Saturday, August 24, 2013

Bear Lake Week...

Back to the school grind.
The calendar is looking full again.
But a few weeks ago.. we had nothing going on.
Just a week of relaxing and fun @ Bear Lake.
That is the girls and I, poor Shane was off working on the Portland Temple the entire time... :(

Started out with a day of fun with my bestie Shelby.
We've been best friends since 1st grade.
Growing up she spent at least an entire week with me @ Bear Lake each summer.
I tried to find a picture of us from clear back in the day and only came up with this sweet gem.
circa 1989
not Bear Lake, but plenty of time spent on trampolines... never getting tan!
We are so very stylish sporting that poodle hair and those super high cut swimsuits!!
And note to my daughters... you will look back at pictures of you RIGHT NOW and DIE at the "fashions" of the day!!!

That's also my sweet friend Gina... love you girl!!

But anyway we no longer sit on trampolines wasting the day away.
We send our kids our to trampolines in the middle of the lake so we can chat!!



O what a difference a few years make... how did we go from that to this????
9 kids?
(yes I know there are 10, one was Tayler's friend Taitlin, my adopted daughter for the week.  Maybe Tayler will have a similar blog post in 20 years!! hahaha)

 


A super fun day!  So glad they could come.
Love you forever Shelb!!


Then we were back to just us for a day. (including Taitlin in the "us")  :)


The next day Lisa and Josh and Josh's friend Robert came up.
They kept us entertained of course.
Rented the trampoline again, but no pictures because even Lisa and I went out to it this time... so no photographer.


The next day Joe joined us.  And Nate and Collin Heaps made it up too.
We rented jet skis and they all had a super good time.




Gosh dang it she is ADORABLE!!


We had fun together playing games and were sad when they all left us and went home.


During those couple days Josh helped us make a video. hahaha
Just a little sampling of what it's like with our fun friends!


And then it was just me and the girls.  Even Taitlin went home.
That next day we went over to Raspberry Days, had shaved ice @ Pickleville and then decided to buy tickets for 7 Brides for 7 Brothers that night.

We got the last few seats and all sat in a line behind each other in the aisle.  hahaha
Even Lydia, just sat by a stranger and the people around her couldn't believe that she never moved or made a peep.  Completely enthralled with the performance.


At intermission I got her popcorn and some of us had "picklesicles".  She had the popcorn for a minute and  I had one bite of my pickle.  She saw it and wanted to "trade".

I told her that when she wanted to trade back she could.
Bad trade for me...
She finished the entire pickle, handed Saige the stick and said, "she was ready to trade now."  So she finished the popcorn too.  :)
She's got it all figured out!


We loved the show.
And Tayler was super happy that she got to see her fellow cheer friend Kenzie perform.


There was a little mini-golfing.

 Plenty of fun in the sun.

A completely successful Bear Lake week.
The only think that could have made it better is if Shane had been able to come.
We missed you and know you missed us too!

Bear Lake will always and forever hold a special place in each of our hearts!!


Sunday, August 4, 2013

What we did in July...

July was a pretty busy month

Tayler, Kenna and Jadyn's birthdays.

AND...

the 4th of July of course!

Which started with the traditional "scout pancake breakfast".
So glad that Shelly & Jeff's family were both here to celebrate with us.




Some of our family missed the breakfast...
(Shane, Tayler, Jadyn)
Because they were off watching Tay in the Lewiston Parade...


The rest of the day was pretty lazy...



But we did have a family BBQ @ our house that night. :)

3 of my 5 brothers...


and my only sister...
(and Jeff's little one Kate)


were all there.

Dusty helped us with Kenna's present from the day before.
Tayler and I were NOT good at deciphering the instructions...
we only had to take it apart 4 times.
Tayler is not amused.


But we finally finished.
And now we have so many toys in our backyard, it looks like a full-on park...
Feel free to come over to play!


We sure have loved having cousins around.
But it's no fun saying goodbye. :(


We had 2 weeks of swim lessons for Jadyn and Lydi.
Lydi has no fear.
I was totally against "water wings" with my older girls.
Just felt like they should learn to swim without them.
But now I don't have enough eyes to watch them all every second.
So I've caved.
And honestly it's a big relief to me, because she is in and out of that pool like crazy!


They both did great in their lessons.




And Kenna had fun swimming with friends while they were in their lessons.


One super hot day we went to the "splash pad".



And I think these girls are just plain adorable. :)


Tayler and Saige spent a week at EFY @ USU.

Loved having them home at night to hear all about their experiences.

Saige went with Kaylee for her 1st year...


And Kelsee and Tay went together for their 3rd year.
They are strange...






Shane went with Tayler and Saige to Youth Conference for a couple of days.

They had a blast.

Such an amazing group of youth in our ward!





There was "dress-like-a-cow-day" @ Chick-fil-a

Free food is just not something I pass up!
(Lydi is not pleased that her ear and nose fell off in this picture. hehehe)


Last year Jadyn would have been hiding under the table if the "cow" had been there.
Look at our big Jady now!!

Tayler, Saige, Kelsee and Kaylee went later that night.
Those "cow pants" totally came in handy!!



We have gone for shaved ice about a gazillion times.

Lydia loves Blue Raspberry... can you tell?




There was the North Logan Parade
Once again my little ones were super happy to be able to ride on the float.



and then there were the North Logan Fireworks for the 24th...

and the Hyde Park Fireworks the weekend before...
An event that our family will NOT soon forget!



Because of this little thing...
Poor kid!

Saige excitedly let us know that the "American Girl - Doll of the Year"...
was the coolest ever!
Her name is Saige...
She has brown hair...
and blue eyes...
and I think she is saying that she wants her.
We should have bought stock in that company a WAY long time ago!!


We spent a fun Family Night at our neighbors house...
they were doing a fundraiser for a library in Africa.
Everyone sure had a good time!



And then there was lemonade...


Lots and lots of Tayler's famous "fresh squeezed lemonade".
O, how we love summer!!!!

We ended the month of July with a week @ Bear Lake.

A totally successful July.
Not really excited that it is already August.
August means school.
And our family...
is NOT ready!