4th of July Weekend

We started the weekend sleeping in the one of the tents we used for trek in the front yard. We had promised the kids we would when we got back. We played out in the yard with our neighbors until the kids couldn't wait any longer to go to sleep in the tent.

The next morning we had a birthday and swimming party for my niece Lucy. The kids had a great time swimming.

We then made our way over to BYU for my family reunion. We had a big water fight, the kids rode their bikes and we talked until the fireworks were just about over. This is one of my favorite family parties of the year.

This is my brother Ryan. I talk a lot about my sisters, but I don't talk a lot about my brother. He moved to Florida two years ago and I sure miss him! He adds a lot to our family and it's not the same when he and his family aren't here.


The whole family...


We ended the weekend and reunion at my sister Korinne's house. The kids sang for the little talent show and then Josh begged and begged to play my neice's cello. She was nice enough to oblige. It was a really fun weekend and I was tired, but sad when it was all over.

Pioneer Trek

Nate and I had the opportunity to be a ma and pa on our stake's pioneer trek to Martin's Cove. I was a little (or a lot) nervous at first. I was worried about leaving the kids, the bus ride, how we'd do with the kids in our family and the actual trek. Well, I am so, so grateful that Nate wanted to go and wanted me to come with him. We had an incredible experience.

We got to have two young women from our ward in our "family" and they were both great! They both were such good sports and I enjoyed talking with both of them along the way.
The rest of our family we didn't know until we started getting ready for trek. I couldn't have asked for a better group of kids. The girls were so sweet and helpful and the boys were awesome. We had a great time with them! (And I found a few more babysitters for my kids.)
The bus ride was actually great. We were pretty spoiled. We had comfortable buses with great entertainment on the way up. When we got there, they had an orientation for us and then we got on our way.

I must have been putting hand sanitizer on my hands here.
I think everyone agreed that the walking was not nearly as hard as we thought it was going to be. But we weren't walking for days on end in the snow, without any food, and without warm clothes and shoes.

This was at the Sweetwater River. It was one of my favorite parts of Trek. The feelings I had here I will never forget. Nate got to carry me across... I think we were both a little nervous about that, but we made it and Nate did great!

These pictures are from the women's pull. This was also one of my favorite parts, mostly because of what our stake young women's president shared with us before we started.



Most of the camp jumped in the river when we got back, including Nate. It was one of Nate's favorite parts of trek.


These are the kids from our ward and one of the leaders, Kerri, who came as an "aunt" and is awesome! We were thrilled to have such a great turn out from our ward.
We didn't mean for this to be taken in sepia, but I like how it turned out. This is our "family" right before we left to head back to the busses. I will miss these guys. I hope they had as great of an experience as we did.
And finally, the highlight of trek for me was being able to share it with Nate. I was so grateful to be there with him. We not only had a lot of fun, but were able to spend a few days together without the distractions of everyday life. When our kids get older I want to take them back to Martin's Cove. While I will never understand what the pioneers went through at this sacred place, I have a greater appreciation for what they did and I will always be grateful for them and this experience.

June... come and gone

This was at one of Thanksgiving Point's Garden Adventures. The kids had a great time!

Lia never passes up a chance to get wet.
I love the look on Laura's face here... so serious!

I am grateful for our neighbors in the summer. The kids all have built in friends to play with.
Megan and our cute neighbor Leah.
Josh just being Josh.
I'm afraid Megan doesn't want anything to do with this stuff anymore. She holds her hands out in front of her when I try to give it to her. But, she LOVES those puff things and, I recently discovered, pancakes.

This bike is on loan from my sister for the summer. Josh rides it all the time, but when I ask him if he wants to ride his bike he's quick to remind me, "IT'S NOT MY BIKE! IT'S LITTLE BRIAN'S BIKE!" Well, whatever... he's really cute on it.

This is a typical Sunday night for Nate. He's normally pretty exhausted by this point in the day on Sundays.

Lia's last week of school

Lia had a dance festival and field day the last week of school. She is always so excited to share these "big" events with Laura and the rest of us. Lia has had great experiences in both kindergarten and first grade with great teachers and friends. We can't believe that we will have two going to school in the fall.

Catch up

We found this nest in our barbecue this spring. I couldn't get over how cute the baby birds were with their little mouths open ready to eat. Thankfully they all eventually left the nest after a couple of months though so we could have our deck back.
Megan loves playing with balls. I think she can even say "ball." Or maybe it's just babbling.

And Josh LOVES this jeep of our neighbors. I found him with the hood up trying to fix it one time when it wasn't working. Such a boy.
What is better than a snow cone on a hot day?
Then add a balloon man and face painting...
And a real fire engine for Josh...
And finally, Daddy in a dunk tank. In a swim ring and goggles, no less.
He was a good sport to agree to be dunked at the carnival we had in our cul-de-sac a month or so ago to raise money for a family in our neighborhood. The kids all had a great time!
I was a little hesitant to put this on the blog, but I want it for my records so I did it. Doesn't everyone have a picture like this from when they were little? I love it!