First Day of school!! - August, 2011

Mary and her friend Jenna, who rides with us to school everyday, had a 7th grade day, a day earlier than everyone else. They do this so the 7th graders can get used to their lockers and schedules without feeling so intimidated with the 8th and 9th graders there, and it's less than a half a day. Mary was so excited it's all she talked about for days prior!

 

Joy on her first day of 9th grade!

 

Adam, his first day of 5th grade! Notice the wolf shirt!

He couldn't help howling! He is part arctic wolf!

The kindergartners start a week after everyone else, so here is Lydia and Adam walking together on her first day. So sweet! She was extremely excited as well! That extra week they make them wait is just mean.

Adam's 10th Birthday! - August 6th, 2011

We had EVERYONE over for Adam's birthday since Kathy and Dan were visiting, and that's the way Adam wanted it! Poor Nate, Josh, and Jenna felt a little overwhelmed or a little out of place with all the Petruckas there (the noise gets pretty out of control to say the least!).  Adam wanted Chocolate cream pie for his birthday cake (kinda funny both him and Joy chose non-traditional birthday cakes). He's just a little excited don't ya think?

A lot of you were there for his last birthday when he got his gecko, and believe it or not, it's still alive! We learned a lot this last year after all his toes dried up and fell off, but thankfully after alot of love and care they are growing back! He's also almost doubled in size, so for Adam's birthday this year he got a bigger tank all decked out for his favorite lizard.

 Some of the Petrucka cousins.

Adam also really loves wolves and he got this huge stuffed wolf, a wolf dream catcher, a wolf almanac and national geographic DVD's, and a wolf statue. Thank you to his Grandma's, Grandpa's, and Kathy and Dan giving him such awesome stuff!

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dan's visit - August, 2011

We had a wonderful visit from David's Aunt and Uncle, Kathy and Dan, from Pennsylvania. We hadn't seen them in five years so we tried to see them during the week they were here as much as we could. They were able to come for Adam's birthday party along with Page, who drove in from Texas just in time for the celebration. One day we went to this gourmet cupcake shop in Orem called the Cupcake Chic together, which the kids LOVED! Another day Joy, Mary, and I met up with Kathy, Marby, and Page to see the movie The Help. So, so good! A must see for everyone! Some of our plans were cancelled when Marby became very ill and had to be in the hospital for a couple of days. So we just visited in the hospital for a while.

Spanish Fork Reservoir - August, 2011

This is the first summer without Page's work pool to swim at, so we went to the Spanish Fork Reservoir several times for some free entertainment. Joy was pretty grossed out at first with the thought of swimming with the fish, but it didn't take long until she realized how fun it was! It's just so beautiful up there, and it's less than 15 minutes from our house!

Adam made a pit and filled it with water. Hazel just came along and sat in it!

Joy, Mary, and Adam would swim out to the middle with these noodles and fish would jump out of the water right in front of them. It really freaked them out the first time it happened.

Hazel gettin some shade.

I'll get you!!

This girl takes a book everywhere!

Love this picture!!

 

Finally, Lydia lost her first tooth! Just a few weeks before school started, perfect timing! She didn't want to be the only one with all her baby teeth after all! The tooth fairy really likes my kids! She spoils them!

Great Uncle Lee's funeral - July 29th, 2011

I was so glad I was able to go to Uncle Lee's funeral in Nevada. I took Mary, Lydia, and Hazel with me and Dad drove our van to fit us all. It was such a wonderful service and tribute to a truly great man, and so good to see so much extending family. It was so hot and with a couple hundred people crammed into this tiny chapel, made it even hotter, but right after the grave dedication it started poring rain. A blessing really, and helped us all cool off.
At the grave dedication here's Aunt Darlene (widow of Uncle Lee) with Glenda off  to the side and Aunt May in the background. You might recognize a few other people too. I'm sure Dad has more pictures, so you'll have to ask him for some

There's Linda and a few other relatives.

My second cousin Paul and his wife. He's the one I share a birthday with.

Mary, Lydia, and Hazel just came in from cooling off out in the rain.

Aunt May and Heather. Heather just lost a lot of weight, she looks great!

Carin and her new husband and 2nd cousin Mary (Paul's sister).

Mom and Aunt Darlene.

Dad's cousin, the infamous David Swallow. The one Dad used to get in all the trouble with when he was a kid!

 

For those of you who haven't been to Aunt Darlene's in ages, like I hadn't, or have never been there, here's a picture. I loved playing around her house as a kid!

Mary, Lydia, and Hazel playing in the water canal in the front yard. This kept them busy for a couple of hours! Ooooh, it's cold!

Beautiful Nevada country! This is Uncle Lee's horse he loved so much!

Hazel kept banging this horseshoe on the gate and scaring the horse away.

Lydia, digging in the dirt.

Uncle Lee's shed.

More Nevada country.

Hazel having a blast! The other little girl is my second cousin Kara's daughter. (Above)
Dad, Mom, Sharon, Aunt Darlene, Linda, Glenda, Caren, and Dave Swallow. I can't remember the names of the other cousins in the picture.