More Pictures

Here are Summer's latest!

After lesson #3

I am happy with the progress! This is a really fun creative outlet and hobby. While I was painting tonight I remembered the talk that Elder Deiter F. Uchtdorf gave in the Relief Society General Broadcast last September. He said, "the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul...you dont need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty." I loved that talk and it is taking new meaning as I put paint on this canvas and create something beautiful and of my own.

My Lumber Jack

Since I have gotten started oil painting recently I have been really excited about it! My sweet husband is extrememly supportive and encourages me to pursue my interests. Today, though, he topped all! He actually constructed for me an easel to use at home! What a great guy! Here are some shots of the progress and the finished product.

Summer Lynn Colvin

Ok, I couldn't help it. Here are more adorable pictures of my lovely niece!!

The proud Uncle James.

"I'm tired...yaaaawn"

Ok, Lindsey. I dare you to tell me that flower is not cute!

So Much to Say!

Oh my goodness! Has it been this long since an update?!?! So much has happened! My only excuse is that we have been out of town and I didn't have my laptop to download the pictures. Do you buy that excuse? Can I be off the hook? Ok, here goes...

Before we left town over a week ago Mitchell and I invited some friends of ours to have a campfire and make smores. It was so fun! This little family is adorable! They have a little 2 and a half year old boy and twin 1 year old girls. They are precious. I was going to report that the fire with 3 small children was disaster-free but I remembered that one of the little girls had a blow-out up the back and into her hair and down her legs to her ankles. It was quite a mess. Thank goodness for disposable wet wipes! This explains why the twin pictured is wearing her brothers jacket for pants. We all had a good laugh over it.

Sunday the 28th of June was a momentous day for our family. At approximately 1:30am my great-grandmother passed away at the age of 93. We are happy that she is now with many loved ones and is free of the pain that her worn out body was causing. We will miss her and look forward to the day when we will meet again. Later that morning at about 9:30am my little sister gave birth to a gorgeous baby girl! Summer Lynn Colvin! She is absolutely beautiful and I fell in love with her before I even met her in person! She is little, weighing in at 7lbs 3oz, and has a full head of thick dark hair. She is beautiful and we love her so much!

On Monday the 29th of June my mom and brother flew in from CA. We shopped and hurried and sight-saw and were busy preparing him to enter the MTC on Wednesday the 1st of July. We successfully purchased a missionary wardrobe and got him all ready. He is one good looking missionary!

Immediately after dropping James off at the MTC we packed our bags and headed for CA! My grandparents will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in August this year so my mom (while staying so busy with so many other things) planned a family reunion for my dad's side. We stayed on the beach in a rented beach house and my grandparents were there with each of their 4 children and their spouses. In addition, all of the grandchildren were there except for 3 and the first great-grandchild even made an appearance! It was a fun time with family we don't get to see very often. On Wednesday that week we had a photographer come down and take some family shots. Here is a link to her photo blog. A few of the pictures are there.

While in CA, Mitchell and I took a day to run off to Palo Alto and visit Grandma Peterson. We always have a great time visiting with her! She, again, got out some photos and we talked about family history. She shared some great stories with us! We are so happy that she is willing to share those stories and experiences with us. Before we left her house Mitchell dazzled us with his masculinity by fixing her car. He whipped out numerous tools and popped open the hood and crouched under the dash. When he was all done one problem was fixed an another identified and a part on order. It was a great visit.

Now that we are home we are enjoying the summer time to relax. Both Mitchell and I are only working part-time until Fall so we have lots of free time to spend with each other and enjoying fun activities.

I also decided to take oil painting lessons with a couple of girl friends this summer. It is a fun thing to look forward to each week and a great way to maintain social interaction with other married girls my age. I am really not an artist but I am pleased with my progress so far.

Mitchell is enjoying his work so much more now that he is back working with his old professor. It was a great switch to go back there. He is loving the current project and making good progress. In fact, just today Dr. Olsen told Mitchell that he is really happy with his progress and he likes where it is headed. That is a nice pat on the back for all of his hard work thus far!

Sorry for the long post but I warned you there was So Much to Say!

Back

We're finally back from vacation. Soon we'll be posting on all the fun things that we've been for the last 2 weeks. So what is this then? This is a cheap post so that everyone can stop saying, "You haven't posted anything in a month" and will instead say, "You haven't posted anything GOOD in a month!"