Pineview Reservoir

One fun thing we did this summer is travel to Pineview Reservoir and stay for 3 nights. Papa and Nana treated, and we all took turns with meals. Jared and Rebecca came with their family and we had such a great time. There was a swimming pool in the complex and we had our own hot tub on the deck. There was plenty of room and things to do. We saw David O. McKay's house, went rafting on the lake, saw the quaint town of Huntsville, went to the Monastery (no munks to be found), swam, and played at a fun playground. It was a great vacation! And the drive was only a few hours! The kids had so much fun with their cousins. Papa wasn't feeling great a lot of the time, so he rested mostly, which is understandable. Zoey was a horrible sleeper :( but other than that, a great time was had by all!!!!

Girl's Night Out-SNOWBIRD

Every 6 months or so, we plan a GNO sleepover with our friends. It seems to grow in number every time-how lucky for us to have such fun friends!!! This will be our second time going up to Snowbird. Whitney, Windy and I drove up early to get things set up. It was Ericka's bday and we wanted to decorate for her. The rest of the girls came later and we ordered Olive Garden and ate it in our room. There were 8 of us. It was SO much fun. There was a hot tub on the balcony (which we used while sipping our snow cones) and we stayed up talking, snacking and laughing. We do secret sister gifts for each other--which is my favorite part of the night. We buy a "favorite thing" to share with each girl then wrap it up and open with each other. Whit, Windy and I went in on something together and made everyone a friend book. It was a lot of work to put together (and just a little drama to go with it) but SO worth it. We made a page for each girl, then wrote what we loved about them in it. We stayed up 'til we couldn't stay up any more and then crashed. In the morning we headed for the pool and had a good laugh at the squirrels that nipped at our feet and the moose sighting. We headed home, but not before stopping at Five Guys and Nothing Bunt Cakes to fill our empty tummies. There is nothing like spending the weekend with a group of girls and pigging out! :)

The Fourth of July

We had a BBQ at Gma Sonia's to start off our 4th of July celebrations. They boys ran around, caused trouble and swam in the pool. We ate lots of yummy food and just sat around and visited. It was a little rainy, but that didn't stop us from enjoying things. After our BBQ, we came home to prep for our big fireworks show. And can I just say, WOW?! We had several neighbors contribute and man was it HUGE! This is the first year that Utah allows aerials, so all night (and week actually) there were booms and crackles lighting up the sky. It was pretty amazing, and the kids had fun watching and running around. I don't know what we'll do next year. There was no topping that show. :)

Fort Night

Pat worked this weekend (nights) so the kids and I decided to build a fort. We had so much fun! We rented a movie, popped popcorn and played games in our fort. Even Zoey had a good time. It's moments like this that I want to always remember. So carefree and just plain FUN! Thanks kids for a great weekend!

End-of-Kindergarten Party

I can't believe Lukas is already done with Kindergarten. This has been so fun watching him learn to read and write! I'm amazed. He is so smart and Mrs. Hansen was such a great teacher! We wanted to end the year with a bang, so I let him invite 10 friends to have a party on the last day of school. It was fun, and a bit crazy, with 10 Kindergarteners running around! He loves his friends (which are mostly girls) and is always wanting play dates with them. What a great year!

Lava Hot Springs

We took a fun family/neighborhood trip to Lava Hot Springs. It was such a fun get-away! And there is no way I'll ever go back to tent camping (maybe when the kids are bigger). We stayed in a cute little cabin that had bunks for the boys and a bed for us and a microwave and fridge. Don't forget we had a sink, toilet and shower, too! It was great to spend time with friends and let the kids play. We went to the hot pots, to the big swimming pool where we had fun going down the massive slides and just playing! We had some rainy nights, but no worries since we had a cabin! The Wankiers weren't so fortunate, since they stayed in a tent and had a sick baby. They are troopers! What fun memories!

Mindy came to town!!

Mindy was here for a month! She came for Jayson's farewell and then took off to Paris with David for her 40th bday! Then when she got back she was here for 2 more weeks, so we got to have some quality time together. You won't know it from the lack of pictures, but we had fun! I'm so glad they came and we got to have them stay at our house a few nights. They boys love playing with Karsten, and Sierra was a great babysitter to Zoey (despite her screaming!). Skyla was so cute to always play with the boys and we were all sad to see them go! Until next time.

Tiny Sprouts Graduation

Max graduated from preschool yesterday. I was so worried when I first put him in. He is just so intense and can get really aggressive if you don't know how to handle him. From day 1 Miss Becky and Miss Brendy were right for him. They knew how to talk to him and help him participate. Not to say it wasn't hard work on their part, but he loved it and would come home excited and happy. I am so thankful for those teachers. And I'm so proud of Max for learning and going each week. Aunt Mindy was here for it, and that made Max's day. Gma Sonia came, too which was so nice. I love that we have such a supportive family. One more year of preschool to go! :) pictures to come...