Meet Jumpy, Hopper and Frogger

Here froggy, froggy, froggy! Not quite as much fun as a dog but my kids still love watching their new pets. We found these cute little guys in our garden this summer and the girls wanted to keep them, so we made them a nice new home.

They have been pretty fun pets. We googled tree frogs and found out all about how to care for them, what they eat and their life cycle. We catch crickets, flies and moths to feed them. The kids love watching them eat and climb the walls with their sticky feet.

Horse back riding

Areya loves horses and begs me to take her riding all the time. So when we found a groupon for a place close to us I was super excited to surprise her with a Mommy/Areya day.

Areya riding Cloud

Here we are riding down the trail.

You can see the head of my horse Hammer in this picture. I also love horses and so this was a lot of fun for both of us. Can't wait for our next horse back riding trip.

Christmas in July

Merry Christmas!

Well at least it was at our house. We found a ready great deal on a trampoline and went halfsies on it with Matt. The girls love it and have already gotten lots of use out of it. We even gave it a try (what a great reminder that we're not as young as we use to be) and had a good time jumping with the kids.

Merry Christmas girls, I hope you love your present!

Taking the boat out

We bought a boat early spring. It was a fixer upper and needed some TLC. So after Damian and his dad finally got it running well we took the girls out for a ride and a little fishing.

They love going out and after we get her (the boat) in tip top shape we will have to try out a few water sports like tubbing and maybe water skiing, but don't get you hopes up on the last one. (Bad memories)

Our Garden

We planted a garden again this year. Starting the seeds way back in March. Since we get so much wildlife in our yard we had to fence in the garden in order to keep all the critters out.

We got lots and lots of fresh veggies out of it this year. So many that we were able to bless many other families with fresh veggies as well.

This is a very small portion of what came out of the garden.

We were able to can and dry lots of stuff for the winter. I also made several loafs of Zucchini Bread which we froze.

Bright Blocks

We had these block growing up and had so much fun making all sorts of cool things. I remember spending hours building stuff with my brothers.

My girls also love building with these blocks and I hope they end up with as many great memories as I have.

While Areya was at school Princess Aniela and I made a castle for her and Prince Taevin.

Here's my little princess!

Prince Taevin

This is the house Areya made. She did a really good job and only needed a little help on the roof. I think she was making a dog house for "Monster" the little dog we found. Guess it worked well for our other little monster too.

August 2011

So you may ask what we did this summer?

Well we played in the water.........

Went to the beach and played in the water some more........

Went to the splash park and you guessed it, played in the water.

We pretty much spent every hot day playing in the water! Oh how I love summer!!!

July 4th 2011

For the 4th of July this year we went to the McMillan's for a BBQ and swimming. Yummy food and lots of fun had by all. Thanks for the invite guys!!!

Damian, Aniela and I decided to go see the big fireworks that night in Round Lake. They put on a pretty good show.

After the big fireworks were finished we went home and watched the boys (Matt and Damian) set off the $200+ fireworks they got up in Wisconsin.

I am so grateful to live in this land which allows us so many freedoms. Thank you to all the men and woman who give of themselves to allow us those freedoms! God Bless America!

Missing Areya

Having Areya gone for that week made our house really quiet and left Aniela with "nothing to do" (it's funny that when they are together all they do is fight but when they are apart all they want is each other) So Aniela got to go to the park and got a special treat at the store with (soon to be) Aunt Amanda while I took Taevin to one of his many doctors appointments.

And so she didn't feel left out we took her and her friend Avery to the Milwaukee Zoo. We ended up getting lost on the way there and on the way back home but we still managed to have a good time.

Areya's trip to Utah 2011

The next morning Areya and my mom flew home to Utah. My parents wants to take the kids for a week each summer (once they are old enough) to spend a little time with them since we live so far away. Since Areya is the only one old enough to go this year she got to go alone. She was super excited to go and spend time with Grandma, Pa pa, Uncle Fat Head & Aunt Shaylee, Uncle Sam & Aunt Dawn and of course her cousins. She also got to spend time with some friends and got to do lots of fun things.

Grandma and Areya on the plane to Utah

There is a family in my parents ward who have pigs and rabbits which they walk every day. Areya was excited to help and had a fun time, she even came home asking for one of each.

Walking the pigs

On one of the days they went to the Zoo. This year they had a dinosaur exhibit with dinosaurs placed through out the zoo. Areya had a lot of un seeing the animals, riding the train, and playing on the toys.

She got to milk a cow at the children's museum in Ogden and spend some time with Uncle Sam, Aunt Dawn and her cousins. They also went to the Hill Air Force Base museum and checked out all the air planes.

Areya loves horses and was so excited when she got to ride one while spending some time with Uncle Tj and Aunt Shaylee. She also enjoyed watching fire works with them on the 4th of July!!

The next morning she got on an airplane and flew home all by herself. She was so excited and proud to be able to alone.

Her flight landed 30 minutes early. By the time I got a pass to meet her at the gate and got through security oh and run all the way to the gate she wasn't there. They had taken her down to the ticket counter where I started out. Oh well, every thing worked out and she had an amazing time.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for having her!

Tennessee 2011 day 7

Saturday morning we loaded up and said goodbye as we started on our 10 hour drive back home. With Matt, Amanda, the dog and mom in one car and Keilah and us in the other we headed out.

Saying goodbye to Tj and Shaylee, we had a great time with them and enjoyed see them again. Can't wait until we get to see each other again. We love you guys and are so happy you could come.

Driving..........

All our kids

Ready to be home already

Aniela being silly

10 hours and at least 10 to 15 stops later we finally made it home. I forgot what it was like traveling during the day and having young kids who need to stop so often.

Thanks to Kimmy and Mike for having us and for the great time. We love and miss you guys. It was a great trip and was so nice seeing so much of our family all in one place.

Tennessee 2011 day 6

Our last day there we went to the park and played a game of kick ball, girls against boys, then played on the toys. There was this really neat play house made out of wood and rope. It had a neat crows nest, rope course and swings.

Areya loving the kitten.

After some rest and lunch we got ready for the drive-in movie (made lots and lots of popcorn). Cars 2 and the Green Lantern were playing that night. Here are the girls playing in the back of the van while waiting for the movies to start.

Waiting for the movie to start.

The beautiful sunset

Cars 2 was super cute and the girls made it through the whole movie. Damian decided he wanted to watch the Green Lantern too so we stayed for it. Aniela only made it about 10 minutes into the movie before she was sound asleep. Areya made it a little while longer and I only made it about half way through the movie. I guess I'll have to watch it again some time to see how it ended.