Summer

I've slacked big time posting about our summer. But here is what we've been up to:

--played LOTS of house and Loving Family and Barbies.
--put the above said toys in a garbage bag a few times for a "time out" because of too much arguing.
--getting my braces tightened; having to wear rubber bands on both sides. I feel like a teenager again.
--knowing that I get said braces off in probably three months.
--Eliza got glasses for reading. Looks dang cute.
--lots of swimming--at the resort, at friends, at in-laws...We even got to go to Wet N Wild twice with my dad's summer program. It was SO fun. It's so much better since it changed from Waterworld.
--being hot. It's even hot at 5:30 AM!
--hiking and running at crazy aforementioned hour.
--making daily chore charts for the kids.
--nagging them to get the chores completed.
--having later than usual bedtimes.
--not reading as much as I would have hoped (the kids, not me). I did start a great series....The City of Ember. It's a young adult fiction, but I really enjoyed it! I'm on the third one right now.
--regularly have nightly visitors in our bed. Sometimes Brian will ditch and sleep in one of their beds so he can have more room. How do I get them to stay in their own beds?!

--Hattie got the camera one day. Here is what she documented:







That about sums up our summer!

photo blog

I set up a photography blog.

"Camping"

This past weekend we decided to go camping with my brother and his family. It was just going to be Brian, Eliza, Ellie and Hattie. Then a couple days before Libby said she would be comfortable with a bathroom camping, so we all decided to go. The day of, it started raining up north. We decided to go anyway, but instead of set up camp in the rain, we opted to get a hotel in Flagstaff. My brother Brian and his family had already been camping for a night, but they still packed up and got a hotel in Williams for the night. So that is why we called it a "campout." The room had a "kitchette" (they called it that, but it was a microwave and fridge), so we heated up the dinner we were going to have camping (hot dogs and soup), Brian took them swimming in the "heated" hotel pool, then we had microwave s'mores.


The next morning we met up with Brian and family and went to Bearizona in Williams. It's a drive-thru wildlife park. We saw quite a few animals up close as we drove through. At then end we could get out and see two bear cubs and three wolf pups. The kids had fun there.







From there we drove down the 89A to Sedona. We first stopped to get wet in the creek. We found a little pull off with a place to swim. The problem was that the water was FREEZING. It was probably 30 degrees! I put my toe in and that was enough for me! Brian and most of the kids got in and had fun even though they said it didn't get any warmer the longer you swam. I enjoyed watching them though!




We drove further into town and had lunch, then headed home from there. Even though it wasn't what we planned, we still had a great time. Eliza was not happy that we weren't camping (she was the one who wanted to go camping originally), but I think she saw it at a blessing. She ended up with a migraine that night and was very glad to be close to a real bathroom (me, too!). It was a good lesson to learn that Heavenly Father knows what He is doing and knows what we need long before we do!

4th of July

This year with the 4th of July on a Sunday, we had church, then in the evening we went over to Brian's parents' house for our regular Sunday dinner with the rest of his siblings and their families. We had cheesy meatloaf, fruit, potato salad, rolls and I'm sure there was more but I am forgetting now. I made desserts and I couldn't make up my mind, so I made three different things. The best thing that I couldn't get enough of was Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares. SO YUM! They were really simple to make but oh so good. It almost tasted a little like lemon cheesecake, but there was no cream cheese in the recipe. It's making my mouth water just thinking about it!

After dinner, Rob did a fun game with the kids (and the willing adults). They had to find the piece of gum in a bowl of whipped cream and then blow a bubble. Eliza did it, but Libby didn't want to get her face dirty! Ellie and Hattie did it but they had to find four M&Ms in the whipped cream. I got roped into doing the one with gum. It was good for a laugh!







The kids played and played until it was time for fireworks. This year so strange in that all of our kids watched the fireworks without being scared! ...a first for sure! We waited a while before we left, but we still ran into traffic on the way home. It was a fun 4th.

Other pictures from the 4th:

Ruby--9 months

Ruby is just growing up way too fast. She has been army crawling for about a month now and she sure can get around. She also loves to stand up at the couch or one of her table toys and just play. She loves to give kisses and play peek-a-boo. She is such a happy baby and loves to be around her sisters. Libby takes the most interest in her, so she'll reach for Libby and want her to hold her. It's darling.

Vacation at Grandma's (and Grandpa's)

This summer my mom wanted to have each of the school age grandkids over for a several-day sleepover one-on-one. After we got home from the trek, Eliza had her week with my mom. My mom documented their time on her blog more in depth, but they had a great time. They made an album with Eliza's track pictures, visited my dad at his summer program that he does, went to the temple visitor's center, made cookies, went out to eat, saw Charlotte's Web at Broadway Palm, etc. etc.





She had a wonderful time being spoiled! :)

Libby's week was while I was at girls camp. She didn't want to go to the summer program as much, but instead she and my mom made two albums--one with her gymnastics photos and the other with photos from her Go Fish! musical.

Libby also got to go with my mom for her haircut, and Libby got her hair cut, too. She got it cut quite a bit--almost to her shoulders. It looks darling.

My mom said Libby couldn't get enough of playing cards either! They played cards night and day. Libby also got to go to Broadway Palm along with the rest of her cousins. They all loved the play.

They made brownies and played more cards. On Friday I got home from camp and Brian had the rest of the girls up at the cabin for the night, so I went to my parents and they took me and Libby out to Oregenos. They both had a super time during their vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's. Oh yeah, they also made a zillion of those bead things that you melt with an iron.

Ellie gets to have a one night sleepover coming up and she is super excited about that.