dogpile on Dad

The girls love their dad so much!
Poor Dave has to suffer all sorts of torture. 

Thanks for being such a great Dad!

IHOP with Grandma

We may have started a new tradition. For Mother's Day, we took Grandma P. out to lunch at IHOP. Ever since then, everytime we see an IHOP (and there seem to be a lot around) Audrey points out that that's where we went with Grandma. Recently, Kimee and Audrey started saying that they really want to go to IHOP with Grandma again. So, we went the Saturday before their birthday.

 Audrey was so cute asking Grandma to describe everything on the menu.

 Gotta have at least one silly face from Audrey ;)

Afterwards, we went to WalMart (always conveniently near IHOP) and the girls picked out their gift from Grandma. They both got princess dolls-Kimee got Mulan and Audrey got Cinderella. 

Thanks, Grandma P. for a fun afternoon!

Cousins

It's so nice to have cousins nearby to play with.

 Mariah, Emi, and Hadley had a sleepover at our house the night before Kimee and Audrey's birthday. Here they are watching Saddle Club before bed.

We love spending time with our cousins!

Swimming Lessons, again

This week we are doing our second round of swimming lessons. The girls have improved, especially Kimberly. She has always loved swimming, but she's finally catching on and doing the strokes really well. Audrey loves swimming too, but she can't quite swim on her own yet. They both loved going off the diving board, and even tried to do some tricks!

Kimee and her friend Stephanie.

Kimee and Stephanie leading the race!

Audrey jumping on the tramp while she waits for her lesson.

Maddi loves watching and eating fruit snacks.

Kimee going off the diving board.

Audrey waiting on the steps for Bronson to call her name.

Audrey doing the back float.

Audrey going off the diving board.

Thank you, Hadley!

My niece Hadley brought us a bunch of apples that were past their prime, but still edible.
We took a trip to the horses by WalMart to feed them a yummy treat.

There were a couple foals too!

Maddi got to watch from here. On the way there, she said horse!

The girls, and the horses too, were in heaven!

Thanks, Hadley, for thinking of us. We love you!

funny story

My mom and dad took Kimee and Audrey to McDonald's on Monday with two of their cousins. She sent me this email telling a funny story that happened while they were there. I can just picture this and have to laugh.

I wish you could have peeked into the window at McDonald's today. They had
such a good time. While they were eating their fries and apple dippers and
nuggets, one of them (I think it was Kimee) read the sign that is over two
of the slides which were right close to our table that read, "Please no
climbing." So, we talked about the sign for a minute, then I said, "What
if the sign said, "Please no sliding." All four of them burst into
giggles. Then Audrey came up with, "What if it said, 'Please no
laughing.'" And all four laughed and laughed again. So, for a full 30
minutes, they each came up with some funny thing, like "What if it said,
"Please no blue eyes." And they all laughed hard again because everyone
had blue eyes, but Kimee said she had hazel eyes.

Each time the person's suggestion received rounds of laughter. Then I
would throw in one once in awhile, like, "What if it said, 'Please no
purple shirts.'"

This went on and on for half an hour. Even James was coming up with good
ideas just as good as the older kids. We were so loud, I know the whole
place was in on this, but these four were all so cute and witty thinking
up what the sign could say, eating their fries at the same time as
thinking up these funny little ideas. It was just hilarious. The whole
restaurant was listening, we were so loud.

What do you do in the summertime?

Oh what do you do in the summer time

When all the world is green?

Do you have a candy stand?

Or run through the sprinklers?

Or play with your friends outside?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Oh what do you do in the summer time

When all the world is green?

Do you ride in a convertible?

Or pick lots of strawberries?

And make fruit smoothies every night?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Oh what do you do in the summer time

When all the world is green?

Do you water your garden?

And pick lots of weeds?

And make lots of raspberry jam?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Oh what do you do in the summer time

When all the world is green?

Do you fish in Utah Lake?

Or kiss a catfish?

Or get sunburned until you might cry?

Is that what you do? So do I!

Here's a before and after shot of our new patio cover.

We love spending time in our backyard, and look forward to being able to spend more time out there with a little more shade and comfort.

I have been loving this summer. I don't know for sure, but it seems like I haven't enjoyed summer this much for many years. Last year (2009) was a new baby and moving to a new school. The summer before I was doing my Master's degree full time (2008). The summer before that (2007) we were in a new house and had projects galore, plus I didn't know anyone in my neighborhood and was pretty lonely. Summer 2006 Audrey was born. So it must have been the summer of 2005 that I last got to really relax and enjoy my summer. That was the summer we took a 10 day trip to Arizona. We saw Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Nogales, MX and more. It was so much fun!

Some of my favorite things about summer are:

• Doing laundry during the week so I can spend Saturday working in the yard with Dave or doing fun stuff as a family
• Having time during the day to do chores so that at night Dave and I can watch a show.
• Having time to clean and organize my house
• Doing fun stuff with my kids
• Spending time with friends
• Growing food in my garden and working in the yard
• starting NetFlix and getting a new movie for the kids to watch every couple of days
• making a double batch of cookie dough every Sunday night and having a spoonful or two every night while watching a show before bed
• Being on a more relaxed schedule- I don't have to be up, dressed, and ready to go at 8am.
• More stuff that I can't think of right now! 

the girls eating their cookie dough while watching Backyardigans

I know it may seem like summer just started, but for me summer is winding down. We've got the big birthday party this week, and then it's downhill from there. As soon as August hits, I'm back to school mode. I have had a wonderful break.

4th of July

We got back from the reunion just in time to celebrate the 4th of July. Since it was on a Sunday this year, we got to celebrate for 3 days- Sat, Sun, and Mon.

On Saturday, we held a spontaneous barbeque at our house with our good friends the Foxes and Sinemas. The kids played like crazy, including performing a play downstairs entitled, "Ghosts in the Graveyard". Pretty spooky. At dark, we went to our neighbors yard to watch the fireworks. They were pretty far away, but from our spot we could see the fireworks from at least three cities. It was really cool, and it took less than a minute to walk home afterward.

On Sunday we went to church wearing our red, white, and blue in honor of Independence Day.

On Monday, we got up early to go to the parade. Thanks to the Smiths for saving an awesome spot, we fully enjoyed the parade this year. With all the twirling, horn honking, hollering, and fun we could possibly muster. The funniest thing about the parade this year was when a mouse ran out into the middle of the road. A big truck went by, and we thought it was dead. But when the truck passed, out ran the mouse alive and well. We all cheered. There was a little gap, and a marching band was next. The flag holders and baton twirlers could see this mouse running towards them. They tried to keep a straight face, but one girl was petrified. The look on her face was hilarious. We were all laughing so hard as the mouse ran in between the all feet marching in the band, then ran towards safety on the other side of the street. You should have seen the people scatter, a big lady trying to swat it,  people picking up their blankets as the mouse ran under. This mouse caused quite a flurry of excitement. That's when we lost track, as more floats came by and we couldn't see, but I'm guessing it finally found grass and ran off to safety.

After the parade we went with family and friends to the Brick Oven for lunch. Yummy as always.

Reunion

We had a wonderful family reunion up at Wolf Creek at the end of June/ first of July.

One of the best things we did was go horseback riding at Red Cliff Ranch.

Audrey and Kimee did pony rides.

 Also, Kimee and mom went on a 30 min trail ride. It was so much fun!

There was a pond at the ranch where the kids played while waiting.

 Right next to the resort is a golf course, so Dave went over with the boys to do some putting.

I lost the pictures from my camera when my hard drive crashed, but I got some from my niece Amy. I'm sad that I don't have all the photos of my girls, but these are great!

It is somewhat symbolic that I lost the pictures from this reunion, because it kind of felt like we weren't really there. Audrey and Maddi had a virus that could have been contagious, so we were super careful to not let them interact with the other little kids that were there. The big family photo was the only time Audrey and Maddi were with the whole group. Just Kimee and Dave went to the other group activities. We still had lots of fun hanging out in our condo playing, watching movies, having treats, and spending time together.