Emma

I forgot to include this pic in the last post. 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma had an especially nice time at the lake.  This was taken 5 minutes into the car ride home.

Labor Day

 A HEEEEUUUUGE thank you to Jeff!!!!

 

 

 

...Who so generously invited our whole family for a day on the lake.

 



 

First we had to test the water...and take a pee.

 

Once they learned they COULD pee in the water, they all wanted to try. 

Of course.

 

Then we tested out the tube.

 

Note the different expressions on the girls' faces. 

 

Then we had to see how many we could squeeze onto it at one time.  Turns out 4. 

Emma took a spill in the water when she got on.  Thank goodness for life jackets!!!

 

Show off!

 

He knows I've never been able to get up on ski's. 

Unfortunately the water was pretty choppy that day or I would have given it a shot.  Oh well.  Next time.

 

One of the favorites of the kids was just sitting in the front and driving really fast!

 

 

I was so surprised at how well Xena did.  We were doing some pretty hard turns here and she took it all in stride.

 

When Steve went solo on the tube I was laughing my head off the whole time.  Jeff was trying so hard to flip him.  It took about 10 minutes, but he finally hit a huge wake and went flying. 

Nothing funnier than watching the father of your children getting the crap kicked out of him!!!

 

Yea!

 

 

 Again, an enormous thanks to Jeff for a memorable Labor Day weekend!!!

 

 

 

Campout

This summer we had a lot of fun right here in Utah!

 

For example, we finally went on the ward campout for the first time in 7 years.  Although somewhat entertaining, the very best part came after we left the next morning.

 

Some good friends in the ward invited us to go...

HORSEBACK RIDING!!!!

 

 

 

This particular friends' in-law's lived about 15 minutes from the ward campsite. 

 



 

Those of you with whom I grew up, know that I ALWAYS wanted riding lessons.

 



 

 

I did have a friend with a horse who taught me to ride.



 

 

I went so far as to take a class at BYU.

 

I was so excited to be able to take my kids and let them have this experience.



 

 

They LOVED it!!!

 

Even though they were mostly led around the corral.

 



 

 

I know I took pictures of Stevie and Steve, I just can't find them.  I'm especially bummed I can't find the one of Steve looking completely awkward on the horse.  Hilarious!!!

Riley's Baptism

We are SO proud of you big girl!!!

special thanks to Jesse who took all the pictures

Riley's Birthday

This has been a very busy week.

On Riley's birthday we just happened to have a ton of kids at the house around lunch time so I had Steve get us some pizza.



I also went a little pinterest crazy and made this wreath for her.

That night we went to our favorite place to eat to celebrate, the canyon.

Always a big mess, always fun.  Em and the kids are here from Boise and grandma came back from Atlanta just hours before.

 Of course I didn't have any candles, so we used sparklers instead.

A note about the cake.

I didn't have time to decorate a cake, so Riley was more than willing to decorate it herself.  This is how I handed it over.

There were no end of helpers.

This was the end result.  It is an ocean themed cake with many eels.  Eels turned out to be easier to make than fish.  There are some octopi and sharks in there as well.

As if it wasn't beautiful enough, I decided to drop the cake on the way up the canyon and it had to be somewhat patched back together.

At least it wasn't a wedding cake!!!



What a difference...

...a day makes!

Stevie and I spent 4 hours yesterday hauling concrete to fill the dumpster.

Then Steve came home and filled it a second time in 2 hours. 
Show off.

Either way, it looks like just one more load till we're done!

Right Now

I didn't take any "before" pictures, and I wouldn't really call these "after" pictures, but here is the result of our Saturday.

For now, I will call these "right now" pictures and hope that they don't become "a month from now" pictures.

If you are available in the next week, I am now accepting volunteers for hauling the mess to the dumpster.  There may or may not be pizza involved for those who participate.