happy birthday Dad!!

We are SO excited we get to spend part of the day with you!!

I hope it's the best birthday ever!!

24th of July

Our Pioneer Day celebrating happened in Beaver. (every year) After all, they do have the best celebration EVER!! We camped on the mountain but came to town in the morning for the parade, the park, and to see family. In that order! We missed Makayla's family...it really was sad without you there!! But we had a good time.
1st day: Camping

This little girl has a new obsession with sticks. And Cutler took this picture of us...I mean the sunset.

Noah made some pretty tasty s'mores!!

Chad & Amber came up the first night, and I'm convinced that next year we should just pitch a tent and put all the kids in it. They all thought it was the coolest thing ever.

2nd day: 24th of July

I always get a picture of my kids at the parade. This year we're just a bit cheesier!

Noah's helping Lexie get some candy.

Look at her face. She cried the whole way from Colby to me. I wish so bad I had it on video.

We were sure Cutler's pants were going to fall all the way off. And he would have let them too. Ha...he doesn't even look like he's moving.

If you could zoom in on the picture you would see the determination in Noah's face. He's won first place a couple of times, but the competition has gotten tough!

Back up to the mountain. This picture is funny. I was sitting right next to the kids, but told Colby not to get me in the picture. So he cut me off and barely got the kids. Funny.

3rd day: Going home

The kids love the 4-wheeler. Colb took them on one last ride before we had to load up and come home.

We had such a great 24th! We love going to the mountains, and we love being with our family. Maybe next year we can get the whole clan up there!!

All in 2 minutes

Last Sunday before Lexie & I headed to church I wanted to take a picture just cause I thought she looked so cute! Of course, the minute I pulled the camera out...she started throwing a tantrum. She's gotten really good at those lately.
She definitely is going to have my attitude I'm afraid.
So in two minutes we went from this...

to this...

right into this...

From mad to cheesy then silly. We're in for a treat with this one!!

We've been Camping!!

Last weekend we took the trailer up to the mountain to save our spot for the 24th and stayed the night. Shan & Jennifer were there with there family, too. It felt so good to get out of town and out of the blistering 114 degrees!! When we pulled up to our spot it was only 74 degrees. Nice.

We sat around the fire pit.

The big boys gathered wood

Lexie worked on her cheesy grin - and perfected it!

Hung out with buds.

Tried to catch butterflies.

And mostly just relaxed. It was so nice to get away.

Swimming lessons

(and major picture overload)

I only signed Cutler up this year because Noah is all of a sudden big and knows how to swim GREAT!! It's actually nice to be able to go and just let him do his thing. We obviously still keep an eye on him, but he's learned to take a break when he needs it, and Colby teaches him a few things each time we go.

This was Cutler's first year without me. Yay!! His teacher was Alexa and she was perfect for the little kids. Such a cute and fun teacher.

on your mark...

get set...

GO!

being goofy & going back for more!

and anyone who has taken swimming lessons at the City Pool knows what the last day brings...

The HydroTube!!

Now Cutler thinks he doesn't have to swim with floaties or a life jacket at all! Which, if we're watching him and don't have anything distracting us we'll let him do. And he can swim!! He'll still need a few years of lessons, but I'm proud of him. And can't believe he really can swim and he's only 3.

Summer day camps

Back in June I signed the boys up for some day camps through the rec center. They needed to be separated in the day so Noah went in the morning, and Cutler went in the afternoon. They both loved their classes and wanted to do more. Unfortunately, because Cutler is only 3 he could only do the one class. Plus I figured with our camping and vacation coming up they would be fine. We will definitely do more next year.

Wiggly Worms:

Noah went to the Tonaquint Nature Center and learned all things Nature. His class was called Wiggly Worms. They went for 3 hours a day and had tons of fun. Each day they made something, and one day they went on a hike. Everyday they earned points for their team and at the end of the week Noah's team had the most points so they won these plaques. He was pretty proud! This boy loves the outdoors, and he loves learning new things. We will for sure do another one of these classes next year!!

Boredom Busters:
(I forgot to get a picture of Cutler)
Cutler could have gone to his class everyday for the whole summer if they would have offered it. This was for 3-5 year olds, 2 hours a day, totally busting their summer boredom. He still tells people "Guess what? I went to boredom busters." Each day while they were waiting for everyone to show up they had a picture for them to color. Then they would play games in the gym, and they always had an activity or a project of something for them to make. One of his teachers, Aubrey, was also one of Noah's teachers. (far left in Noah's picture) They both loved her.

I've signed Noah up for things in the past, and now that Cutler can go it's so nice for both of them. It gives them something to do, keeps them learning new things, entertains them, and they get to meet new kids. Next summer we will do at least 2 classes for each boy.

Babysitters

Colby & I have been very lucky to live close to all of our family...which has meant a lot of free babysitting. Well, now some of that family is gone and our options are very limited. Not in a bad way. Just in a way that we don't feel like we can use them every time we need someone to watch our kids. We've been very unlucky to live in a ward where the girls just aren't very trustworthy, or responsible enough to use. That's sad to say. But now there are some girls who are getting old enough to babysit, and I would trust them. Trust that they wouldn't go through our things, trust that they would play with my kids, and most importantly trust that they would watch my kids. Now my problem is I don't know how much to pay them. We've used Colby's neice quite a bit, and I pay her a good chunk of cash each time because she plays with them and watches them. Doesn't just plop them down in front of the tv or shoo them outside. Anyway...my question is...

how much should I pay a babysitter per hour for my 3 kids? 

happy birthday!!

to Jones!!

Love these...

The other night our family was pretty spread out. Colby took the boys to Toy Story 3. I went to dinner with some friends. And Gramma Sherie watched Lexie...and did this photo shoot.

She says there's a lot more, but I love these ones. And they all capture her little personality perfectly.

Thank you!!!

Happy Birthday!

Chad & Jennifer

Chad...my younger brother

Jennifer...my sister in law...married to my older brother...hers is special this year...she's 30!

Happy birthday you two!