--Our Family

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Summer Happenings

Kathleen went to girls camp. This is the only picture I have of it and it isn't even of all the girls. But it's sure cute.

Brandon is 12 now and gets to go on campouts. He loves it. Here are some of the deacons on their last campout.

We had so much fun at the Spear family reunion. Cody and Nixon were in the water all day. They were so cute.

We went on a 10-state road trip. Lots of sleeping in hotels.

Fun at an amusement park:

Ryan's favorite thing in the whole world is going to baseball games.

Ok, so these pictures are in no kind of order. Brandon played baseball this spring and is pretty stinkin cute.

Cody had a pinewood derby.

Cody tried his hand at golf. I think he liked it. We may give it another go soon.

Cody and his buddy tried out for the school talent show. They did a sketch from Studio C called "Captain Literally".

Kathleen has super cute friends.

Grammy came to visit and we hiked Table Rock. Ryan was out of town.

Kathleen played on a club volleyball team.

Mother's Day:

For Mother's Day, Ryan taught a Relief Society lesson on the many hats that mothers wear. It was really cute. The best part was that he ended 20 minutes early so we could eat cake and visit.

Brandon and Ryan getting ready for hiking.

Brandon's birthday party included a movie night.

My parents came to visit for Brandon's ordination and we visited the Old Penitentiary.

Okay, so we have had a long 2015. With all the basement problems we have had and then in November our whole house flooded leaving us essentially homeless for a couple of months. But the end results are pretty good. We now have a fully finished basement and a completely new house.

Kathleen couldn't be more excited with her new room.

The basement turned out perfect!

Brandon got a new room as well:

As did Cody:

And where do the boys sleep? In the cupboard under the stairs. They want to be just like Harry Potter.

I keep finding the boys on the ground in the basement next to the couch playing their electronics. They are so cute. The new carpet is really nice.

We have been trying to get Cody a new hobby. He was so cute trying out Tae Kwon Do. He does, however, lack any discipline of any kind. So he quit after one class. He is trying out golf next week. I am bound and determined to find him something he loves besides video games.

Brandon got a tooth filling replaced and did it all like such a big boy. Maybe he is growing up after all.

Cody participated in the school spelling bee.

Cody's valentine box:

Valentine's Day:

Breaking in the basement. It is so awesome!

The kids learned how to ski this winter and LOVED it.

After much bribery, we talked Cody into reading the entire Narnia series. He loved it and begged for some Turkish Delight. (FYI, this particular brand is disgusting):

Cody got to dress like a cowboy for his school music performance.

Brandon had his first band concert. He plays percussion and loves it (and bangs on everything in our house).

Kathleen joined a club volleyball team (she is number 4 in the middle). She is an amazing player. I have so much fun watching her.

Annabeth came to visit and Cody was in heaven.

Cody is all dressed up for crazy hair day at school:

Dress up like "what you want to be when you grow up" day (yes, he is dressed like Santa):

Ryan and I ran a half marathon together. He is so cute.

Green dinner with the Reese family:

Ryan took first place for men in his age group in the marathon.

We had a night Easter egg hunt with the kids. It was so much fun.

Making chocolate filled eggs:

For spring break we went all over checking out fun hiking trails and waterfalls.

Dying eggs:

We had a crazy hail storm, unlike anything I have ever seen in the west. Ryan had to go run in it. It hurt.

We found a fun hot springs:

Cody wanted to celebrate Stitch's birthday. He got him last year on our spring break cruise. So we made sugar cookies (normally I wouldn't make sugar cookies for a stuffed animal's birthday, but since we were homeless all during the holidays, I told Cody we would make sugar cookies at Easter time).

I took the boys to the zoo. They were soooooo much fun.

We ran into some fun friends at the zoo:

Cody is working on a pinewood derby car:

Ryan always misses out on the Harry Potter parties we have (it is tradition to have these parties when he is out of town). So we agreed to make some of the regular treats for him during spring break.