the lake

we had a blast on the lake the other day... even if it was the "worst boating trip ever..."!
thanks arthur's - for taking us with you!
it was the first time the boys had been dragged behind a boat... and they loved it!
and now i think we are convinced we need a boat too ... *sigh*... we can dream can't we?

family fun and friends...

for family night last week, our friends invited us up the canyon to bbq, have a campfire and play. it was a blast! we ate delicious food the guys cooked up and played a killer game of kickball... boys vs. girls.

i won't say who won... it might embarrass them... but only that it was so much fun!
thanks for planning this, elisa!
it was a great reminder how much fun the simplest things can be!

elisa is my way fun friend who makes me feel so young when we hang out! maybe that is because she is so young (ha ha), or that we totally can laugh about everything when we are together. she is hilarious! oh and she has the cutest kids in the universe. seriously, her baby is edible! ethan and her hallie are pretty much in love, but that deserves a whole post of its own...

earlier that week...

we took the kids to 7 peaks for the day... the pictures say it all...

july holidays

we're having fun celebrating this month...


the 24th of july
we spent pioneer day in our town celebrating. the kids were in the parade... they were supposed to dress up as someone who has given a lifetime of service. for some reason, they interpreted that as... dress up like something you want to be when you grow up. well, we settled on cameron dressing as a scientist / inventor and barrett as a pilot... cameron didn't think it was very funny when i told them they looked like "cade & susie"..ha ha. ethan dressed up as a doctor. i don't really know why elmo was part of the parade, but i do know that it made ethan's day to meet him!




after the parade we spent the afternoon at the city park for the games, treats, entertainment and fun...



i love this day here in this small town. it is a lot of fun and really old-school which makes it all the better!


later that day, we went over to bbq at my parents and babysit cute mariah. savvy and mariah are becoming quite the little buddies. we went over to the owlz game to watch the fireworks... we had a great view! mariah and savanna were SO cute and so opposite during the fireworks. savanna was jumping up and down, laughing and squealing while mariah was quietly covering her eyes just waiting for them to end... wish i had had my camera with me.





the 4th of july




the boys participated in a great flag ceremony early morning on the 4th.
my dad is in charge of this every year and it is quite the ceremony!
we spent the rest of the day at my parent's relaxing, eating, playing with cousins, setting off fireworks and then going to watch the big fireworks... fun stuff. oh ya - and we went up to the mall the meet glenn beck... we ran into our friends there and it was totally fun... i really like glenn beck... i think he is hilarious... i feel old now that i know the talk radio guys so well...

MOAB

the kids and i headed down to moab with my mom and little sister to play for a few days.
clint stayed home to work, but ended up surprising us in moab on sunday afternoon!

the kids were so excited to have daddy there! let's face it... he is way more fun than me! while he was there we swam and hiked to delicate arch... all of us! i had planned on hiking it with the older boys and leaving ethan and savanna behind, but since clint was there we all did it!

we didn't have a backpack for savanna so we just took turns carrying her and ethan hiked the whole way with 2 liters of water on his back! he was such a trooper. i just love that hike and am always in awe when we reach the arch... it truly is an amazing thing!


we had such a fun, relaxing time in moab.... it had been way too long since we had been there! thanks so much to grandpa, uncle blake and uncle mike for the wonderful accomodations!

june

so we waited quite a while, but summer did come after all!
we had a busy month in june...

here are a few highlights....


the summer buzz... except for barrett.
he didn't want a buzz and is refusing to have any haircut.



we went to the children's art festival with friends... the company was great but the festival was not quite as fun as we expected...crowded and hot! ethan and savanna weren't feeling well that day and just wanted to lie under a tree, but the older kids had a good time. can you tell it was baseball season?? crazy boys...


we were so excited to get visits from lots of family early in the summer this year! john, tamara and their kids came to visit... sorry, i didn't take any pics... but we did have a great time with them. it meant a lot to barrett that they came to one of his baseball games.

then, a few days later...

papa d and bev came to visit for a few days! the kids just love their grandparents and love to be around them. we were even able to spend fathers day with both our dads this year at a little bbq at my parents house.



savanna spent the afternoon playing tetherball... ethan was given lessons in monkey bars by grandpa steve. i think all the fun wore everyone out!


and a few days after that...



the smalls came to stay a few days! ahhh- i really slacked on the picture taking!-
every summer we look forward to our time with the smalls since we know it is the only time all year we get to see them. we always have so much fun when they are here...
wish they lived closer.



beating the heat at the pool and with popsicles or watermelon in hand... does anything say summer louder??

oh and i can't forget my birthday... yes, i turned another year older. clint made the day extra special and suprised me with an ipod, and i found myself some genuine dr. pepper from dublin texas (thanks hansens! i found this stuff through you!...) which i had clint order for me...(really isn't it just easier to get your own presents sometimes?) and he took the boys to the flower shop and let them each pick out flowers for me to make a beautiful bouquet! that night we went to dinner without the kids... it was a great birthday...although i really can't believe how old we are getting... time flies faster all the time!





and pretty much the only other thing we have been doing is working on our landscaping...
pictures will be coming shortly!!