Summer's End

Sadly, our summer has officially ended. We tried to make it last as long as we could. We spent every free day at the pool...


...and had a back-to-school campout in Nona and Boompa's yard. We set up a tent and the kids had a blast roasting marshmallows and hanging out by the fire. We ended the weekend with horseshoes. I am NOT very good. We had a tournament and I lost every round I was in...oh well!

My beautiful Elena Bug just started Kindergarten(*tear). She was so excited to go and has been loving it ever since. We set everything out the night before so that she would be ready to catch the bus--that is what she was most excited for:o) I went with some of the other moms and followed the bus to school. We were all there with our little entourage taking pictures of the kids while they played on the playground until the bell rang to line up for class. The night before I felt the most anxiety but the first day of school was more fun than anything. Seeing how excited Elena was and how grown up she has become made it more of a proud moment than a sad one.

We spent Labor Day weekend with my parents and Dallen camping (well not really camping, we stayed in a friend's cabin). We did lots of four-wheeling, in my dad's new RZR, which Austin couldn't get enough of, and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. The girls had so much fun. Chanel has never really been before, so she learned to love the speed and wind in her face. Elena's favorite part was seeing some of the animals on the farm (typically, my dad couldn't get away from work completely, so we enjoyed going on rounds with him:) We met the dog, the cat and her kittens, and then, while on a hike, Austin and the kids found a few horney toads. A large one and a few teeny tiny ones. They were pretty cute and Chanel couldn't get enough of them. She loved petting them but I didn't allow her to actually hold one. Who knew what she would do...put it in her mouth, maybe?!?

We took a ride up to the red cliffs, this is where Austin had proposed to me so we wanted to show the girls and find the tree we had carved our initials in. That was almost 7 years ago! Holy Crow! You can read more about that story here. The tree says:

KD
+
ACB
10/9/04

Last weekend, Austin and I enoyed a weekend alone in Park City. We stayed at the Westgate Resort and thoroughly enjoyed the amenities:) We got up early Saturday morning and hitched a ride on a hot air balloon. SO MUCH FUN!!! And the views were gorgeous! Austin helped unload the balloon and get it into the air. It was alot of work...but obviously so worth it:) We spent the rest of the weekend eating lots of yummy food, fun shopping, and plenty of pool time;)

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!!!