Catching Up ...

We've had a busy month so far so here goes with catching up...

For the 4th we had a ward breakfast in the morning and a BBQ with my brother Taylor and his family. I attempted to french-braid pigtails in Tienna's hair and it actually worked! This is something my mom always did to me and my sister growing up; in the braids she would fit mini American flags. I couldn't find the flags for Tienna but it was still fun to remember.

Josh took both sets of boards (for the last time until Residency) a couple of weeks ago. It's great now that they're over. I had forgotten what it's like to have him study practically every spare second; I surely don't miss the first 2 years of medical school with the constant studying! He's also one rotation into his 4th year - it's hard to believe that we're on the downhill swing of things.

The week after Josh's tests the doctor he was rotating with happened to be out of town on vacation. It was also the week of the annual Vandersteen excursion to Pineview Reservoir in Utah, so we packed up and drove 9 1/2 hours to Salt Lake for a 7 day break from the heat. We had a couple days in Salt Lake before heading to the lake during which time I took a final for another class. (That only leaves 2 more until I'm officially finished, finally!) From there we went straight to the condo for 4 days of complete relaxation and fun. Some highlights included: playing on the beach, tubing, banana rides, fire drills, rope swings, guys water polo, beautiful scenery, delicious food, late night chats and a fun new game.

The beautiful scenery ...

It was nice relaxing as a family - we all enjoyed the break!

Tienna loved tossing rocks in the lake - endless entertainment!


Lots of banana rides - yep, Josh is holding Tienna up in the air. She loved all the bumps! (we stayed in those condos in the background)


Fast forward 20 years and I'm sure this picture will be a much more common occurrence - doesn't he look so happy?


My brother McKay and his friend Brooke came up for an evening of wakeboarding.


A little pre-bedtime wrestle with most of the munchkins. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kiddos or Josh. :)

There was a kiddie pool that was just Tienna's size that she quite enjoyed with her cousins (that's Lillie in the background).

Playing in the sand some more (a daily occurrence).

Tubing was another hit because we could get so many kids out at a time. Tienna would either giggle non-stop or just lounge and tell me she was "chillin".

Tienna and Lillie

Tienna was a big fan of helping Josh and grandpa drive. During fire drills she loved playing with the horn.

The afternoon we came back from the lake we stopped by my grandma and papa Pollei's. Tienna was in heaven with their backyard -

She followed papa through the entire garden and even found a couple of raspberries to pick.

Papa was a good sport and showed Tienna how much fun it is to run up and down a hill.

She even found grandma's garden ornaments - she loved the 'mommy' and 'baby' frogs.

From there we spend a little more time with family, have a date night and drive home Saturday with clean laundry. I must admit, it was very nice to come home and only have a couple pieces of dirty laundry rather than the usual 2 baskets full. (Thanks again mom for folding most of it!!)

Since then we've been trying to keep cool and survive one of the warmest summers in Phoenix for a little bit. Last year was hotter during the day but the evenings cooled off. So far this month the average (day and night) temperature has been 98 degrees. I'll be glad once it cools off a bit, back to normal! We've been keeping cool by having lots of ice cream cones, splash pad visits, mall walks and trips to the Children's Museum.

In case you couldn't tell, this girl loves her ice cream! (sorry for the lack of clothes, it's just easier!)