JUNE

Seriously- June is nearly over? Huh? Maybe I'll just give a quick rundown of some of our June events. Well, maybe not so quick. I'm a bit behind.

June started off with a SPLASH while Kenna and Allie took their first ever swim lessons. They did great. Kenna got the okay to go ahead to the next level. Allie still needs to overcome her fear of getting her head in the water. To the point that every once in a while she reminds me that she doesn't want to get baptized. Yes, she REALLY doesn't like her head in the water. Even washing her hair in the bathtub can be a bit tricky if the water is deeper than 3 or 4 inches. I tell her she still has 4 more years to work on it. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Here is Miss Kenna- relaxed, doing well:


And Allie Gal, who is straining every muscle in her body and trying her darndest to keep her head as far up out of the water as possible:

For memory's sake, I must add our little incident with Allie at the pool. One day right after the girls had finished their little lesson, they came on over to me get their towels on. We happened to be standing right next to a fairly deep part of the pool, and while I was helping Kenna get her towel on, I turned around to find Allie in the water and she was....well....drowning. I can't explain the horror that ran through me as I just about jumped in myself. Fortunately I was able to lean down and pull her right up out of the water. I'm not sure who was more shook up about the whole thing- me or Allie. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what happened. I assumed she had leaned over to touch the water and lost her balance. Well, later that afternoon I finally got it out of her that she JUMPED IN. Oh my dear Allie. So much for overcoming her fear of having her head in the water. But really, it's just Allie. I shouldn't be overly surprised. She manages to do random things like this:
Here she had tied herself up to the dog leash and was pretending to be some sort of animal. I forget exactly which one. It's either a horse, dog, or a cat. If I assume, then I often get myself in trouble with her for calling her the wrong kind of animal. In this picture, she is less than pleased with Ty who is really getting in the way of her being an animal.


Fortunately, after the two weeks of swim lessons were all said and done, I think they had a good time.


For Father's Day weekend, we headed up to Logan. Jacob's sister Maria is heading to Argentina on a mission and spoke in church. She did an AMAZING job and will be an AMAZING missionary. We love you Aunt Maria! As always, it was so fun to be with family. It was a special treat to be there to celebrate our wonderful Fathers as well. Here are some highlights from the weekend.

Here are the girls playing with their cousins at the Otte homestead. My brother and his family were also up for the weekend, and then my brother-in-law brought up his two kiddos so my sister could have some peace and quiet in the house after working a graveyard shift. The cousins had a blast playing together.


And here we have the adorable Maria. She's the one in yellow looking so very cute. I am so sad I didn't get a picture of her with the girls. It's one of those things you think about when it's too late.



Here is Grandma Marsha and Ty. I finally broke down and cut his hair. I loved his long crazy locks, but they were getting a little out of control. I tried to see if I could cut it shorter in the back while keeping the top a little longer, but finally gave up and just shaved the whole thing with the clippers. It ended up turning out so cute. He is such a handsome little fella! He has such a contagious smile. You just can't help but love him to pieces.


And here we have Uncle Ross with his very cute "friend." Guess we'll just stay tuned for more details about this here "friendship."


Here is Kenna with cousin Olivia. Have you ever seen two little girls who were cuter in glasses? Never! They also had such a fun time playing with each other.

I love this picture. Mostly because you can tell the girls are in absolute heaven being snuggled up and loved to pieces by Aunt Marlene, Aunt Connie, and Uncle Karl.


I just can't resist posting this one:

Nope, that is not an oversized canary smiling back at you. It's actually Uncle Daniel who decided to come join the party sporting his platinum new 'do and matching bright beaming yellow shirt. AHAHAHA! Normally his hair is pretty much brown. There was a bit of a mixed reaction to this new color. If he was hoping for a major reaction, he got his wish. Needless to say, however, the next morning it had been dyed back to a more normal color. Probably a bit more fitting for a handsome young man who will soon be heading to Paraguay on his mission. Congrats Uncle Daniel! We are so excited for you.

I tell you what, June has just been full of all sorts of excitement.

When it comes to Father's, however, Kenna, Allie and Ty can definitely say they have the best. In fact they can say their Dad is a gold medal CHAMP! There is only one man in the whole wide world who can say he scored the gold medal for the discus at the Utah Summer Games. (Well, that is in the 30-34 age group.) Even now I can hear the theme song to the Olympics playing in the background. I know, I know, you had to reread that several times....

....yes you read correctly. DISCUS.

Jacob's work office volunteered to help out with the Summer Games. Jacob was sent to help out with the discus. When he discovered that no one was signed up for his age group, he decided to give it a whirl. Are we really surprised? This is Jacob we're talking about! You can't let a perfectly good medal go to waste! This is something I LOVE about Jacob. He's not afraid to just jump on in and give it a go.

Here's a tutorial on how to be a gold medal champ, Jacob style:


FIRST- you have to get an in with your fellow Olympians. Gain some savvy on just the right technique, you know. For example, who is this fella Jacob is consulting with in the red shirt? I haven't a clue. Neither does Jacob. Just another fellow discus thrower. Stranger just isn't a word in Jacob's book.


SECOND: you need to get in at least a good 5 minutes of practice time. Get the stance and the throw perfected. Become one with the discus.


THIRD: Pray you don't whack an innocent bystander in the head and then throw that discus out like your life depends on it! (The discus is at the very top of the picture)


AGAIN JACOB, AGAIN! YAH!


FOURTH: Be sure to pass on your skill and wisdom to your progeny.


You know they say the only true competition is yourself. Well, yes, that was quite literally the case. Way to go Daddy! You never cease to amaze us. We are so blessed to have you. Thank you for reminding us we can do anything we put our minds to.