Nathan's Birthday!

Nathan turned 7 this year. He has grown up into such a handsome little man. He keeps us laughing, I just love his sense of humor. He just started 2nd grade and is loving it. For his birthday we just spent a quiet day with our family. It was on a Saturday so Rich was home. Rich and my brother-in-law went golfing in the morning. But uncle Matt called and asked if he could take Nate to the car show. He was so excited to go!! He came home and told me about all the old cars and said that it was so much fun. Thanks Matt, you made his day extra special!!

After presents we went to the Splash Pad and played, the kids had a lot of fun. (I know I loaded them in the wrong order!) Nate's favorite is to just go and sit in the middle of the big fountain.

Nathan got a DS this year, it is all he has been asking for, for years! Seriously!! I found a great one on KSL, and it came with quite a few games. He has just loved it!

Grandma and Grandpa Rowley gave him this cool water gun and some new swim shorts. (pictured above) Grandpa and Grandma Harold gave him a great card with some birthday money. He got very spoiled!!

We had a great day, I can't believe he will get baptized next year!! He has become a great help, he loves Brylee and tries to cart her around. He will be found wherever you see Rich. He loves his Dad and loves to be his helper. Every morning he asks his dad what project they are going to do today? He is always so sweet and considerate of his sisters. He took some of his birthday money and bought Leah a little toy at the dollar store because she didn't have any dollars and he didn't want her to feel left out. I love having a boy around..I don't know if I will ever get used to the destruction that come with one, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Happy Birthday Nathan, We love you!!!!

SuMmEr!!

Here is a little bit of what we have been doing this summer. The kids had swimming lessons at the end of June, they all did very well. Nathan and Leah advanced to the next level. Abby did great also, they would just like her to work on tredding water a little more. I completely agree!! I want my kids to be comfortable in the water and could save themselves if it was needed!!

For Father's Day we got together with Rich's family and made these cute "grill" cupcakes. We had steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs and shish kabobs. So cute! Very yummy also!

The kids love to play on the trampoline, in fact I didn't even know these pictures existed. They must have had fun one day doing all their tricks.

The end of June we went down south to a Harold family reunion. It was so much fun. This is my Grandpa holding Brylee. This was their first meeting. I just love him!

Here are some of the family members that are named after him. His name is Raymond, and everyone has the middle name of Rae in his honor. We are missing 2 others. It was a fun idea for a picture.

I have finally convinced Rich to build a treehouse for our kids. I always wanted one growing up, so here it is...Our tree died and so it was the perfect spot to start. Its not quite done yet, but I will get some pictures up when I get it all painted. The kids are super excited for it to be finished. Its just been too hot to work very long on it.

We have started something pretty fun for family night. The kids love it and can't wait to find out their role. Rich or I will pick a scripture story and then one of the kids is assigned to read it and be able to tell the story. They get to assign each of the family members a part in the story. Everyone dresses up for their role, and then we act it out as a family. Here we are as Lehi's family, Nathan is Nephi who breaks his bow. I wish I would have recorded it, it was awesome!! It has helped us in being more consistent with our lesson too. The kids don't forget! Even Brylee got to be a part of it!

Abby is 9

I have a 9 year old! Abby has grown up so much in this last year, she is such a good babysitter with all the kids. I know I can trust her above anyone else (besides an adult) with Brylee. Brylee loves her and will dive out of my arms to her. She is so willing to help and loves to be with the adults and part of the conversation. She is a lot like me that way. She is definitely the oldest and tries to handle everything even with mom and dad right in the room. She is going into fourth grade and has gotten her first male teacher. She is pretty excited!! ( I also had my first male teacher in fourth grade...his name was Mr. Rock. I loved that class and have so many great memories. I hope she will too.) We had a nice quiet birthday, last year we did birthdays with friends so this year was a little more low key.

She got a new case for for DS, that can hold all her games. (I love that everything is in one place!)

With Jakelle, such cute girls!!

Everyone is getting in on the action, I thought it was pretty cute.

Grandma and Grandpa Rowley brought her this awesome earring holder...I LOVE IT!!!!

For her birthday this year, Rich had a friend call Abby's name into the radio station. She won!! She won a birthday cake from Shaffers bakery, Ice Cream from Caspers, A stuffed animal from Coppins Hallmark, and Lunch from Papa Kelsey and Henry's. Her dad woke her up so that she could hear the contest on the radio and hear her name being called. (we knew she was going to win.) She was so ecstatic about it all day long. It was so much fun for her.

For dessert all she wanted was to go to Angie's and clean the kitchen sink. We invited Jakelle to come with us and Megan was staying the night so they got to join in on the fun! Johnny and Mysha and her sister met us there, so we got 2 sinks. The kids had a blast, it was a great time had by all!!

Happy Birthday ABBY!!!!!

Disney Pictures (The End, I Promise!)

I know...more pictures. These are all from the Photo Pass card from Disneyland. I Loved that we could add borders and all kinds of fun things to them.

I loved this picture, One of my favorites.







LOVE THIS! Nate just was mesmerized by this guy, he sat and talked with him forever, it was awesome.
Chip and Dale wanted everyone to have a mustache!!

Captain Jack was awesome, Brylee was just watching him. She would sit and stare and Jack would stare back. It was a lot of fun to watch him!
Absolutely awesome, if you look closely at our hands you will see a special someone. I just love Nate's facial expression in this. They told us to look surprised. I love it!!

The final Chapter

We had a surprise for the kids, we scheduled a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen! The kids absolutely loved it, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The food was so good, and we got to see and interact with a lot of characters that we wouldn't have been able to anywhere else.

This is Dale, the kids asked him a question, and so he is writing down his answer on the table. The tables are all covered in paper so that the characters can communicate with you. The kids loved it. If you notice, Brylee is trying to grab Abby's food while she isn't paying attention!!
Leah was loving all the princesses, Every fifteen minutes or so they would turn up the music and whatever character was by your table would grab all the kids and take them and dance. Snow White was next to us for a song, so she and Leah were holding hands and twirling. It was the cutest thing.


Brylee was fascinated with all these giant animals around her! She didn't know quite what to think!!
Leah wasn't sure about Gepetto, so she didn't want to be in his picture. That was a highlight for my kids they just loved every minute of it. They didn't want to leave!!
Riding Dumbo, on the last day in the park we were able to get in an hour early. We went on a ton of rides that didn't have any lines and took a bunch of pictures without being in a large crowd. It was so nice.
Rich and Abby is Tarzan's Treehouse. (Once known as The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.)
Rich had gotten a fast pass for the Indiana Jones ride, it opened up the last day that we were there. So he took the girls and went first, and then I had a stroller pass and Nate and I went after they got off. As you can tell from his face, he was terrified!!! It was really dark and had creepy music playing.
It didn't get much better for him on the ride. He was a good sport though and stuck it out with me! I just love that ride!!!
Here we are waiting for Rapunzel, it was the very last day and we couldn't leave the park without seeing Rapunzel!
Here is Flynn Ryder juggling for us.
Disney Vacation, Complete!!!