Our summer in a Nutshell....

Building retaining walls and planting grass,
wrestling with dad,
making the kids own pajamas,
lots and lots of riding bikes,
and a quick trip to Utah for Ben's wedding!

(P.S. - does anyone else find it a little wierd that Kelly rubs her belly button to fall asleep?)

Rain

Luckily my children inherited my love of rain......

Fourth of July

We were able to go over to our friends and have a BBQ, fireworks, and roast marshmellows! From their backyard we could see fireworks from several counties. It was fun to be with friends and celebrate since last year I opted to stay home (Pete was on call). Although Pete came out later, at least he got to be there!

Strawberry Picking

Some friends from out ward invited us to go strawberry picking at a local farm. What a fun thing to do. The kids got to help pick (and eat) the strawberries. They have decided they love gardening if it involves picking and eating yummy food! This is definately something we will do next year. Thanks Jen!

Hike

I haven't been to great at keeping up on the blog lately. Oh well, here are some fun pictures we've taken recently.

Saturday we went to Oxbow park (a few miles outside of town) with a friend for some walking. We brought the strollers thinking it would be a paved trail. It wasn't and we ended up having to carry the little ones, but it was fun anyway. We will definately go back a little more prepared next time.

Here are some pretty purple flowers that were all over.

Here are Josh and Abbie at the beggining of one of the trails - notice the lack of hiking shoes!

Madi and Abbie

Happy Birthday

It's that time of year again. Josh had a wonderful birthday and we had a great time celebrating it. Josh is now an incredibly mature 3 year old. He continues to amaze me with his vocabulary. We started the day by opening gifts bright and early and then Josh got to be in charge of the rest of his day. Abbie continually sang to him and they played until they were both worn out. For dinner we had a BBQ where Josh got to eat outside - something he's been wanting to do for months now. We ended the day with white cupcakes and vanilla frosting - his favorite!















We are certainly glad Josh is a part of our family and especially glad that he is patient with his sisters and his parents! Love you Josh!

Utah

We (meaning me the kids and I) made a quick last minute trip to Utah in April. We did the drive in one day (my dad drove with me) and while it was insane being in the car with kids that long, I was glad we didn't have to get up the next day and do it again. It was fun to see everyone even if it was for just a short period of time. Jeff and Steph were kind enough to arrange going to the Hansen Planetarium one afternoon. The kids had a blast and loved being together.

On Easter we woke up to a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny. The kids were so excited that the Easter Bunny knew where to find them. We went to church with my parents and then had an easter egg hunt in the back yard. We actually hunted them several times since Abbie decided they needed to be hid and found over and over again. Thanks mom for being a good sport.

That afternoon we were able to go to a dinner with Pete's family. Bailey was so good to Abbie. It was great to see everyone and how all the kids have grown.