Tucson Lightning

Dave caught some awesome lightning shots from our backyard. 

Aren't these amazing? 

Ward Campout

We had a great time at our ward camp out last month!  It was great to get up in the cool air and hang out with awesome people!   

The kids were in heaven of course... sleep in a tent, free to run wild, get as dirty as they could...and with friends!!  The only thing that could make that story any better would be  if they got to eat candy all day too!  lol  

Check out this little cutie...despite the slight frown he really is a natural in the natural world!  

The Spider & the Katydid

This is Dave posting. If you couldn't tell before, you'll be able to tell shortly. That's because Amber would never take pictures like this and, if she did, she would never post them.

That said, a few nights ago our kids notices something on our back door:
What's that, you say? You can't see what's in the picture? Ok, look here then:
That's a no-flash shot, so there's a bit of blur. The markings on his back are pretty clear, and we were able to identify this as a giant crab spider. They're about 2-1/2 inches across. They don't spin webs, but they climb well, move quickly, and hunt pretty much anything you don't want in your house. Their bite "isn't harmful to humans", but is supposed to be painful. To me, that's harmful. But whatever.

Luckily for me, I had a couple of inches of glass between me and him. A short while later, he flipped around to give me a better view of his underside:


And so we sat for some time, me reading my book and him eating small moths, occasionally pouncing hard enough that I could hear a 'tap' on the glass. Come to think of it, I'd heard these taps from time to time over the last couple weeks and wondered what they were. Now I know!

Eventually, a Katydid came up to the glass just around the corner from the G.C.S. (Giant Crap Spider). From what I think I know of these bugs, they're also hunters, and it appeared that he started chasing some moths as well. Had I my wits about me, I would have started filming him. Alas, I did not.

Sure enough, the Katydid got closer and closer to the spider, seemingly oblivious to the imminent danger. The G.C.S. set himself up and POUNCE!

He snagged himself a nice, big meal!

That picture, by the way, is worth seeing in all it's detail. As is the next:

After the Katydid stopped struggling, the G.C.S. brought him over to the other side of the glass and just kinda held him there for a few hours.

It's the CIIIIiiiiiircle of LIIIIIIIIFFFEEEE! And it moves uuuuusss aaaaaalllllll!

And to finish out, here a video of the G.C.S. moving:




Don't you love Arizona?!?

Remember Monsoons?

This is for all you folk that have never seen or have moved away and might miss our lovely Arizona monsoons!  Enjoy!


A little part 2...follow up on the storm, and some great giggles and talking from Abby.  You have to listen hard, but you can hear the thunder (the cause of all the giggles).  Although, my favorite part (and the kids' too) is Dave's giggle! lol

Family Fireworks

Tradition...watching fireworks out front of Grandma's house on a blanket. 

I love this picture of Mom & Joey.  Joey LOVED them!

The line up: my sister Sadie, Grandma Sorensen, Dawson, Abby & Jenny down at the end.

I'm glad we got this exact picture.  This is how Abby watches fireworks...with her ears covered.  It's pretty cute. Someday she won't be afraid of loud sounds or the fear of the possibility of loud sounds. :)

Daws & Sam 

Ra-Ra! Sparklers entertain!

Sade

Oh, the temptation to grab the sparklers...my kids luck, their pj's would start on fire!

4th of July Olympics with the Larsen Side

Jen, Dawson & Sam drove up to spend the 4th of July up in Utah as well.  So on Monday we all met at Grandma's house for the 1st Annual 4th of July Olympics!  We drew straws to find our team mate & then we came up with our own team names & designed our own shirts!  It was awesome!  Here are our teams...

UNCLE SAM & GRAM

THE CANNON BALLS

The TAMED ZEBRAS!  

And somehow I didn't get a picture of our 4th team...it was Jen & Dave...GENERAL WINNERS!  (sorry guys--if someone else has a picture of them send it my way please!)

Stretching good, getting warmed up....

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!

Jen designed the whole thing!  She is so creative and fun!  Thanks Jen!  What a fun tradition to start!  Here is our scoreboard.

There is one event I somehow didn't get any pictures of...the grape toss.  Sam RULED that event.  I think he caught 9 out of 10 or something.  It was awesome!  Pretty sweet skill.

Croquet through the sprinkler.  So fun...we all got wet!

For this event we had to launch balloons at a basket.  The closest landing won.  It was a lot harder that in sounds.

Sade & I were awful at this one!  Dave and Jen did pretty good.  

Gram & Sam launching their balloon... can you see it?

Next was the bubble blowing contest.  We each got 2 big chunks of bubble gum and time to warm it up in our mouths. 

I have to admit, our 1st 4 competors struggled!  Grandma's bubbles were cute...Dawson's...ok, Sade was the best out the 4, and Dave....well, lets just say...I don't think he's ever blown a bubble in his entire life...and that's ok. :)  

Mom is an incredible bubble blower! I have NO idea where she got her skills!

That's a pretty good one Jen!

Ca-plu-ee!  Isn't that the coolest shot?!  Mom totally blew us out of the water on this event!  

Three in sync. :)  

The next event was pie/cake eating contest!  It was very yummy!  Just one piece so we didn't feel sick after.  These guys were so funny to watch!

Go Sade!!

Abby watched them so closely.  She thought we were crazy....maybe we were!  

Hilarious!

Haha!  Look at Sadie!  She kicked bootie! 

Yes, it was 3 guys verses me.  I won!!!  I am woman! :)

Check out these monstrous balloons for the final game.

Mark...Get Set....Throw!!

Hiiii-Ya!  Blast off ending here!

The huge balloon throw winners!

4th of July with the Omer Side

We're so glad we got to go up to Utah over the 4th and be all together with the Omer family before Dan and Fam head to the East coast.  Abby adores her cousins and wishes she could see them every day.  

All the Omer Grandchildren!  All 10 of them...for 1 more month!  Bottom row: Adam, Emmalyn, Abigail, Haven, Gideon. Middle: Allison, Joey & Isacc.  Back:  Jacob & Bria

Gideon being adorable as always! (Tom's)

Allison dancing. (Tom's)

Isaac & Mike (Melanies)

Heather & Emmalyn--two beauties! (Matt's)

Dad did a slide show off his digital camera this year.  It was a blast as always!

Supergirl!  I remember doing this to my siblings all the time!

Zeee buff one!

The famous swingset!  I think it's a miracle no one has been hurt on it yet!  

Joey watched his boy cousins and learned from their every move! 

Tickle Time!  Check out that gorgeous, Utah grass!  Oh how we enjoy visiting it! lol

Of course Daddy can't lay down for 1 second before he is covered in kiddies.  He loves it! :) 

Mike & Haven haven fun! (Melanies)