Happy Birthday Josh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!! Josh turned 34 today. We didn't do a lot of celebrating between work, soccer games, and more work for Josh, but we did manage to have a quick dinner and then cake and ice cream later. We love you Josh!



Here is the CATTLE DRIVE CAKE the kids designed for Josh. They thought that he needed a ranching cake since he used to be a rancher. All the marks in the frosting were purposely done to make "hoof prints in the mud." Brigham added the oversized dog, much to the dismay of his older sisters. The kids said the cowboy is Josh, and then Shae announced to Aunt Sunny that she is the cowgirl in the cake.

Back to School

This summer was the summer of lots of biking (shae learned to ride without training wheels at the beginning of the summer) and lots of swimming for us. We had a great summer. However it is time for school to start again. The kids were excited to start school again. Brigham started preschool this year. He has been looking forward to it for months. He loved his first day.


Bodell on her first day of school.




Shae on her first day of school. Ready to ride her bike to school.



Patiently waiting for the bell to ring.

Shae with her new teacher.

Summer Fun Club Finale

I took the kids up to Provo for our Summer Fun Club Finale! This is the second year of our "Summer Fun Club." Heather and I decided to take it to another level this year by printing T-shirts for us to wear on our outings. (Of course Heather and I had "STAFF" printed on ours.) The first day of our trip, on my birthday, I took the girls to Seven Peaks Water Park, while Whitney and Trish watched the boys (THANK YOU!!!) The girls LOVED Seven Peaks. It was so fun to spend some time with just them. I even loved Seven Peaks, especially the wave pool. That thing is awesome. I was a little afraid I was going to lose Shae a couple of times, but we all made it out ok. After Seven peaks we went to Heather B.'s house to spend the night. The kids always love spending time with their cousins. That night the ladies (Heather, Sunny, Paris ad I) went out to dinner and ice cream for my birthday.


Here are the girls looking REALLY tired. Good night girls!


The next day I took the girls school shopping while Heather B. watched the boys (THANK YOU!) Again, it was great to spend time with them. It always makes to laugh to see the things that they get excited about. After school shopping we headed up to Salt Lake to spend the rest of the weekend with my sister Heather.


Our first outing was to The Mayan. I absolutely love this place because the kids get so excited about the diving show. Well, let's be honest, I get so excited too.

Brigham and I waiting for our food and the next show.

Bodell and Heather enjoying a smoothy.

After The Mayan we did a little shopping and then headed to Heather's apartment. This was our first time staying at her place. We had lots of yummy treats and stayed up late watching a great chick flick!

Of course we had to buy matching pajamas and socks. Oh, and to explain the mess in the background. Heather's apartment has had problems with people breaking into cars. My van door does not lock on one side, so we were worried that the "stealers" (as my kids called them) would break into our car, especially since I had lots of bags from shopping. So, we hauled EVERYTHING out of my van up the three flights of stairs to Heather's apartment. It looked like I was moving in.

Here are the kids sleeping in Heather's living room.

The next morning we woke up to rain. Brigham noticed that there were tons of snails out. The kids started collecting them all. They were sad when we said it was time to leave this little project.

Our first stop on Saturday was the Planetarium to watch a 3-D movie (under the sea.) I always love to see the kids try to figure out the 3-D. Here the kids are standing in front of the big ball machine. This contraption entertained them, and Andrew, for a long time.

After the movie we rode Trax through downtown Salt Lake. This we Brigham's most exciting thing.

Andrew and I enjoying the ride.

This picture didn't turn out that great, but I thought Andrew looked so cute asleep on Heather's shoulder.

After Trax we picked up my mom from the airport and headed to our last stop, This Is The Place Historical Park. I have always wanted to go there. By this point the kids just wanted to go swim at the pool, so we didn't spend much time here. But, at least I can say I have been there now.

The kids with Grandma.

The entire Summer Fun Club!

I had to include this picture, because I thought it was hilarious when I looked at it at home. If you look closely you can see Bodell's arm trying to keep Brigham in line. She is pinching him in order to make him behave and he is yelling in pain...Typical! Until next summer....

Brigham's New Look

Brigham came in from the backyard and had a new look. At first I couldn't figure out what it was, then when I got a closer look I noticed his ear was HUGE! He had a bad reaction to a mosquito bite on his ear and this is what happened to him.

OUCH!

Luckily his ear is back to normal size now, but we had a good laugh about it for a day.

Yummy Toes!

Andrew has discovered his toes. He loves to try and eat them. It makes me laugh everytime I see it.

Summer of 2009 at the pool

The kids have spent so much time at the pool this summer. They have loved it! It has been so fun to see how each of them have improved. The kids have been excited to show off their new tricks for Josh, so on Saturday we all went to the pool and I was able to take some pictures. Unfortunately my shutter speed is not fast enough, so the action shots did not turn out that great. But, the kids can't say I didn't try to capture their new skills.

Here is Brigham showing off his dive off the diving board. Brigham has really improved this summer. He went from only swimming around with floaties, to jumping off the the diving board, diving-belly flopping off the diving board, swimming independently for about five feet and turning flips in the water. He is fun to watch.

After Brig's dive.

Sorry, Bodell you were too fast. Bodell was already a good swimmer at the beginning of the year, but she has become a great diver. She has a beautiful dive off the diving board.

Shae refused to open her eyes because of the sun. Shae has also REALLY improved this year. She also started the year swimming with floaties and now she is an independent swimmer. She goes off the diving board by herself, dives off the side and swims wherever she wants. She has loved the new freedom, and loves swimming with Bodell and her older friends.

Aahh! The lazy days of summer!

Sorry Shae, you were too fast also. This was Shae jumping off the diving board (I tried!)

Picnic on the mountain

We went up the mountain for a picnic with Kristin and her kids this week. The kids had a good time hiking in the bushes, collecting pine cones, complaining that they were bored (how can you ever be bored in the mountain?), riding in the back of the truck and catching frogs at Dry Wash. Of course no amount of water can go unexplored if you are Brigham, so he decided to wade into Dry Wash (a little too deep for my comfort.) Benjamin quickly joined him. I had to take a picture of these two boys having a great time. I couldn't ever get both of them to look at the camera at the same time, but at least you can still see the smiles on their faces!

Voices of San Juan Pageant

Bodell and I were in the Voices of San Juan Pageant again this year. Bodell played Bodil again (the little girl she is named after) and I played Elsie again. Shae kept asking when she could be in the pageant, so she joined the pageant this year. She played a member of another handcart family. I decided that if the pageant was going to become a yearly event I should just make us some costumes to keep (I did not make the bonnets.) The girls were excited to get dressed up. It was a fun experience for us.

"Dough" a deer. A female deer.

The other day we were taking a drive up the mountain. We spotted some deer by the road. Josh pointed them out to the kids and said they were all does. Brigham agreed. Josh asked Brigham if he knew why they were called "does." Brigham quickly responded, "because they are like a cookie." Josh and I didn't really get what he had said, until Bodell started laughing. She repeated what he said to us. We realized he was thinking we were calling the female deer a "dough." Now whenever we see a doe we have to chuckle that it is like a cookie.