We just finished a fun, fun, fun 2 week visit from my sister, Amy, and her kids. Since they live in Houston, the vacations are much-anticipated by all of us (I'm not sure who was more excited, the girls or me!). It almost felt like we were on vacation, too, since we spent almost all of those 2 weeks at my parents' house with them! The concentrated "togetherness" was great. Abby had her first real "sleepover" with Erica and Gabe, all of the kids played like crazy, and the adults TALKED like crazy. =) No matter how long the visit lasts, it doesn't seem long enough when everyone goes home. But, we'll definitely take whatever we can get.

Pictures are forthcoming...(whenever I did remember to actually bring my camera, I was too lazy to take it out. Thanks, Amy, for actually documenting everything! )

I'm so proud of myself...I now have 2 daughters who love broadway showtunes! It is so nice to have the complete influence over what they like and listen to (we're definitely not ready for teenagers yet). So, I've been exposing them to the joys of Broadway. Success! Our current favorites are "Into the Woods" and "Wicked", which is coming to town this Spring (my fingers are crossed that it won't cost a fortune because I'm dying to go!). It is so cute to hear a 3 year old and 2 year old try to sing along phoenetically and actually come pretty close. What fun little girls are!

It's wonderful having a car with a CD player and a tolerant husband who will even listen to broadway with us when he's in the car! What a great guy.

**Another note: Thanks to a great public library, I've also been exposing my girls to the entertainment of my past. They have spent the past week watching "Duck Tales" for their morning show...ah, memories. (I can still sing the song along with them!)

Abby and Carson venturing into the water...
Once Abby conquered her fear, she was fully soaked and loving it!

Having a "picnic" on the concrete

Michelle and I braved the challenges of double strollers, preschoolers, and parking, and ventured to Salt Lake for the morning. We visited the bathrooms at Temple Square, the childrens' section of the Church History Museum, and the fountains at Gateway. (We even rode the Trax train, which the kids loved! Michelle and I were a bit frazzled with the strollers and kids, but it was still a great trade off to walking many blocks in the heat!) We really had a great time and were proud of ourselves for doing it! (Plus, we all got great afternoon naps as a result!) It's so fun having a big van...

The Fourth of July at the park. The fireworks didn't end up starting until 10:45p.m., almost 3 hours after our normal bedtime. But, the girls were so excited and did amazingly well! We're so glad we braved the crowds and had a lot of fun. (Abby decided that she needed to go potty 5 minutes before the long-awaited fireworks display started, and I, being directionally-challenged, got us lost on the way back from the port-a-potties in the dark. But, luckily it was a long show and we still caught quite a few fireworks together as a family!)

With Grandma and Grandpa Cullimore at Wheeler Farm...looking at the ducks (and the crazy geese that we thought might attack!).

Well, we said goodbye to an era this week with the loss of our 15-year-old Saturn. A couple of weeks ago I was rear-ended while sitting at a red light and the back of the car was crunched right in (luckily the kids and myself were ok). After a lot of drama with the other driver and her insurance company (too traumatizing to recount), our poor car was declared a "total loss". It was especially sad, knowing that the value listed on paper is not even close to the value that car was to us! But, what can you do? So, we took the settlement and then watched a tow truck carry our car away on Monday.

It's funny how we regularly complained about having old cars: no air conditioning, no features, no air conditioning, not enough room , no air conditioning, etc. =) But, when it came down to seeing one of our cars go, it was really bittersweet. This was my car when we met and fell in love and were married. This was the car that carried around both of our beautiful girls. We have great memories and are a bit sad to see this time end. I'm sure it sounds corny, but our family was blessed to have such a dependable car for so long.