Diamond Fork Canyon

We went up Diamond Fork Canyon a few weeks ago with Bruce's family.

It was fun hanging out with cousins, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, and just being in the great outdoors.

My kids hanging out with cousins :)

Owen liked starting the fire, of course with supervision and help from Bruce

We also brought up air soft guns and the boys had fun shooting at cups

Sweet Paisley was there, she is getting so big too fast!

Grandma Holdaway gave all the kids except Oakley and Paisley a marshmallow gun, Reagan was happy about that :)

We all enjoyed yummy food, hot dogs and cheetos

Oakley found his perfect seat

All the kids went up the mountain side to shoot marshmallows at what ever they could find

We had fun and stayed until it got dark.  The kids slept really good that night.  All that fresh mountain air and hiking make tired kids!

Hands in the air

With all of our kids, Bruce has done this trick.  He lays down on the floor and holds them and throws them up in the air.  All of our kids have always loved this and Oakley is no exception.  

I love seeing the slight hesitation when Bruce says, "Hands in the air" but then they lift up their hands and there is nothing but pure smiles as they fly up in the air.

A boy and his...cat?

Oakley is such an animal lover.  

He loves Dory and cuddles her all the time.  He also loves the cats.  The cats are usually outside but Spider will try to sneak in a few times a week.  

When Spider snuck in the last time Oakley took full advantage and sat right on top of him and cuddled him and kissed him.  I am so thankful that my kids handled him from day one because Spider was so good just to sit there and let Oakley maul him, but as soon as a door was open, he ran to it as fast as he could!

Reagan's birthday party

Reagan really wanted a birthday party with friends this year.  I kept putting her off.  I told her that once school started then we could do one.  Well the school started and she started asking me when her friends were coming to her party.  So I decided to do just a simple water party.  

That day turned out pretty chilly though.  Some of the girls got wet but most of them were just fine staying dry.  I was trying to bake cupcakes so Bailey and Morgan played games with the girls outside.  They played red rover, ring around the rosies and duck, duck, goose. 

The girls then wanted Reagan to open presents.  They were all so cute and wanted to be the first one picked.  Reagan loved all the things she got and was completely satisfied (until next year) even if all of her friends couldn't make it.

We ended with ice cream and cupcakes.  I think each girl had two cupcakes, I guess that's what happens when you have a party near lunch time :)

Morgan's cabbage

At the end of third grade each child was given a baby cabbage plant.  Morgan was so excited to plant it and start taking care of it.  She was really good about watering it and fertilizing it.  Her plant did really well.  Then grasshoppers came.  They chomped down on her plant so we decided to just pull it out and take pictures of it before it was eaten away.  We were really surprised with how heavy the plant was, but Morgan is super tough and she was able to hold it on her own.

 Then we decided to take a few with just the head of cabbage.

 Owen wanted his picture taken with the cabbage head too.

 And so did Reagan.

Now I need to print out the pictures of Morgan and she needs to turn them into her teacher.  She has a chance at winning a $1000 scholarship!!

Night life

My favorite thing about summer is the evening.  I love when it is still warm and light at 9:00pm.  I love being able to stay up and chat with neighbors while the kids ride bikes and play with friends.  Summer is quickly coming to an end and so are the late nights, so we are trying to enjoy them as much as we can!

Owen and Morgan's first day of school

These two kiddos have been so excited for school to start!  Every night while I was tucking Owen into bed he would remind me of how many more days until school started and how many more days until the open house.  He would say, "Mom...4, 7." Or "3, 6"  Silly kid!  Morgan couldn't wait because she got the same teacher that Bailey had in 4th grade and she is wonderful, Morgan was super excited!

 Reagan wanted to sneak in a picture since it was her first day of home-school :)

 Owen with Miss. Zylstra

 We had to wait for a few minutes for Mrs. White to come into the classroom, she was busy making copies. Morgan wanted to pose at her desk

We are so glad that school has started.  I miss my kids so much but I really do love routine and summertime has no routine!  The kids love school and are doing so good and love making new friends!