Mariah was the only one who traveled this week! Mariah helped coach at the Ankle Breakers Basketball Camp in Idaho again. She left Sunday afternoon and was back late Wednesday night. She had a terrific time, again, and felt that her confidence and ability in coaching were 100x improved so I think she enjoyed it even more. It's been a great opportunity for her! The rest of us were happy to stay home all week. Ha ha!

I took Beth and Ben to the Spanish Fork Pool on Monday at Bethany's request. She said it just wouldn't feel like summer if we didn't go. It was super fun for me because I've been going since Savannah was five and I've always had little, non-swimmers with me. I always thought, "Someday I'll come when everybody can swim and I'll be one of those moms who sits in the shade and reads a book." On Monday, I got my moment!

Monday night as we were going to bed, we got a text message from some neighbors alerting us to a fire on our mountain. We went out in our pajamas and saw the flames about a mile away. It seemed like we should be worried, but we trusted we'd be evacuated if the fire got too close and went to bed. The next two days saw hundreds of fire fighters, two airplanes, and four helicopters work to get that fire contained. They managed it within the week. I am always so inspired by the immediacy and sacrifice of those workers. So grateful that no one was hurt!

That's our mailbox!

Cali and Chey have been busy with tennis and basketball and running and piano still. They get a little reading in, too. This week they planned a party with their friends. Boys were invited, too! They played nine square and card games and watched the Spanish Fork fireworks from our backyard. I was so proud of them for planning a party and making it happen! They had a really great time.

Beth and Ben had a belt test for karate on Saturday. I watched a lot of it. They worked hard! They started with a mile and half run and then did strikes and kicks, sparring, forms, and weapons. Four hours later, they were deemed worthy of green belts--six levels from black! They both are sore today.

Savannah worked all week until she got sick Thursday and Friday. Poor girl! Sarah continues to work early mornings and when I went hiking on Wednesday with Robin, she took over driving kids places so I could go! We hiked Slate Canyon. We left nice and early to avoid the heat but then took too long before turning around. So the first part of the hike was fun and beautiful and the last part was miserable. We're going to work on being smarter about these things. In the meantime, I got some pretty pictures!