Our 4th of JULY!

We love Independence Day. The kids were so excited for it to come and were counting down the days. I was very grateful for this since we had to wake them all up at 6:45 to go to our flag ceremony and breakfast. Our kids don't do well when we wake them up. But they were so excite that it was the fourth and they could wear red, white and blue.



We spent the afternoon with the Kidd Family at Waterhaven and Billy's house. I have no pictures because I was being a single mom while Jared slept. Poor guy he was sick for most of the day. We had a blast swimming, eating, swimming, eating some more then swimming again.

That night we went to the fireworks at Sugar House Park. It was the first time we had ever taken the kids to fireworks for the fourth. It's a tradition i missed and the kids really wanted to go so we tried it. I think it will be a while before we go again. They were just to tie rd. Lets just say there was a lot of crying going on. In the end Lydia loved it and Grayson was crying because it was too loud.





Of course Lydia didn't even make it to the car. Thanks Jim.

Summer Fun

We have been having a lot of summer fun the last couple of weeks. Things haven't been exactly what I thought, but still very enjoyable. I pictured us running off to Bear lake every spare moment and not having a care in the world now, that Jared has a summer off. So far we have been stuck in Salt Lake for the most part. I don't know if there will be more than couple of trips to Bear Lake. With the BIG move hanging over us we can't just take off. We are enjoying daily swims at Waterhaven. Kate had to stay out of the pool for a few days till I could get her a rubber diaper so we don't all catch that horrible virus. It was just torturous being there and not swimming for both of us. Here are some random picture from our summer so far.

Foutains at Gateway

We joined Maggie and her family for a day at the Gateway. I'd never been before but the kids loved it so I'm sure we'll go back again some time.




Grayson and Porter figured out that if they covered the holes with cup the water would shoot it up in the air. I wish I could have gotten a picture of their faces when it would fly in the air. Pure Joy.


Lagoon and Lagoona Beach



Every year my mom's work has a Lagoon Day. The best part is their intense games of BINGO. They have huge prizes. Last year our family together won over a thousand dollars in prizes. We were all pretty excited about this year but Shelly was the only one who won a prize.


The kids had so much fun riding all the rides. Grayson and Porter kept yelling, "That was better than nothing." Porter was just tall enough to ride all the big rides. He was so brave. When we ask him if the Rocket was scary he said, "Not for me." Grayson had a really had time with not being tall enough. He cried a lot. Lucky for him Chad talked the lady at Colossus to let him ride even though he was an inch short. It was his last ride of the night and he loved it.





Lydia's Recital
Lydia's recital was scheduled the same night as our Lagoon Day, so Jared my mom and I ran down to Bountiful for and hour break to see her perform. She did really well. I was so proud of her for remembering all her steps. She is suppose to be spider girl. They danced to a Spiderman song, there was one little boy in the class dressed as Spiderman.




Liberty Park


Today we had a lovely picnic with our good friends the Chambers. Their little girl Chloe is just four days older than Kate. They looked so cute playing together. Some of the other kids playing there thought they were twins. Thanks Brad and Melanie for taking the time to see us.

I was also able to spend this last weekend in Bear Lake on a youth trip for our ward. It was heaven since I left the kids home with grandmas. I conned the leaders into letting me come as their cook. I'll use any excuse to get a few days away from the kids. They felt so bad for me like I was a slave and kept telling me I was working to hard. The whole thing made me laugh. I cooked without kids crying at my hem, I cleaned without kids crying at my hem, and when I was done, I would nap, read, lay in the sun, and spend time with my hubby (the boat driver). I have no pictures because I was way to busy not being a mom. Thanks Mom and MaryAnn for taking the little ones.

Coronado Island

We had a Blast vacationing with the Ray Family at Coronado Island. Coronado Island is an area just over a bridge from downtown San Diego. Jason was able to get us an amazing hotel on the Naval Air Base. It was so awesome to stay in a hotel right on a private beach. The weather wasn't exactly beach weather but we still enjoyed lots of hours outside in the sand and on the playground. Getting all the kids to go to bed in the same room had it's challenges but we enjoyed playing games and having long talks with Maggie and Jason once they were down. Here are all my favorite pics, sorry there are a lot.






These are from the one day we spent down at the water, we weren't there very long it was just too cold.



My girls really struggled to keep sand off their face. Kate was eating it for the most part, but I don't know what Lydia's problem was.


We had lots of fun picnics for lunch.


We drove over this bridge going to and from the Island. The kids loved it and would get really excited every time we would go over it. During one of the trips over, one of the kids made up the rule that you had to hold your arms over your head and hold your breath. I enjoyed the silence that came with their attempts.


The kids loved the park and never grew tired of it. Sometimes I felt like we went on vacation to the park. They spent a lot of time playing circus, which included Lydia singing at the top of her lungs. There were lots of other kids there and we made lots of new friends. Since we were on a Naval Air Base there were lots of jets and helicopters. Grayson thought they were amazing. He would get so excited running up to other kids and yelling about the incoming jets and such. The kids would just look at him like "where have you been buddy," and then go on playing. Their Dads were probably flying those jets, No big deal.



Thanks Maggie and Jason for the great trip. We look forward to maybe doing something again next year.

San Diego Temple

After Church on Sunday we stopped by the Temple and the kids loved it. They loved running around, climbing on the walls, talking to the missionaries, and waving across the courtyard. Lucy was so funny and kept begging to go inside, Maggie kept telling her when she was older she could go in. Finally she asked if they could please just sneak inside. It was pretty funny.

SEA WORLD

Sea World wasn't all that us adults thought it would be, but the kids loved it and haven't stopped telling people all about it.



Although it was a little stressful, my favorite part was feeding the dolphins. It was at this moment when I was trying to hold up kids to feed the dolphins, not drop the fish, take a picture and stop everyone from crying that I realized I have way to many kids.







Grayson and Porter LOVED the shark exhibit. Grayson has always loved Sharks. He has a bunch of shark books and they are always his favorite to read. At the end of the exhibit we rode the moving sidewalk through a tank of sharks.




Of course we had to get some sharks to take home.

Tami's Gone

Tami has been here for the last two weeks and as always I have accomplished nothing that I was suppose too. My visiting teaching didn't get done. I forgot a presidency meeting. I pushed off way to many responsibilities and now I'll have to pay. Some of the things I did accomplish were:
-Lots of shopping, this includes my new swim suit. I was starting to stress I wouldn't have anything this weekend when we head off to San Diego.
-I read a book, the one Tami brought and I knew I had to finish before she had to leave. (It was The Glass Castle)
- I worked out everyday, well almost. It was fun having someone to do my lame workout videos with. Although I think Tami is the only one I would let see me during my workout.
- I ate like 3 gallons of Cherry Cordial Ice Cream. I bought it for Lydia's birthday party since it was pink. It was so good we kept going back to the store for more. Good thing we were working out everyday.



The best part was just being together as a family. The kids had so much fun with cousins and NaNa and PaPa. All the kids love PaPa and were constantly crawling all over him. He enjoyed feeding them ice cream and playing Candyland with them.



We went to Schuster creek one night for a wiener roast. We all had such a great time. Thanks to PaPa Jerry all the kids were able to catch a fish. My camera's battery died and I forgot to download Tami's photos before she left.

Tami left this behind I guess I'll just have to keep him until She comes back in August. I don't think Grayson will mind having a buddy to play with this summer.

Now I'll be playing catch up and trying to get our life in order before we leave for our trip with the Ray's.