Well Joshy did it again. He ran the most laps out of all the elementary school PE classes K-2nd. We do this thing called walk across AZ and the teacher counts up how many laps each child (and parent) does and adds them all together to see if we accumulated enough miles to "walk across the state of AZ". Josh ran 3 1/3 miles today in under 30 minutes (she doesn't keep the exact time). He just keeps going and going. He set the record last year as well, but he blew his record away today. I hope this is a good sign that he'll be a strong runner in the future. I guess we will see.

Since I'm using this as a kind of journal lately I need to add that the boys bench pressed this weekend up at the Berges' house. Josh benched 50lbs, Nick did 55lbs barely, and Nathan did 85lbs. " 90" he said.

Lauren spent the weekend in Thatcher helping cater a wedding with Sarah Owens our neighbor. She had a nice time, but worked hard making all sorts of appetizers and serving guests for two days.

Here are some of Bill's office logo possibilities. Any comments are always appreciated and will be considered, but all final decisions are ultimately up to the Big Dog. (That probably goes without saying.)

Nate wants a picture on the blog.

Nate saw the blog and wanted everyone to know that he is still a part of our family; even though he is handicapped and home schooled, and therefore has no memorable pictures.

Sarah's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Sarah! Sarah had an exciting surprise this morning for her birthday. She got a kitten. His name is Pumpkin because he's orange and it's pumpkin season. He is very loved already. Lauren slept on the tile floor of the mudroom last night to keep him company. After Sarah and Pumkin's big day they fell asleep together on Sarah's bedroom floor. TOO CUTE. P.S. Daddy is letting us keep it in the house. Miracles never cease.

Nick is playing football this year. This is him running through the end zone scoring a touchdown. Yes I'm about to brag....of the four touchdowns scored in the first two games this year guess how many Nick has made? Yep all four. After putting in two years of being the youngest and smallest on the team Nick has reached the top. He is now not the youngest, (not the oldest with a May birthday), and not the smallest (not the biggest cuz...well duh we don't grow 'em big in this family) but definitely the fastest. He also can be seen directing the younger offensive lineman where to be. We are really excited for him this year to have fun while doing some great things. Yea Nick!!! Oh yeah, and this is a picture of Josh trying to look tough. He's doing great too. We'll post more about him next week. I like the gatorade mustache.

Lauren

Lauren made the 7th grade softball team this year. Although she wasn't the star of the team you can tell from these pictures she enjoyed it and looked good out there. Way to go Lauren!

Our Trip to Maine

We were able to escape our lives for a long weekend and travel to the mid coast of Maine.  We had beautiful weather and wonderful friends for our trip.  We stayed at quaint Bed and Breakfasts, ate fabulous food, and enjoyed scenes of nature that overwhelmed us.  I think we especially enjoyed the city of Camden, and the sights of Acadia National Park.  But it was all good...We were overwhelmed with the amount of Granite there.  It literally lined the streets in some places.  They used it as curbing.  We walked on a pier that was 7/8 miles long made entirely of granite block.  We were always talking about this throughout the trip and Sharla said  that the residents here "shouldn't take it for granite."  It was funny at the time.  We loved Maine and would love to see more of it someday. Thanks Gardners!