July

We had lots of fun this month. The weather was gorgeous so we spent lots of time (especially in the evenings) outside enjoying it. The first blackberries started to ripen, and boy is Sharli a BIG fan of blackberries!

 We kicked off the start of the month with Ethan, his Dad, brothers, and sister all going on an overnight backpacking trip in the Gila Wilderness. Since that's right in our backyard (kinda), our house was the jumping off point for the whole adventure. The best part (for me anyways) was that my sisters-in-law came (with their cute kiddos of course) and we all partied for a few days while we waited to see if our menfolk were going to return alive. The guys got back on the fourth, just in time to go down to Lordsburg for a picnic with some of the Payne clan and to watch the fireworks. It was tons of fun, but somehow I neglected to pick up my camera during that entire week. Oops.

 Sharli discovered a new favorite reading material. She gets her favorite blanket, gets all comfy in one of the big arm chairs, and thoroughly enjoys looking at all the pictures in the Mother Earth News magazine someone gave us. She is somewhat obsessed with chickens these days, and this issue had an entire article about them.

 On his birthday, Erik unlocked the secret to freedom; he figured out how to "pump" on the swing so he no longer needs someone to push him. That's an exciting discovery for EVERYONE!

 I love this picture. They are having so much fun, and just love each other so much!

 Erik thinks he's quite the daredevil. We are way beyond "look mom, no hands!" and now have to come up with new ways to challenge fate.

 Also this month, Erik got to build his first pinewood derby car, and race it at our Primary Birthday Party.

 He loves his car, and even felt like it deserved its own party hat.

 While he did not win any races, he did win "Most Fuel Efficient", because any car that's driving that slow must be getting good gas mileage. :)

 Every Wednesday in June and July is exciting, because that's the day we get to go to the local library's summer reading program. This year I was helping out with activities for the little kids (5 and under), so we got to play with lots of play dough and have all kinds of crazy fun. Oh, and we also read a few books, because that's what you do at the library.

 One of the more crazy things we did was divide 75 pounds of flour between two kiddie pools and turn the kids loose. Oh boy did they have fun!