Among the rocks

We spent some time Saturday afternoon and evening at Hinckley reservation, south of Cleveland at "The Ledges", which has a lot of cliffs, caves, and rocks to climb. This is a picture of Harry and Allison coming through a narrow passage there. Even Dan did a little hiking among the rocks, and found a walking stick that he liked.

We started doing some remodeling of the kitchen this weekend. Started with a light purple for repainting the walls, then thought the better of it once we saw it on the wall. Ended up with white with a bit of pink in it, instead. The girls have agreed that we can use the leftover purple paint to repaint their room.

Allison is feverishly working on memorizing scripture stories-- if she can learn 25 by Wednesday, she will "win" a trip to Geauga Lake amusement park with Teresa and Hal on Wednesday (8/1).

Harry and Hal are taking a vacation to New York City this week, starting Thursday through next Monday. They are planning to attend church at the building where the Manhattan temple is now located. Also on the agenda are trips to various tourist spots and a plan to go see the play "Wicked."

Everyone is healthy and doing well. This was a no electronics week for the kids, with no TV or video games. A greater than average amount of playing in the yard and reading was done this week. Teresa and Courtney have both now finished the new Harry Potter book, and Harry has finished chapter one.

Day in Kirtland

After church we went to Kirtland and visited the Morley Farm, which was our one church historical site in the area that we had not yet visited. It was a beautiful day, and we loved walking back into the woods and hearing about the history of the place.

Afterwards we visited the grounds of the Kirtland temple. This is a picture of Teresa and the kids on one of the two front doorsteps of the temple. Very nice to see with all the flowers around.

Courtney and Teresa are deep into Harry Potter reading now, and are trying their best not to hear from anyone how the story turns out. Courtney was plugging her ears in church yesterday because one of the young women was discussing the book and had already finished it. Apparently, someone dies or gets married or something.

The kids finished swimming lessons last week, so this week should prove to be a more relaxed time. One of the interns at Nestle this summer is from BYU, and we are planning to have him over to eat this week. We have a friend from Russia who is learning about the church, and we are spending a lot of time with him and his son lately.

Fun at the park -- a sunny day

Had a great time playing in the park today. Came back around noon so that Teresa could go teach with sister missionaries. Weather is great!

The whole family went to the book store last night at midnight to get the new Harry Potter book. By 1:00 the place was still packed, so we bought it at Wal-Mart this morning.

Meet the "Mighty Joneses"

We call this the "Mighty Joneses" after our family song. This is the online home of Harry, Teresa, Courtney, Hal, Tyler, Allison, and Dan.

The kids are on summer break, and are doing a lot of swimming at the community pool.

Hal and Tyler went to football camp this year. Courtney attended a basketball camp. This was also Hal's first year of Boy Scout Camp.