Lloyd Family

Every year in the weeks before school I take stock of what I have leftover from last year,  then go give WalMart all my money to accumulate the remaining supplies my school kids need.  I lay it out on the table, then give them each their supply lists and they gather their own stuff.  That way I don't do all the work, and they can choose which color folder, etc., they want.  They kind of look forward to it as a fun back-to-school tradition. This year, as an end of summer party, we took the kids to the fair.  It has been years since we took them, and they had a fun time.  We enjoyed meeting up with the Lawrences and Jensens.  Also, Hanna's pep band played their first concert of the year there! Alas, the first day of school finally came.  (Zane was pretty psyched to have his picture taken.)   These two guys got into clone trooper school. We're so proud!

Hanna played a piano solo, "Come Thou Fount",  in Sacrament Meeting. She took this selfie beforehand when she was practicing. I bought this women's shirt, brand new with tags, for a quarter at a yard sale. It made the cutest dress on Sara! Isn't her hair getting long? Sara's favorite car (Austin Healey Sprite) at the Joe Mama's car show. I adore these girls!!

I just uploaded the pictures from my phone, and this is some of what I found: Yeah, we're pretty careful with the furniture here.

OUR 200TH BLOG POSTING! Last week we went on our last camping trip of the summer. We joined the Hall family for two days at a beautiful,  quiet campsite on the Little Big Wood River. (Hanna was off camping with the Jensens and Lawrences.) I've never been at a campsite with a better river for the kids to play in. There was an awesome little log structure built! Zeb said he didn't want me to take his picture. Gotcha! Lilly and Sara liked to swim in their own private pool. Thursday night we were all woken by an awesome thunderstorm. It felt like the trailer was going to be blown over, and the volume of the thunder was incredible! We stopped by the reservoir on the way home  for some fishing and climbing. Good times!  Go Sara! Nice jump, Lilly! They liked to do everything together. Zane Zac Jesse Beautiful Faith. Ezra and Zeb have a lot of fun goofing around. Ella and Joziah with their "c...

Zane and Zac are keeping busy and progressing well with scouting.  In July we had a Court of Honor where both boys participated.  Zac worked hard in his year of 11-year old scouts, and has progressed to the rank of First Class!  His excellent leader promised the boys that he would give them a survival blanket  if they reached First Class before they turned 12. You can see Zac's on the table. The scouts retired a flag that evening.  Zane called the retirement ceremony,  Kory read the words to "Ragged Old Flag" by Johnny Cash, and Zac helped place the flag in the fire.. Then it was off to scout camp! Zac and Kory both spent their birthdays there.  The boys had fun and worked hard-  Zane earned six merit badges, and Zac earned his first eight.

Our Birdie, Sara, turned 10 this past week. She is a double digit now! Breakfast: cinnamon rolls Dinner: frozen burritos and dill pickle-flavored potato chips Treat: angel food cake with strawberries Sara has been wanting some beeswax for a long time so she could make homemade Chapstick. She got some for her birthday and was in heaven mixing up a couple batches! Sara is a beautiful, creative girl with a fiery personality. She makes life interesting and fun. We love you, Sara. Happy birthday!