Finally...

We have been trying to plan a BBQ with our good friends, the Messers, for months...and tonight was finally the night! These guys have been our close friends and were our right-next-door neighbors (and I mean right across the cement between our houses) many years ago, and we just can't consider them anything but our neighbors...still. Austrie has received her mission call and will be leaving soon, school starts in two days (and then no one has time), and it was a perfect day for a BBQ, so they came over for hamburgers and hot dogs (with all the other good stuff that goes with them), and then these girls played a game and laughed all night (well until about 10 o'clock...we do have early church tomorrow.) I think even Ari had a good time. She never really has been around us much, as she was born just about the time they left the "neighborhood."
Matt and Corinne and a great picture of Kevin! (He's not going to be happy I posted this...)
The "not-so-happy" crowd. These guys worked their tails off today in heat outside helping Kevin do a huge clean-up project, which lasted till about 4:00 in the afternoon. I think they were ready to go to bed at just about this time.

These two girls have been best friends for forever, and I mean since before they were born! They have been so good for each other, and have really looked out for one another. We are so glad that Mady has been a part of our family for these past 17 years.

Like I said....they do everything together.

All the way back to starting Kindergarten...

And even before that...

And even before that...

And this year these girls will graduate together. We also (kind of) celebrated a belated birthday for Landon, who turned 16 last week while in Arizona playing in a high school football game. Pretty uneventful, but he IS 16 now, at least. Now all we have to do is get him to study his driving skills...then we can get him up to Mesquite and finally get his permit. It's been a crazy summer...

Another Goodbye...

It's another goodbye to another Sister who served here in our valley. This is Sister Gonzalez, one of our favorite people, and an awesome missionary. She left here in January, and we promised her that we would see her off, so it was another trip in to missionary transfer conference yesterday. She has been a joy to know, and more importantly, was a real boost to the missionary work when we were assigned these girls. They have since taken the sisters out, brought the "boys" back in, and the work goes on and on. It has been a blessing for Kevin to be the ward mission leader for so long - over 4 years. This is one of those perks...
Plus, we got to get another picture with our favorite guy, Elder Gibson, who served out here for only 6 weeks, but ended up falling in love with (because he was such a GREAT missionary, of course :) Those dimples are the best...