New Things

We've enjoyed this week of August :). We've registered for school, (which surprisingly took over an HOUR to finish all the paper work... phew), we had cousin Kate and Brooke over for a sleepover, and then we headed down to Grandma and pa Cheeto's house for a Grandkid slumber party! After pizza, a movie, and carmel corn, all the grandkids went for their first after dark swim, woohoo!

We watched 'Soul Surfer' so Alex was the shark chasing all the girls, haha, he Loved it! It was also fun to see them all try swimming with just one arm. I was surprisingly impressed!

Carson sported pink and purple because I forgot the appropriate attire for him... but this picture just makes me laugh!

3 little Mermaids :)

Then around 10:30.... they crashed. That was part of our plotted plan to wear them out with swimming ;). It worked.

Then in the morning before breakfast, those who felt energetic and old enough, went for a hike... I really don't know what I'm doing there, haha.

It was sandy and steep, but the girls were such troopers!

I quickly caught a pic of Cami and Kate Running to the top... little energizer bunnies :).

Yeah! We made it!! At the top we pulled out our granola bars to hold us over before our decent down to breakfast.

The view... it was amazing. I've grown up in Tri-Cities most of my life, and I promise you, it didn't use to look this occupied. But what's even more spectacular is that we have a Temple now in Tri-Cities!! What a blessing! Can you spot it out there?

On our way down, mom spotted a little lizard! We all gathered around to see this tiny creature... much better than spotting a Rattlesnake. (I do have to admit, those snakes were in my thoughts on this hike, and a pleading in my prayers to not encounter one! ;)

Now the real reason Alex didn't want to come on the hike was because he wanted to be one of the firsts to step foot in the bounce house!! :) Boy cousins are out numbered here, so Grandma catered to them with the Monster Truck theme, thanks grandma!

Brooke and Kenzie May also stayed for the first dibs in jumping :)... I love these girls, such cuties!

Then there was Carson and William. I get a kick out of watching these two play together. They like to stay close, but not sure if they want to share the same toys, haha! I believe they will grow up to be good cousin buddies :).

Then more swimming. Alex has officially graduated from floaties to free sailing! He enjoys the freedom of it all :).

I decided to stay over one more night because Jeremy was out fishing with the boys :). So the next morning mom and dad took us out on their boat. I love this pic, dad was trying to be serious like that one pic of the couple with the pitch fork on the farm, but he couldn't help but crack a smile ;).

All of us boaters posed for a picture:).

Then to my surprise Cami and Alex wanted to learn how to kneeboard! They did so well, I couldn't believe how quickly they caught on! They never cease to amaze me. They learned far much sooner than I ever did. I think when I was their age I was crying when my dad went too fast on the innertube! Haha, lame I know... but it just shows you, our kids, this generation, are in a league of their own!

After the kiddos took a turn, I went on the wake board. I was quite rusty, but I do have to say the cheers of my kiddos inspired me to try harder! After I crashed and burned a couple of times, I came inside and Carson says, "Good job mom! You did so good mom!" Anyone else could have said the same thing, but it wouldn't have meant as much.

Mom and dad finished the day with some slaloming. They too impress me... just how active they still are. Sure love them.

It definitely was a memorable week. I am definitely SORE from wake boarding! Just need to do it more right?, well at least that's what Cami said :).

What Happened?? ;)

Throughout my life I have had long hair. I enjoy long hair.... but there are lengths, where it just becomes 'Beastly', as my sister would put it ;). I've cut it short before but only a few times in my life. Soooooo, Cami and I had a girls day out yesterday and went to my sis-in-law's spa/salon and got our lovely locks 'trimmed' :)! In the past when I've cut my hair, I've heard my dad, husband, and brothers mourn over the loss of my hair, hahaha (maybe alittle exaggeration there)... but every once in awhile it's kinda fun, and sincerely needs a good trimming.

My goodness, it was almost 2 ft LONG!

I had given Cami a good trimming about 2 months ago, but she still wanted to go with me... she had an idea :)

I don't know why I posted this picture... haha

Here at the spa and Kori is starting her masterpieces ;)

They are discussing the plan.......

She's a Bang Bang Girl Now!!!! She totally looks like a different person! I love it, she looks like a doll!

Kori, thank you so much for spoiling us, we love you!

Afterwards we went to AppleBee's and got some fun desserts. I Love this girl of mine.

My hair is long no more! And hopefully my bathroom will have less piles of hair lurking in every corner. Til we meet again scissors!! (prob not for the next 5 years, again :)

A Little About Carson

As I have mentioned before this cute kid LOVES fruit! But I think we have discovered his Favorite fruit.... Strawberries. When Papa Steve came up last he brought up his ever berry strawberry plant to give to Carson. It's so cute... he will even pick the green ones and eat it, strangely enough. He makes sure we take care of his plant though... watering, some sun, and then....

searching for the good ones of course :)

Another thing we have discovered about Carson is that he genuinely loves to help. Cooking, cleaning, weeding, watering, fixing, and especially anything that dad is doing. He was the only one out there helping daddy, and it was because he wanted too.

We love you Carson! Jammed face and all, strawberry jam of course :).

Safe Karate, safe crafts :)

Boys love to fight, wrestle, pounce on each other... so we decided to provide a little more cushion before starting the brawl. :)

As for the crafts, Cami browsed the Internet and found this one. Decorative Light Switches! A personalized touch to one's room. Good idea Cami!

And if you can't tell what Alex's is... well it's a Star Wars scene of course! ;) Love it Al, so you.

G-ma Elly and G-pa Steve

This weekend we not only did some construction in the house :), but also played with Grandma Elly and Papa Steve! So during this weekend we wanted to hit the Sidewalk Art Show in Tri-Cities... this was the kiddos favorite part of course... puddles at the park. :)

Then after shopping at the art show, Grandma Elly wanted to take the kids school shopping. This is how it went... Shoe shoppn', hoppn' and runn'n to make sure they are secure and comfy.

Then we went clothes shopping. Alex was done in 10 min TOPS, a natural guy thing :). Cami.... she grabbed close to every item off the rack that she liked and wanted to try them all on, a natural girl thing :). So Papa Steve waits outside with the boys, while us girls go help Cami try on and pick out the right ones. I wasn't keeping track of time, but we made sure to try them ALL on. Haha, when we got out Steve informed us of Alex's opinion, "Are they done yet??.... Man, Girls Take Forever!" Steve's response, "Yes they do." Thank you for being such wonderful gentlemen and waiting for us ladies so patiently! :) Cami picked out her favorites and we then went home. We love having Gma Elly and Papa Steve come and see us, what a treat!!

Construction N' Co.

This last weekend we got the treat of Steve coming over with his expertise, and helping us put in a pantry for me! (Sorry about this shot Steve, it was the only 'before' pic I took of the corner before you guys started:) We found that after unboxing all our kitchen stuff, and putting it away in appropriate places, there was no room for our food! So I have been using a bookshelf to put some of our food in... but not for long!

Framing it in.....

Jeremy enjoys his power tools... although I did dissapoint him when I did not get a proper picture of him using the SAWZALL (the more manly tool), and deleted it, then the battery died... of course. We'll just have create more projects for him so I can get him in action :)

Steve kept us in line and made sure we got it all straight and lined up :)

Now the door........

Whaw-lah! We still need to finish the shelves and trim but oh how exciting it will be to put my food in an enclosed pantry! Thank you STEVE and JEREMY for this wonderful gift!

Dining with Royalty

We had the privledge to be apart of the King family reunion at Silverwood this year, and THAT my friends, was quite a treat! I unfortunately did not bring out the camera as often as I should have, so I am lacking in proper documentation of everyone, BUT... it is definitely a trip we won't forget :).

We attempted the Egg Twirl with the whole fam, which we obviously all got squished and me a little queesy. I have come to realize, I am my mother's daughter.... too much spinning is NOT good for me ;). (FYI, if my mom EVER went on a fair ride that spun, you could count on her spewing within the hour and being nautious a couple of days after... fortunately, I'm not quite that bad).

On this ride, I got the biggest kick out of watching TyLeen laugh herself to tears about getting her dad to buddy up with Cami on the Tilt-A-Whirl! I think we were more worried about Ron then Cami on this one, haha!

I snuck a picture in as we were hanging around waiting for some who took the train ride. Which Carson LOVED, of course. I think that is what he talked about most during the trip :). We have here, Beautiful little (well not so little anymore!) Tommi. TyLeen and Spencer with their absolutely adorable bunch! Oh yeah, and Alex ;).

The kids loved the kiddy section on the park. Over and over again they went! But Cami says her favorite ride was the Corkscrew, which was her very first roller coaster ride... I am not surprised for she is my little dare devil. Alex on the other hand, went with me on Timber Terror, a wooden roller coaster. I was laughing so hard by the end of the ride! He has always been my cautious one... his knuckles were SO tight and white, and the look on his face was priceless! The only time he smiled was when I patted him on the hand to reassure him all is well and that this really is fun. When the ride was done, I asked him if he wanted to do it again? He quickly answered,... "No."

Now we hadn't seen this couple since their wedding! Which has been about 6 years! So it was SO good to see Tanelle, Clint, and their sweet little clan! Hopefully next time we see them it won't be quite as long :).

Like I said, I didn't get enough pictures, for there was Travis, Jeremy's best friend, and his cute kiddos who came over from Alaska to be apart of it all. And Tori whom has grown into a gorgeous young women who is now going to college! What?! UGh, I'm getting old.

After a long, action packed day... the kids crashed on our 3 1/2 hr drive home. It's safe to say, WE HAD A BLAST! Thank you King's/Dixon's/Allen's! ;) We love you

Conversation Piece

Jeremy has been working on some bunk beds for the boys and since we no longer have a wood shop to work in, we now are using our living room :). The kids love it! I tend to groan. But when I see how happy it makes the kids, it's worth it! So until it's finished, it is now our center peice of conversation for anyone that comes and visits.

Not a Profressional

Most people wouldn't find much excitement in this very common chore. And I know many friends who have done this task fully pregnant!! So you can laugh at my pathetic success in doing such a thing. Hahaha! But today was the day that I was going to mow the lawn! It had been close to two weeks since we've moved in, and we hadn't touched the lawn, (and you could tell especially in the spots the previous owenr's dog had done his business... the grass there was particularly lush and tall! LOL). Do you want to know how long it's been since I had last mowed a lawn?? It's been since high school, about 10 years. :) We've been particulary spoiled for the last 3 years with our 80 yr old neighbor mowing our lawn... bless his heart!! Now we have our own responsibility, and today I enjoyed it. :) Jeremy told me to wait for tomorrow when he could do it... but you know how us ladies are sometimes.... It's just gotta be done now! ;)

Then afterwards we invited some new friendly neighbors and had snow cones, (thanks Grandpa Steve for buying us a snow cone maker!) and played in the sprinklers. Which meant everyone got wet, sticky, and grass all over them. Haha, but as a kid, you could care less. :)

Summer Adventures

In our new backyard Carson discovered the fully grown and lucious strawberry patch! (thanks to the previous owners) It's kind of funny because it's almost always a ritual when he wakes up to search for some strawberries :).

Since I've been pretty much just been cleaning and unpacking these last 2 weeks, we decided to break up the mundane work of figuring out where to put what, with Sprinklers!! I just love the picture of Alex, capturing the sheer pleasure of some water and sun mixed together. :)

Last night, we decided to go participate in the Grandview's children's track meet. Here they hold up their ribbons with pride! Even Carson placed in a thing or two. :)

Aside from these few random adventures, there hasn't been much else we've done. I'm hoping that I will get this unpacking done more quickly so we can get on with our lives! :)

Red, White and Blue

Happy 4th to you all! (Of course my picture comes out side ways! Does anyone know how to flip the picture the way you want it, when it does that????) Well anyway, In the last 3 weeks I've made about 5 strawberry pizzas. It's just one of the best summer desserts, that's all! ... done for several different celebrations :). But for the 4th though, I felt it appropriate to add a patriotic twist. I am so grateful for this choice land that we live in. For Heavenly Father's hand in the weaving of events to have the freedoms we do. I am so grateful for those who have fought for our freedom and for our ancestors who left a beautiful legacy of hope and faith for us all. God Bless America!