Crazy, Crazy July!

I have been wanting to blog all month about all the fun things we have done. The problem is, we have been having too much fun to have time for me to blog. So here is the month in summary:

July 1: Hosted a playdate for 2-year-old Buster and fed the missionaries.
July 2: Ben had the day off, and we actually had a date.
July 3: 4th of July Breakfast at Jordan Park and hosted a BBQ for a newer family in our ward.
July 4: Baby blessing in Logan and dinner with my brother from Washington at my parents' house.
July 5: Ben and a wonderful friend chopped down a problem tree in our yard. We had 2 family parties in honor of one of each of our brothers from out of state. We had to divide and conquer, and I had to prepare a potluck contribution for both. Also, Abel did not nap well this day. Probably due to all the chaos!
July 6: Ah, peace and quiet and recovery...I thought. Nope, we had planned a zoo afternoon with cousins! Ben left for Pocatello.
July 7: We actually stayed home all day, and I let the kids stay in their pajamas to celebrate the fact. Ben returned from Pocatello late.
July 8: We went to the zoo again because members got to stay later than usual!
July 9: Free day at This is The Place Heritage Park. This day was chock-full of excitement, and I could write a whole entry about it. The most exciting part was losing Sunny. We were there with 2 of my sisters-in-law and a total of 14 kids. We all thought Sunny was with someone else and didn't realize she was missing for over an hour. Luckily, she had the presence of mind to ask for help quickly after getting lost, and she spent the time getting spoiled in the gift shop by employees and patrons alike. We also found her very shortly after realizing she was missing. Wow, did I feel like a terrible mother!!! To lose a child is one thing, to not realize she is missing for over an hour? Yikes! We stayed there almost all day.
July 10: Sunny's very belated birthday party and a meeting with the stake president.
July 11: Ben's new calling as 2nd counselor in the new bishopric was made official at church.
July 12: Took the Green Beast to the shop for new brakes and took the kids to Toys 'R' Us to use birthday gift cards.
July 13: Continuing Ed class for me and kids to Bama's house! We also got to go to the temple.
July 14: Took sleeping bags to the laundromat and did other preparations for the Kendrick Family Camp!
July 15-17: Kendrick family camp at Bear Lake!
July 18: First Sunday with Ben on the stand. Buster actually did amazingly well.
July 19: Dentist appointment for the kids--except when we got there we learned that there were some insurance issues and we came home. It cracked me up because my kids were pouting because they couldn't see the dentist.
July 20: PEACE AND RECOVERY! Well, for me. Sunny and Missy both had adventures with Bama and a friend, respectively.
July 21: Dentist appointment for me.

Ben also had 2 business trips to Pocatello this month. Every time he goes, he teaches just one day. With travel, though, he usually misses 2 bedtimes for the kids.

What's in store for the rest of the month? We had originally planned to go to Vernal this weekend to spend time with cousins. Given how crazy this month has been for both our families, the fact that we have seen them lots this month, and the fact that my sister-in-law has been out of town or had company almost all month, we decided to postpone it and take a rest! School starts in a week and a half, and although I will miss Sunny dreadfully (just me and 2 boys? What???), I am looking forward to things being a little more quiet and routine.

In the first crazy week, I had planned to post at least one picture for each of the wonderful and exciting events. I don't think I'll add all the pictures, but you can see the best pictures here.

I hope you have all had a great summer, too!!!