suMmeR? wE haD SuMMer?

I can't believe that Summer already came and went but after posting all these pictures (which are just a handful) I guess that it went so fast because we did a lot of things and had a ton of fun!

In June we went to Craigmont for the June Picnic. We watched the parade and gathered the candy that was thrown. It was great to see Great G & G Wallace and everyone.

I gave the kids little sandwich ziplock baggies thinking that would suffice holding their candy and boy was I wrong! We had to go find a large grocery bag to hold it all. The boys participated in the races that they had. The potato sack race. and the 3 legged race.

This was our 4th of July celebrated on Saturday. We had fireworks and a BBQ at Ryan & Terri's. Bentley was really scared and boy was it cold so her and I sat back a little under a blanket.

I wish the boys were a little more scared. I might have a couple future piros on my hands. With their Uncle being Skyler...go figure :o)

We went and watched the big fireworks Sunday evening.

We went to St. George for Jarron's brothers wedding and boy was it HOT! It was 115 degrees the day they got married and this was the best picture without everyone complaining that I could find. The colors were brown and green.

We went to Jarron's uncles cabin and had a lot of fun! We went on a giant swing had a really yummy BBQ and the kids enjoyed tractor rides. We went to an aquarium and Bentley really liked it. We went to Lagoon also and how silly is it that this is the only picture I have of it. My aunt took all the other pictures which I haven't gotten from her yet.

We ended our 11 day trip to Utah at the Green Reunion in Oakley. We figured we put 2000 miles on the ol' Denali and spent just over 30 hours crammed in the car.... We laughed....

We cried...

At times we apparently had nothing else to do but stick gold fish up our nose...

(No gold fish were harmed in the nasal passages at all)

And by the end we were poking our eyes out.

It was fun but whether the good outweighed the bad...not sure. Just glad it's over :o) My cousin Bri was married in Lake Tahoe and I went by myself. A fabulous getaway shortly after the Utah trip! They were married on the beach. The reception was gorgeous to say the least!

Deacon started walking. Hip Hip Hooray!!

Jarron turned 31!

For his birthday this year I decided to do the 12 days of your birthday for him. I had a blast doing it and I think that he enjoyed getting it. Starting 12 days before his birthday I did these things:

Twelve Birthday words,

Eleven fun balloons, ( I also added birthday notes from his family tied to each balloon)

Ten bags of popcorn,

Nine texts of wishes,

Eight...(This one got messed up)

Seven red box rentals,

Six yummy root beers,

Five notes of love,

Four Reese's cups,

Three bags of chips,

Two colorful streamers and

A little birthday hat!

Some things I surprised him with at work and some came in the evening and some first thing in the morning. I had him guessing what he was going to get everyday.

I like to decorate for special occasions if you can't tell.

This year I added the Balloon wreath and the chair cover to my decor. Made them myself :0)

We added a little crepe paper to the wall.

and we all gave him a wish with our candles and he blew them all out! Hope they all come true and he has a fabulous year!!

We went to the fair and the boys really enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit. Bentley not so much. I don't know which was louder..her or the dinosaurs and the dinosaurs were pretty loud!

We were corn...

and little sheep!

and we visited mini LegoLand.

Sunday evening I threw the boys a back to school party.

I made them little pennants for the grade they were entering.

We made our own personal little pizzas.

and made bread sticks the shape of our initials. A for Ayden :0)

They were supper yummy!

I also put a large roll of black paper on the table and we each drew our favorite event during the summer with chalk. The boys also drew what they were most excited about for the new year in school.

Bentley's pennant: Big Helper

Ayden's: Go Big K! (entering kindergarten)

Cayton's: You're #1 (entering 1st grade)

Cayton on the first day of school.

(Gone all day...sniffle sniffle)

Ayden on the first day of school. He is doing a K in sign language :0)

As you can tell he wasn't at all excited to go to school with his brother. Ha!

I made them a large cookie for when they got home from school.

It says: Happy 1st day of school - 2010

After FHE we had cookie and ice cream!

During the back to school party I felt that something was missing and I was right... A banner. So, after I dropped the boys off at school I headed to the craft store. What could be better to drown your sorrows then SHOPPING for a CRAFT. In my book nothing!! So I can home and whipped up this 'School Days' banner.

We had a great summer. We enjoyed lots of family, swimming, BBQ's and just pure fun!

And for one more piece of news:

The announcement that we will very shortly be welcoming into our family baby #5!

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That's RIGHT! This little baby should be in my arms sometime this WEEK!!

I'm Super Duper EXCITED!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! YIPEEEEEE!

Updates galore!

Deacon's 11 month cupcakes...welcome the gorilla.

28 years old and 4 kids later I ran my first 5K! It felt AMAZING!! I'm gearing up for my second race in September.

This was the Suzan G. Koman Race for the Cure and this is what we had our shirts say this year.

My precious Bentley on Mother's Day.

Deacon's 12 month cupcakes...oh how sad that cupcake days are over (for a short season at least:o) I got a little desperate for jungle animals...hence the grand finale with a water buffalo. Crazy that this kiddo is already a year and this chunky monkey is only in the 50%!

I'm not sure but I think he ate the cupcake...it was too fast to tell

The smilely little boy that he is.

The day of his BIG TOP birthday party he woke up to this.

This is his FREE birthday cake from Alberston's. I ordered just a plain white cake and turned it into this myself. I also made this adorable party hat if I do say so myself.

Like I said I threw Deacon a carnival themed birthday party. I made these with an amazing friend (thanks Carrie). I hole punched half holes in the sides of the invites so it looked like a ticket and with the invitation I added self-adhesive wrist bands with all the guests names on them. They were super cute and I got tons of compliments. Thanks everybody!

I made this sign pointing to our back yard.

I had a rainbow colored tent with the food set up underneath. We served 84 hot dogs and tons of nachos along with ranch pretzels and of course animal crackers. We rented this bounce house and had a "WHALE of a good time!"

In the backyard I had the games set up. We had four carnival games and a photo booth on the end. I divided each game with some rope and balloons. I pretty much made everything myself which was really fun to do. I made signs saying what the games were, signs saying how many tickets you got and all the pennant banners. I had everyone try and get a picture with the birthday boy here at the "Photo Booth" I also made the Happy Birthday banner.

Next was the "Duck Pond" Where they chose a duck and whatever color dot was on the bottom determined how many tickets they got.

The "Dart Throw" Personally I thought it was amazing that we never once lost a dart over the fence. At the "Tumbler Toss" They tossed ping pong balls into tumblers and there was a colored circle in the bottom of each one and depending on the color depended on how many tickets they got.

And finally "Squirt Ball" where they tried to see how many ping pong balls they could knock off golf tees with a water gun.

After the kiddos had all their tickets they could redeem them at the prize table which was packed full of all sorts of goodies. We had licorice ropes, regular and swirl lollipops, gumballs, candy necklaces, old fashioned candy sticks, taffy, lemonheads, wrist whistles, clown noses and mini flashlights. All the goodies had a specified number of tickets that were required.

We were also able to get our hands on an old fashioned popcorn popper that was so much fun! For some entertainment we had jugglers... and clowns!

In the photo booth we had this sign "One of a kind photos taken with the world's largest one year old. The Great Deaconini" Later that night we played it up a little. Well Deacon, you probably will never remember this particular birthday party but everyone who was able to attend said it was the best birthday party ever! I love you Deaconini!

Love, Mommy

Thank you everyone who was able to celebrate Deacon's 1st year with us. It really was a one-of-a-kind party and a great success! However, for my crowning achievement: This lover of chocolate cupcakes is FULLY POTTY TRAINED!!