Today Kevin and I celebrate our 18th Wedding Anniversary!  Wow!  That's a lot of years, huh?  A lot of good years.  Kevin has made all my years great.  He's been my friend and my support and my partner in our greatest pursuit -- parenting all these great children.  I love him and am just so filled with gratitude for him and these 18 years.

Not to mention, because it was our anniversary, he took me to see Neil Diamond yesterday night!  "I've got the sun in my eyes and the wind in my face and it's good just to be alive!"  It was so fun!  That man can really write a song.  Not to mention, I have memories of his songs stretching back to when I was a little girl.  His songs bring back memories from all different stages of my life.  The fans were all wild about him.  This is a man who sings in the memories of bajillions of people.  As my kids would say, going to see him in concert was totally EPIC.  It was definitely worth being married for 18 years.  ;)

In other news this week, Cali and Cheyenne had a lemonade stand.

They earned almost four dollars!  Which was enough for Cali and Chey and their friend, Grace, to go to the Snowie Shack and buy some slushies.  It was a productive afternoon for them.  They made up for the lack of  traffic in front of our house by hollering as loudly as they could, "LEMONADE FOR SALE!!!"  It seems that such marketing tactics were successful, or at least successful enough!  They had fun.

I also took the younger crew over to the splash pad in Spanish Fork, again.  Mariah enjoys any kind of water best with goggles on and the splash pad, which is in essence, a giant, playable fountain, was no exception!  Mariah, Cali, and Chey like the splash pad better than Beth and Ben do, so the latter wanted to leave much sooner than did the former, but it was a fun morning.

Bethany and her friends played a lot of dress-up.  There was one day this week when Beth didn't get a chance to play with any of her friends.  That night when I asked her to say her prayers, she said, "But Mom!  I didn't play with anyone today!"  I guess there is nothing to be thankful for when such is the case!

Benjamin is still very attached to his bottle and his blankie -- he likes the silky edge; he rubs it between his fingers while he drinks his bottle.  He is very tactile!  Meanwhile he has picked up some sayings from his sisters.  One being, "Ew, Gross!"  He does manage to say this with his manly voice.  Sarah also taught him to say, "Precious!" which I don't think can really be said in a manly voice.  It's really cute, though!  He ends his days with dirt coating his face, his hands, and his legs from the knees down.  His little feet are as tough as leather since he does not like his shoes but does like being outside running down the hot sidewalk.

Savannah worked most of the days this week.  When she wasn't at work, she was enjoying her new computer.  When we had all our computer issues at our house, we bought a Mac for Savannah.  A Mac that she is paying for with her money from her job.  She is enjoying her Mac very much and it is nice to have our family computer available for other people!

Sarah, Megan, and Mariah went through phases of boredom bordering on mania.  I made lots of helpful suggestions which somehow weren't considered helpful by the sufferers themselves.  Funny how boredom is like that.  I think school is starting to look more appealing . . .

As for myself, I spent the week working on a dress for Savannah and when I got all done, it didn't fit!  Not only does it not fit, but it also doesn't look right.  Which made me think -- why do I not just go shopping?    I guess having two positive sewing experiences IN A ROW (shorts for the twins and nightgowns for Beth), I was pushing my luck looking for a third.  Such is my life as a seamstress!  I would put the blasted machine away and say I've learned my lesson, except that I have to make dresses for the twins to wear after their baptism the first week in September.  It's a tradition.  I hope they turn out alright!

Wow!  A whole week at home!

Cheyenne and Calianne did their hair last night and asked me to take their picture.  They are best friends and always together.  They said when they grow up they want to live next to each other in a twin home.  They think that's pretty funny.  They have had friends over to play every day.  Of course, they did have to take a break for piano lessons, but otherwise, they are always on the go, either at friends' houses or having friends over here.  They are social little people.

Savannah worked every day last week.  Her boss has scheduled her just about every day of summer that she hasn't specifically requested off for vacations.  It's been hard for her to get used to, I think.  It's a good thing that she enjoys the store and her coworkers.  It's nice to get a paycheck, too!

Sarah and Megan hang out with their friends, as well -- almost as often as Cheyenne and Calianne, but not quite.  They also finished the tennis summer season this week with a big tournament in Orem.  They both did really well and both placed second in their seed!  I've seen big improvements in their tennis skills.  They are fun to watch!

Megan did return this ball.  Impressive, huh?

Sarah can return just about anything!

Smiling for the camera!

 . . . but this is how they really felt at the end
of a long, hot day!

This is how Ben and Beth felt at the end of the long, hot day
and they didn't even play any tennis!

Mariah has been working on getting some reading in this week.  She especially likes to read up in the tree.  Since she broke her finger at the family reunion, it makes climbing the tree, particularly with a book in hand, a bit more difficult than usual!  Still, she perseveres.  She also hung out with friends this week, especially our neighbors.  Which reminds me, we are losing our neighbors again!  They will be gone at the end of this month.  It was fun to have friends next door for a little while, at least.  They will be missed -- as will Ben's favorite cat.  :(

We also went to the dentist this week.  We are accepting donations in our cups outside of WalMart in order to pay for it.  Lol.  Just kidding, of course.  The dentist is just expensive for so many kids all at once.  I should start taking them one month at a time.  That's a good idea, actually!  I'm so glad we had this conversation.

Oh!  We also broke down and got bunkbeds for Sarah and Megan.  I admitted defeat on my wheat bucket idea, but they were good sports to give it a try, don't you think?  We got these from KSL classifieds and the owners had gotten them from the Olympic Village after Salt Lake hosted the Olympics.  That's right.  Sarah and Megan are now sleeping in the beds of champions.

Sarah is the champion who cleaned the room and made it
look so great.  Trust me, that was the work of a champion!
What a great kid.

It was the week of the EFR.


We managed to get this big group picture under our favorite tree
outside Zion Lodge.

THE ELTON FAMILY REUNION!!!  Huzzah!  Cheers!  Hurray!

Fun times!  This year's EFR (which is held every other year -- to the chagrin of many -- though not enough apparently to change to yearly), was held at Zion Ponderosa Ranch just outside the eastern entrance to Zion National Park.  It was a very pretty place!

This is the view from the blacony above the pool.

Our campsites were in among the trees.

We arrived Wednesday in the late afternoon.  After we all set up our sites and had some dinner, most of the kids headed straight for the pool!  Those of us who could wait, got started on our visiting.

This actually wasn't Wednesday, but it looked kinda like that!

Thursday, we had a birthday party!  Thursday was Kayla's birthday and Friday was Becca and Emily's birthday, so we had one giant party!

Complete with pinata . . .

. . . presents and cupcakes!

The rest of the day was spent in the pool!!  Though we did get out for meals.  We also did a lot of visiting!  That night we put our chairs in a big circle and talked.  It was campfire time minus the fire -- having a fire would have gotten us a $1000 fine.  Ouch!  Dad and I talked about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea because it was our family book club book.  Not many readers this year!  We also passed around bags of chips, licorice, and jelly beans.  Our family circle was too big to hear the people on the other side.  Next time we will have to smash up together better.

On Friday, we packed everyone up and headed into Zion's to go for a hike!  That's where we took the picture under the giant tree.  We had lots of fun on the hike.  Friday was overcast with rain on and off so it was perfect for skipping the pool and going hiking!  Waiting for shuttles also happens to be a really good photo opportunity.

When we got to the Lodge, we goofed off a little bit more and then headed up to Emerald Pools.

After ice cream and some picnic lunches, we headed back to Zion Ponderosa for a little bit more swimming before the rain completely claimed the day!

We kept each other warm.

Since it rained and rained during the couple of hours around dinner time, Gillespies, Skinners, and Grandma and Grandpa escaped to the pizza place we spotted on the way into Zion park.  We cheated and it was yummy!

That night, our campground offered (for a small fee) a zipline -- in the dark!  We had some excited kids who wanted to go!

The zipline started from the top of this three-story barn.

 I am told that it was, and I quote, "FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!"

The rain had cleared that evening for some nice zip lining weather, but sometime in the night the rain started again.  It soaked the campsite and several of our tents.  The next morning, everyone packed up as quickly as possible.  It was time to get home and dry out!



My brother Pete's family.  Monica stayed home since she is
scheduled to have a baby next week!  He gets Father of the Year Award!
Go Pete! 

Us!  (Less Bethany who was playing with Emma someplace else!)

My brother Dave and his license plate!

My sister Amy's family.  They stayed upscale in one of the cabins!

My sister Diane's family's car.  They ran inside it when it started
raining instead of posing for a picture!  Weird, huh?

I have this other picture of them, tho, remember?

Mom and Dad!  They smiled at me from inside their car.

And my sister Maggie's family!  They got to take down in the rain!!
 They loved it.  We stayed to help. 

Overall, it ended rather wetly, but it is safe to say that a fun time was had by all.  I'm so glad that we do it even if it is only every other year.  It is so great to see everybody in my family all in one place.  It's so great to have the cousins get to know each other and play together.  It's great as the years go speeding by, to get these snapshots in time. So, hurray for the EFR!  May there be many, many more!!