FHE @ Herriman Beach

For FHE two weeks ago we went with a bunch of our friends/neighbors out to Herriman Beach. We had dinner and let the kids (young and old-er) play in the sand and water.

What is everyone looking at?

Austin and some of the others who swam out past the buoy.

The group. Pretty much...

Pirate Party } Aaargh!

Our primary had a pirate party a few weeks ago. Austin is Elena's primary teacher so they both dressed up to participate.

Chanel wanted her picture taken too! She kept saying "cheese!"

They broke into groups and were sent on a treasure hunt. The missionaries had the treasure in their possesion and talked to the children about what type of treasure it could be. (The treasure was meant to be the scriptures)

There was a treasure box full of goodies and jewels. Elena opted for the ring pop. :0)

Mila, Abi, Abby, Elena, and Brooks enjoying their treasures!


Austin is always so good to get involved and have a good time with the kids. (Regardless of whose kids they are:)

Elena "walking the plank". I don't quite understand her strategy in her body contortion...

My "eye-patch baby"!

On the treasure hunt they met Alma and some others from the scriptures but then some theifs came in and stole their treasure. But the righteous were able to take it back from the theifs. It was such a fun party for all of the kids. Good job Primary Leaders!

Yay for a Yard!

In mid-July we finished putting our grass in the backyard and decided to use the remaining soil to re-vamp our front flower bed...

We hauled in some large boulders to make our border and picked out a few plants and decided where to place them. We still have a lot we want to add but this update definately helped the curb appeal:)

The girls kept plenty busy playing with the hose and in the water. Chanel thought the mud was delicious!

24th of July

For the 24th weekend we met up with my parents and Dallen and went to the Bee's game on Saturday. It was hot and sunny, but lots of fun. The kids were excited to catch some of the toss-outs. And they got to see Bumble the Bee (he was quite the celebrity so we didn't get any pictures).

After the game we went out on the field to watch the fireworks. I think it was one of the best fireworks shows I've seen in a long time. The kids had so much fun and it was a great way to kick of the weekend.


Then Monday the 24th we hung out and had our friends--the Larson's--over for dinner. Didn't get pictures but we met up at the park with our neighbors and attempted more fireworks, we eventually got rained out. At least we some some good ones at the games:)

Ute Stampede & Lamb Days

We were fortunate enough to have Ute Stampede and Lamb Days on the same weekend again this year. It worked out perfectly for us since it is the one time of year our families get together for our hometown celebrations. This year we partied at Ute Stampede Thursday and Fridaythen hit up Lamb Days on Friday and Saturday. It was perfect.

The girls really enjoyed the rodeo. Chanel did remarkably well for sitting that long and loved watching all of the horses.

Me and my cowboy...

(he would hate it if he new I just called him that--oh well, he never reads this anyway:o)



Elena couldn't wait to ride the carnival rides. She was most excited for the ferris wheel. So we stood in line (even though it was the longest *sigh*) and Austin rode it with her...she LOVED it!!!

At Austin's parent's house (which used to be his grandma's before she passed) there is a huge hedge out front that has grown much bigger than it used to be. When he was younger they used to jump it all the time to see who could clear it. Karla (Austin's sister) challenged him to jump it and try to clear it being as big as it was...

Here it is --


It may not seem that big in the picture but it is huge!!! It was probably 4 ft. by 4ft. (I don't really know the dimensions, but it was really big--)

Of course he took on the challenge and this is the result...



READY, SET, GO!


He TOTALLY cleared it like it was nothing:) I'm so proud(and happy we weren't headed to the hospital).

We spent the rest of our night lighting fireworks, club dancing with our glow sticks, and rocking out to music. Tons of fun!

Friday the kids waited patiently at the Mammoth parade for candy...they don't look too thrilled do they? I think they were worn out.

At Lamb Days, we enjoyed the mutton dinner and fireworks, the fun run, and another parade. Then our whole family went up the Nebo loop and had lunch by the river where the weather was cooler. It was so nice. We also had our family pictures taken, but I will post those later after they are finished being edited.

We ended the busy weekend with the final Harry Potter--it did NOT dissapoint! So Good:o)

Stay tuned for the rest of our Summer adventures...

Playing Catch~up

Whew!!! It's been a while and I have some catching up to do...I'm afraid I probably won't cover everything that has been going on...it's been insanely busy around here.

JUNE:

We celebrated Father's Day with a good old fashioned breakfast~in~bed. Then the next weekend Austin and I went to the Lucas-Oil Off-Road Races at LHM Motorsports Park. We missed these raced last year so we made sure to go this year. Austin was in HEAVEN:o)

My Birthday was celebrated with a BANG! (Sarcasm) I spent my entire 25th birthday hauling topsoil and spreading it in the backyard. My whole body was in major pain...but Austin brought me some beautiful flowers and a big fat cupcake home from work and I had some awesome friends deliver gifts and help with the yard work and that all made my day.

I'm grateful we're finally getting our yard put in...every free weekend since has been used to finish it up. I didn't take very many "BEFORE" pictures but I do have a few that I'll save for a later post, when everything is finished:o)

Next up: GIRLS CAMP!!!!

We went to Heber Valley Camp. It was my first time being there and it was so fun! Our camp was 5. Days. Long. Yes that is a very long time to be at Girls Camp but luckily we had an awesome group of girls that were mostly drama~free.

We were constantly playing games...

...and pulling pranks. Our cabin pulled off the most pranks but nobody knew it was us since we played totally innocent and everyone thought we were their allies. Then just before any pranks could be pulled on us...the stake leaders announced "NO MORE PRANKS!" Where's the fun in that? They were perfectly harmless, anyway.

We did some hiking around the lake and up the mountain...

...and did the challenge course and zip line. So fun:)


We did some canoeing and paddle boating on the lake. Gorgeous~but cold!


And our awesome Bishopric came to join in the festivities of our Hoedown. We did barrell racing with stick horses and some awesome line-dancing. Then had a full out dance party...So fun!!!

I'm so glad I got to spend the week with these girls. It was Ahhh~mazing:o)


Fourth of July/Austin's Birthday:

We spent the 4th of July in Nephi having a BBQ for Austin's 28th Birthday. I made him his favorite black forest cake (cupcakes) and topped it with a festive sparkler instead of a candle...hey, that's what you get when your birthday is a national holiday:o)

Then, keeping tradition, we rode up by the shooting range (the perfect spot) and watched the Nephi fireworks. The girls loved it. Hope you had an great birthday, Daddy! We love you!!!

Race for the Cure~Mother's Day

Yes this post is WAY past due, but...I did it!!! Ran my first 5k and did it in a little over 36 min. No, that's not a very good time. But it's awesome for me since I've never been a runner and my goal was to run it under 40 min. and to not finish last in our group. I accomplished both and I am psyched!!! Here we all are before the race.
At the starting line...

I know I look like a total idiot, but I was elated to finish and it wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be:)

In all of our post-race glory. Ali kicked our butts!
Since it was Mother's Day weekend, my sisters and I had planned to suprise my mom and take her to luch and shopping. It has been quite a while since we were all together like this so she was very suprised that all of my sisters showed up at her house the night before. They told her the plan was to watch me finish my race, then we would all do lunch and some shopping. She was so suprised and excited:) I loved have my family there to support me, it meant sooooo much. Thanks you guys! Love you all!