The week after her high school graduation, Leah started working full time as a research assistant at Corteva. She worked hard and long and dirty hours all summer long, but the time was made much more exciting by the fun crew she worked with!
Once in a while I get together with my adult friends!
The sunroom is in heavy use all summer long.
Noah spent the summer preparing for chess club!
Hee hee- Emma was not a fan of lemon zest herbal tea that smelled so good.
And the treehouse gets lots of visitors in the summertime too!
Mini-date with Noah and the pup who has zero sense of self-preservation.
The level of intensity with which we play Old Maid has yet to die down.
We're much more lenient with SkyJo.
Mini-date with Emma at the birdblind-turned-raccoon-fest!
Ahh summertime. Bring on the bike rides, the ice cream, and the lazy afternoons!
Or, more realistically, the early morning band camp, summer strings, and summer musical!
Our summer really hit the ground running.
One last trip to Nauvoo!
So much music every day.
Emma and Noah discovered the joys of free samples at Costco this summer.
She was trying to roast a certain wide-brimmed hat wearer, but this is actually the cutest pic of the cutest girl.
Leah kept up those long, hot days. Sometimes we surprised her when she got home.
Magic tricks with Brother Harvey!
Noah's art was selected for the DSM Art Festival!
Best pup we ever had.
Most persistent too.
And soggiest.
Adam and I revisited the bike trail in June.
I fell for the first time in years- from biking or skiing or ice skating or roller skating, I rarely fall! But I fell and Adam rescued me. It was such a fun ride!
Emma and some friends went paddleboarding.
Leah took each of her siblings on a date this summer. She and Noah went to the LEGO store and to Chick-fil-a!
With the big kids engaged with activities and work for lots of the summer days, Noah and Laney were my best buddies in June (and Auntie Al too, she stayed for a week after graduation!).
The father and I took a quick 24-hour trip to Colorado to celebrate Grammy Q's retirement and 65th birthday!
While we were gone, Leah and Emma went to see Hamilton- a best sisters surprise!
They were just a little excited about it.
They said it was amazing!
This is the third year that we have hosted a summertime Christmas tree burning party.
And we hosted Emma's cast party!
She had SO much fun playing Madame Le Grande Le Bouche in Beauty and the Beast!
Her summer nanny job babies (plus Chip!)
Adam racked up quite a few Silver Cord hours helping out backstage as well. The Stilwell Theater is everyone's favorite!
So satisfied and sleepy after a long week.
And Emma got to see her bestie Little Leah again!
It was really hard not underscoring every event this year as "the last" for Leah, but it was really sweet that she got to join us for one last trip to the Omaha zoo.
While we were hanging out at the zoo, Adam was hanging out in Moab at EFY with Ben!
Adam mowed our massive lawn for two summers to pay for his portion of this trip, and he came back with smiles and tales to tell of dusty days, cramped cots, epic bike rides, awesome repelling adventures, and spiritual moments like he'd never experience before.
In June, we celebrated the Father on Father's Day!
Of course, in typical this dad fashion, he spent the day driving down to Kansas City (with Noah and I in the car) to pick up Adam from his Moab adventure. Noah took a little snooze on the way down. He'll always be my baby-ist baby!
How lucky am I to have three handsome boys in my arms and in my life!
And once Adam got back, it was time for Air and Space Science Camp! Adam was a great teacher,
and Emma was a fantastic helper.
The police showed up one afternoon because one of the campers kept pocket-dialing 911. Oops!
All in all, our summer was off to a crazy, busy, great start!
