New Camera

We decided that we were buying ourselves a new digital camera for our anniversary. Our Nikon that we had was great, but the battery compartment broke and becoming quite the pain to have to hold and take pictures. A friend had recently gotten an Olypums Stylus 1050 SW, and I have seen some of the pictures she has taken. They're fabulous! We went looking and did find that model. We also found an Olypmus Stylus 850 SW. Very similar and a lot of the same functions, it was just a model down. We opted for this camera. The shockproof and waterproof features were the most enticing.

So the camera was delivered yesterday. It's so cute! I am loving the blue color. Of course, they didn't have a purple one, but that's ok. The blue is so pretty, and it will stand out if it gets misplaced at a gathering or something like that.

So of course, I played with it all afternoon and evening, experimenting with some of the different settings and features. I did learn that a lazy cat is a great way to play with these different settings. Garfield was a perfect subject.

And of course, I had to get some pics of the doggies too. Here is Kasey.

And here is Nika.

My pink dahlia is finally blooming again, and very well actually.

and here is one of my buckets of various flowers by my garage

I took some pictures on the landscape setting too.

And of course, my favorite subject is my kids!! So you know I got some new pics of the kiddos yesterday with this thing!

While the kids were swimming, Dustin wasn't following the rules and had to get out. When I took him out of the pool, I took off his vest. He knows not to get near the water without it. Well, while he was "sitting out" he decided to put the vest back on himself. He was quite proud of himself when he did get it on. He even did it correctly, but I tried to reinforce that he can't get back in the water until Mommy or Daddy does his vest.

This is after he was told that he still wasn't allowed to get back in yet. Not a happy guy!

GOT CORN?!

We had sweet corn on the cob with supper last night. We all love this stuff!

Front porch flowers

In all of our spring planting around the house, Keith built me shelves all the way around the front porch to set long planters on to fill with flowers. And he did such a great job doing it! The flowers are growing tall enough to see now, and are so full of color. We will eventually stain the shelves and fixtures to match the deck and walkway, but for now, we're just enjoying the sight and smell of all of the beautiful flowers. We have petunias, impatients, verbenas, and dianthus in the planters.

Our ball players

Summer means ball season for us. We spend a lot of time at the ball diamond, whether it's the one at our school, or one we're visiting on our away games.

Ali is in her second summer of traveling juniors softball, which she seems to enjoy a lot. She is pitching and hitting great as well.

Cody is in his first season of traveling t-ball. Very rarely does our team actually have to use the tee, but that is what it is considered. He is a great hitter, and very fast base runner. He is also learning to field pretty well. He is loving it!

Of course, Dustin couldn't be left out, even though he hasn't started playing t-ball yet.

This is how we spend a lot of our summer, and we love it! We are so proud of the kids! They really do well with it and enjoy it, so there is nothing we would rather be doing than watching them.

Our new pool

We got a new pool this summer!

Ali & Cody helped Keith set it up.

The kids got to officially swim in it for the first time today.
After sitting in the sun and heat for Ali's softball game today,

it felt wonderful. The water wasn't super warm yet,

but it was quite refreshing!

I think the pool is a hit!

Slip 'N Slide Fun!!

The kids got a gift card from Aunt Leslie for Easter. They decided they wanted to save it and spend it on a Triple Slip 'N Slide when summer water toys went out in stores. They had seen them at the end of summer last year and thought it looked like fun. So we got one earlier this week. I think it's a hit!

Cody's tractor

Cody has his own tractor now!! PaPa John bought this garden tractor at an auction, just for Cody. I think it had a blade on it, but no mower deck. He knew Cody would love to just ride it around. And he was definitely right! Cody is in tractor heaven!

Thank you, PaPa John!!

Ali's Tumbling Recital

Ali had her tumbling recital last night. It's hard to get good pictures in the auditorium, but I tried. This is her class in their pyramid at the end of their routine.

This is Ali in the middle of her backflip.

This is Ali with her tumbling teacher, Brandy. We adore Brandy! She really loves all of these kids, and is so proud of everything they accomplish!

Here is Ali with all of her flowers. She got a bouquet of "crazy daisies" from Mommy, Daddy, Cody, & Dustin. She got a pretty blue and white carnation from Grandma Soni & Grandpa Wally. And she got a pretty bouquet of two-toned pink carnations from Brooke, Aunt Tammy, and Uncle Jim.

Here are the "crazy daisies." We also got a bouquet of these for Brandy and one for Melissa, Brandy's assistant tumbling instructor.

It was a great night for all of the tumblers!