SUMMER 2009 - the good and the bad of it

Wow, there's been so much going on this summer I can't believe it's only been two months so far. Here are some high lights and real low lights so far:
*Emma learned to ride a two-wheeler! She spends hours each day racing around "the circle" (cul-de-sac across the street) going faster and faster. She loves it!!
*We had a backyard campfire and made s'mores.
*Emma and I went to visit my Dad and stepmom Helen in Florida after more than 2 1/2 years. Gosh it was so great to be there.
*Planted a garden for the first time in 12 years!! I'm trying "square foot gardening" with a bunch of my neighbors. Emma has helped me from the get-go, including hammering the grids, mixing the special soil mix, and planting all of the seeds and plants. We are trying to grow: 3 different kinds of tomatoes, green peppers, cukes, yellow squash, beans, radishes, onions, carrots, and pumpkins. The pumpkins are doing the best, followed by the tomatoes (I've already picked two cherry toms and two yellow pear toms), and the radishes have come and gone. We can plant more, as they only take 4 weeks but I don't know if I want to. Everything else is not really doing well and I'm pretty frustrated with it. But I got a late start and it was a VERY wet June so maybe that is the problem.
*Had a few picnic dinners already in our favorite canyon.
* I had the best 4th of July that I've had in a long time... since the first time I came to visit Utah over the week of the 4th. We had a neighborhood bike-decorating contest the night before, a parade in the morning followed by breakfast with over 100 of our neighbors. Then, since I got cancelled from work for the whole 12 hours, we were able to join Bryan's family in Sunset, UT and enjoy a great BBQ followed by an awesome fireworks display in Clearfield. It was such a great day!!

*Reconnected with some very old friends on Facebook. I love facebook!!
*Kate got her driver's license. She is also attending summer school to "get ahead", and she is back to cheering full-time. :)
*Kate and Meg are going out to Georgia to visit Auntie Kris, Uncle Dan, and Taylor. They will also be able to see my Mom and stepdad for a day, and then it's off to Hilton Head, South Carolina for a week with them.
*I found out some not-so-nice things about my teenagers - "normal" things, but still, I didn't expect to have some of the conversations we did!
*My dear friend was diagnosed with cancer just 20 days after she had her 4th baby. Her prognosis is good, though, and she's started chemo, has a great attitude, and has literally hundreds of well-wishers.
*Another close friend was thrown from her horse in early June and has spent more than a month in the hospital in two different ICU's and a regular floor. She suffered 4 broken ribs, a torn spleen, and a punctured lung which later got infected and required surgery and a chest tube. She is recovering slowly, but is already back to work part-time.
*My church ward merged with another ward and I quit going.

I really can't believe that there is another month left of summer, and yet I can't believe there is only another month left! Emma will begin kindergarten, Kate will be a junior and Meg is going into 8th grade. It will be another busy busy year....