We had a wonderful weekend. Because of Labor Day, Lee had a four day weekend and was able to get leave and fly back to North Carolina on Friday. It was worth every penny. (And we got a great deal on a plane ticket!) It has been a different experience being separated for so long, but in the long run the pain is worth it. (We hope!) One huge blessing, it is saving us a lot of money. Lee had an Army scholarship for 3 of the 4 years of optometry school. The Army paid well over $100,000 for those three years, and this 2 month officer training is one of the paybacks. Also, it is good for Lee to have this training (plus it's required) as he will be working for the Army and should know something about it.

We thought about Mom and Dad R on Friday as they ended their family history mission in Salt Lake City. We hope their adjustment and move back to Ely is going smoothly!

After pizza for Friday's lunch with Amy, Anthon and Rachel, we went swimming with Amy, Anthon and Rachel


Clark and Anthon had loads of fun at the pool. It was so cute to see them having a blast!


Cal, the buff little cutie


It is so cute to hear Haley say her version of "Cheese!"


She is a camera girl


She is not


Almost got a full smile


Saturday we hung out at home, went shopping at the outlet mall while the girls slept, and went to the park that evening.

Cal eating Yum-Yums (aka, cherry tomatoes)


Sunday we celebrated Lee's birthday. His present so far consists of two candy bars, which may have been eaten by now. Per his request, I made him chocolate chip dream bars for his "cake". And I made sure he had 28 candles to blow out.



Again, it was a great weekend and a nice refresher for all of us. Clark seemed to choke up a little after we picked up Lee from the airport--they didn't know that he was coming. Clark and Cal loved having their daddy here. The girls seemed shy in the van when they first saw him, but it ended once they got out. They pretty much wanted only him the rest of the weekend! It was nice to have Lee at church too! We were really late for church on Sunday because I tried to contact someone I visit teach beforehand. She lives 24 miles from the church, and I didn't plan that out well. Lucky for us, there were two baby blessings so we didn't miss out on the sacrament! Sunday night Sheldon received the Melchizedek Priesthood. It was neat to be there for that. Sheldon should be back from his travels this weekend or next, and that will be fun. Lee and I were hoping we could play a game with him this past weekend, but it didn't work out. We miss you Lee!

Shanna and Haley eating fish Aug 25th. It's so cute seeing them do things at the same time. I've started them on spoons. We're going all out now. They're getting the hang of it. They like food!


And since you reached the end, I'll throw in another little story. I think it would be fair to say that Lee is a car buff. He loves cars and enjoys his Christmas present every month from my mom by getting Car and Driver. We've been to a few car shows together, so I've been exposed to some sweet vehicles too. Now, I definitely don't know as much as Lee does about cars, but I can read the little signs/decals/stickers on the back of vehicles and figure out what they are if I am not quite sure of their make and model. My point of my rambling: we were headed to Daniel and Amy's for Lizzy's birthday party and I saw a VW Phaeton. It was quite obvious from the little signs on the back of the car. Well, this car owner must be a Phaeton freak! Guess what was on his license plate? "VWPHATON". Very original.