The latest...

We aren't up to too much over here, other than avoiding going outside at all cost. It's hot! Last night, by some small miracle, we heard thunder. Wonderful! I think there might have also been a few dozen rain drops that fell from the sky. Crazy. Grateful to be invited to a pool play date today- the only way to be outdoors when it's 100+ degrees is in the pool with a cold drink nearby.

David and I both spoke in church on Sunday. Our topic was freedom. David was able to talk about the great freedoms we enjoy in our country, while I was focused on personal freedoms or agency. It went well. Adam cried when I went to sit on the stand, and Dave had to take both kids out for a few minutes. When it came his turn to talk, Adam was just about done with the meeting (in his defense, he had been mostly reverent for nearly an hour at that point). I swept him up and just thought Jenna would continue coloring nice and quiet. Wrong. She decided that that would be a good time to dance in the aisle and linger on the steps to the stand with a sneaky smile on her face, while her dad was talking. I was livid watching her from the doorway as Adam climbed on the foyer couch. Just as I was about to walk up there and get her, one of the young women in the ward enticed her to come sit down. Jenna just walked right over and sat on the girls lap. She was lucky to be saved from me, and happy to have the undivided attention of this young woman for the remainder of the meeting. I get nervous whenever I have to speak in sacrament and it's happened to me a lot in the last few years too. I spoke right as we moved out of our first ward 3 years ago, and spoke in each of the three wards since than. No fun. *Hopefully* I'm off the hook for a few years.

At the beginning of the month, David was in some serious pain regarding his back. He saw his primary care doctor that scheduled him to have an MRI. The next week he was able to get the MRI, and finally get a referral to a pain management doctor. This pain has been off and on in his back for more than 10 years, but it normally last a couple days and with a combination of ice and Ibuprofen it is gone for a month or so. This time it was worse than ever and for nearly 10 days. He was pretty tough and only came home from work early once when it got really bad. The results of the MRI came back to show a severely herniated disc in his lower back. He has a referral to a neurosurgeon for next week, and by the time he was able to get in to see the pain management doctor (early this week) his pain is gone. Hopefully the doctors can figure out how to help him. It was really hard to see him in so much discomfort and he hated having to turn the kids down for piggy-back rides.

For memories sake, I wouldn't want to leave out our shattered door. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but the entire outside panel is shattered. Cracks run through every single inch in a kinda pretty pattern.

My sister and her family stopped at our house on the way from El Paso to Phoenix. The cousins were all playing outside as the grown-ups cleaned up dinner, when we heard it. We were immediately worried about their safety, thinking glass would go flying everywhere. We got them inside and everyone denied involvement, surprise surprise. We divided up to get the kids ready for bed and to talk to them one-on-one. Jenna fessed up. She said, with a frown, "Mom, I did it. I threw the rock. I'm sorry about the door." I was grateful that she told the truth and confessed... but we still have a broken door! David talked to her about her punishment and I started making calls that next morning. Replacement of the panel of glass will cost us $400-500. Yuck! I think I seriously got sick to my stomach when the third quote was within that range. Someone mentioned french doors... and I got interested. We found a contractor that could remove the entire sliding door panel and put in the french doors for about half of what the glass panel would cost. David found a set of French doors at Home Depot for about $400. So we are talking about less than double for an upgrade versus just a replacement. Woo hoo! Yes, it's still money that we hoped to go towards other things (vacation in August, aggressively attacking our student loans) but you do what's got to be done. I'm the most excited to get rid of those horrible vertical blinds.

My visiting teachers stopped by yesterday with 6 kids in tow. Jenna and Adam were in heaven and I enjoyed having some grown-up conversation and making friends. It made me feel good when one of my visiting teachers complimented me on my decorating. I have been working really hard to make my living/dining/ kitchen area beautiful, and we're almost there. It's different than I imagined but it's really coming together. At first it was stressing me out, but now that I have a few pieces that I love, it's coming together. I promise to do a 'Check out my house' post soon.

AND my preschool room is almost ready too! Jenna is excited and it's fun to talk to other moms that are interested. I've pulled out a few boxes from my teaching days and started lesson planning. I had forgotten just how much I missed teaching. We're still in the early stages of organizing, but I hope to get lots done in the next week. Our family vacation is the first week in August, and we'll be starting school about a week after we get home, so not tons of time left. Jenna is ready, that's for sure.