Summer Fun and Utah

We have had a very fun very busy week. We went to Utah this weekend for the Oquirrh temple open house. I thought the it was so beautiful. I loved all the stars throughout. I especially loved the chandeliers and windows. I told Kyle "if we get married again it should be here". I got a funny look! My Aunt Bonnie went through with us and it was so nice to see her! I wish we lived closer so we could spend more time with everyone. We also got to see some of Ky's family. Devin and Julie were nice enough to put us up for the night. We spent Saturday evening in the park enjoying a cookout and playing. Gene, Cole, and Sydney joined us and we got some cute pictures. The "big kids" had a climbing contest and enjoyed the slide more than the little kids did! It was so nice to see everyone. Anna and Cole are getting so big. Sydney is taller than me by a good inch! We had fun. Then on Sunday we stopped by U of U hospital on our way home to visit Mahon and Cindy. Cindy is in for a round of antibiotics. The girls loved playing on the escalators and we visited. I thought Cindy was looking a little better, maybe it was the company! I still don't know how she survives two weeks in there though. I found it ironic that we had to drive to Utah to see her when we live half an hour away! We had a good visit and I enjoyed the tour of the campus, thanks Devin for the scenic route! As we drove around I still had that yearning to be there. I really wanted to go to medical school there. I still have that desire within me and sometimes I think about what it would be like. However, in reality I don't think I could uproot the family and drag them down there for a residency program. ...maybe in my next life!! It was a beautiful campus though. We then had a long ride home. We had a really fun weekend it was very hot though. I wish we could have stayed longer. I love the city life. I especially love all the things to do. We could spend months down there and not see everything I would like to see!

All the grandkids!

The climbing contest!

Devin showed everyone how to "properly" go down the slide!

Two of my favorite people!

Gene and Cole getting in on some slide action.

Ashley and Kaitlyn

Anna is so cute! Look at all that hair, I am so jealous!

Kami enjoyed herself.

We spent a day at the splash park. The water was so cold. Kaitlyn got in, got wet, and got out. Ashley had so much fun playing in the water. She did get dumped on once by the big bucket of water! Kami put her toes in and that was enough for her!

Ashley is finally riding her bike by herself! We bought her a new helmet and some pads. They made all the difference in the world. She put them on as soon as we got home and hasn't gotten off her bike since! She loves to ride!

Way to go Ashley!

I think we are finally enjoying summer, just in time for school to start!

Milestones

We hit a few more milestones. Kami had her 15 month check up today. She is 31 inches and growing like a weed. That girl can eat! And she is finally sprouting some hair!

Ashley got her yellow ribbon today in gymnastics. Which also means she is moving up to level 2. I am so proud of her. I can't remember everything she had to do. I know backward roll, handstand, and round off were on the list. She is growing up so fast.

The girls have been playing in their pool this past week. I think it is so cute how Kaitlyn freezes. Here are some photos.

Search And Rescue State Meet

Yesterday we went to Island Park for the Search and Rescue State Meet. Kyle's division was hosting. We had a great dinner and enjoyed the awards ceremony. Kyle handed out the awards for the compass course he was in charge of.
He also received a few awards. He took first in the GPS course and his group took first in First Aid. His group also took second place in rope tying.
After the awards there was door prizes. Then we spent some time playing in the water and watching Daisy fetch. Kyle took her up on Saturday and wore her out!
We enjoyed visiting and meeting new people. Kyle said "this would have been a good weekend to get lost up there"! As you can tell his division wore red shirts. We all had red on, even Kami. The girls looked so cute. I should have gotten a picture of all of them together. At the end of the night played with some sparklers.
Then we watched Chad (one of the guys in Kyle's division) take his brand new sled with 250 miles on it that he bought that day, out on the lake. Yep, he rode it on water. Crazy!! He went twice. The first time he did just fine no problems. However, the second time he wasn't so lucky and sank it. He did manage to get pretty close to shore and stayed in the shallower end. It only took about five minutes to get it out, but I am sure he was up most of the night taking it apart.

The said sled!

The start of the second run.

This is the video of him returning on his first run. The video of the sinking was way too long to post. But the above picture is a still shot of him leaving.

We had a great time and Kyle really enjoyed himself. We would have all gone up and stayed the night, but we finished up with swimming lessons yesterday! I can't wait for a more relaxing summer to start. And hopefully at next years meet we can go and stay for awhile.

Crazy Week

I have spent the last four weeks running kids to swimming lessons. This week was the best by far. We had two sets of lessons at two different locations plus throw in gymnastics a movie and a grocery run. Today and Wednesday were the worst. Both days left me with just a half hour or less to complete lunch and clothes changes. Kaitlyn is done with lessons and Ash will be tomorrow! They have both done very well. Kaitlyn did awesome at the college. They taught her a ton and she was swimming around pretty good. The local pool didn't have as good of a program. I think they thought she was too young to do a lot. She did spend a ton of time in the shallow end diving for rings though. I will definitely register her with the college next year. Ashley is FINALLY swimming around and LOVING it. The trick...dollar store goggles! Who knew! The last three days she has worn them and is doing soooo much better. She swam the width of the pool twice today with just a noodle and she went off the diving board. She is also confident enough that she is swimming without the noodle too! I was so proud of her. I will admit I was worried. She just didn't seem to have the confidence to just try, now goggles. I only wish that she would have been doing this well two weeks ago. She would have gotten so much more out of the class. I am very happy how her lessons turned out. Here are a few pictures.

Kaitlyn front float

Kaitlyn jumping off the side.
Ash swimming on her back.
On her noodle.
Going off the board.
The water is actually the same pretty blue as the local pool.

Today we hit a movie with our awesome pass from the school. The girls loved it. This was their first movie in a theater. We have been to the drive in, but have always just used the big screen at the barn for everything else. Anyway, we had fun and Marianne watched Kami. When we were done we went for a snack. We hit the pretzel place in town (I can't remember the name). They had tons of different kinds of pretzels and fresh squeezed lemonade. Next time I will be getting the garlic parmesan. We enjoyed the pizza and the cinnamon sugar today. I love this place I think it is my new fav. The inside is decorated so cute. I will see if I can get a pict next time we are there. If you haven't been you should definitely go. I loved it! And the pretzels were good too. :)
For about the past three weeks we have had these gorgeous wildflowers lining our lane. Everytime I drove by I thought "I need to get a picture of those". Well today I finally did. I think I waited too long. They are kind of droopy now, but still beautiful. I am wondering if we can possibly line the whole driveway with them. Are they just wild daisies? Anyone know?
This has been our crazy week. I am hoping next week I can catch up on housework and laundry. I also have a ton of painting and stuff I want to get to. Also, Thursday afternoon we are going to Harry Potter! I can't wait for that, and no kids!!

4th of July Celebration

We started off our celebration on Friday night. We had our own little firework show in the driveway.

Kami cried most of the time. She did enjoy her sparklers though.

Then we got up early on Saturday and fought the crowds for the Rexburg parade. A big thanks to Chris and Chantelle for saving us seats.

The shopping cart was my favorite float by far!

The girls got lots of candy and the rest of us got some sun. After the parade we spent the day with grandpa, Marianne and even George. We had a great BBQ and enjoyed each others company. We even got to eat fresh strawberries out of the garden. We made it home just in time to hit the local firework show. I love going. We get to leave the house about twenty minutes before it starts and sit right under the show. Plus it only takes us five minutes to get home.

Kami didn't cry for these ones. She did fall asleep half way through the show though! We had a great 4th of July! I am so greatful for the wonderful country we live in. Especially for all those who have given their lives so we can have this wonderful freedom!