Hiking Club!!

This summer, one of our favorite things was hiking club, organized by one of our other favorites Kristin Doyle. We hiked (almost) every Tuesday morning with other moms and their preschoolers. We hiked to Mima Mounds, Lake Sylvia, Schafer State Park, Priest Point Park, and lots of others. What a fun thing to do with preschoolers!

24th of July in SLC!

We had such a fun 24th of July. In SLC, this is Pioneer Day, where they celebrate the day the Pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley and Brigham Young declared, "This is the place!" for the Mormon settlers to settle. We started with the parade with Aunt Rosemary. The floats and bands were the favorite, along with the no-melt popsicles at Rosemary's afterward. The kids were also stunned by a performance of the cheerleaders from Utah State, which they did just for us in the park!

We ended the night with our first professional soccer game with the Beckstrands and my great friend Stacey Ford: The SL Real. We had such a great time. All the kids loved the game, and though Sammi was traumatized by the fireworks afterward, everyone was on cloud nine when we left. Scotti made me promise to let him go down and stand on the grass where the soccer players were. The game was especially fun to me. I had no idea I was such a soccer fan. The excitement of a goal or a good block was almost more than I could handle. Such a great high for me. I love those things.

Snowbird with Jacksons

When in SLC in July, we had a fun day at Snowbird with the Jacksons. Scotti did some rock climbing, and we all got to do the alpine slide. Since I was there without Grant, all the kids found loved ones to go with. They had a great time. It was so beautiful up there in the mountains, but since my kids had just arrived to the desert, we all had climate shock! We couldn't take the heat. I seriously never gets to be too hot here in Elma. That desert just beat us that day I tell you! We loved the tram and especially our family.

We also got to stay with Grandma Janet & Grandpa Kelly, which was really fun. Those two have a fabulous hotel, I tell you. We had a great time miniature golfing with Grandma Janet, too. Cooper got a whole in one and was intent on getting another one the rest of our time there. Sammi was more interested in the turquoise water than in finishing the last few holes. Funny kid.

Fun with Grandma Bird in July!

My highlight of being in Salt Lake City this summer was the time I got to spend with my Grandma Bird. I wish I could have spent a couple of more days with her. A few of us cousins got together at the last minute and went over to visit Grandma when I first got there, and some of us go to have a fun luncheon with her a few days later. Talk about a woman who has blessed my life. I love you Grandma.

Newport Beach with Beckstrands!

Just thought I'd do a little summer catching up here, and blog about our fun trip to the beach with my extended family this July. Wow, did we ever have a good time. The kids were in absolute heaven with cousins to play with every moment. The boys loved the Razors (scooters) that cousins brought with them and rode them whenever they could. Everett woke up every morning asking for Aunt Ann-Marie (man-ma-me) to take him to the donut store. He woke up and ran in her room and announced to her, while she was still in bed, that he woke up! Sort of like, "Let's go Man-Ma-Me!" Once I told him that I would take him to the donut store and he told me that he didn't want to go with Man-Ma-You, he wanted to go with Man-Ma-Me!!! Funny. Cooper, as always, loved to lay around on the sand. Didn't ever care if there was sand all over the place at all. Scotti's favorite thing was playing football, baseball, soccer, etc. endlessly on the beach. So many sports, so many athletes. So thrilling to Scotti! Sammi loved her big girl cousins. They were the best because they payed her all the attention she could ever want. She also loved the waves.

We also went to Disneyland for the first time. Here is a picture of Grant and the kids on the train there. Our kids loved it. It was especially fun because we did it with the Beckstrands who we just absolutely love to pieces. We never could have survived Disneyland without them, honestly. We all had a great time. Grant loved the time with the kids, and I loved the time with all my brothers and sisters. Such a great family!

Apparently...

Tonight I put Everett in his crib to go to bed. I wasn't even down the stairs before he was calling for me. He never does this, so I went upstairs to see what was the trouble. When I got in his room, he said, "Apparently, I have to go potty." Funny words from the mouth of a 2 year old. I have so much summer blogging to catch up on. I'll do so in a couple of weeks when school starts! Love to you all!

Cooper's Bloody Foot

So Cooper came in from riding his bike today with his foot completely covered in blood. Apparently, he opened a scab off his ankle and then watched the blood drip down his foot. When he came in, he told me that it didn't hurt, but that he thought we'd better wipe the blood off his ankle, because it can burn through your skin, and then your muscles, and then your bones until you know what you'd be then--the Holy Ghost!