Fun in August

Hey All,

Got up pretty early this morning (4:00) and couldn't go back to sleep. I guess napping most of Sunday afternoon & then going to bed early make for a rested body. Just wanted to give you a short update on our family. We haven't been keeping very good track, I'm afraid, but I'll update you on what I can remember. The kids had swimming lessons this month, and both did very well. They seem to be liking the water a lot more than they used to. They learned to float on their backs and open their eyes under the water. Each day when I'd come home, they had all sorts of stories to tell me about what they learned that day. Angela and I both think that knowing how to swim is one of those life lessons that our kids need to know.

We attended Todd's wedding and enjoyed seeing some of our relatives that we don't see quite as often. Uncle Ralph & Aunt Jeanie were kind enough to give us a tour of their house where the wedding was held. It's a very nice house. That day was a pretty warm day, and I think most of us got sunburned.

The following Sunday, we headed up to Uncle Marks house for a cousins barbecue. It was fun to see most of the cousins, aunts, & uncles again. The highlight for the kids was riding Uncle Marks horses. They wanted to get on them again and again. I was expressing my regrets to Angela on the way up to the party that our kids won't grow up around some of the animals that we did while playing at Grandpa's house. We just wanted to give a big THANK YOU! to Uncle Mark & Aunt Cheryl for letting our kids ride their horses. It was the highlight of their week.

Grandma & Grandpa Preece were visiting from California a week ago, and Mom & Dad had a barbecue last Saturday (a week from this previous Saturday) so that we could all get together & visit. It was fun seeing them and catching up a little. The kids especially had fun wearing them out.

Leland keeps getting bigger and bigger. A while ago he and Ammon were running around the back yard and ran into each other head first. LEW got a pretty good bump on his forehead, so we gave him a bag of frozen peas to hold against his head. It was pretty cute. He's really started talking, and even I can understand most of what he says now. He's just enjoying being a little boy.

Manessa is also growing up. For those who may not know, she's been doing some modeling and acting. She even has an agent. She has a paying photoshoot today at Thanksgiving Point and every Saturday morning, Angela takes her to an acting class. They both seem to be enjoying themselves. We're going to open a savings account for her earnings until we figure out how we're going to invest it for her. We hope that it'll help pay for her college or something like that.

Ammon started first grade this past Wednesday. Tuesday evening we went shopping for school lunch food. Sometimes I think we spoil our kids a little because I don't remember getting the kind of lunch he's getting - ham sandwich, doritoes, capri sun, and treat (pudding cup, ding dongs, etc...). I sure hope that he appreciates it. We had back to school night on Thursday and our family went to meet his teacher and get an idea of what was expected. I've watched Ammon go back to school as well as a couple of the people that I work with, and am very glad I'm done. I've still be struggling to catch up on some of the projects I put off while I was going - broken door knobs, lawn & yard, dishes, laundry, fixing little things around the house, and the list goes on.

Angela has been doing fairly well. She pretty tired and in pain most of the time, but seems to handle it ok. She continues to love doing beads and has been helping a neighbor with a dress of some sort. She's been doing Zumba every night except for Wednesday, Friday, and the weekends, but starts Wednesdays and Fridays this week. I usually get home and then and hour or so later she heads off to teach Zumba. She seems to like it.

I've just been working and working on my side software project that I'm hoping to start marketing next year. I've started working on the mobile portion of the application (iphone & ipad) and it's been pretty educational. It's hard working with a tiny screen like the iphone, there isn't a lot of real estate. One thing that I was pretty excited about this weekend was work just gave me a brand new macbook pro, not even opened yet. I spent a large portion of my Friday night & Saturday morning swapping all of my stuff from my old laptop to the new one. I'm pretty excited.

Anyway, that's a short update.

Hope this finds everyone well!