General Update

So here I go with the summer update on the Bruschke's.  I finally have some time to sit down and blog some pictures and information about our summer so far.  This has probably been the craziest summer of our lives - really!  A few months ago, we semi-randomly decided to move to another house in our neighborhood.  It's a long story but to try and summarize - we listed our home in AZ to try and sell again but after a few months with no bites on buyers but numerous calls from potential renters, we decided to go ahead and continue renting our house there.  At the same time, another house in our neighborhood which we had looked at possibly purchasing in January (but they decided not to sell) became available to lease - at a significantly better price than our current home.  Anyway, we made a quick decision to move to this other home (which we also like alot better) for a year or so.  We are really hoping and praying that they will just sell us the home in the not-to-distant future. We really like the house and it's in a great location.  We'll see.  We have learned through our experience the last few years that things often don't work out the way we think they should or plan, but they have always worked out for the good.  

So school let out here on June 11th.  Ashlyn left the next day for a trip to New York with her grandparents.  The rest of the kids and I left a few days later and headed to Southern California to spend some time with my sister, Anna, and her family who live in Singapore and come every summer to visit and to bring Ashlyn back.  We stayed about 6 days there, then headed home to finish packing and move.  We spent the last few days in June moving and settling and then headed to Utah for the 4th of July weekend.  We spent a few days enjoying family there and then headed back home to get ready (and finish unpacking) for Breann's baptism and the friends and family who were coming into town for that occasion.  We spent a wonderful few days with grandparents, cousins, and friends.

The past 5 days have been our first without packing, moving, or preparing for / cleaning up after a vacation.  I can't believe how quickly the summer goes by when your living a crazy life.  We are finally feeling settled in the new house and are enjoying some 'normal' summer activities and playdates with friends.  We have one more slow week before Ashlyn and I head to our week at YW Camp (yes, I am doing the 3 day backpacking hike with the older girls - I'm a little scared) and then home for 1 day before heading to our annual Lake Powell adventure.  We're really packing it in.  It's been full of good things but I think next year we'll hopefully scale back and spend more of those lazy days at the pool and enjoying the parks and recreational activities all around us.