#9

I am back blogging again. Sorry! I forgot to do Madison's birthday. Oops!

We were pretty low key this year. Her birthday fell on a Saturday so she got to have her bff Kate over for a sleepover! Madison knew nothing about it! It was pretty fun. Shannon and her family came over for dinner, cake and presents. 

This little lady is growing up so fast! Nine is just too old! It's fun but old! Her likes are changing. The girl once obsessed with horses is now just an extreme fascination! She is into barbies, and fashion. She still loves to draw and sing, and designing new barbie clothes out of scrap fabric! 

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Opening gifts. She had quite the pile! This year was really hard to buy for her this year. She we decided on a 2 way text set, (it's kind of like a digital walkie talkie) a new lunch box and a gift card to Hastings. 

She got a cute outfit from my mom and Donn. All the owls have glasses! So cute! She also raked in $30 from other grandparents!

She got two crafty sets. This is a cute messenger bag that you can color with fabric markers. (from Auntie Shannon!) 

Her bunt cake! I din't get as creative as I did with Zach's. I picked up some gels and did polka dots and flowers. She chose carrot cake this year! It's always carrot or red velvet!

All in all it was a good weekend! She is getting older which means we are getting older too. She is witty, smart, talented, and caring. She starts 4th grade (aaaahhh upper elementary!!!) on Thursday in the ALPS program (advanced learning placement), and she is striving for the Presidential award at the end of the year. That means honor roll all year long! It's a good goal to have!

Pioneer Day and Good Friends!

Our good friends the Crockett's came for a weekend visit, and boy did we have fun! We have been friends since the oldest girls were 3/4! Now they are 8/9! It is so fun to have friends with the same ago kids. No one feels left out and everyone has a good time!

The Crockett's rolled into town late on Friday night which meant a very late night for the kids! But they were up bright and early on Saturday. We had a Stake Pioneer Celebration to go to and breakfast started at 8:30am! I don't know how we did it but we got 10 people showered and dressed and out the door at 8:30a!! This is the kids waiting in line for breakfast. I just noticed that Travis photo bombed!!

Courtney and Brynley waiting for breakfast! 

These two are 2 weeks apart!

They had lots of fun games. They all took a turn at the cake walk until each of them won a treat! 

Zach was concentrating really hard!

These 3 won right off the bat. Madison took a little longer to win. 

The boys did tug-o-war

And lost!!

Next was face painting and treats!

Of course the girls got matching! 

Zach's choice cracked me up!

Then on to treats! They had fresh "scones" or fry bread with different toppings. They also had snow cones! Which were enjoyed by all because it was sooo hot!

There was a fun Primary parade. I didn't get pictures but Kristen snapped a few. 

Later that afternoon we set up a few pools in the backyard and had ice cream cones!

All the girls!

And the out numbered boys!

After dinner at Hamburger Connection, Travis and Robert went to see 

Iron Man 3. Kristen and I took the kids home, got them bathed and set up a few movies!

The boys set up a Lego movie in the front room. Thank you Netflix!

And the girls watched an American Girl movie!

All in all it was a great weekend! Even though we only see each other once a year we have a great friendship and I am grateful for that! Thanks again Robert, Kristen, Carly, Brandon and Courtney for coming!

#7

Well July was a busy month. We went out of town, we visited family that was in town and we had friends visit from out of town! But the most important parts/days of July are the 14th and the 27th. 

Zachary turned 7 on the 14th! 

A few weeks before his birthday the kids asked if we could go to the Temple for their birthdays! Totally took us by surprise! I love that they love the Temple.

We were there for about an hour, walking around and taking pictures. They asked a lot of questions and we had good family time together!

This is the window to the baptistery, they both thought it was so pretty!

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Moving on, Sunday was his actual birthday. We went to Church and he got sung to in Primary and was given a small gift.

Then we came home and made preparations for dinner. 

he chose to have steak, corn on the cob, and potatoes for dinner. My sister in law and her family came over to celebrate with us. 

This was his cake. He requested an army theme. He is in love with anything that involves the armed services (all branches!). So I just made a 9x13 and cut a 7 out of it. The leftover pieces are bunkers. I found the gummy army guys at Winco. He thought it was the coolest cake ever!

Opening presents! I love how the younger ones love to help!! 

We got him a new bike helmet and this snap together model plane. 

He got the shirt above from my mom and Donn which he calls his "Oregon" colored shirt because it's green and yellow. When that shirt is not clean he wears the one below which he got from Auntie Shannon and Uncle Devin. He calls this his "Denver Bronco" shirt because of it's colors and because it's Uncle Devin's favorite team! Yes we know it's soccer not football! 

Right before he blows out the candles!!

Happy Birthday Zach!

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A few things about Zach that have happened over the last year! He learned to ride his bike, he has lost all 4 front teeth! He completed 1st grade at the top of his class, and he has gotten a little more brave when he goes to the Dentist!!

Zach is such a joy to have in our family. The boy in the middle. "Girl trapped" as he would call it! He is a sweet sensitive boy who loves his little sister. He is the only one who can get her to really laugh! He loves LEGOS, and loves to read mystery books. He reads a book a week or less if he really likes it! 

Happy #7 Bubba!

For the Love of Horses!

While we were in Oregon at my dad's, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride Lucky. My dad and step mom took the kids out early before it got too hot.

Madison got first ride. 

Brynley loved it! She giggled the whole time!

I just love this picture! 

Zach only wanted one ride!

Brynley and Brooklynn riding together!

Lucky got a brush down!

This is my dad's other horse Queenie. 

Cousin's helping each other back to the house! We got Brooklynn the outfit to match Brynn! So cute!

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Well that marks the end of our trip to Oregon. We had such a fun time. Thanks to all of our extended family!

4th of July

There is a small gap in the posting here. Since the kids were with my parents while we were at the coast I don't have any pictures from those 3 days. Once I get some of those I will make a new post. 

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We were with my Dad and Step-mom this year for the 4th. We spent the morning in Eagle Point going to the parade and looking at all the vendors. 

Here is Zach enjoying his Italian ice before the parade!

Brynley enjoyed the parade from Grammy Karen's lap. 

My little fire cracker!!

Brynley found a friend to dig in the dirt with!

After the parade we headed back for a family bbq and some swimming!

Then we packed up and headed back to watch the firework show they put on at the High School!

Madison has perfected photo bombing! 

They loved playing in the back of Aunt Trystyn's truck!

I love Zach's "mean" face or maybe it'sa "cool" face!

My favorite picture of the trip!

Happy 4th of July 2013 everyone!

10 years!

June 28th 2013 marked our 10 year anniversary! And since we never do anything for ourselves we decided to book a trip to the Oregon Coast. 

So on Friday the 28th we drove to Eugene to meet my mom. She took our kids so we could go to the coast. There really is only one place to meet when you go to Eugene.........

That's right Autzen Stadium! The kids have never seen it, and it was cool to see all the new developments!

There was a lot of construction going on. 

So we put the kids in my moms car and headed down to campus to go to the bookstore. We needed some new shirts and school pencils for the kids. 

After checking in to our "awesome" hotel we walked down the street to Mo's! You can't visit Florence without a visit to Mo's! 

Then across the street to BJ's for some salt water taffy!

The movie "Big" was on tv a few weeks ago and the kids were watching part of it. And the Zoltar part totally freaked Madison out. So this picture was for her!

Then Saturday morning we headed to the North Jetty to take a nice walk on the beach. 

The beautiful beach! It was an awesome 75 degrees! With a nice warm breeze!

Travis climbed a huge rock to scope out the best path to the water!

Our path to the water. Let's just say that my ankle was the size of a softball when we got back to our room! 

US! 

Travis LOVES the beach and the ocean! He would just stand and look. He also enjoyed skipping rocks!

I thought that this was a cool picture! It was so sunny and warm. We asked around while we were shopping and they said that this was a heat wave! 78 was like 100 to them! HAHA! 

We had to be sure to document the trip!

We found a dead friend on the beach! 

The whole time we were there we kept saying, "the kids would love this!" or "We need to find a shell for each of the kids!"

We found another live friend that Travis took back to the water!

It's on the end of the stick!

Saturday evening we went up the road and played a round of mini golf! Sadly I lost by 4 stokes! But it was pretty fun! And then went to a nice Chinese dinner and DQ for dessert!

We headed back to my mom's on Sunday morning. Since we couldn't sleep in (7am both mornings!) we got up early packed the van and headed down HWY 101. We stopped at a light house, that is run by the U.S Coast Guard.

It was a pretty fun trip and we are grateful to have some much needed alone time! Thanks Mom and Donn for taking the kids!