Happy Birthday Leslie!

My oldest sister Leslie is undoubtedly one of my best friends.  She's eight years older than me so I don't have a lot of memories of spending time with her when I was young.  I only remember the nickname she had for me in those days:  Chmonsky.  I can still hear her calling me that.
But once I hit about age 20, she quickly became my best bud and confidant.  I discovered how much I loved spending time with her.  She's become my favorite person to laugh with (we totally get each other's humor), and she's my therapist as well.  (Not everyone could handle such a title.) 
The past few years I've seen a side of Leslie that has impressed me so deeply.  She's always been loving and kind person, but it seems she's developed an even stronger ability to feel and show compassion. 
For instance, she's such a loving mom and aunt.  She takes such an interest in my girls.  They love talking to her and they can't wait 'til the next time they see her.  She braids their hair and talks girl talk with them all the time.
But even more than that, she's really been there for me since Michael died.  She often made a point of spending time with me during that first year after his death.  She was sure to call and check up on me the days we didn't see each other.  She's listened to my constant tears of grief and pain, and she's cried along with me in those moments.  Perhaps it's unfortunate for her that I feel so comfortable in confiding in her, but I'm quite sure I do it because I don't feel judgment around her.  Just love and understanding. 
So grateful for that.
And another thing--She's an amazing artist. I know people say that all the time about other people, but I am honest in saying that she is incredibly talented creatively and artistically.  She often downplays that side of herself, and I wish she wouldn't.  She's incredible.

Nowadays we don't see each other as often as I'd like, but I always look forward to Sunday dinners and cabin getaways when we can hang. 

Love you, Les!  Happy birthday August 2nd!

Here she is braiding Lydia's hair at the cabin.  Summer of '09.  (Andi's the baby on the left side.)

I took this picture at Mom's a few years back when Chloe was just a baby.  I've loved watching how much Leslie has loved being pregnant and having her babies.

Les taking care of my Andi in Bear Lake 2012.

The Francis Fam goin' on a tandem bike ride with us in Bear Lake, summer 2012.  So cute. 

Doin' some runnin'...

Eric has been training this summer for a marathon.  He's registered for the Top of Utah marathon in September.  Each Saturday he gets up early for a long run.  He always amazes me when he comes back from those--I'm pretty sure I'd be dead after those runs, but he just continues his day like normal.  Today he ran 18...Yes, 18 miles.  I am so so so proud of him.  And I'm also glad that he finally gave in to my wishes for him to run on the main streets in our city and surrounding towns--They provide much more shade than some of the trails he's been going on.  The only time I ever see him struggle is when he has to run in this heat.  It's been quite a hot summer here, so there's been a couple of times that he's come home pretty burned out.  One Saturday we took the girls to go see the movie, "Brave," and Eric had been on one of his long runs that morning.  During the movie, he had to get up and run to the bathroom so he could puke.  Ha ha.  Poor baby.  Just goes to show you how hard core he's been.  P.s. I totally loved "Brave."  So cute and actually taught some good things.

Here Eric is with his Ragnar "tattoo."  He ran the race with Lori, Gabe, Scott, Scott's dad, and some others.  So proud.  Right when he came home from the two-day affair, he joined in Abbey's birthday party.

Scott bein' a goof on the course.

Scott's dad, Lee, goin' strong up a hill.  He's the man.

We ran a fun "family" 5k race in Kaysville on the 4th of July.

The cute runner on the left is Andi.  I wish I would have equipped her with better running gear that day--I didn't know she was going to want to run like she did.  She wanted to run with the rest of us, and she did such a good job.

Scott and Eric ran the Bear Lake half marathon together on June 9th.  They did great and it was fun to see 'em do it together.

Abbey Lynne runnin right behind Aunt Leslie.  So cute.

Me, Andi, and Ava runnin' hard at the Kaysville race on July 4th.

Bear Lake Half Marthon, Baby!

Cheerin' on Eric and Scott in Bear Lake

Eric ran the Bair Gutsman race on August 4, 2012.  Here he is at the top of the mountain, Baby!

Right by the water towers at the top of the mountain in Farmington.  Hard core!

Abbey's showing the medal we made for Eric for runnin the Bair Gutsman

At the finish line!

All the girls were happy to see him...in spite of the sweat and dirt all over him!  (Who wouldn't be dirty and sweaty after a race like that?!)  I'm so proud of him for doing this race, and he got a pretty cool shirt for it, too.

Ron and Joann

For Eric's brother James' birthday, we went down to his house in Lehi for a visit.   Each time we take these trips to Lehi, we've thought it to be a good time to visit the Orem cemetery and then to drop Andi off at Grandpa Ron and Grandma Joann's house.  And each time, they spoil her rotten.  On this particular trip, we met up with them afterwards and they had homemade ice cream for all of us and a darling candy bouquet for the girls.  Talk about going the extra mile.  We love you guys!

Grandpa Jim

Eric's dad came up to Utah for a couple weeks in July. We were able to see him on the 4th of July, and then he came up with the rest of the Klein family to go to Cherry Hill with us for an evening. Eric also had a day out with his dad and brothers....

Enjoyin' a day out with the men.

At Cherry Hill:

Ember was so sweet with Abbey

As you can see from this picture, Abbey has grown much more comfortable in the water.  :)

Katie and Ava :)

Eric and Andi

Ava and Ember

Love this picture.  They have a lot of fun together.

Grandpa Jim with his grandkids in the lazy river.

Love this picture too.  So cute.

Ava, me, and my double chin. 

Perfect illustration of Eric's humor with the girls.

Perfect illustration of how much Andi LOVES Cherry Hill.

Look at this cute girl.  Love it.

Thanks to Grandpa Jim, Mel and his family, and Wendi and James for coming up here to spend time with us.  So fun!

Parades

The Klein girls went to their first parades this summer.  We went to the Kaysville parade on the 4th of July with Isaac and Cathi.  Cathi lives close to the parade route so we're lucky to have a good parking spot at her place.  She has always been known to have some good 4th of July celebrations at her place. 

A few weeks later we then went to the Farmington Parade since Abbey and Andi were on a float for their dance class.  I LOVE the Farmington parade.  There's nothing like it.  I would definitely say it's one of my favorite parts of the summer.

Here they are--Ready to ride on "Miss Katie's Dance" float.

Ava with Lori's daughter, Lydia at the Farmington parade.  Lydia is SO good to our girls.

My parents waiting to see our girls....And my dad trying to control Harry.  :)

Miss Abbey Lynne--The star of the show!

Miss Katie's Dance parade participants. July 14, 2012.

Here Andi is on the float--She's waving and she's just to the left of the white sign.  She's in a blue tank top.  I had to chase them down to get this picture.  Well worth it.  :)