The One Where We Meet the GUY!

I really felt like I needed to go see my Grandma Keck.  Don't know why, but felt the need and so I convinced Rob to take a road trip with me to see Grandma and then go on up and see Emma, too!

The first picture we took, made me look fat-seriously fat, so I made Grandma take another picture.  There were none that turned out well with Rob and I in them

but the one with Dad and me and Grandma looks good.

 After a visit with Mom and Dad and Grandma Keck we went to go meet Emma Elizabeth (Grandma Delta Elizabeth's namesake) at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.  A whole lot of Kress's came too.  In fact I think all the siblings were accounted for!  Emma brought the boy she had been dating since April.  We were finally meeting "The Guy"!  It was  a fun trip and we enjoyed watching the "Git 'er Done guy" who we didn't actually want to see, but Emma and Clayten wanted to so we went.  And it was actually pretty funny.  No guy is going to ever be good enough for Emma in our opinion but, she was happy and seemed to really like him.  And that's all I have to say about that.

 The other awesome thing was that on the way home, we got to stop and see our friends from Colorado- The Bishop's.  Their son Ben was getting married.  Ben was Emma's age when they babysat for us in Colorado.  For some reason I never got a picture of them, but they were so friendly and talked with us like we had never left and we were still the best of friends. Love friends like that!  While we were waiting for the reception to start at Thanksgiving point we went into this art studio.  They were working on the stain glass window for the Rome temple.  We weren't allowed to take a picture of it, but we could of the mock up.  It was really very cool!

 Wonderful, wonderful trip!  So glad we took it!

The rest of the Summer

And the rest of the summer...

We had Emma a little longer and loved having her down with us.  We played games

 Who's the Dalmuti now?

 Celebrated Sam's birthday

 And made some fun Independence day cookies before she had to leave again. 

We got toilet papered

 And Max went to scout camp

 Joe became legal!

 Don't worry-he didn't just get Hostess cupcakes for his birthday.  I also made him this cool death by chocolate cake which was super yummy!

 And we celebrated Angus's birthday!

 And that's all folks!  

Now it's time to get back to school!

Max 7th, Joe 10th

 Sam 13th- College- for this one!  In the summer they made all the freshman come down and do an overnighter.  They showed them around campus and had talks and presentations.  They set them up with a councilor that talked to them about what they wanted to major in and then set them up with the classes and the schedules they would need to keep for the years ahead to get that degree.  They also had Sam do some testing and got him enrolled with the honors college.  He skipped ahead in math and went to the honors Chemistry.  

Emma was finishing up her 16th year- 13 hours away, so no picture of her!

They are all getting so big!!

Visiting

While up in Utah, we stopped in at a cousin's wedding reception and also attended the wedding of Emma's roommate and friend, Sierra.  We knew them in Ohio and Germany.  

Emma is going to have a lot of bridesmaid's dressed before she leaves college!

Fun day seeing old friends.

Robert and the boys also went up camping with Grandma and Grandpa Thomson while I went with Emma back to her dorm and checked out her new digs.  Very nice place.  I became known as the exercise mom pretty quickly.  I had nothing else to do while Emma worked!  

And then before we left we got PEACHES! 

 Oh how I have missed good peaches!  There is nothing like them!

Summertime!

Summer!!!  I love Summer!!  I finally don't have to get up at 5:30 am!

 This year we took a trip up to Wolf Lodge in Colorado to celebrate Max turning 12.  Twelve is a pretty big birthday in our house.   Max got the priesthood at church and now gets to pass the sacrament.

 We are all looking pretty hot in our wolf ears!

 The kids loved playing Magi Quest.  

 Then we visited the Air Force Academy, where are good friends from Ohio, the Killpack's met us and did the tour for us.  He is currently a professor at the Academy

 Sam had senior pictures.  I took him to the mall to shop for something decent to wear.  He kept saying no to everything, so finally I just sent him into Express and didn't go in with him.  He came out with this.  Yep, those are fancy shorts, boat shoes and an expensive t-shirt.  That's the fanciest he has been in years!

 Sam went to several football camps, one over in Arizona, while the two younger boys went to Trek- which is reenactment of Pioneer time.  They had handcart teams and had to pull handcarts all day.  They try to make it fun with dances and games and some music.  This one was much more modern than the one Rob and I participated in.  We weren't allowed to have toothpaste or tents and we had to make all our own food pretty much from scratch.  We did not have to kill a chicken, though!  These guys had instant oatmeal and sandwiches and donuts. (Ok, maybe not donuts, but close enough!)  Since Max had turned 12 just a couple weeks before he got to go with the group!

While they were having a good time at camps, I flew to Las Vegas with Robert and enjoyed a little get away.  Rob started working in Vegas in the spring as the interim head of the department up there.  

 Sam got a car- a stick shift.  1) because it's cheaper, 2) in the auto theft capital of the United States thieves will actually pick an alarmed car before they pick a stick shift, and 3) so he can't be on his phone ever while driving!  So Sam had to learn to drive a stick shift

 And Emmmmmmmmmmmaaaa!  Emma came home for a month and learned to drive a stick shift as well- because it's a skill people!

 Sam turned 18!

We celebrated at the movies and at the trampoline park

 We went up to Santa Fe for the 4th of July

 And then up to Los Alamos- home of Fat man and Little boy!

 We played a lot of tennis

 I worked on a a quilt for my Mama

 We enjoyed the Ninja gym

 Joe Turned 15!

 And Sam experienced his first cupping.  I'm not a fan!  That just looks like it destroyed all the capillaries in his skin.  I don't know how that is supposed to help him!

And somewhere in all of that, I got a job and started working two 12 hour shifts every week as well as taking all the classes I needed to renew all my lost certifications!  I still have one more to go in November.  I have to have a lot of certifications!