"Celebrate your country by blowing up a small piece of it." --Bart Simpson

Well folks, we're still alive. June was a crazy, crazy month and included a lot of working and a trip to Seattle, girls' camp, and surgery recovery. All in all, it was a very good month. The end of the month is crunch time for us with work, but that period of looooong days is now over! This means I have time to blog! Here are some exciting things coming up in July:

• the 4th! This is my favorite holiday, second only to Christmas, and even then, only sometimes. This Saturday, we'll be heading to the lake with family, then setting off some fireworks at Jesse's Uncle Dean's place. Yippee! I miss Medford on the 4th. We used to meet my grandparents in Ashland for the wacky parade, then have a big pool party/BBQ complete with homemade ice cream (everyone took their turns at the crank), then we'd do fireworks in the street with the neighbors. Oh well, this year will be different, but just as fun.
• Liz's wedding! This is going to be a great day. Our friends Liz and Jacob are getting married on July 10th in the Rexburg temple. They are a grrreat pair, and we can't wait to celebrate with them. Jesse has wanted to take his bike on one last hurrah before England, so he'll be riding down. I'll be driving down with KELLY and the baby in a nice, sturdy car. Can I just say that Kelly is one of my very favorite people? She's fun, sweet, kind, and although she has four kids, she'll still wrestle Jesse. She doesn't always win, but it's really entertaining. I'm going to miss her so much when we move.
• My birthday! I have secret plans for myself...
• Sav's birthday! I have secret plans for her too...
• the gym... Now that we have time to breathe again, I'm excited--yes, actually excited--to go back to the gym. Our Y up here is really nice and really comfortable. Jesse has been helping me with my goals to get stronger. Despite Jesse's advice, I've always thought if I wanted to lose weight, I should just do cardio. I didn't want to bulk up, and let's face it--the weight room can be an uncomfortable place for a weenie girl. But last month, I started lifting (does the bar count?), and I was amazed how fast the results appeared! After 3 arm workouts, I could actually see muscle develpment. Of course Jesse is gloating, but he's been really helpful. Hopefully the last two weeks of sitting in a car for 12 hours a day and scarfing Taco Bell when we had a chance hasn't ruined my chances for improvement...

• SUMMER! I'm a summer girl, and now that it's finally warm, I'm going to live it up!