4th of July

On July 2nd, I drove down to Orem for a cousin birthday lunch. Before we left, I took a picture of Emily modeling this cute festive outfit that Sister Larabee, a sweet lady in our ward, made for her.

Here's some of the kids enjoying their lunch. They loved those Cheetos...and they had orange faces to prove it!

Jon was cracking me up! He would growl every time he found a new dinosaur to play with. And here's Ems playing with dolls. Isn't that the cutest doll house you have ever seen?

On the 4th of July, my ward had their annual breakfast that my parents were able to attend with us, since they were in town. After breakfast, they have a Candy Cannon that shoots out candy to all the kids. Emily was really proud of her small bag of candy. She gets all excited when she sees this picture because it reminds her of that fun experience! Isn't my mom cool with her sunglasses and stylin' hat? I think she looks cute!

I brought out the parachute for the kids, and we had all sorts of fun with it!

My dad can always get my kids to smile. He was teasing Jon by taking his sippy cup and pretending to drink out of it. He's such a sweet grandpa!

That afternoon, we had a fun BBQ with both my sisters and their families, my cousin, Carolynn and her family, and my mom and dad. It's been a blast having the three sisters together again in the same town. I just wish we could see my three brothers and their families more often. Here's Emily jumping on the tramp at Margaret's house, where we had the BBQ. You can't keep this girl away from the trampoline every time we visit. She's also wearing another 4th of July outfit that Sister Larrabee made for her.

After the BBQ, we headed over to see Wade's mom and step-dad. She's a grandma that loves to snuggle with her grandkids and Emily is perfectly fine with that because she enjoys it too!

What a surprise! Jon has climbed on top of the couch again...hehehe...at least he's a happy boy!

hi, ho, hi, ho, it's off to the zoo we go...

It was another fun day at the Hogle Zoo, thanks to my friend, Michelle, who invited us to join her. We went at the best time of day, right when they open at 9am, before it gets too busy or too hot!

This was the first time I had Emily stand in front of the Gorilla to compare how much bigger he is than her. It was HILARIOUS to see and hear her make loud Gorilla noises!
Zach and Emily climbed up a small hill and started chasing each other around and around the bushes. They were so cute together!
Here's Zach and Ems saying hello to their favorite animal, the giraffe (it's my favorite too).


The Hogle Zoo has just added this great new carousel, with zoo animals to ride instead of horses. Emily chose a giraffe to ride and Zach changed his mind in the middle of the ride, so Michelle helped him climb off the giraffe and onto a lion. Silly guy! And here's Emily and Jonathan playing with the famous water ball to try to cool off.

family photo-Jon, Emily, and mommy

Memory Game

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. Come on, it'll be fun, just try it!

"Camping" with friends

The last weekend in June, we decided to go "camping" with our friends, Ben and Kelly Clegg and Aaron and Britni Lively. After church, we headed up the mountain, had an amazing dutch oven dinner, roasted marshmallows, ate s'mores, and then went back home to our comfy beds. That's right, the best parts of camping, but without having to sleep over with kids. Why we never thought of this before, I don't know, but we will for sure make it a tradition!

Here's Britni and Aaron holding little Kyle, Catherine holding Jon, Emily, and Wade. Check out Wade's awesome boy scout fire!

Ben, Ryan, and Kelly holding Ethan. Ben was the talent behind the dutch oven cooking. He did a great job!

I can never eat a smore without thinking of the movie, Sandlot, during their campout in the treehouse

chubby red-headed kid: Hey, you want a s'more?

Smalls: some more what?

chubby kid: No, no you want a s'more?

Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?

chubby kid: you're killing me, Smalls!

(You may have heard me quote that last line because I do...a lot)

me: What the? Emily, why do you have dirt all over your face?

Em: I play in the dirt and make a cake for you.

me: Wade! Go get the camera! :) We could not stop him, I swear. Jon was so filthy...and happy I might add, that we just shook our heads and laughed...
... and the laughing continues!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

After Jon's friend, Gibby, had his 1st birthday party, we were invited to join them to the Bee's baseball game. I had never been to a Bee's game, so I wasn't sure if it was going to be another "welcome to hick-ville" like the Blaze football game we had recently attended. To my surprise, it was a lot more family-friendly than I had expected, and maybe that's because the game was on a Monday night so many were there for their Family Home Evening activity. There were just tons of families. It was great! Cute little boys: Ashton, Jonathan, Gibby, and Chase

The nice thing about watching the game from the grassy area rather than up in the stands is that the kids had more freedom to play. Emily and the girls had fun rolling down the hill, playing ring around the rosies, and dancing, while Gibby and Jon were crawling everywhere trying to escape! Traci and I even took the girls for a little while and let them play in the bounce houses and on the playground.

Family photo in front of the baseball field. Go Bees!

Water Fun

We have had so much fun playing in the water this summer! Here's Emily kicking back and relaxing when we went swimming with my sister-in-law, Diana. It was a blast!

Jon was so tired, almost falling asleep in my arms in the water so he was more cuddly than usual. It was really sweet!

After swimming, Diana's mom brought out the donuts and the kids were in heaven. Ramsi is such a cutie! This picture cracks me up because it looks like she is saying, "Please...No pictures!"

The next week, we met up with Traci and her kids at the Murray Pool. Etta and Emily were quite the little fishies in the water.

Jonathan's favorite thing was to crawl out of the pool and kneel right next to it, and just splash, splash, splash! He thought it was pretty funny...and so did we.
Although we didn't see our favorite American Idol, David Archuletta, we did have a fun day at the Murray Pool and will definitely be back.

The next day, on Saturday, we were invited to a nice luncheon at Thanksgiving Point with the commercial real estate company, Commerce CRG, that Wade is doing an internship for. Afterwards, we stopped by Wade's aunt and uncle's house for a quick visit. We were pleasantly surprised to find that his Grandpa and Grandma Maughan were there as well, visiting from St. George. Then we headed over to spend time with Wade's brother, Jeff and his family.
We had a really nice visit with Jeff and Elizabeth while Emily, Jon, Caleb and Jake all played together in the pool, in the sandbox, and on the swingset. It was fun to watch my kids play with their cousins.
These two boys are dangerous together because they're both fearless! Jake would climb on top of the pool wall and jump right in and Jon would follow right after him.

Jon just being silly

Emily saying, "Push me higher Daddy!"

Brazilian Party

I got together with three of my good friends for a Brazilian Party, hosted by Janese and her Brazilian hubby, Carlos. We had an amazing evening together, talking and laughing and wondering why our husbands weren't talking as loud as we were??? haha Has anyone else figured out WHY girls get together and all of a sudden talk a few decibels louder than usual? ;)

the girls L to R: Janese Botelho (5 months pregnant), me, Kim Williams, and Caralee Baker Before the party, Janese and Caralee watched our kids so that Wade and I could attend the Provo Temple. They took the kids for a walk to go feed the ducks, and Jon was just enjoying cuddle time with Syndey, Caralee's little girl.
Jon and Sydney sittin' in a tree...k-i-s-s-i-n-g! Well, okay, it's a stroller, not a tree, but aren't they cute together?
After the yummy Brazilian dinner, we all hung out in the famous orange living room to talk. Check out the carpet and furniture...classic, eh? Wade and Emily played "airplane," which makes her happier than anything. I love to watch them play together.
Cute kids! L to R: Jonathan, Sydney, Bentley, and Emily