Alison's 19th birthday

Ben made Alison this hilarious portrait of Maya for her some-day apartment. 

I got her a cute butter dish :)

And big news, Alison is switching jobs this week and begins work at Target.  Ben got her this sweater for her new job.

We had a family, plus Aaliyah, dinner of hawaiian kabobs and then funfetti cake.

Happy Birthday Alison!  We love you!

 

Maya at the dog beach

We have been talking about taking Maya back to the dog beach for years and somehow haven't made it happen.  We even had to rearrange some plans just to make this evening happen, but it was all worth it.  It was a perfect evening and so great to have some time with all of us together.

And we quickly remembered why we don't take Maya to things like this.  She might be an old lady now, but she is still so awkward.  She has a certain cry that she only does when her pack is in water.  She made this sound the entire time we were there!

Flower picking

Alison came with me to a Chaplain's wives meet up at the flower field.  They said kids were welcome...so I brought my kid :)

It was a perfect day for flower picking and fun to find this farm.  It's only 10 minutes from our house but I had no idea it was here.

One of the ladies in our group just had her first baby and she brought her for us all to meet.  It's pretty great day when you get to sit and hold a baby in a flower field!

 

Eli's first job!

This is my only documentation...I caught him on his way out the door for work.

Mr. LaRusso, from our church, has hired Eli to help him with construction on their house.  He's been going over several days a week to help tear down walls, move concrete, remove flooring and dig a trench.  Basically Eli is his secondhand man to help in some heavy duty work.  It's a great job for a teen boy and I'm so proud of him for jumping in and learning new skills.

 

Yuma visit

The White's left a few things at our house when they came to visit, so the boys and I took up the excuse to make a little trip over.  First stop, Chili Peppers!  We stocked up on burritos to take back home.

          

I got a hotel room with some points we had and the boys spent the afternoon in the pool.

It was "only" 100, but the boys still spent the rest of the day playing inside.  Only in Yuma do you play corn hole inside.

Laurel and I went out to dinner, while the boys partied with some pizza and Apples to Apples.

 

Life lately

Ben had surgery on his ankle and has been resting at home for the last few weeks.  Recovery is going well and we're looking forward to his full recovery.

Eli has started to join Alison and I on our thrifting adventures.  He's been flipping Legos and made a pretty good little business out of it.  This day Alison also enlightened him to dirty soda. 

Evening jam sessions have been a thing and I absolutely love it.

Summer is for Minecraft and the boys have been playing a lot virtually with their friends.  Also, the story of Colin's life continues and we are constantly trying to get more meat on his bones.