Apple Girl

Lauren's beautifully colored apple picture was chosen with a handful of other kids to represent their school at the local grocery store. Of course Lauren was so embarrassed that I made her get down next to her picture during business hours (the dinner rush none the less) to document her accomplishment. Oh well, that's what mom's do, right?!

Birthday boy

I had some fun with my new lens on Saturday at my nephew's first birthday. He is such a cutie patootie to photograph so he made it easy to get some fun shots. He didn't dive into his cake like most one year olds (I know the cheeks make you think otherwise!) and he didn't mind us rubbing frosting all over his face for some more authentic pictures. His mom unwrapped his presents while he explored the park with a balloon tied to his wrist. It was a fun afternoon to spend with family.

A few more pictures...

Here are a few more pictures of our adorable, energetic puppy!

Something new...

We're excited about a new addition to our family...















MEET MAGGIE!

First Day

Okay, so I admit it. I was a little too excited about the first day of school this year. Lauren and Nathan are now both in school ALL day. 7 glorious hours of shopping, baking, exercising and just being with Luke. I can't say I'm not really excited about this school year!

Cute

Luke was really excited about buying big boy underwear at the store yesterday. He just doesn't want to take his diaper off to wear it.

What happened to July?

We had such a busy, fun July so bear with me as I try to update.

For the 4th of July we attended the North Ogden parade. It was a painful couple of hours but the kids always seem to enjoy it. They got a LOT of taffy and tootsie rolls. Nate got pelted in the face with a very frozen otter pop which temporarily dampened his spirits. Luke was really excited about the fire truck until it blasted its horn five feet from us and sent Luke running in the other direction covering his ears. The weather was somewhat overcast which made for a perfect parade morning. That evening we went to a BBQ at a friend's house that was so much fun. We ate good food, drank homemade rootbeer, and attempted a few games of volleyball. Afterwards we sat outside Weber High for a pretty good fireworks show.





The following weekend we took our kids on the ward campout. I don't love sleeping in a tent but the kids always have fun so I sacrificed! I made the mistake of not taking the pack n play for Luke and he was just a little too excited. Combine that with about a half of bag of roasted marshmallows he ate and it made for a very long night!



We spent a day at Dinosaur Park. We packed a bunch of snacks and took our time exploring the park. The kids always love the play area the best and we ended up spending most of our time there. They also love the huge sand pit where you dig for dinosaur bones.





Ogden Clinic has an annual summer party for employees at Cherry Hill. We spent a lot more time at Cherry Hill when we lived in Centerville but since our move we hadn't been. Lauren and Nate have become great swimmers and pretty much dissappeared to ride the slides and play in the lazy river. Luke loved the small kiddie area and hung out with Jason and I there most of the time. He discovered the small slide and made several trips down on his own.




Even though my birthday was in June, the chairs I picked out didn't arrive until July. Even still, I love them. Red just makes me happy. I took this picture on a rare occasion when my kitchen was clean.



For the 24th of July some friends invited us to Bear Lake to picnic and let the kids play. The kids and I had never been to Bear Lake before so we jumped at the chance. We left about 10 and got to Bear Lake around noon. The kids loved playing in the sand and shallow water. Luke was especially entertained by the whole experience. We got set up, ate lunch and relaxed for a couple hours before the wind arrived. We kept waiting for it to blow over, but once our canopy uprooted itself from the sand we figured the wind was there to stay. So after only a few hours we packed back up to head home. Our friends offered an impromptu bbq at their house and since none of us had other plans we all headed over there and enjoyed good food and great weather!



These last pictures are really for my parents who are serving a mission. Earlier this summer we added a rather large sports court to our backyard. While it took me a while to get used to having this slab in our backyard, it has proved to be a lot of fun. And everyone seems to use it, including the neighbors! Eventually we will add to it but for now we love having somewhere to play basketball, ride bikes and scooters, and even sun tan! Hey, if you live close...come by and play!


(this picture was taken from our neighbors back yard who are in the process of laying sod. The rock wall that borders the sports court is just about the back of our property line give or take a foot).

A few more pictures of our front yard where we planted 22 trees this year. Someday we'll have our own forest!

A little late...

I have to first apologize to my sister-in-law Stephanie who tagged me on this over a month ago and I am just now getting to do it. I was supposed to open my pictures folder, pick the sixth folder and then the sixth picture. My folders are organized by day so this one dates back to January 9, 2008. This pictures is hilarious though because the kids somehow used to always talk Jason into piggy back rides to bed. And since Jason is commonly known as "one trip Church" around here, he would take them both at the same time...therefore having to avoid a second trip. I hope my kids remember this someday because it was such a cute tradition they had each night being carried up the stairs to bed on Dad's back. Thanks Steph!!

Girls Camp 2009

So this past Tuesday I left for four days of Girl's Camp. It was hard leaving my kids and husband but I knew how important it was for me to be there. We had mice and a lot of rain but after all was said and done we had a great time! The young women in our ward make my calling so easy. They were so great all week! On my birthday my husband came up and surprised me at camp. He had driven around forever trying to find the camp because he wanted it to be a surprise. It was so great! He had packed up the kids in their pjs and brought them along. They were all balling by the time they left, which I hate to admit made me feel so loved! I came home knowing a few more camp songs, ate my first HOBO dinner and made an omelet in a bag. We took a 7 mile hike to a waterfall and soaked and pampered our feet when we got back. I was so tired every night that I didn't mind sleeping on a horrible metal bunk bed. (I guess it could have been the ground so thank goodness for cabins!) And for skit night us leaders tried to re-enact the Hannah Montana Hoedown Throwdown. Hilarious or embarrassing I'm not sure which one yet. Probably a little of both! Can't wait for next year!!

Getaway Weekend

A couple weekends ago I was so fortunate to spend almost the entire weekend away! On Friday night my sisters and I all got together to celebrate my oldest sister's 40th birthday. We met at the Mandarin restaurant (best Chinese ever!) for dinner and then headed to our favorite stores...TJ Maxx and Ross. We practically got kicked out of Ross so they could close! After we went back to my parent's house to eat cake and watch old videos. My sister opened presents and then we talked and laughed for a good two hours. I adore my sisters and spending time with them is always a treat. This picture was taken a little while ago...



When I got home from my sister retreat Jason had planned the whole afternoon and evening away for my birthday. He took me shopping and then to dinner at the Gateway. After we ate we went and saw a sneak peak of The Proposal. It was hilarious! Then we went back to my parents' home (Hotel Dellastatious) to spend a relaxing evening and sleep in! Thanks so much to Megan for keeping the kids for us. It was the best birthday treat ever!! Megan made dinner for us on Sunday night and the kids had helped her make an Italian Dream Cake to officially celebrate my birthday. It was dreamy!! I would be celebrating my birthday at Girl's Camp this year, so I was thoroughly spoiled beforehand.

The Friend

On Friday my kids had the opportunity to be photograhed for The Friend magazine. We headed to Salt Lake early Friday morning and met the staff at the Beehive house. This was Brigham Young's house in which his 2nd wife and 7 children lived. The kids got to tour the Beehive house and go behind the scenes to be photographed for the article. This article is meant to benefit children who don't live near or won't be able to visit Temple Square. The kids did so good! They were also videoed as well for an online video that will be featured when the article in published. I was so grateful for everyone that helped that day and who were SO patient with the kids. The only downside...the article won't be pulished until June 2010! Lauren might actually have all her teeth in by then!

Class of 2009

Well, it is really hard for me to believe but my sweet adorable niece graduated from Viewmont High School on Thursday night. I felt like such a proud aunt being there cheering her on. It seems like yesterday that I graduated from Viewmont but my sister reminded me that night that it has actually been 15 years! Yikes! I am so excited for Breanne to go to college but I am so glad she'll always being a Viking!

Lauren Church: Party Planner

Lauren asked me a few weeks before school was out if she could have a party with a few of her friends. I told her that she could as long as she planned the party herself. I was willing to help when needed, but this was HER party. She got right to work. She typed out invitations and made a list of the things she wanted to do at her party. The Saturday before she delivered the invitations. On Tuesday her four friends arrived for her "super fun party." Lauren had spent Sunday afternoon making signs and getting organized. The girls first had a hula hoop contest on the porch, played on the slip n slide and jumped on the tramp, ate smoothies and cookies, and made bookmarks. I was really proud of Lauren when the afternoon was over for being such a good party planner and hostess. She put in a lot of work and I think they all had a lot of fun!

Geocaching

Wikipedia: Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container (usually a tupperware or ammo box) containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.


For Memorial Day we decided to go geocaching. We had been with our friends once before and had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day to go. We picked four caches to try and find, all of which were within a mile of our house. We couldn't find the first two but were successful with the second two. The kids were excited to trade their trinkets in for new ones and sign our name on the logbook. we had to take a little hike up the mountainside for our last cache, but it was well worth it. The view was beautiful and the kids kept begging me to take more pictures. This is such a fun outdoor activity that we'll probably be doing a lot of this summer.