Sunday, August 31, 2008

Home improvement??






We have a couple of new additions in the Kratz home. Max loved the box that carried our new over-the-range microwave, but the girls like the oven itself. (Our previous microwave, may it rest in peace, was more than 20 years old when it died a few weeks ago.) We also got a new bookcase for our living room. Stacey took my picture next to it, since I spent hours assembling it. As you can see from the other photo, the work affected my mental health.

Back to school!




It seemed to go all too fast, but summer came to an end, and our girls are back in school. Emma is in fifth grade, Grace is in second and Kate is in first. All of them had an excellent first week.

Clowning around





There's always time for having fun at home, whether Emma and her cousin are dressing up for an impromptu murder mystery play, Max is reading (and making a political statement on his shirt), Grace is showing off her missing front tooth or Max and Mommy are just having fun hanging out.

Outside and in ...



Our little ones like to pose, whether they're by a creek, trying on new hunting clothes from Ba (that's Kate behind the shades), or bedding down for the night. Although I still think that seems like a mighty big bed for a little guy like Max in the last photo.

More Park City fun

Our little ones have no problem invading Ba's space, as you can see by the photo of them in his bed at the Park City condo. We also had more fun riding an alpine slide and, once again, visiting the creek, with it's locally famous "shoe tree."


Thursday, August 14, 2008

Time to explore!



Another reason the children love going to the condo with Grammy and Ba is that it gives them the chance to explore a nearby creek.

Looks like they were being led by a pirate!

Park City



One of the things the children enjoy about time in Park City is visiting the fire pit outside the condos. They especially liked making s'mores and growing more familiar with the art on display.

More fun, games and visitors


Max and Daddy have a lot of fun together, whether Max decides to take a ride in a bag or freaks out during an attempt to imitate a statue!

And all of us were glad to welcome more visitors in August, as Kathy, Ray and Z came to visit. We went to Park City with them for fun at their timeshare.


At the Conference Center






There's a huge building in downtown Salt Lake City, known as the Conference Center, that is used for large meetings of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We took a tour of it, and it's quite an amazing place. Even more amazing is the view of the downtown Salt Lake skyline from the roof of the building (which, by the way, features a garden and several water features). Several big construction projects are in progress here, as you can see from all of the cranes in the skyline picture. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Around the house





There's never a dull moment around our house, even now that "cousins" have returned to Texas. Whether we're dealing with a monster snarl in Emma's hair, taking a break after mowing the lawn or just trying to keep up with Max, it seems like we're always on the move!

Lots of La-las!






Max, of course, loves la-las (fish), so a trip to the local aquarium was an obvious choice for a summer afternoon. Some of them may have been scary la-las, but all was well in the end, as he left with a la-la ball and a backpack that looks like a rotten (frog).