July 23

Wow, only three kids in the house, what a difference. Kevin went off to BSA camp for the week and the dynamics have changed. Doesn't matter which kid leaves or for how long, things are always different.

Jacob and Matt got new-to-them skateboards this past week, and have been begging to be taken the skate park. I finally had to tell them that Grayson and Conner don't do that every day, just on their vacations. Plus, they had to prove to me that they really want to do this, and that would be by skating every night around the neighborhood and actually TAKING CARE OF their stuff. Being my kids, we'll see how long this fad lasts. Jacob keeps falling each night and complaining that he "broke his butt" (so maybe sooner than later!)

Before Kevin left for camp, he went to a 2-hr reading class at Golden West College. We signed him and Jacob up for the program, which is to strengthen their reading rate and comprehension skills. Jacob goes Friday morning for his first session.. hopefully the "bad twin" (the one that gets upset and crys at these things) will be on a break.

Sammy is partway through his second session of summer school. He passed the first session, and now has to hold on for this round. He's decided that six weeks of English for 5 1/2 hours a day, and only having 2 weeks of actual summer vacation, isn't the funnest thing on the planet. Maybe he'll remember that come this next school year - I'm all for it being as painful as it can be. If he gets a C or better this session, he can be back in band. Meanwhile, he's missing three practices. . .

I added a couple new tidbits to the sidebar of the blog, but ya gotta scroll down to see them. Till next time!

Sat, July 14

Randy, Cheryl, and the gang came to spend "four fabulous nights and four glorious days" with us this past week. It actually wasn't too bad with a house full of 8 kids... (don't worry, none of us are planning to make it 9. ) We let them hang out at the house on Wednesday while we went to work for the mouse, let them play at DL on Thursday, and we all went to the beach on Friday. In between, they sampled real Mexican food, 3 different skateboard parks, went shopping at the Block like every other O.C. teenager, and spent time with their cousins. Today before they flew home we had a sendoff dinner at Cindy and Gary's ~

The gang o'cousins, only a few short -

Cindy and Danielle -
Mom and Randy -
The half-assed sisters and sister-in-laws -
The grown-ups (in name only) -

The Big Day

OK, finally got some time and some "day of" pictures to upload here for you all. The day was great, not too hot, and bunches of friends and family came to celebrate the day. Thanks to everyone who gave their support, Karen and Michael really appreciate it. When they return from the honeymoon, more tidbits are due to appear on the other blog.

The blushing bride ~

Michael and Karen ~ In the limo, waiting to leave ~
Curtis and Mom ~

The Big Day (Before)

Well, Karen finally got hitched this weekend... the biggest wedding weekend in history, some folks are saying. Below are some pics from the day before, since I walked out of the hotel Saturday afternoon and LEFT MY CAMERA!!! I took some during the ceremony with Karen's camera, but since she needs it for like, the honeymoon, it might be a bit before I can upload some of those here. Maybe I can wrangle some off of mom's camera and upload those in the meantime.

Randy & Cheryl came into town Thursday afternoon, so we decided to take long overdue family portraits Friday morning before the weekend got too hairy. Here is a shot of us all sitting outside the photo place, in the 10 minutes it took them to put our pics on their computer for us to review.

Karen and Randy walking down the aisle at the rehearsal
Karen, Michael, and Dr. Thorp, with David in the background
Cheryl and Gary on the patio swing