The Gidley Family Party

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Sheldon's sister Sherrie and her Family came for a family dinner on Saturday. We had fun swimming, eating a big barbeque dinner and playing games.

Favorites of August 2006 Dad's 65th Birthday Party

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Shane and Emilee

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My sister-in-law Sherrie just sent me some pictures of her oldest son's wedding. I had stayed home from the wedding and reception with a kidney infection so I didn't realize that Aaron Walker's sister Emilee, married my husband's nephew, Shane Gidley, until I saw Aaron and his wife Melissa in the wedding pictures! Whoever said this was a small world wasn't kidding!

Celebrating David's 4th Birthday

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Funderland Fishies

Singing Happy Birthday to David

Happy Birthday Sheldon!

We went out to Natomas Lake and rented
some kayaks to celebrate Sheldon's bithday.

Julia ready to kayak...

Daddy and the boys


David was so sad when he realized kayaking was all done!



I let him take some pictures with the camera to cheer him up...

David's getting to be quite the photographer!

Grammy Wednesday & Visiting Teaching

David off to enjoy his Grammy Wednesday. I cleaned out his closet and found his sunglasses and train conductor scarf and he wanted to wear them to Grammy's house.

He couldn't wait to get going!

Kim and Andrea came for visiting teaching today and stayed for a swim.

Rachel so loves little Calvin and tried to Mommy him most of the time he was here. My favorite memory of the day was when I said to Rachel and Julia that we would go to Taco Bell for dinner and Rachel said, "Yeah!" and ran over and gave me a hug while I was sitting down on the couch and as soon as she was done Gabriel, Andrea's three year old, said yeah too and hugged me just like Rachel had done! I had to warn Andrea when she came out of the bathroom from changing out of her swimsuit that Gabriel might want Taco Bell for dinner!

FHE Feed the Ducks

We had two Family Home Evenings this week; first we went out to the Folsom Powerhouse trying to find a place to feed some ducks but there were no ducks that wanted to be fed there, even though it was very pretty there and we had fun exploring. We ended up at Negro Bar where we were able to feed some ducks and barbeque some hotdogs. We weren't able to eat our watermelon though because Jared forgot to grab the knife his Dad told him to get to cut it, we ate it when we came home though.

Memorable Moments: David saying, "Bemember when we fed the ducks." When Rachel asked Sheldon what ducks eat and he answered, "Mostly the fish in the lake and little girls toes." (The look on her face was so funny!) Rachel sitting down by me on the picnic table bench, her tummy full from just finishing her hotdog, but with her orange soda still in her hand, she leaned her sweet head against my arm, sighed and then said, "This is the life!"

We also did a group FHE on Monday night which was fun even though Sheldon told me he didn't think we would be doing it this week...I was a little late because I took Jared to Taekwondo but it all worked out in the end!

Bucking Bronco

Bucking Bronco

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Favorites of August 2006

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Thankful for my Baby Girl

Rachel fell down the top portion of the stairs yesterday. She has a big bruise on the side of her left lower leg where she hit it on the bannister but besides that she is fine. It scared the living daylights out of me as I heard her bump down the stairs and then start screaming! Motherhood is not for the faint of heart! Every time I look at her little face since she fell I have been feeling so thankful she is ok and appreciating how much I love her and how lucky I am to be her Mommy.

Bryan, Nancy and Davin Williams Barbeque

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Grandpa Harry Visit

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Partners in Crime

I guess I should've supervised the shampoo usage a little more closely!?! This actually happened a few weeks ago...I was embarrassed at the lack of supervision my children obviously had taking a bath! It was just too cute not to remember though.

Holding On to Our Baby

I'm not the only one holding on to David's babyhood...Julia enjoying our little David's willingness to be bundled up and cuddled like a baby. Only 22 more days until he turns four:(

Banana Squash

I have never cooked with a banana squash before this last week. When Jamie came to swim last Monday she brought me over one along with two pumpkins she had grown in her garden. I added it to an easy chicken stew made with a Costco rotisserie chicken and the yellow and orange peppers you can get in a big bag at Costco along with onions and then the banana squash. It was so tasty and easy. I liked how the banana squash held its shape and didn't get too mushy like most squash, (I made sure I added it last and didn't over boil it). I made a banana squash casserole with onions and tomatoes sprinkled with parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning, and a little bit of olive oil. I loved it but my kids turned up their noses. I've been in a kind of cooking rut lately and it felt good to try something new. That squash was so huge I was able to add three cups to my stew, make a big 13x9in. casserole full, plus I had 3- 1 quart sized bags stuffed full of slightly steamed squash left that I was able to freeze.