Abby's Party Pictures

I figured I better hurry and get Abbys pictures from her party up before Nathans birthday this weekend. We had a fun time, she wanted a Camp Rock birthday party, so we went with it. She invited 12 girls and 10 came. For that many girls, they were so quiet and behaved. They started out by decorating mirrors with stickers and puffy paint. They were so creative it was a lot of fun to watch.
Then they all went out and played games, Abby wanted to teach them all a game that she had learned at school. They all had to pick a partner and then link arms, but whoever was it could link with them and then the person on the opposite side had to run. They had a lot of fun.

Then it was time for presents. She was very spoiled and loved every minute of it.

We made cute pillow cases for each of the girls to take home, they say Camp Rock with a guitar, and then they could decorate them or put their names on them. They turned out super cute!
Here is her guitar cake, don't look to closely! It turned out pretty good for not knowing what I was doing, but she loved it and that is all that mattered! Happy Birthday Abby!!! This weekend is her baptism, and she is so excited for it. She has grown up so much and is such a helper to me. I wouldn't know what to do without her!

The first weeks of Summer...

The first week of June was a whirlwind around here. My sister invited us to share a timeshare with them in Ogden Canyon, so the kids and I packed up and went and played for a few days. We went to the Childrens Treehouse Museum and the kids had so much fun running from room to room dressing up. Leah's favorite was the castle room, and loved the crowns and capes that she found to wear.



I thought it was so cute that she was taking care of the babies. We probably stayed in this room the longest. She loved all the doctor equipment and snuggling the babies.

He will be a cute daddy when he grows up, and maybe if we are lucky, a doctor!!
When you couldn't find Abby, all you had to do was look for Tyler (my sisters baby) and they would be together. She just loved hauling him around. After she told me that it was good practice for when our baby is born. Lets just hope she is as willing then to help out!
My little sister also returned from serving her mission while we were down there. It was good to see her. She returned from Monte Video Uruguay. It was fun to have almost everyone there. It is the first time my family has been all together in over 3 years. After the airport we all went and had a picnic at a little park in SLC. It was a lot of fun!

Cherokee Legend

Cherokee Legend

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him

harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.

He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone.

Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, Sitting on the stump beside us.

When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip

We had so much fun camping this year. Luckily Rich's parents let us borrow their motor home, or else the trip would not have been as much fun. We got to our site Friday night, and it started raining while we were trying to get our fire going to roast our hot dogs. The kids ate inside while Rich and I enjoyed the fire. We went in and got settled for the night and read books and played games with the kids. The next day it rained...and rained...and rained some more. The kids were content to play inside. Leah had packed all her barbies and Nate all his cars. I had some workbooks and coloring books, and we played all afternoon. Grandpa and Grandma came and visited us, and we played the famous candy bar game! It was a good day. By evening it cleared up, and some of our friends joined us for some very yummy Dutch Oven Pizza.
The next day was absolutely gorgeous. We ate breakfast and the headed down the canyon to go to church. My brother and his wife joined us for the last two days with their new puppy Daisy. The kids had so much fun with them. Just above are the girls with Mysha searching for snails.

This little guy came into our camp on Friday and was content in staying the whole time. By the time we left on Monday there were three of them and Abby had named them all, and even got close enough to pet them. This one is weeds, because that is what he liked to eat!
Abby also found this on her explorations, so she took a picture for us, it was very cute, and she had to keep checking to see if they had hatched yet.


It was a very fun weekend, and the kids are counting the days until we can go again.

Pool Fun & Black and White Days Parade

We have been able to do quite a few fun things these last few weeks. I won't bore you with them all at once, but here is a couple of them. Last month one of our friends blessed their baby in Heber. So we decided to make a weekend out of it and got a hotel room and went and played. The kids just loved playing in the water and had a ton of fun.



After a very late night, and very early church schedule they were exhausted for the ride home. I love how Leah is relaxing on Abby, I just thought it was pretty cute!

The following weekend was Black and White Days in Richmond. Its a later parade and so we decided to go and see it. One of the guys that works with Rich was running this booth with the trampoline and rock wall. I was too late to get pictures of Nathan on it, but the girls were making me just laugh! Abby went first, but Leah just kept begging to do it, so we let her. She couldn't do any flips, but loved to jump. So finally at the end, he hiked her to the top of the poles, and pulled her feet down, and she went about a mile a minute. Once we got her off, she just kept smiling and saying..."This is the funnest day ever!!" The girl has no fear!
It was fun to watch Abby do all her gymnastic tricks in the air, she was just loving it. She would do Back Flips, and Round offs. She didn't want to get off either.


Then it was off to the parade. Nathan was so excited to see Darth Vader, and he kindly stopped so that we could get a picture with him. Leah wanted a picture too so when she saw a giant teddy bear, that is who she picked. We just love Smokey the Bear. It was a good weekend!

Happy Birthday!!!

I have an 8 year old! When did that happen!?! Abby turned eight today, and has grown up so much. I depend on her so much, and she is such a good helper. She keeps telling me that she is excited for the baby to come so she can take care of her, and I know that she will! We had a very fun day. She had a friends party and invited 13 girls. 10 came, and it was surprisingly mellow. We started out by decorating mirrors, and then played games outside. Abby is into Camp Rock, so we decorated pillowcases with iron on vinyl that said "Camp Rock" with guitars on them, and opened presents, and had cake. She requested a guitar cake, so we tried. Its not my favorite, but it made her happy. I will put up the rest of the pictures tomorrow, but wanted to at least have something up for her actual birthday day! Happy Birthday Abby!!!