A Couple Weeks in Review

We went to Newport Beach for an evening while Damon had a luau. It was right on the beach. We watched the sunset and visited 1212 Oceanfront. Noah is the only one who really remembers going there, but so many memories. It was a fun night.

I can't even say that we have been busy. I just haven't been blogging. With working crazy hours, to doing crazy things, the summer is quickly coming to a close and I feel like it just began. Time just needs to slow down for a little bit so I can enjoy this stage of my kids lives.

We have been having fun, although Noah will tell you it is not enough fun. The kids have played with the neighbors, we had movie night and watched "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" with the tree kids, we have gone swimming, to the beach, to museums, bowling, out to lunch with dad and even went to one of Damon's luaus. We have spent a lot of time with family. We have also worked hard. The boys read over 30 hours in a month and Lily read over 30 books. They have had math work to do in hopes that they will retain some until school starts. They took swim lessons and are much stronger swimmers. They have also been doing more chores and have set an example to the neighborhood kids who started doing chores because they do chores (the kids parents all love that).

We went to Seaport Village while Julie was here for a visit. It was a beautiful day!

We only have 1 week more and I have no idea how I am going to squeeze everything in that I want to do into that week. So sad.

Another Year Mark

Well, we have survived 12 years of wedded bliss. Neither of us can believe it has been 12 years. It has flown by. Here are pictures of us through the years.

Damon & Rachel: September 1994

August 20, 1998

Christmas 2003

Your the BEST Lovey! Happy Anniversary! Thanks for sticking around for the wild ride called our life! I love you.

Paris May 2010

Adam's Birthday

Adam's 8th birthday was a bit of a marathon, but we survived all the festivities and had a lot of fun. Julie M flew in from Portland on Thursday afternoon. Adam's birthday was Friday and we had a nice day doing things he wanted. We had pancakes, went to the beach, ate at Subway for lunch and had all the cousins over for pizza dinner.

The festivities started on August 7th. Damon and I took just Adam out on a date. We went to Chevy's and then to the bookstore where Adam got to pick out books. He had such a hard time choosing because there were just so many things he wanted to read (love it!!).

Friday night was Adam's baptism. It was a very special event. There were lots of friends and family there to share this occasion. We had lots of yummy desserts afterwards. Nana, Papa and Auntie Dara came down from UT and we loved seeing them again.

Saturday was a busy day. We headed up to Mortensen Manor where we started getting ready for the Luau. The Luau was great. The show was simple, but fun. Of course everyone loved the fire dance. Lily did a great Hula to "Pearly Shells", which I can't get out of my head now. The food was yummy, the company was fabulous and at the end Adam was so happy he finally had his Luau.

We Love you Adam!! Being 8 is great!

Where are the Afualo's?

WOW! So long with no post. For a while there wasn't anything interesting going on. Then all of a sudden lots of fun things happened. So we have been around, just enjoying the summer laziness/business.

After the family reunion we spent a week in St. George. We shopped, swam, went to the movies and melted in the heat. We enjoyed are time there with Nana and Papa though. We just love them so much.

We came back in time for our cousin's luau reception. Damon and Dara both danced in it and the kids loved being there. I gave the camera to the kids for a little bit and we got some interesting shots.

We had a boring week where were didn't do anything.

We started getting ready for Adam's 8th birthday festivities. More on that in a separate post. My sister came down to visit and we ended up spending the night at Mortensen Manor. We have had swim lessons, pool parties and piano lessons (blah!)

Only 3 more weeks left to cram in so much fun. (which, according to Noah, we haven't had any)