even though summer is over

lake days with the evans group

I am pretty sure that Mabel was the only one who did not absolutely love our long and adventurous days on the lake this week. However, she tolerated it and even cashed in on a couple of tube rides herself.

The boys said that this week should have been called “Ski Camp” or “Lake Camp”. The also broadly hinted that a grandkid camp along those lines would be most welcome!

Truman went from skiing on two skis to skiing on one ski. He even made a run on his mom’s 20 year old ski! which is the best ski that we currently own!!! Elliot was great pulling out of the water, but it took just a couple of suggestions from his mom to turn him into a confident skier. In addition, he just rocked the kneeboard and was undoubted the master of it. Nolan had his doubts about the whole waterski thing, but even Nolan got the thrill of being up. Our skiers are getting younger and younger!

president salerno

Over the weekend, President Salerno came to stay with us. He was Doug’s first counsellor in the mission presidency. In addition to being a faithful counselor, he has been a friend. We loved hearing the updates about the wards and branches and our dear friends far away.

Sunday, after church, we drove over to the temple. The grounds were open and we enjoyed our walk and casual conversations there.

saying goodbye

We’ve been here since last Sunday. We worked hard and we played hard and we even managed to relax a little bit. It is always hard to say goodbye!

happy birthday, dear izzy

While it is not yet actually her birthday, we talked Izzy into opening her presents early so that we could share her birthday joy. Love her!

the queen’s feast

It is restaurant week in Charlotte. That means that you can go to very expensive restaurants and they serve their regular fare, but you don’t pay their regular prices. Love it! We couldn’t seem to remember to take any pictures, but the meals were very memorable.

We ate at the Ritz-Carlton’s Steak House one night,

and the other night we went to Blue. Not only was the food great, but the live jazz band made the ambience even better!

dan’s office

In uptown Charlotte, you will find the Bank of America Corporate Center and inside that building, in addition to some beautiful architecture and design, you will find Dan’s office.

We didn’t actually go there in the daytime this trip. We went there at night. It involves planning ahead and all the security that you would imagine for the Bank of America Corporate Center. Conquering my fear of heights, I went and stayed well away from the giant windows, but I still enjoyed the beautiful views. Tricia wanted a companion to help update Dan’s office. We spent a long, but productive day making our plans and when the following night fell, extreme office makeover began in earnest.

The best part of it all, was that Dan was pleased with the result.

charlotte knights

The Charlotte Knights are a minor league team that feeds the Chicago White Sox. They have a pretty little stadium right in the city center. I can’t remember if it is uptown or downtown, but I think it is uptown. It doesn’t really matter. We watched them win over the Durham Bulls. In a very memorable moment, Jonah caught…not a ball…but a shirt!

Denied the chance to catch a homerun ball. He was sad, but I have to admit, we were celebrating.