Lake Day...

 Luke is SOOOO good at making sand creations. He's very patient too because the kids kept destroying his work while he was creating!

 Paul is being eaten by a shark :)

I love having this right in our neighborhood. We spent 3 1/2 hours there, and it was so nice to be back at our house for naps and clean up within minutes. K.C. wasn't allowed beyond the cement wall, so the kids went back and forth between playing with her and being in the water.

Visiting Great Gran Perkins...

 My Grandma has been here for a couple weeks, so we had a get together to welcome her to UT. My kids loved seeing her since they call her on the phone often. She is 85, but doesn't seem like it! She's pretty active for her age. She even remembers every one's b-day, and sends a card and money on time!

Caleb has had an internship at a company that makes hunting bows and arrows. He gets to design and test them, so he's been developing some really good archery skills. The boys, and their Aunt Andrea, were in heaven! They all LOVED trying to hit the target! Unfortunately, this bow is Caleb size (he's 6'6"!), so it was a little hard for some of us to pull back. We saw the movie Brave, so the kids' interest was especially sparked by the prospect of shooting arrows themselves. My parent's have the perfect backyard for this sort of thing. 

City Creek...

 We FINALLY made it up to see the new City Creek mall. It is very beautiful, and one could stay there all day.  The kids loved the creek that runs through it, and wanted me to keep taking pictures of them by it. Next time, I'm going without kids so I can do some shopping :)

 For some reason, my shots of Blaze all came out blurry. I think it's because he was running around too much, and I didn't have my good camera. But,  he is a little ham for the camera. A heavily accented woman came to me while I was taking pictures of Blaze and asked me how I have trained him to be a star.( He would smile and say "cheese" for the camera) She was oogling over him and said that Justin Beiber had better watch out because Blaze is so cute and knows how to work the camera. Anyhow, I asked her where she is from, and she said Rwanda.

 Quickly, she turned away and flicked her wrist as if to say "I don't want to talk about it!". I couldn't think of anything else all day long. Here we were in this very majestic shopping mall with outdoor fireplaces, water fountains with music, etc. etc. We have to much, and waste so much, and appreciate so little in America. I wondered what this older woman thought as she walked through this mall, or the streets of Salt Lake after coming from Rwanda! It is so amazing and uplifting to me how the human spirit is so resiliant. So many people here have escaped such unspeakable horrors that we wouldn't ever dream of, and I just wonder what they think of  us Americans and our "needs" or "wants". It is very humbling to think of.

Face Painting...

 We got these done for free while going to see some parade floats that were on display. Alanna is so into rainbows, butterflies, and mermaids right now! I love that she chose a rainbow, because she is our bright shining rainbow!

 Jackson recently discovered Harry Potter, and he is well into the 4th book right now. He is flying through them, and I am so excited that he has found a series he loves. I read so much when I was his age, and was a little disappointing that he didn't have a love for reading...until Harry Potter!

Paul wanted a shark eating his face, because the previous day he saw his friend with the same design.



I could take pictures of this baby all day! Of course, he is OBSESSED with balls! The boys had a soccer game that night, so it was perfect that Blaze was festive for that occasion. He pointed to his face that whole day saying "Ball! Ball!". 

Fishing...

 Fishing for a cute Blazer!

Jackson turned 8 last Sunday! Caleb and Lauren took him for a couple of days to entertain him with eating out, a parade, playing on the Ipad, playing with K.C. etc. He had an awesome time. Paul got to do some of the same things for his birthday a couple months ago, so Jackson has been anticipating his turn! We met them on Saturday night to go fishing at Bountiful Lake. It was around sunset, so I love these pictures we got. No one caught anything this time, but the kids loved trying.

Cow Appreciation Day!

Somehow, James went from "I'd rather pay for my meal", to mooing and making a fool of himself in the restaurant! He really takes pleasure from embarrassing us!

Is it really worth it to dress up like a cow to get get a FREE Chick-fil-A combo meal? My family thinks so! This is the 2nd year we have participated in Cow Appreciation Day, and it was a really fun family outing. We don't eat fast food very often, so when the kids get a chance they are so excited. They also got to play some games to earn prizes and make this paper cow craft. I challenge you do participate next year!

Slip 'n' Slide!

After camping last weekend and getting caught in a rain storm, all of our camping gear was covered in mud and grime. When we got home, we set up the tent to wash it off, and we had the kids clean all of the mud off of the tarp, via a slip 'n' slide! We just soaped it up and kept it wet, and we had a couple of hours of fun in the sun. I really had a blast with the kids, but my knees were pretty scraped up, and my legs were pretty sore the day after! Not the good kind of sore from working out that I like, it was the kind of sore that reminds you that you are definitely NOT a kid anymore :)

Happy Birthday Alanna!

Alanna started out her special day, July 10th, to a breakfast of yogurt parfaits! The kids were so excited to eat them because they look fancy, but they didn't end up really liking them (except Paul!)

 I told the kids they could have a friend part every other year. Alanna has been talking about having a Minnie Mouse party for months, so we invited a few special friends over for a play date. It wasn't a real party, but they were so thoughtful to bring some presents! This is Kamdyn and Alanna.

This is Halle and Alanna. They played soccer together, and Alanna has named Halle her "protector" for some reason?! I don't really get it, but it's still cute.

The girls colored Minnie Mouse pictures, played a "Hide the Minnie Mouse" game, and had Minnie Mouse cupcakes and ice cream (the best part, of course)!

 Lucy was here too, but she wasn't wanting her picture taken. Blaze was down for a nap :)

The boys had soccer that night, but when we got home, we had a big surprise waiting for us. Caleb and Lauren were hiding in the house with a huge balloon, a make-up set, and a giant cupcake for Alanna! She was absolutely thrilled about seeing them - and the make-up. She has worn it everyday since!

Shortly after, Poppy showed up with a balloon bouquet. This princess balloon was unlike any we've ever had - you hit it and it sings "Happy Birthday". The voices are all of Alanna's favorite Disney Princesses.

Alanna really wanted a Minnie Mouse pizza. She was satisfied with this :) Everyone stayed for dinner, and Alanna felt so special. We really appreciate all of the love extended toward our baby (I mean BIG) girl for her 4th b-day!

This is part of the giant cupcake Caleb and Lauren gave her. It took her 3 days to finish it! The kids just love having their very own cake. Alanna says she wants to be a baker, and a mommy when she grows up. I think her dreams will come true!

Camping and Hiking...

The kids were so excited to decorate our picnic table Au naturale! It kept them busy while we set up camp!

These two always ham it up for the camera, especially Blaze! He automatically poses if he even sees my camera :) And he has to see his picture immediately, of course!

This kid will be 8 in a few days, and that means he will be a Cub Scout! He actually just made the cut for Scout Camp, so he'll be able to help us out more in the near future.

This was our hike up to Twin Lakes. Blaze slept most of the way up, but when it was time to come down, he wanted to do it all by himself. The problem was that it was steep - we gained an elevation of 750 feet partially over jagged rocks. The three older kids were such troopers. The hikers we passed on our way up gave us looks like we were crazy for taking 4 little kids on that hike, but that's the way we roll. It was a memorable day, and we are raising tough kids :)

Alanna was really into taking pictures of us. We need to get some photography lessons for her :)

This hike was off of the Solitude wetland nature preserve and water shed. The hike around the lake there isn't actually a hike, it's a walk on Trex Deck. It was very beautiful and relaxing

We had planned on staying 2 nights, but as we were fixing our dinner on the second night, we heard a clap of thunder and seconds later there was a torrential down pour. And hail! It was crazy trying to get our foil packs out of the fire and our food from the stove etc. etc. Then we all got into the tent and three of the kids just HAD to use the potty. We were right next to the bathrooms, but they still got completely soaked. I thought it was all very comical, and I'm sure it will go down as the worst camping experience. I could see sheets of rain coming into our tent and soaking our bedding too. It was raining so hard that the rain went under the fly and through the roof. We waited until it was just drizzling and threw everything in the car and took off. It was very nice to have showers and watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie on our Love Sac :)

We do love Big Cottonwood Canyon. There are several family friendly hikes in the area, and it is gorgeous! The best part is we live 45 minutes away, so when we did get rained out, it wasn't a big deal:)