Summer 

Summer is my favorite season! There are so many things that can be done outside that I love! Now that the kids are back in school summer is all but over because now we can't drop everything and get away like we could before. Some of my favorite times involve being with my family camping, biking, swimming, playing etc.

Visiting Reed's Dairy and petting all the baby animals. Yes we even get ice cream when we visit! There is nothing quite like Reed's Dairy except maybe Dietsch's in Ohio!

Going to the sand dunes to refill the sandbox at home. While I filled the truck with sand (work) the kids rolled down the dunes (played).

Summer means baseball which is one of my favorite sports.

 We love cheering on our local team, the Chuckar's, even when they don't win! We attended several games and the kids love running the bases after the game is over.

Walking the greenbelt everyday and enjoying the beauty we have all around us.

 Visiting the temple grounds while on our walks or bike rides. It is so peaceful in the gardens.

Having special things come to town and events we can have fun doing. The Budweiser Clydesdale's were in town to help cheer on the Chuckar's as well!

Playing at the splash park with friends!

Playing in any water feature we can find... which are everywhere! Sometimes we go to Freeman Park to play in the creek and sometimes we ride our bikes over to Snake River Landing to play in the water features. Shhhh... we aren't supposed to. We are hoping Idaho Falls will put in a water/splash park so we don't have to drive to Rexburg or play in prohibited fountains and creeks anymore.

Speaking of Freeman Park... they have a large course for frisbee golf that we played a few weeks back for Family Home Evening.

Each Wednesday the library did some fun parties centered around a theme. Each theme they would read a book, sing a song, have a craft, play a game, make a treat, and other misc things which we went to each week.

Kaytlin started soccer practices and her games will start this next week! She loves it!

Climbing trees

Camping and playing in the great outdoors! Sitting around a fire in the dark with those most important to you is AWESOME and roasting marshmellows makes it even better!

Going on dates with Josh! 

He always wins free things off the radio and it is fun to do the stuff he wins even if we are a bit skeptical. He got VIP tickets for the Big and Rich concert at the Eastern Idaho State Fair which put us up close and personal to the stage. We had a good time except being sloshed with beer and alcohol from those we were standing near. Old Dominion out of Tennessee opened the show then Big and Rich and Cowboy Troy took the stage. I have never felt music pound like that before!

Participating in 5k's and bike rides! 

We did the color vibe 5k, Bike for Kids, and Josh rode in the Harmon's ride for MS that I posted about previously.

We hope you all had a fantastic summer too!
 Fall is already upon us with the changing colors of the leaves.
Before we know it summer will be back and we can have some more outdoor fun!

Ogden Temple Open House

We took the opportunity to go to Utah to see the Ogden Temple. It was so different but very nice.

After the temple we took the kids to lagoon. Kaytlin is now tall enough to ride the adult rides so she spent half the time riding adult rides and kiddie rides and our next visit she will be to tall for the kiddie rides. They are sure growing up before our eyes. Both Brayden and Kaytlin's favorite ride was Colossus with two upside down loops. They all had a fun time!

It was a fun trip and we are always happy to create so many fun memories with our kids! Summer is quickly coming to a close and we are preparing to go Back to School! Be looking for that update soon!

Alayna turns 4

It seems like August happened and everyone had birthdays! I love seeing the joy on the kids faces when they get something new. For Alayna I loved her telling me it was her birthday soon because she gets so excited! We had family over to celebrate. Alayna picked out her cake and ordered it. She was involved in the planning of the details for her special day.

 Alayna setting Minnie Mouse back up on the cake.

 Fun time with cousins!

We are so blessed to have Alayna in our family. She is so mellow and independent. She is always willing to give loves and she keep us active because she is so busy! May we have many more years to enjoy her smile!

New Family Member

It dawned on me that we never introduced you all to our newest family member, Pandora.

Our neighbor's dogs had a litter of 8 puppies. One day Alayna came in from outside screaming that there was a dog after her. I laughed her off because we have a neighborhood dog that is scared of people and takes off running as soon as there is movement. Alayna then told me that no it wasn't the same dog. I got up to go look and sure enough it was one of the neighbor's puppies. They had all gotten out of their fence and the owners were chasing them down so we picked this dog up and she just cuddled right up to us but we took her home. The neighbor in his good humor said not to bring her back but we told him we had to return her until we talked about it and had a family discussion about having a dog. We decided we could take her so we went and got everything we would need. 

She was born March 8th 2014 along with her two brothers and five sisters who have all been adopted now.

She was so little when we brought her home May 17th.

 Her mom!

 She loves tug of war!

 July 4th and on alert

 Today August 18, 2014.

She is a fun new addition. 

She has learned the command sit and we are hoping to get her leash trained by the end of summer.  

We love our Pandora!

Brayden turns 10

Double digits for my boy! He is almost taller than me too!
 His birthday was a bit low key with dinner out at his choice (Red Robin), and family over for cake, ice cream and presents.

 He chose two types of ice cream cakes which made it easy on my end because we always give them what they want on their birthdays.

It is still hard for me to think my little boy is growing up into a nice young man! We are blessed to have him in our family and we look forward to many more years or fun and laughter with him.