Tolman Family

Happy Father's Day! We had such a great day yesterday, celebrating Daddy. For the past couple of weeks Jessica has been working on her presents. She made a mug, cookies, and a crown that says "King for the Day" (Hank liked that part!). I went for an easier approach - on Saturday I took him to Lowes and told him to pick out some tools. Ya know, it's interesting, this is a guy who claims to not like shopping, but he looked like a kid in a candy store walking up and down those isles! He chose a socket wrench set, a wire stripper, and more wrenches. Sunday we made French toast for breakfast, ham and potato casserole for dinner and these delicious (and might I add, super cute!) brownies for dessert. To all our Dads: We Love You!

I taught Relief Society for the first time today (and hopefully the last!) and I was so nervous! I actually already have two callings - 7 yr old teacher and Activity Days leader - so I don't really know why I had to teach in the first place. Then we found out Hank has to be at a field training for the next ten days so he couldn't even be at church. So I got a sub for my primary class. THEN Jessica woke up sick this morning so I couldn't take her to nursery! She came with me to RS and I just asked everyone to keep an eye on her while I taught. And of course she was wild and passed between like 5 women. Anyway, despite all of that, my lesson turned out pretty well. It was about the life of Christ. I had planned a pretty short lesson, expecting everyone to make a lot of comments. Well, they made a ton. I didn't even get through half of what I had prepared. I just had to keep steering the discussion in the right direction because they got off subject easily. As...

Hank's family came down to visit us last week and we had so much fun! We went and saw all the sights in the area (Tombstone, Bisbee, Kartchner Caverns) and just hung out at home (finishing 3 huge puzzles and beating the entire Mario game). We went swimming, went to movies, and went to church activities. Jessica absolutely loved having them here. Five more people to spoil her! Jessica found this adorable pink phone at an antique store in Bisbee. It was only $200... Kaitlyn, Owen, Kristine, Olivia, Mark, Hank, and Jessica eating pizza ! We went to see a free movie in the park. Kaitlyn and Owen both competed in food eating contests and won! (my iphone pics didn't turn out very well). Hiking on Memorial Day. It was so hot! Thanks for coming, guys! You made our Summer!

Our backyard is finally beginning to take shape. We actually bought this house because of its amazing backyard, but until now we never really used it. Last summer Hank built me my garden boxes, so we had our veggie garden, but that's about it. Jessica's favorite part is her new car. She actually has something to keep her entertained while mom and dad work. This is my extremely attractive gardening pose. This was taken a couple weeks ago, and now the flowers are really starting to grow. My favorite part: our new patio set! I've been looking for one forever and I finally found the perfect one! It's such a nice place to sit and relax on a hot summer afternoon. This year for our garden we have salsa garden (tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, etc.) and a little pumpkin patch for Halloween. I'll try to post more pics later in the summer so you can see how everything is turning out.