Independence Day 2016

I'm so grateful for this country and so grateful to celebrate our freedom, our opportunities, and our blessings. I love to sit out on my front porch in the evening and listen to the leaves rustle in the trees at the park and see Mt Timp to the East. It's beautiful! It means so much to me to have freedom and peace of mind.

Our little family had a really yummy BBQ for dinner and then Jackie and family came over for fireworks. I didn't snap any pictures of the fireworks because I was too busy watching the aerials that the neighbors had bought. Ha next year we will save our money and let the neighbors spend theirs! 

We did go to the Mapleton fireworks display with my niece Ashley and her family and it is AMAZING! The fireworks are really breathtaking and I love to go celebrate Utah's statehood on the 24th of July.

Ava, Gracie, Breck, Gavin, Jesse, Oakley, Tegan, Lex

Gavin, Breck, Jesse, Oakley, Lex

Ryan and Gary. The pyrotechnics crew.

Camping Trip #2

For our second camping trip we decided to dry camp up Payson Canyon. Since Jackie is about to have her baby we knew this was our last camping trip with them for the year. Boo hoo! We stayed for 3 nights and it was SO nice to be up in nature. Annie and her family came up to join us one evening for dinner and Grandpa and Grandma Gene came up another night. I love time spent with family like this. It's always so fun to watch the kids play together and be able to get in some adult conversation. I'm so grateful that God has given us this beautiful earth to enjoy. 

Utah is so diverse geographically and I love it so much!

Happy campers! Mom only buys sugar cereal for camping and Christmas morning.
They get too much sugar without eating sugar cereal too!

Watching a movie at the end of a wonderful camping day!

Chef Supreme...what else?

Our girls LOVE their daddy!

Bosom buddies chatting it up.

Grandpa and Grandma even stopped in for a visit.

Trying to hog tie grandpa with a rope! 

Camping Trip #1

It has taken me forever to post mainly because our computer has been acting stupid and not allowing me to post pictures. What is a blog post without pictures?? We went camping with Jackie and Christina and their families up Nephi Canyon at Big Mountain Resort. Course it wasn't truly camping with a pool but all of the kids had a fantastic time and so did we. We laughed until we literally peed our pants. Well one of us anyway and I won't mention names. You know who you are. They were having an activity for kids up the canyon that weekend and our kids got to practice shooting muzzleloaders, rifles, bow and arrow and rock climbing xcetera. I'm so grateful for these fun adventures especially in the beauty of nature with my family.

Gracie and cousin Amber

Gracie, Amber, Ava

Disneyland

We surprised the kids with a trip to Disneyland in November. We stopped by Vegas and stayed

the night on the way down. We went to the M&M Factory and the Hershey Factory. 

We stayed at the Springhill Suites Hotel a few blocks from Disneyland. It had a pool on the roof and the kids loved it! We had a fantastic time together!

Halloween 2015

 It seems I am always 3 months behind. Fall is my favorite time of year and just looking at these pictures  makes me happy. We had a pretty good pumpkin harvest. We sold the pumpkins we didn't use and the kids made about 25$ to go to Hang Time, which is their favorite trampoline park.

We went bowling with our homeschool co-op. 

This is Gib. He lives next door (but will be moving within a few weeks. BUMMER)
They are a homeschooling family as well and we have loved having them as neighbors.
The Ninja Turtle outfits were purely coincidental. ;-)

We went to Jackie and Gary's neighborhood to trick or treat
and then the girls ended up going out with friends, which is new
to me and nerve wracking. They were with moms though so as
long as I don't have to be the mom to do it then I love this new idea!
Me and the boys stayed home and watched Ichabod Crane; a family tradition
that I think is fantastic. LOVE Ichabod!

Happy 10th Birthday Ava!

Gracie's birthday is just around the corner so I decided to get first things first. Ava celebrated her 10th birthday on October 15th. I thought I'd share a handful of pictures of her before I get to her birthday celebration. 

Edible cheeks. YUM!

She LOVED her binky and didn't give it up til her 4th birthday. Yikes!

Possibly choking Zuka?! :)

First day of preschool!

Halloween. My baby is shining!

Discovery Museum

Ava and several of her friends,  including Gracie, went swimming at the Orem Rec and then came back for cake, root beer floats, and present opening. I can't believe my baby is 10! 

Some things to know about Ava:

1. She is such a funny girl. She has a great personality. Some of the stuff she comes up with is so random and funny! 

2. She loves Harry Potter and super hero movies like Avengers etc.

3. She has a fun hip hop style when she dances. No ballerina moves for her.

4. She has a compassionate heart.

5. She is a daddy's girl!

6. She is very strong and always gets compliments on her firm handshake at church.

7. She can be violent when cornered....ha ha...Ava you know it's true.

8. Her favorite colors are turquoise, yellow, coral, gray, mint.

9. Her favorite food is "sunshine potatoes" aka funeral potatoes.

10. She wants to learn how to play the electric guitar.

 I love my little girl and I'm so grateful the Lord gave her to us!

This is a fun idea I found off Pinterest and Ava was sweet enough to give it a go.