Yankee Meadow

We took the kids & went camping up at Yankee Meadow with Danny's brother Ryan & his family. We love hanging out with these guys-never a dull moment!

After trying for about 10 minutes, Reese finally figured out how to blow bubbles. Then she didn't ever want to stop. What determination!

The kids spent most of the time making forts & playing in the trees...and getting dirty of course!

We ate at a cute little diner-the food was delish & the portions were huge! An older German couple came over & told us how cute all our kids were & that we needed to stop telling them to be quiet :0) Then he started singing really REALLY loud-it was hilarious! The kids thought it was the highlight of the trip.

The whole gang-from left to right around the table: Danny, Shannon, Ryan, Stockton, Megan, Cam, Brecken, Averee, Adelyn, Owen & Reese. ( I am taking the picture)

Reese is a very early riser-no matter how late she goes to bed. The only way we could keep her quiet was to let her listen to primary songs on the iPod. It was pretty cute to hear her sing along. She thinks she is SO big!

It was a great trip, with great food & great company! Thanks Ryan, Shannon, Megan, Stockton, Brecken & Camden!

Camping for Independence Day

We took the kids camping a few days before the 4th & then went to Richfield for the 4th of July festivities.We camped by Fish Lake & it was gorgeous! The weather was so nice & cool, which is a change from the scorching weather of St. George! The kids had a blast-we went hiking all over, fished a ton (Danny's favorite), rode the motorcycle, ate too many Smores (my favorite), & just got to hangout & enjoy each other. My parents came with & they always make it more fun. My Dad used to spend all his childhood summers on the same mountain so he had all sorts of crazy stories to share & knew all the cool places to see. We even found snow in July! Then Danny's brother Ryan & his family came up & camped the last nite before we headed down to Richfield. My Grandma lives in Richfield & we love to go there to enjoy a 'small town' celebration. The parade was great & the fireworks were awesome! We were right under them & they seemed so huge-they kids were in awe. It was just like I remembered from all my childhood memories of spending the 4th at Grandmas. This will definitely be a tradition we keep going.

Alright Alright- Geez!

So, after a much deserved tongue lashing from Christan... I am finally doing a legitimate update-with pictures & everything! :0)

These last few months have been full of milestones, birthdays, recitals, & graduations...here are the highlights:

We started the year off with a major milestone- Averee lost her first tooth! Oh the drama! It was loose for weeks & hanging by a thread for days but she wouldn't let us get near her. She was pretty freaked about the whole thing. It doesn't help that Danny kept suggesting things like tying a string around it & to the door, you know all those horrific schemes that grown ups love to tease kids about. Anyway-finally one night after dinner (she was getting tired of not being able to eat anything) she agreed to let me just wiggle the tooth a little to see how loose is was. Well, the next thing we know-POP- her tooth came right out. We were both surprised- I started laughing & she started crying. :0) I really wasn't trying to pull it out-honest. It took awhile to calm her down- (which is why she looks so puffy in the picture) she said she didn't like how it felt or the blood in her mouth. But once she remembered the blessed Tooth Fairy would visit, she settled down. I would like to say the next tooth was less dramatic- but this is Averee we are talking about here. The drama continues...

In March, Averee turned the ripe old age of 6! Crazy huh? I can't believe my little princess is already 6! She had a party with all the girls from school- they made personal pizzas, decorated cupcakes, & played games. Man was she spoiled this year-she has Little Pet Shops & Barbies coming out her ears! In April, our little Adee Patty turned 4. What a cutie! After seeing Averee's festivities- she just had to invite all the girls from her preschool class. They had so much fun- they decorated princess crowns & cupcakes, & played games. And just like Averee- she was totally spoiled too! As for Owen, his major milestone has been potty training. I am proud to say that we are past that hurdle-other than he still wears a diaper at nite-but otherwise he is totally potty trained. Even poop. HOORAY! :0) Way to go OJO! He also got to go on his first Fathers & Sons campout. Danny said he did great & almost slept thru the nite. He was so super excited to go camping with Daddy & Papa. I just love that pic of them in the sleeping bag together-too cute!

This just might be the cutest picture EVER! :0)

The girls have been taking ballet for a few years now & love it. They were so excited for their recital & couldn't wait to dance for us on the 'big stage'. Since this was Adee's first recital Averee was giving her all sorts of advice & insider info. Pretty funny-but she really is a great big sister. She even told me not to worry about Adee because she would take care of her backstage. :0) They both performed great-Adee was one of the few little girls who remembered the moves & stayed on time. As for Averee- I was really impressed to see how much she had progressed from last year-she seemed much more graceful & coordinated-thank goodness! :0)

Averee with her two best friends from school-they are also in our ward. Very convenient. And yes- she is a head taller than them. :0)Averee's Kindergarten Graduation was so funny. Kids just crack me up. Each child was dressed up as something they want to be when they grow up- Averee was a nurse & she delivered her lines perfectly. I was super impressed by all the songs they had memorized. She has learned a ton this year-especially reading & writing. She loves to read to Owen & Adee-so cute! Watch out 1st grade-here she comes! Adee & Mrs. Nobis Adelyn graduated from preschool this month as well- can't believe the school year is over. It has flown by. Adee has learned & grown up so much. The program was so cute- they sang all their songs-really quietly-but they sang. :0) Adee was one of the only kids that didn't need help with her lines. She even announced that "No, I don't need help..." and continued on with her part. Too funny. She still has another year of preschool before she moves on to the big leagues-Kindergarten. Which she can't wait for- she really wants to ride the bus with Averee & have recess like the big kids. Oh, the joys of childhood! :0)

As for me (sorry no fat prego pics) I am 30, flirty & thriving! (That is a line from 13 going on 30-cute movie!) I am still in the Primary Presidency & really liking that- although it has been a challenge. I have met some great people in our ward & made some lifelong friends. In fact we all got together & had a sleepover with all our daughters while our husbands & sons were at the Father's & Sons Campout. What a hilarious nite-I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. I was starting to worry I might go into labor! We get together once a month to scrapbook which has been fun & we are even learning to digital scrapbook together. I am loving that. Although I think I will still do it both ways just cuz I like the hands-on of regular scrapping. Now we are just on the count down for baby sister to get here. 4 weeks or less (I am hoping for more like 2 weeks!) but we will just have to wait & see. As for names it is still between Reese & Quincee, so I guess we will just have to wait & see what she looks like. I will keep you posted on that exciting news...

Well, that has been the first half of our year in a nutshell- hope it didn't bore you to death! :0)

P.S. Thanks Christan for reminding me that no one really wants to read my ramblings-they just want to see pics of my adorable children! :0)

Surviving the Summer...

I know what you are thinking...FINALLY! An update! I know-seriously! Has it really been a month since my last post? CRAZY! We have just been trying to survive the summer. Between trips to the library, pool, & Jumpin' Jacks, Averee STILL finds time to be bored! Let's just say that I am looking forward to dance & school starting back up next week. I just can't seem to keep her entertained all by myself! :0)

Adee swimming at Grandma's on the 4th of July...gotta love the goggles!

Not much else has been going on...we went camping with my parents & my brother & his adorable fiance which was a lot of fun. We went to Yuba, so there was plenty of fishin' & tubin'. We plan to go back when it cools off a little. We have a camping trip for this weekend planned-should be fun! I will post some pics when we get back...

Adee & Ashley (Kjarsten's fiance) giving the thumbs up after a thrilling tube ride at Yuba

I got to see some long lost friends for a few hours one day. It was great to hang out with you Jess! I miss you tons-you always make me laugh! :0) Plus Tiff was there & I hardly ever see her even though we live so close-pretty sad! We need to fix that Tiff!

Averee & Uncle Randy riding Rocky. We stopped by on the way home from Yuba.

Last week Danny's sisters were in town with their kids & we had a blast! We kept all the kids really busy & they were dead tired each nite. They have so much fun with all their cousins-we are blessed with an awesome family! Thanks Mel & Kim!

Everyone caught a fish at Yuba-even Owen! He was more excited than the picture depicts...

I just read Breaking Dawn over the weekend-but don't worry I won't spoil anything for those of you not finished yet. :0) I am happy with the ending but sad that the story has come to an end...but now we have the movie to look forward to right? I know, I know... I am completely obsessed! At least I can admit it! Can't get enough of that vampire love story! Anyone else done reading? I am DYING to talk to someone about it...call or email me!

Despite the look on their faces-they really do love Jumpin' Jacks! :0)

Well, that is about it for this past month. Once we get back into the normal swing of things with summer over I will be better about posting more often...promise...I hope...we'll see... :0)

Back to Nature...

This last weekend we headed up to Yuba Lake for some R&R. By 'R&R' I mean camping & fishing. Which isn't really 'R&R' for the mom-but you know what I mean! :0) Danny went fishing there last weekend & caught some awesome Northern Pike & he couldn't wait to go back so we decided to brave our first camping trip with the kids. I got thinking & the last time we went camping was the weekend we found out we were prego with Ave-over 5 years ago! So it was a much overdue activity. It just seemed like we either had a newborn or I was prego so we never got around to it.

But anyway-we were very excited to go. We went with Danny's brother Ryan & his family, & Danny's dad Dale even came up & 'roughed it' with us. Shannon wasn't quite as excited as I was to 'tent' it-but I think she survived! :O) The camp ground was awesome-there were bathrooms & showers right by us. So convienent! I was a little hesitant to take OJO since he is in that 'get into everything' stage-I knew I would spend my weekend fishing him out of the lake & trying to keep him away from the fire. Luckily my awesome sister Alesha is home for the summer & said she would come stay at our house & watch him for us. Great! It was so fun to get to concentrate on just the girls. We had a great time- going for walks by the water, throwing rocks in the water, fishing, climbing trees, looking for snakes, making Smores & just getting back to nature. The girls slept really well & thought is was 'so totally cool' to be sleeping in a tent. The whole thing went even better than I had hoped. We did get rained on saturday morning so we packed up & drove in to Scipio to see my Aunt & Uncle. My Uncle Randy was the best! He delighted the kids with horse rides which I thought Averee would chicken out of-but nope. She loved it too! The kids are still talking about going camping & horse riding again. I hope they realize that we can't ride horses everytime we go camping! Although I would love that! I even rode my Uncle Randy's horse for a sec & it felt great to get back in the saddle. I hadn't ridin' for years! Thanks again Uncle Randy! Here are some pics from the weekend...We found 2 snakes right when we got to our site-the girls weren't even scared! They wanted to hold it & touch it. Plus, they kept looking for more the whole weekend!Adelyn & Megan hangin' out in a nearby treeThe kids also got in some much needed arts & crafts time

With our first official camping trip under our belt we can't wait to go again! Hopefully we go several more times this summer...& I guess OJO can come next time! :0) We all really missed him & I know he would love it. So here is to a summer full of camping!