4th of July Weekend

We had such a nice 4th of July weekend.  Staying home has it's advantages.  Our neighbor Cami took all three kids swimming one night so Darren and I got to hang out in our yard together.  Its amazing to see how much we have done in a year and a half.  Lots of garden!

My friend, Neti,  came in from Washington . We tried to go to the temple but her recommend had expired the day before.  So we did the second best thing and went to ice-cream.  It was wonderful!  I am in total love with the cookies in cream ice-cream topped with peanut butter sauce from Leatherbys.  

We did a great hike on Saturday.  We hiked with the Larabee crew up to Lake Mary, Lake Martha and Lake Catherine.  Then Amber, who I work out with every morning, we ran down the trail, drove the car around to the Little Cottonwood canyon and picked up the crew who hiked up and over the pass.  It was a nice day!

 

Then I convinced my sister Jenny to leave her kids with me for a few days.  We kind of love them a lot.  I got my toe nails pained in red white and blue.  We went to a splash pad.  We played ALOT!  We went to the cabin for a few days.  Miles crashed and burned.  I seem to have lots of pictures of him sleeping in funny pictures over the years when I babysit him.  The Rupp clan came up to the cabin with us.  It was such a nice time!  Darren had a bit of an accident crash on his bike while we were gone.  (I just shake my head and am grateful he was ok)

June... one month of summer gone!

Summer was fantastic.  Tiring but great.  We love going to Liberty Park and playing in the water.  I tried to bike ride once or twice a week with different ladies.  I gathered a crew of ladies in my neighborhood who wanted to bike.  Most of them had never really biked before.  We have a great time now!  We still tried to do lots of important things along with all our playing things.  Tyler practiced his piano a lot. He preformed in his yearly recital.  Fantastic job.  He played two songs, both memorized.  He also won the award for practicing the most of all Sister Wilkinson's students.   Ella kept working on her piano and especially her Spanish all summer.  

We did have a few melt downs here and there.  Sleep wasn't always the most important thing.  Darren work got a new ice-cream machine.  We had to go in a few times to help him eat the icecream.  50 cents a cup with toppings is pretty awesome.  We love our neighbors.  They are so good to us.  Abby goes to bed almost every night asking "Can we play with Journey and Jagar tomorrow?"

We did have a fun camping trip with the 10 and 11 year old scouts.  Families were invited.  We camped at Hope Campground in Provo.  Most scouts dont go to bed at 9:00 when my kids are done!  But when my kids were up at 6:30... I think they wished they had gone to bed earlier.  We hiked to Stewart Falls the next day.  The Larabees joined us. Our husbands were off biking.

Abby has started her fashion statements.  She tells me she "looks so cute" and "I'm so adorable".... 

We gave Tyler a haircut mid summer.  We forgot about sunscreen on his ears after the hair cut.  He had blisters all over his ears from the sudden sun exposure.  I also had to take my 10 year old boys on a hike.  That was an experience.  I learned that many kids aren't able to do outdoor things.  Even if they are big kids they may have not been exposed to hiking and therefore it might take 2 hours to go 1 mile.  

Our first magnolia flower.  Abby trying to figure out how to get outside.... And and her little music group playing at an outdoor concert.  

A Nice Weekend

I took Tyler up to Scout camp and thankfully didn't have to stay for Saturday.  Ang and I meet downtown and hiked up behind Red Butte Garden to the "Living Room".  We had to FaceTime Abby at the top since she was a bit sad when her Dad picked her up and I wasn't with him.  (I missed her loves and hugs for sure!)  Ang and I had a great hike, and then went to lunch.  Ang had a pretty bad fall about 60 feet while rock climbing and this was the first time she had been able to finally get out... Her staples in her leg had just come out a few days before.  

 I went home and had a nap. Tyler arrived home from scout camp at 3:00. We went to my moms house which is now Renees house (for the next 18 months) and had a birthday celebration for my nephew Seth.  18 years old!  my oh my!  We were able to Skype my parents in Mexico city.  It was fun to have lots of there together.

After the party Tyler and I went to a concert at a beautiful Episcopal church.  My dear friend Ang was singing in a choir that preformed there.  After wards Tyler got to go play a harpsichord, an Organ, and a grand Piano.  He said on the way home it was the best day of his life!  He is eager to start taking Organ lessons as soon as his legs are long enough.  

 Darren picked up the girls and headed to Logan for a Crookston family reunion.  Beautiful area by Green Canyon.  Pat and Seth enjoyed them coming.  I think this photo is Darren on the left, with cousin Kendra and brother Nolan.  .... I enjoyed my day off... Moms need those once in a while!