July in Review

July was another fun month of summer playing for us. We finished off our trip at grandma's and headed home just in time to see the fireworks at the stadium. We also celebrated the fourth with some fireworks at home. Before we left grandma's we made one quick stop at the hot air balloons at the Provo Freedom Festival. The kids had a great time watching the balloons go from dead on the ground, to full blown, to up in the sky. K was pretty excited to see the famous Darth Vader balloon.

Once we were home from all our traveling, it was time for the kids to have their annual swimming lessons. Both K and B were able to take lessons while A sat with mom in the balcony. The place we go is pretty nice in that if you are taking lessons, you are also able to use their outdoor pools both before and after lessons if you want. This turned out to be a lifesaver for A since she really loves to swim and wanted to get in the water for lessons. If there were no swimming before and after, she would have been a wreck!

B was also able to have her birthday party (finally) in July. She had a water party at grandma's house-since she has grass and we don't! All of little girl friends were able to come, cool off in the water, get candy, and decorate cupcakes. She had a lot of fun.

July also brought some more cousins that we have not seen in a long time. They came up to our house this time and it was nice to see them.

Lastly, we finished off the month celebrating Pioneer Day with the ward. After the annual breakfast, the kids got to be in their very first parade. The older ones decorated their bikes to ride through the crowd and the little ones got to throw candy from the four wheeler with dad. It was made even more fun by having some cousins there to join in the parade. That was our July in a nutshell!

June Highlights

So, I decided I would go back through the summer and highlight a few things that we did so those of you who care to know can see how much fun we had! It was quite a full summer so here goes:

A few days after K got out of school, we packed up our car and headed on a 12 plus hour drive to San Diego so we could take the kids to Sea World. We all had a fun time, getting soaked by d

olphins and Shamu and going on rides. While we were there, I found out I have a kidney stone and lucky me, it acted up while we were there. Excruciating pain, lots of stress and tears, and a full day at the doctor made for some interesting memories. At least the good ones outweighed the bad in the end! A still talks about Shamu and how he splashed us so I guess it was worth t

he trip! We also went to the beach on a nice breezy day but luckily the kids still enjoyed the water and sand.

After we got back from Sea World, we quickly unpacked, did some laundry, and repacked our bags to head to grandma's house. While we were there, we saw lots of cousins, uncles, and aunts. We did a lot of fun things including going to the farm, swimming, watching a parade, and playing baseball.

The last two things we did in June that are pretty noteworthy were some birthday celebrations. Before heading to San Diego K turned the 7 with his Indiana Jones cake. And while we were at grandma's B had her 5th birthday with her princess cake. Lots of fun and lots of memories for the month!

We moved in!

I have been asked to update this blog for my one loyal reader (you know who you are!) with some pictures of our house. I have not been very good at this blog so I am going to try and do better from here on out.

Yes, we finally moved in! At this point, it is old news to most everyone. We moved in on one crazy Memorial Day weekend. It was a short time frame, but with some help, a lot of working, and late nights we got everything into the house so the kids could sleep here for their first night that Monday of the holiday. We had a surprise in their rooms for them so we kept them away from the moving in process until it was totally done-well, their rooms at least. They were pretty excited to see all their old toys come back and even some new things that had been stored away. It was like Christmas in May! K was also happy to finish out his last few days of school being picked up and dropped off at his new house. So, here are some pictures. You will have to excuse some of the clutter in certain areas. We had just come back from our vacation and I was getting ready to head out again with the kids to grandma's house for a stay so things are a little crazy. The pictures of the outside are the most recently taken...meaning today! ENJOY!

The kitchen/dining area/computer desk (to the right)

The girls princess room

Transformer room

Master Bedroom

Outside

These are just some of the rooms in the house. And, really, pictures don't do a room justice. For a complete tour...come on out and visit :)

7 years

Today marks 7 years since my dad passed away. With that thought, come so many memories. This picture describes how most of my family will remember him.....wearing dirty work clothes, being silly for the camera....all he needs is a diet coke in his hand! I was watching my sisters wedding video the other night and saw myself dancing with my dad-one of the very few times I did. How I wish I would have taken more opportunities to spend time with him rather than being a stinky teenager who thought her parents were not "cool enough." Oh how I miss him. But, even though I may be sad, I will use his passing as a reminder to always cherish those I have on this earth and to spend that time with them I may not have again. I think I will go hug my kids and tell them yet again how great of a grandpa they have and how much he loves them! I love you dad.

What is IT Like?

When I took K out to the bus this morning, this is what greeted us on the slide, ground, and roof of the house. While we waited for the bus in this snowstorm, we were covered from head to toe and I even had to shake the pile off K's backpack before he went to school. So, I just have a quick question for those of you who are actually having a spring season...what does it feel like?! Does the sun shine? Can you play outside? Can you go out to your car, store, etc without a big heavy winter coat? Maybe we will join you....someday.......

A Month To Go

Yes, it is true. In one month or less, we will be moving into this place. Or at least have the permit which allows us to put some stuff in it! (Whether we are moved in or not all depends on how speedy we are!) I can say it will be in that time frame because our loan rate will run out in a month and we don't want to have to hassle with getting that extended. Here is what the kitchen area looked like as of Easter Sunday.

And here is the outside all finished besides the upper vents being painted and the stairs put in to the front door. It is looking more and more like a house and starting to get exciting...if only the time would go faster! So, who will be our first visitor?!

Soccer Stars

We have officially started the soccer season as of two weeks ago. Both K and B are playing this year and it has been interesting so far. This is B's first year playing and she is the baby of her team. The cut off to play is the first of July so she barely made it. With watching K for two years and her aggressive personality, we thought for sure she would be all over the field and taking people out to get the ball in the goal. Well, we were very far from correct. At this point, she is more interested in making sure mom and dad are watching her every move while she runs/walks around the field. Usually you can see her running the field, staring at you with a big cheesy grin, and totally oblivious to where the ball is! She has had a few times that she would have made goals if she knew what was going on. Maybe by the end of the season, we will see some progress.
K is also the baby on his team. He went up a level this year which means they have positions and a goalie. His team is double the size it was last year which is good since the field they run on is three times as big as they are used to! This will be a hard season for him and his team. With the goalie now it is a lot harder to score and the teams they have played are hard competition. He is so good at soccer this year compared to past years. He plays great as a defender and keeps the opponent right in front of him. (He even had Randy his soccer dad, impressed with his ability!) When he is a forward he also does a great job helping his teammates. It will be a grand day when his team get a goal.

Soccer in Utah is very sketchy....weather wise-as you can see by their layers under the uniforms! So far we have only had one game canceled for wet fields and one and a half games that we froze through. But we can't complain since some people we know have sat through down pours of rain or snow. GO BEARS AND BOBCATS!!