Mike's in a parade!

Had to laugh when I heard Mike say he had to get his suit on to be in the homecoming parade! They threw out seminary marking pencils and we screamed for Daddy when he went by! Welcome back to a small town MIKE!

Watch out...we have a new driver! AAHH!

McKenzie has now passed her test and has her learner's permit...I know...how can I be that old? I keep asking myself. We've taken her out a few times and she does a good job, but it is a little adventurous! I hope I'll survive this phase of life. But you know? It's pretty exciting to see your kids grow up and become adultish! Dating and Driving this year has been too much fun for her- and us.

More house updates...Framing!

Now the house is moving faster and looking more like a house. We check on things every day and have started having to choose brick, roof shingles, and doors and windows. Fun but a little stressful! Hoping we pick stuff that looks good together - and I'm not a designer...

Fun at the State Fair

My Dad is on the State Fair Board and gave us tickets in to the state fair, complete with a few ride passes. The kids had a blast with their cousins and we only lost Nathan a few times..

My sister, Corinne had fun with Nathan and Andrew on the rides, helping them not be too scared...







Addison wanted to ride this ride several times.

The military got Bradley doing pushups for a contest. He was the top winner that day (63 pushups from age 16 and down)

Mom and Dad went all around in this cart working the fair for 10 days- all day! What dedication to making the fair run!

How many cousins can fit in the golf cart?

Nathan and Andrew on the big slide

Cute litte cousins posing for the camera- Addy and Ashlyn

Addy chompin' on a big turkey leg...yum!

Addy was scared to go on the Merry-Go-Round, but after a few seconds, she LOVED IT! This is me and my younger sister taking our little girls!

McKenzie and Nathan on the Tilt-A-Whirl

Syd, Haley and Ashlyn

Addy and McKenzie- two little apple worms

Silly kids!

We also got tickets to a concert that night (free). It was Michael Musso from Hannah Montana. The kids were excited.


But about 1/2way into the first song, we realized our "good seats" were really "bad seats", because we were too close to the speakers. It was LOUD! We sufferred through the noise for most of the concert and the screaming teenagers (and actually screaming little girls, too). Then when he stripped down to a tank top, then to no shirt, Sydney said, "That's just gross...I want to leave." So most of us left. Addison only made it through 1/2 of the first song, then cried because it was too loud. I'm not sure I could hear much the rest of the night. We all felt like we had cotton in our ears. Yikes!
What my parents thought of the concert

Fun with CA friends!

A couple weekends ago, we met the Reeds, Tiners, Larson's, Millers and Burrows to hang out in Provo and Salt Lake, go to the BYU game, take the little ones to a trampoline place, and hang out at the Burrows for dinner. It was so fun to see these guys. They really are family to us and will always be. All but the Reeds live in Utah now, so we now can maybe see them more often...FUN!

Visiting the Bountiful Temple

So Peaceful there...so grabbed the camera for a few impromptu shots of the kiddos...


So typical of boys:

House updates...

Basement floors are in!

John Schmidt concert

McKenzie was thrilled to go see John Schmidt in concert. She LOVES his music and has learned a few on the piano. The 2 little ones were not so thrilled to be there, though...but it was fun nonetheless. She was so excited to meet him in person. The concert was at the waterfall amphitheater at Thanksgiving Point- a beautiful place. Fun to see some old college friends there, too!

Warning...

Note to self: Be wary of beater-lickers when making frosting. I decided I better unplug the machine and take the beaters out before she may have tried to turn it on...SCAREY!

OOPS! Bike got ran over...

Nathan had a hard lesson a couple weeks ago...He has discovered bike riding now that we are in a small town. He wants to ride it to school, and after school to the park. I was coming home and saw his bike in the driveway, and I thought to myself, "If I move it for him, he'll never learn." So I ran in the house and hollered down the stairs for him to go move his bike. Just then, Grandpa barrelled in his driveway- RIGHT OVER his bike...Crushed it. Nathan ran out just after it had happened. He handled it pretty good, especially knowing he left it there. Grandpa took him to Walmart to pick out another bike...of course, Mom and Dad insisting Nathan earn half the money. He's still working that out. He's so glad he has a bike again. Funny thing, though, as he was testing it out, he crashed it and broke part of the pedal off. KIDS!