New Family Pictures

We had new family pictures done with my family.  The last time we had them done with my family was when Caleb was about 18 months old.  We went up to third dam to have them done.  I absolutely love the colors!  Now if I can get Travis's mom to choose a date we can do them for that side of the family too!

Where has the summer gone?

Holy cow this summer has gone by fast!  I think it helps that Travis took a week off in July during Relay and the kids have done summer school.  We're still waiting for swim lessons to start on July 29th too!

Here are a few fun things we've done so far.

We went to Porcupine Dam with Travis's brother's family.  The kids had a ton of fun.  We had a beach spot all to ourselves, the weather was beautiful and we made hamburgers.  The fishing was a bust, but we had a good time.  I hadn't been up to Porcupine in ages & it was the first time the kids had really been there & played in the water.

 I can't believe these two are only 3 days apart.  Livi talks circles around B but B is about three times the size of Livi!  They sure play cute together though.

Nash was excited to try his hand at fishing so he could sign some things off in his scout book.

B is a natural born fisherwoman.  Look out daddy, brothers & grandpa - this girl knows how to do it!

We went to the stadium on July 3rd to watch the fireworks & the ABBA impersonator band.  About 2/3 of the way through the band Travis finally heard an ABBA song he recognized!  It killed me that he really had no idea who ABBA was.  He's Mr. Music!  We borrowed my mom's Momma Mia cd for a few days before so he could listen to it.  

Aunt Jamie brought glow sticks for all the kids.

B was such a little busy body (no surprise there).  She liked the fireworks though.  Although since we've gone to the stadium she's now afraid of fireworks!  She didn't like it when we lit them off last night!

Caleb inherited this killer cowboy best from Aunt Nikki.  He has loved it and worn it a ton.  I told Nikki I'm pretty sure it's going to make an appearance in school pictures this year.  Apparently B quite likes the vest as well!

Even our dad played with the glow sticks!

I put B in her fourth of July dress to go to nursery the Sunday before the fourth.  She totally hammed it up for her picture.

 We have played at Grandma Terri & Grandpa Larry's a lot this summer.  Thank goodness for their pool!  This picture is Sunny & B playing "Chubby" one night.

B has decided she really likes her sister's glasses.  Lucky for me she's gentle with them!  Unfortunately for Sam she hasn't quite figured out she needs to not touch the lenses so I have to clean them good after B is done with them!

We took the kids to the Hyrum parade on the fourth of July.  It only lasted an hour and ten minutes this year (rather than 2 hours) and it wasn't too awfully hot!  Travis hauled some camp chairs down for us to sit on so I got to sit in the shade while he played grab the candy from the parade floats with the kdis!

My dad did a pig roast at his place on the fourth of July again this year.  Unfortunately the pig didn't turn out very great.  The kids thought it was cool to watch it though.  We had a lot of people there (not nearly as many as there have been in the past) and the kids got to play with some cousins they only see about once a year.

While Travis has been home he's been working on finishing up the basement.  He only has until Sept. 3rd until preschool starts so we've got to get it done!  He's almost got the first coat of mud done in the big rooms.  The bathroom will still be awhile coming but that's not a big deal because we have another bathroom right at the top of the stairs that preschool kids can use.  I'm planning to put a curtain rod across the hallway that leads to the boys room & my office so that the preschool kids aren't tempted to go back there and play.

Brookelyn decided she wanted to help her dad & grandpa Larry mud the sheetrock a day last time he worked on it.  She was oh so helpful.

She wasn't too thrilled about getting hosed off though!

We participated in Relay for Life again this year.  Our team raised about $2,000 this year.  Our event total at last count was $96,428.  We can accept money until the end of December though so we're trying/hoping to hit $100,000 this year.  $96K is still a new record for our event though!

Samantha got to dance at Relay with LaShars again this year.  I loved this dance they did.  They did it to God Bless America.  It was really cool looking with the red, white & blue.

Last year Travis made the comment "If you want me to keep showing up to Relay and wear your team shirts you need to do something that isn't pink - like camo!"  So, this year I did camo.  The kids all looked pretty stinking cute - especially this one:

Nash spent the night at Travis's brother's house on Thursday & Friday night so he wasn't with us until Saturday.  I think he still had a good time though.

We got another rising star sign this year.  I believe it's when you hit $500 that you get a sign.  Now I have one from last year & one from this year.

Relay was out at Elk Ridge again this year.  I really like that location but wish that it was closer to town so we could pull in a bigger audience.  One reason I really like this location though is that there are several playgrounds the kids can play on.  They LOVE this spot.  It's right next to a drinking fountain and these diggers make making a moat really easy!

Samantha, Travis & Nash all went on the "Trampoline Thing." on Saturday.  Travis was the only one brave enough to do flips while he was one it.  The kids really liked how high they could go on it.

Brooke was such a handful while we were up there.  Travis's parents usually take the kids for me Friday night but Travis's cousin got married on Saturday so his parents were down in Manti.  This meant that we had all four kids with us (except Nash) the entire time.  We managed to lose B twice!  Once they had to announce she was missing.  Oy.  Best. Mom. Ever.  She finally crashed in the wagon on Saturday long enough for a short nap!

I didn't do more than about five laps this year because I was so busy keeping track of everything else that my responsibilities included being on the committee.  We also did the big track this year so one lap this year was equal to about two laps last year.  One thing that was fun we did this year was put a bean in our penny wars jar every time we did a lap.  That helped us know how many laps our team had done.  The kids loved putting in a bean each time we went around.

I was nice & pulled the kids around the track for the final lap.  It was so warm this year too.  Last year we had a monsoon.  This year people got sunburned!

Sam (I) won this quilt this year.  We won it from the same team we won my blue & green one from last year.  Danielle & I have joked all year that she should just give me the quilt!  It's just the right size for Sam's bed.  She loves it and was so excited when I said "Sam, here's your quilt."  I think it surprised her that I was letting her have it.  The blocks on this quilt have one inch blocks in it!  It's amazing!

The day after Relay Travis, Sam, Nash & Caleb went & floated the Onieda River with my Uncle Doug, Aunt Kathy & Cousin Melissa.  Travis came home like this:

I asked him why he was so burned & the kids weren't.  He said he got the last of the sunscreen & he was in the river twice as long as the kids.  I have no idea how he's functioning at work with a burn like this.  He's fried everywhere!  His poor skin matched his swim trunks!

Yesterday was Caleb's fifth birthday!  We kept it low key because Travis isn't home until Sunday.  We just hung out at home & went to my parents' house around five to let the kids swim in the pool.  When we got home I let him open a couple presents.  Today we are going to go down to Lehi to the dinosaur park for their "Night with T Rex".  Caleb is so excited to go.  He asks when we can go there every time we go to Manti.  He calls it the "bigger, better dinosaur park."  Silly kid.  Hopefully I can keep track of all four kids at this deal without losing any of them or my mind!  The "Night with T Rex" includes a 3D/Imax movie with popcorn/drink, tour of the museum (they have 60 complete dinosaur skeletons), four palentology classes & something else I can't recall.  It goes from 6-10 pm so it will be a late night for us!  Kids are pretty excited to go though so it should be worth the wait!

Tomorrow I will be going to my final summer sewing class (a five yd quilt) while Sam & Nash go to the pioneer days celebration in Mendon with my Uncle Bruce & his kids & Caleb & B will have a grandma day with Grandma Terri.  We're also suppose to head down to Farr West for a cousin birthday.  Guess we'll see how much we can accomplish!