Sands Family: July 2013

Recent Family Pictures

The Fourth of July at a friend's BBQ.

(I accidentally dressed for St. Patrick's Day, instead of the Fourth of July).

The Fall.

The Summer.

Family Gardening

After Dad weeded and rototilled the garden at our new place, Andrew leveled everything with the rake.

Then the girls planted the tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and zucchinis.

Katie and Grant played "gardening" in the sandbox.

Gracie recently built a Zen garden with small plant starts from around the yard, various sticks, and flat rocks.

Andrew did the same (it was actually his idea).

To our surprise, both Zen gardens have continued to grow and are thriving (these pictures are the "before" pictures).

Andrew got to learn about firearm safety and shoot a BB gun at the range during Cub Camp (held in back of the church). Our friend, who is an NRA instructor and sharp-shooter, taught the class. Andrew learned a lot and had fun.

Gracie got in on this, too, since she was helping Dad and others at the Cub Camp throughout the day.

Mom and Dad decided to take an all-day refresher NRA firearm safety/shooting class with some friends at an outdoor range through the same friend that taught at Cub Camp. We learned a lot and got to shoot a number of different firearms, both handguns and rifles (that's Sarah in the middle shooting a handgun with one of the instructors).

Dad shooting a shotgun.

Mom shooting a shotgun.

The Unexpected Move Down the Street

Our new place in Virginia -- had to unexpectedly move out of the old place because the owners put it up for sale. Moved down the street. We're glad it worked out. It was a bit stressful.

Living room.

Home-school room.

Back yard and garden.

Fun in Utah

Sarah got to see her family before her parents left on their mission.

The kids got to see their cousins -- thanks to Jan and Rick for pulling together a fun family BBQ at the park. Gracie enjoyed hanging out with her cousins and learning how to kayak on the lake.