Swim Lessons ... A Necessary Evil

Summer means swim lessons whether you like it or not! My mom did it to me and I am doing it to my sweet little munchkins. The girls took three sessions and it ended up being a lot. They were Monday through Thursday for 1/2 hour each day, except Hope she only took two sessions. But it has all been worth it, they are doing great. Their fear of water is diminishing which brings a smile to my face.

This is Kate and Sophia, they were in the same class.

We found that goggles are a key to our success! We don't leave home without them. Sophia was going off the slide by the 2nd session and the diving board by the 3rd session.

Kate is doing awesome and by the last session braved the diving board and the slide.

Hope loved it, this is her blowing her bubbles. After 4 weeks she was a little burned out though.

I Love to See the Temple...

We decided to go to the Manti Pageant this year and take our kids for the first time. We have always hesitated because it is so late and the kids would probably sleep through it anyway. But this year we braved it and we had a great time. We have a special place in our heart for the Manti Temple because we were married there 16 years ago (could it really be that long)!

We had reserved a spot at the Palisades campground and found out Mark's brother family would be in town and so we were able to get another camp spot and they joined us. For the kids having their cousins there made it much more fun. Mark's sister Belinda and two of her kids joined us just for the pageant. So we got to Palisades in the late afternoon, set up camp and then headed over to the turkey dinner at the stake center there in Manti. Then we went and saved some spots on the temple grounds. The wait seemed like forever, just look at these photos of the kids their faces tell it all.

This was the first time we had been back there since we got married. I know that sounds so crazy, but its true.

Kimball is getting sick of my picture antics. Oh well, too bad :)

Nick silly boy, wasn't ready for the picture either.

Kate is starting to get snuggled up because it was getting chilly, it actually sprinkled a few times.

Sophia was very bored before the pageant started, thank heavens for cousins who brought games.

Hope just chillin with Dad.

What cute sisters!

The pageant was great and it was cold, but we were prepared for that. We spent the night at Palisades and then got up in the morning and just hung out for a while.

Hope was more excited about sleeping in the tent than anything else we did. While we were waiting for the pageant to start she kept saying I just want to sleep in the tent right now!

The kids had a great time playing in the water and our nephew Seth caught this very cool frog.




We also rented on of these paddle boats and the kids all got to take a ride.

Crystal Hot Springs

We are really good at staying home and being couch potatoes. However, a couple of weeks ago I decided it was time to plan something so that our summer didn't run away from us without any memories to show for it. So this is us at our first staycation spot! It is Crystal Hot Springs which is in Honeyville, Utah (it is just past Brigham City). They have six hot pools and then one cold pool. We went for family night and it was really fun although the water slides are only open for the weekend so the boys were a little bummed.



Hope loved being in the warm water. It actually rained on us while we were there and she didn't even want to get out!

The boys were the only ones that were brave enough to get in the cool pool. After being in the hot pools, it was too cold for the rest of us.

Check out these cute sisters. I knew they loved each other!!!

Sophia's Kindergarten Graduation

It is hard to believe that Sophia has officially graduated from Kindergarten. She has learned so much this year and we are so proud of her. She is well on her way to becoming a great reader and is a good friend. She had the best teacher this year, Ms. Liddell and we wish we could have gotten a picture of them together. But this is Sophia on her special day, congrats Sodie!!!

Hope's Preschool Graduation

Wow, our preschool year has ended. This year Hope did a co-op preschool. Six of the moms in the neighborhood took turns teaching and the kids had a great time.

Hope on her graduation day!

Libby, Ashlyn, Hope, Sydney, Ethan, and Spencer
These are our preschool friends.

"Sew" Cute

I set a few goals this year and one of them was to learn how to sew something. Well, I found the cutest pattern and decided to go for it.

It took me two days, I know I am slow. But I made 3 little skirts for my girls. Sophia didn't cooperate for a picture, but here is Kate and Hope sporting their very cute skirts last Sunday!

Happy Birthday Doogie!!!

Yes, my little man is growing up! Mark always tells the kids they are grounded until they stop growing up. Well its not working! So Nick turned 12 today. We were just going goo goo over him this morning. He was the absolute most beautiful baby and now he is just a handsome young man. Nick is really thoughtful and takes good care of his little sisters, especially Hope. Nick loves riding bikes, playing football, basketball, going to Jazz games, tinkering with his dad and working hard. He loves to be with his best buddies Tanner, Kade, and Alex. They are quite a crazy group of boys, they have lots of fun together and tend to stay out of trouble. He is so fun to be around and we love his sense of humor. Nick will be ordained on Sunday to be a deacon and we are so proud of him. We look forward to watching him grow into a honorable priesthood holder.