That's a Wrap ~ Summer 2014

I am going to try ~ try being the KEY word here to wrap up our summer in one post.  Here it goes ~ we officially kicked off summer with a ride to Curtis Creek with 3 of my 4 siblings.  Yep, K.C. and Alicia were in town so Tom thru together a ride over the 4th of July holiday.  LOVED it!  Shane rented some wheels and we headed to the hills.  The weather was spot on!  Even found some snow and of course we found the MUD.  The mosquiotos were out in FULL force and when we stopped for lunch it was down right miserable but that didn't stop us from having a great time.   Towards the end of the day we did have a rockin' and rollin' good time ~ literally.  Breeze rolled her quad and luckily no one was injured.  Hailey was wearing a helmet and was a bit bruised and shakin' up and Breeze was also bruised.  It has given all something to smile about and to learn from.

so glad my bestest friend was OK after the accident!

The morning of the 4th of July we enjoyed a flag ceremony as well as breakfast with our ward family.

Garett LOVES to hang with the missionaries and loves to joke and give them crap.  Landen of course is always right there with G.

 Love, Love being a missionary mom with these two ladies

We of course celebrated the 4th of July up at the Heil's house, it has become a tradition.  Swimming in the afternoon, eathing most of the day, fireworks at the park, and back to Shane's for our own firework display.  

We also got to be a part of the 24th of July parade in Ogden.  With Colton being a senior class officer, he asked Tom to pull the float.  We needed to find a "sweet" truck to pull the float so Chad to the rescue.  It was a great day and I loved being able to share it with Colton.  I am so proud of him and simply adore him

You must eat at Burger Bar once if you want to say your summer was a success so we headed out and invited the Winterbottoms.  We ordered our grub and headed over to Roy Jr to enjoy our dinner.  It was fun to hear, see and feel a summer storm roll in.  Love nights like this.  Hanging out with my guys and good friends

Weston also hit his one year mark, July 24th ~ Crazy to think he will be home in less than a year.  Here is his cousins telling him congrats ~ 1 year down, 1 to to and they think he is #1

This summer also brought the Ogden Temple Open house!  WOWSA!  that is all I have to say.  The temple and the grounds are spectacular.   I first got to experience the open house with a group of friends from work ~ 

I then had the privledge to take my guys and Darbie one evening and then we enjoyed dinner at Tailgaters at the Junction

Tom and I also were able to help at the open house of August 2nd.  What a night.  It was fun to be there with friends from the ward and to be in the Lord's house.  I have to say that I didn't see Tom for much of the night as he was on a different floor however towards the end of the night I was able to do a tour and as I came around a corner and spotted my gorgeous husband my heart skipped a beat.  After all these years I still get all giddy when I see him.  And to see him dressed in his suit, glowing from the spirit it was just  ~ well I fell in love all over again that night.  I am truly blessed beyond measure to have him as my eternal companion.

Summer of 2014 was also the summer we said good bye to our Kita.  She was 14 and her physical body was failing her.  She wanted to be healthy for us, her family.  Tom and I made the very hard decision to put her down.  She will forever be my favorite and I truly do miss her, maybe not all her fur all over my house but I miss her.

 My bestest pal, Ali, stopped over one Sunday and snapped a few photos of my baby

Before we said good bye however, we introduced Kita to Colton's new puppy, Mia.  Yep, I finally caved and let him get his puppy.  She is growing fast and is beginning to destroy the yard.  Check out the picture that G got of the two together

our Katie Bug misses Kita and was seriously struggling a bit.  She began to sleep under my bed once Kita was gone and wondered the yard for a few days looking for her.  Broke my heart but Mia quickly helped take Katie's mind off Kita in fact most of the time Katie is already sick and tired of a puppy. 

Logan bought a new truck, a 1977 Chevy Luv.  I totally think this truck fits Logan to a Tee.  The following picture could of and probably should have been in a magizine back in the day.  Check out his smile folks, that is the smile of a new Luv owner.  and yes that is a regular size canoe ~ the truck is just that small.  

and what summer is complete without a pose on the Pepsi bench outside the Bank of Utah?  Pepsi threw a suprise concert this summer in downtown Ogden.  They set up these benches at random places with Pepsi in the coolers to promote the concert.  

me, Celeste Boothe and Laura Castro

and that is our summer in a nut shell.  Bring on fall and the next adventures of the Leatherow clan.

Colton takes on D.C.

This post has been put off long enough ~ I am so overwhelmed that I really don't know how to start or how to finish.  So please bear with me.
Each year the AP US History/Gov't class have the opportunity as Juniors to spend a week in Washington, D.C. visiting the monuments, the museums, the battlefields and to simply enjoy the start of their summer vacation.  Colton was determined to make the trip and he paid for the entire trip 100% by himself.  He saved every penny and was committed to making the trip.  Tom and I are so proud of him. This would be his first plane ride as well.  He was so excited and so was I because I told him that he was to post several pics a day to FaceBook, to Instagram as well as send them in texts.  Well he failed miserably at keeping me upto the minute on his trip however, he did come home with 598 pictures on my camera ~ yep you read that right 598 photos ~ so now you see why I am so overwhelmed.  I will in no way blog about every photo ~ 1. because I wasn't there ~ 2. because Colton is not home while I am blogging and 3. because blogging that many photos would be CRAZY!

Here we go….

Home away from home for the next week

First stop ~ Fort McHenry

they then visited the Inner Harbor in Baltimore

Day 2 ~ Arrlington National Cemetary

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ~ in Colton's words, "extremely moving"

Leaving Arrlington and heading into Washington, D.C. 

1st stop: Iwo Jima Memorial

2nd stop ~ National Mall ~ a giant field from the Capital Building to the Lincoln Memorial 

They played here ALL day ~ enjoy all the photos

 Air and Space Museum

 National Art Museum

 the Famous Monument Walk ~ GOOD walking shoes are required; you will be walking 10+ miles

Jefferson

Roosevelt ~ only president to serve 4 terms 

the artist designed 4 stone rooms ~ 1 for each term

 representing the turmoil that he was dealing as soon as he was elected

Martin Luther King, Jr

Korean War AKA the Forgotten War

 The etching is only visible looking in one direction otherwise like a flat empty piece of granite

 Flowers are continually fresh

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam

The memorial starts off small and continues to grow and grow to symbolize the amount of lives that were lost.

 point symbolizes the war seemed like it would never end 

World War II

 each gold star represents a number of lives lost

Washington Memorial

This will forever be the tallest monument in D.C. 

Last stop ~ The White House

Wowsa they are Tired.  

Day 3

First stop Capitol Building

 Brenden Morris and the statue…  

Walked to Ford Theater along the way they saw the I.R.S, the Post Office and the architechure is amazing.  They ate lunch at an underground food court.  Beyond words…you must see for yourself and he didn't get photos

and the theater

they then ventured to the Holocaust Museum, Mr. Stevens, asked the students to keep their cameras tucked away and simply take it in.

Natural History Museum ~ Colton says they spent way too much time here and he has the photos to prove it.  Enjoy

 Hey Zack

top secret….shhhhh….Colton actually found a corner and took a nap.

Day 4

Gettysburg

 Mr. Stevens doing what he does best  ~ TEACH

 another National Cemetary at Gettyburg

 the "crew"

and that wraps day 4

Day 5

extra time before the flight stopped at Harper's Ferry

a quick history lesson.  Thomas Jefferson visited here.  Shay's rebellion also took place here. Short lived rebellion.

This trip was a great memory for Colton.  He is a huge history buff and loves the stories.  We missed him and the 5 days went too slow sometimes.  We surprised him when we picked him up by having Darbie in the car.  The smile on his face was priceless to see her or was it to see his mommy?  He will never tell.