Pictures for Nana

I love you mom!

Brieanna's Room

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to embarrass Brieanna in any way. I guess it is only fair since I wrote a post a while ago about Tyler's room. I love you Brieanna!!!
A while ago, I took a CERT class in our city (Community Emergency Response Team) The class was 6 weeks long and the manual was literally 2-3 inches thick. I am still nervous if someones life is in my hands, but I learned a lot and enjoy being part of the community. In Utah the main disaster we have to worry about is an earthquake. We learned how to determine the extent of damage in a building. I always tease Brieanna that her room looks like an earthquake hit it, but according to this class it is only minor damage. (She felt better about herself that it was not major) You can be the judge though. (Notice the dirty clothes hamper is empty)
I will help her clean it really nice, sometimes even go through the closet. She will do really well for a few days about keeping it clean and then little by little it turns into the picture below. Every time I help her I always say that I won't help her again and then I just can't stand it any longer. It is a vicious cycle. (I don't do well with messes like that) HELP!!! Any suggestions???

Mud Pies

It is that time of the summer where I can't stand my yard, so every night we have been outside trimming bushes, weeding and all the good stuff that goes with our yard. Tonight it was Tyler's turn to help and he did not complain as he got to handle the electric trimmer. It was going really well until he cut into the electric cord. I could not get mad as I have actually done this in the past. (I think he appreciated not getting in trouble for that one) I decided that it was a sign to go inside as it is really hot these days.

Well Kynleigh did not last too long in the stroller so I put her in the grass. She entertained herself with some flowers for a while (probably eating some of them). Then every time I turned around, she was in my flower beds. (eating more dirt) Putting her in the grass just did not do it for her, she always found herself back in the dirt. I even tried to distract her by giving her some animal crackers but I think she just rubbed them in the dirt and ate them too.

Here is what the final product looked like. The bath was a wonderful thing tonight.

Family Reunion 2009

Each year Troy's dad parks his trailer at a camp spot for a week and then all of his kids and Willa's kids and families come as much as they can and just have fun and enjoy the great outdoors. He went to Bear Lake 2 years ago, but for the last 2 year he has picked the Camper World in Eko and besides some little things here and there, we love it. It is close enough to drive home at night for us as camping is not Troy's favorite thing to do and then Kynleigh did not do such a great job last time we tried to camp over night in a tent this last year. This camp spot has a swimming pool, horse shoes, hiking, pond and river for fishing, you name it and it is close by.

Tory's brother Matt is the fisher in the family and he always brings his poles and bait (not power bait because that is not allowed and they got kicked off the pond last year) and the kids have fun casting and getting tangled in the shrubs or in other fishers lines. Yea it is a lot of fun.

Kynleigh however was not having so much fun fishing. She was ready for bed and was not shy about telling us and all the other campers about it. The fish in the photo above was caught by a fisher next to us and the kids thought that was pretty cool.

As much as we enjoyed fishing and all the other activities, swimming was the main item on Brieanna's agenda. That is all she talked about and begged for while at the camp site and in the car driving to and from Eko. I was worried a little about Kynleigh, but she did great. We put her in the pool for a good 2 hours twice a day for 2 days and not any complaining from her. We would even sit her on the edge of the pool and she would jump to us. It was a lot of fun, playing the tip game with the beach ball (I think we only go to about 25 though, we are not very good), the game chicken and the kids had fun diving for rings and whatever we would throw in the water.

Here are some photos of everyone drying off and sleeping after a long day of swimming.

Go Salt Lake Real!!!

One of the perks for volunteering with AYSO is that we get Real tickets once in a while. This was a special game on June 6th as it was the night that the stadium was dedicated. There was a jet that flew over and dropped several airmen carrying flags. It was really a neat experience as they dropped to the field especially the one caring the American flag.

As you can see in the pictures, it was a very ominous sky. We were so worried that we would get rained on, but we never got more than about 5 drops the whole game, which was a miracle. David Archuleta was there to sing the National Anthem and of course was a hit for us Utah fans. All the big wigs of the stadium and team were there and Elder Gonzalez was asked to give the dedicatory prayer. (Only in Utah) It was really neat though as he explained before the prayer in Spanish and English what he was about to do and basically asked for respect.

Kynleigh was so good and of course had the attention of all the fans around her.

Buffalo Point Elementary 5K Run/Walk

Going back... June 1st

Tyler and Brieanna's school did a 1st annual 5K run/walk as a fund raiser. We got geared up for the excitement. Drank lots of water, did our pre-run (oh excuse me "walk") stretches, took our pre-walk pictures, thought to ourselves this won't be too bad and it will be a fun family activity. Notice we all had big natural smiles.

Well the whistle blew and many took off running even Tyler and his buddies and then there was Troy and I with Kynleigh in the back happy to walk. We walked and walked and talked and talked and walked some more. By the end of the 5K we were thinking how grateful we are that we were not born in the pioneer days and had to walk across the country. We did make it to the finish line and I think we were the very last ones there (maybe there was one other lady, everything got all fuzzy) Troy being the funny one that he was, got on his hands and knees and crawled across the finish line. Of course everyone had their cameras ready but me. Oh well, we all got medals and a Popsicle that Kynleigh just loves to eat. We enjoyed the live band and visiting with friends. (PS. Troy was sore for a week after :))

4th of July

Going Back to the 4th of July

We had a really fun weekend. It ended up that Friday the 3rd, I did not have any daycare kids (lucky for me) which was a welcome break. Troy's Uncle Ken and Robin were in town and Troy ended up going golfing with Ken, Travis and Eric. Robin and I took the kids to the Roy aquatic center. This was our first trip there this summer and Kynleigh's first trip to the pool and we had a blast. Kynleigh did not like being splashed that much, but she enjoyed floating in the water and checking everyone out. We ate lots of grapes and sweedish fish and enjoyed the fun in the sun.

That evening, we had our annual neighborhood party. Me and Andrea Bitton pass out invitations, set up a couple of tables and then the people show up. Everyone bring their own treat to share and whatever fireworks they want to set off. We do a kids parade at the beginning and they love it. I was so excited to pull Kynleigh in the wagon for the parade this year, but she fell asleep before it even started. Oh well, I guess there is always next year. We have a great neighborhood and love this time every year to bring everyone together.

Saturday the 4th, we headed up to Idaho Falls to have a family BBQ at the Dawson's. They cooked everything from the beef and potatoes to the cobblers in dutch ovens so that says it all, it was delicious. We took a walk to the school playground just around the corner and enjoy the famous fireworks from their front yard. It is 30 minutes of non stop booming and beautiful lights. Kynleigh did wake up for some of it and just enjoyed watching the pretty colors. How grateful I am for the USA and the freedoms we have and for the men and women who serve this great country.