Summer

(the non-wedding stuff)

With our summer schedule pretty full with wedding planning, trips and parties it was easy to overlook the ordinary stuff that took place during the same time.  I'm grateful for the pictures that capture these memories when my mind is so full.

Though Kate and her boys were technically here for wedding reasons, the little boys just thought they were all together for some quality cousin time.  LeRoy felt a little outnumbered with all of the Fullmer girls together for Erika's bridal shower so he made sure that the boys had an activity too.

Nathan and Hyrum went to a baptism with me in the morning and when we got back their jealousy bubbled over as they watched their dad give rides to Logan and Korben.  After a quick wardrobe change they all crowded on the four wheeler for rides around the block and through the field.  Kate and I stood on the porch ready to take pictures and holding our breath as they sped around each corner and Logan bounced up and down on the back as they kicked up the dirt in the field.

Korben calls our house "Erika's house" and always wants to know the next time he will see Erika.  And Erika loves Korben.  She adores his smile, his questions, his humor and especially his love for her.  Korben always has a little anxiety when it is time to leave or others are leaving his house and it was no different when it was time to leave our house, or rather when it was time to leave Erika.  He sobbed.

With drool running down his face and huge alligator tears in his eyes he attempted to smile as we encouraged him to have a picture taken with Erika.  Erika tried to explain that she would see him in just a couple of weeks for the wedding.  She had to give him an exact date to mark on the calendar but even that did not calm his tears.  After attempting to go out to the car a couple of times he walked back in the door and with the most heartbroken six year old voice I have ever heard he shrugged his shoulders and cried out, "my life....it's ruined".

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Nathan and Hyrum are so good at coming up with simple ways to entertain themselves.  After a lengthy pillow fight they pulled off their pillow cases for a few sack races.

They laughed and giggled, crashed into each other, and raced until they were exhausted.  It wasn't about who was faster or who won but who laughed the hardest.  When they were physically worn out they climbed in their pillow cases like they were sleeping bags and read stories for a while.  When they had read long enough to regain their strength they started the races all over again.

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We left Erika's room cleaned out and empty for a couple of weeks after she left but I had plans for it.  When LeRoy started selling Legal Shield and Identity Theft Insurance it created even more paper work than we were already dealing with in our electrical business.  Since he was doing all of the training and applications he needed his own desk.  For a while he had a smaller desk that we had been given and I kept the larger desk. After just a few short weeks I realized that the small desk was not going to cover it for LeRoy but I could manage with the smaller one so I switched things around.  It didn't take me long after that to realize that it wasn't just the size of the desk that was going to make a difference but it was how we manage our own office space.  Every time I went into the office to work I felt like I needed to spend time organizing before I could even start working.  

So, the "Skittle Room" is now my office.  I can keep my desk clean and organized and LeRoy can leave his just the way he likes it.  

Speaking of the Skittle Room...Erika did this room all by herself.  For her 16th birthday she asked for paint and permission to paint her room however she wanted.  After hearing her plans (Skittles?), we agreed and took her to pick up primer and paint.

She started by priming the walls, which she really didn't like because there was no creativity involved but then she got to the really good stuff where she could draw on the walls.  She has been wanting to do that (and actually doing just that on many occasions) since she was two years old. 

It took her nearly a year to get her room the way she wanted it but it was well worth all the late night giggles with Brianna, the long hours on a ladder and even the yellow paint stain on the carpet.  Her bright, colorful, happy Skittle room is now my bright, colorful, happy office. 

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On a Saturday morning LeRoy told me that he had just received a facebook message from one of my cousins inviting us to his and his brother's combined mission farewell.  We were so excited for both of them especially since we didn't know that either one of them had been planning on serving a mission.  We only knew that they had been baptized about a year prior.  We got substitutes that day and early Sunday morning we left for Utah.

It was our first family trip in the new van and Derek was thrilled with the leg room!  

Listening to Steven and Nathan share their testimonies was such a testimony builder for me.  These boys have strong testimonies of the atonement and eternal families and have such an enthusiasm for sharing those truths with others.  I am so proud of both of them and grateful to LeRoy for loving and encouraging them to be their best and to always be worthy of the priesthood.  I have no doubt that they will bless the lives of many people.