Going for a ride in my box car!!!

I thought these pics and video of Austin were so cute. His Uncle Tyler and Uncle Andrew made him a car out of a cardboard box and spent hours driving him around in it. They drew wheels on the sides and even put a steering wheel inside the box. Austin thought it was the greatest thing. He squealed with sheer joy when his Uncles took him for a ride, pushing him all over the living room floor. He tried getting in the car when the Uncles were gone one afternoon and couldn't figure out why it wasn't going anywhere. He didn't understand that it was an "uncle powered" car. Look closely at this first picture. You can see Andrew's face in the background. I don't know who was having more fun, Austin or his Uncles.

These are some pictures of Vance on his birthday. Doesn't the cake look divine? It was a Cindy Gardner masterpiece.

I think Austin looks just like his daddy in this picture. A couple of good looking boys, in my entirely non-biased opinion.

An Update on the Kings

Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything new and a lot has happened in the past two months. The biggest thing is that Vance got a really great internship for the summer. He is doing Compliance work for the athletics department at Utah Valley University. His main responsibilities are making sure that the athletes are eligible to play for the University and that the University is abiding by the NCAA regulations. The best thing is that it is a year-long internship so he will stay on part time when school starts up again this fall. He is really enjoying it and is hoping that this opportunity will open some doors.

I was recently called to serve in the Young Women's program in our ward, and we all know what that means...girls camp!!! It was a really fun experience but I found myself wondering, "When did I get old enough to be a leader". I loved girls camp when I was in Young Women's so I felt extra pressure to make it as memorable for these girls as it was for me. As you can imagine, girls camp is a whole different experience when you are a leader. Teenage girls have a lot of drama that comes with them. The girls in our ward are really great. They are grounded young women and I was very impressed with their spiritual sensitivity and maturity. All in all, it was a great experience. The hardest thing was that I was away from Vance and Austin for five days. I have never left Austin for that long before but he adjusted well to a week of being spoiled by his Grandma Gardner. Austin hasn't been sleeping well at night so I was a little worried for Vance, but Austin was on his best behavior and slept through the night every night I was gone. I wish I could say he kept that up when I got back...the little stinker.

June has been officially designated in our family as "the month of Vance." Vance turned 26 on June 19, then fathers day was two days later, and our third wedding anniversary is on the 29th. Needless to say, it is a little stressful for me. Due to our current limited income, there was no room in our budget for any extravagant surprises, but we tried to make "the month of Vance" memorable regardless.

Finally, here is a quick explanation of the pictures above. Austin loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but he also loves juice. I thought this was so funny. He wouldn't put his sandwiches down long enough to drink his juice so he just holds on to them and makes a big peanut butter mess. Silly boy...