Week 9 of Summer Fun!

Week 9 of summer has come and gone, and it was so crazy and jam-packed with fun, I am sure glad I have my camera to remind me what this tired old body has been doing the past week!

Monday was a very busy day at our house! When my friend Janice and her girls are in town visiting from KY, we try to jam pack all the fun we can into not too much time. Mandy, Janice, Me, and our friend Aubrey (who just happens to do the best nails and glitter toes) came to my house for fun filled day. We had pizza, swam outside on the banzai, did nails…..I will just let the pictures tell of the fun:







After that I made my kids rest, because they had their last swimming lesson of the summer. I am SO glad we did the private one on one lessons. I now feel confident that if you threw my kids in a lake…they might be able to swim to the shore! Then we picked up Taylor (Janice’s daughter) and her cousin Makayla for a sleepover. We had to stop at sonic for a treat first. Between Sonic and the new ice cream shop my dieting is sure suffering! Anyways, we had a great sleepover, I sure miss having Taylor close by for Hallie:







Tuesday I cleaned house and caught up after the busy day before. Wednesday I cleaned for one of my cleaning clients. Then the kids and I got geared up for more fun. G.J. took Hallie and Gavin to the carnival. I got a babysitter for Kayler because it is just WAY too much for him. I went to one last girl’s night with Janice, Mandy, Aubrey, and Janice’s sister in laws. I will be honest, I am glad I missed the carnival and all the “carnies” not my favorite thing, but the kids had a blast, and I had a good night out on the town!:







Thursday brought more fun in because the Fair was still in town. The kids went to the candy drop, went to see if their pictures had won anything (thank goodness!-both blue ribbons!), and did the Little Red Barn. It was a fun night because after that Hallie and I stayed for a concert. Jodee Messina (sp?) I don’t actually listen to country music, but I did know quite a few of her songs. It was a fun night with yummy fair food and activities, music, and just enjoying the beautiful summer nights!:












Friday of course we couldn’t rest much with laundry and housework to do, the kids had eye appointments, and we went back to the mountain for one last night of camping for the summer. It was my parent’s ward campout. It is funny how going back to the ward I grew up in, no matter how much it has changed or how long it has been still makes me feel like I am truly at home and that I belong. My dad was part of a skit (Dr. Seuss’s Book of Mormon Story) It was hilarious. Afterwards Kayler got to wear his head band, and he sat SO serious for a few minutes, then he proudly asked me, “Do you want to hold Jesus?” Meaning he thought he was Jesus with his cool head wrap. Then some kid walked over and he asked them, “Hey, my name’s Jesus, do you want to play with me?” That kid sure brings some good laughs!:







We woke up early this morning and headed home from camping. I’ve said it once and I will say it before….camping is SO much work, and I have a hard time deciding if it is worth it or not until I look back at the pictures of my kids and the fun they have. We headed back to the fair for a Lego building contest. Hallie did a super good job. Gavin was just along for the ride and could have cared less if he won or not. Hallie was SO upset that she didn’t win. She hardly ever cries and my heart broke for her as she cried the whole way home because she thought hers was the best!:





I didn’t have time to rest long after that either. I was asked to lead the music for a funeral, so that took 2 hours out of my day. I came home to finish scrubbing the trailer so we could return it to G.J.’s parents after a SUPER fun summer of borrowing it. We came home to scarf down dinner and then headed to our little neighbor boy Jhett’s 2nd birthday! My kids were so excited to go. They love parties. They even turned down going to the demolition derby with my parents to go to the party! Gavin found his buddy Dylan there, and all 3 kids enjoyed a Thomas the Train themed party that was put together so cute by Jhett’s parents.:




After the party we had to come home to get some yard work done, finish putting away all of our camping stuff…and now here I sit in full exhaustion mode! As tomorrow is the 1st of August I also find myself in reflection about the summer and the whirlwind it has been. I always get a little bit of anxiety when August arrives because that means school starts soon, summer ends, and fall takes over. After fall is winter…and then I feel trapped until next summer! See-I worry/think too much! So until then, I will enjoy every second of every day of warm summer-like moments that we have!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Wowzers! Can I just say how much I love summer! We have had a very action filled past week, so I will try to document all I can remember.

After FHE last week we noticed the teeniest, tiniest bird in our garden. The pictures don’t even do it just of how cute and tiny it was. Of course my nature loving daughter was SO excited!:




Tuesday was the Big Kahuna waterslide party for Hallie and all other music students in Vernal. It was a bit windy, but we had a super good time. G.J. and I decided that we definitely are not as young and in shape as we were as kids….after 3 or 4 times up the stairs to the slide and we were beat!:





Wednesday provided a monumental event. It was by far the biggest and most intense rain storm/flood I have EVER seen. Our basement got a little damp, a few neighbors got completely flooded, our other neighbor’s trampoline blew over a 6 ft. vinyl fence and crashed into our other neighbor’s house. I just happened to be alone with 5 kids. Gavin and Hallie each had a friend over, so it was pretty wild there for awhile. I have a video of the flash flood, but it wouldn’t work on here, but the pictures kind of show how crazy it was!:







Thursday we headed up camping. I will say that this is the first time that I had a WONDERFUL time camping. I didn’t even want to come home it was so nice. We had a great family reunion. I was so busy having fun that I didn’t capture too many pictures, but I tried! (The one of Gavin in his undies is after we put him to bed one night in his footie jammies…he must have gotten hot and this is how we found him, hand up his undies and all!):











Friday G.J., Hallie, and I had to come down. Hallie had her class party, and I had a baby shower. Hallie didn’t want me embarrassing her taking pictures at her party, and I had to steal a picture off of Raquel’s mom’s blog of the baby shower I went to. It was a great evening seeing lots of friends I hadn’t saw in a long time, and I am so excited for Raquel, she will be a super cute/fun mom! I am also grateful to my parents for watching my boys on the mountain.:



We went on several rides while camping, and my kids and their cousins helped make a huge tin man out of scrap metal in a beautiful field:



That night Hallie and Gavin were SO excited to stay up late and play night games. The moon was almost full, and they were so cute. I just can’t believe how grown up they are getting, and I truly enjoy how fun they are at these ages. (the kids are in this picture somewhere!):



Today we decided to leave our trailer there because my mom’s ward campout is at the same place next weekend. Since we have no plans we will make one more weekend out of it. It sure made for an easier unloading/cleaning up day though.

This week is filled with all sorts of fun things. Friends visiting, the fair, our last swim lesson, and a lot more of soaking in this wonderful summer fun!