked if he could go sit by him. I said sure, and he was striking up a conversation. He told us to go sit by him too, so we did. We talked to him, he looked like a redneck santa claus.  We learned he was from Washington and liked to fish, then Seth ducked under the table and went over and sat by him and put his little arm around him. He is such a great example to me. He loves everyone.  Tonight we went to your house to finish the Book of Mormon as a family, we went down on the green couches so we wouldn’t be interrupted, and Seth headed for the potty and then we hear “MOM, I THINK I HAVE BALLERINAS!”  (That’s what he calls diarrhea).  Needless to say, we were less than reverent for a minute.