Update- what we've been doing...

I haven't blogged for a LONG time. Here are a few pictures: Addy getting a ride to bed...
Preschoolers checking out the new chicks. They had so much fun watching them.New chicks... now they are in a chicken coop outside...I couldn't wait to get them out of my garage!
Mike got us tickets to see General Conference on a Sunday. We had a great experience!
Teen parties....seems like they come around a lot here (at least when we have a weekend night free of all the crazy things we've been doing)
Bottling... we've done peaches, applesauce, pears, jams, zucchini relish... feels good to do it again. We took a 10 year hiatus from canning. Glad to be back in the canning zone again. Will even be better when we have a garden!
State Fair. My dad is on the state fairboard, so we get free tickets and a few ride tickets. We go every year now. It's fun for the kids. This year we even had a few entries go to the state fair and Sydney's skirt she sewed even got the prized rosette ribbon at state!
Cotton Candy...yum!

Bass Lake East Reunion

We have life-long dear friends from our Bass Lake Ward and get to see the ones that have moved to Utah once in a while when someone decides it's been way too long since we've gotten together. The weather didn't stop us from having a little picnic in Bountiful at a covered pavillion. So FUN to see the ones that could make it, hoping others can join another time!

Addy and new friends:

Millers, Barretts, Wilkins and Burrows:
Mindy Clark, Julianna Burrows, me, the Grieve's, and Mark Miller:
Sydney was happy to see old friends:
Thanks guys! And thanks to the Millers for letting us crash in their beautiful home! The next day was Mike's Top of Utah marathon in Logan, so we got to stay up for that and watch him race...

Guess who got ahold of my phone again?

McKenzie's answer to homecoming

McKenzie had this video delivered with his laptop in the lunchroom. She said everyone gathered around and her date was hilarious! He jumped up and down like a monkey in the middle on his chair and the vice principal came over, to which he said, "It's for homecoming", so the vice principal said, "oh! ok!" and watched the rest. At the end, he pushed chairs and people away to get to her. It was a lot of fun for her! Thanks Josh (cousin) for being the hilarious voice behind it!

Second bunny lost this summer

AARGH! After the first bunny died of some unknown sickness, maybe pneumonia, Syd's bunny 4-h leader gave her another bunny with exact instructions of how to take care of it. It was a cute lop-ear bunny she named, Olivia. After a few weeks of taking perfect care of it, it too was found dead in her cage. Sydney is beside herself. She was so upset the first time and I was at work when it happened, so Grandma had to come down and console her. This second time, she had a friend over, so the friend and I calmed her down. She LOVES animals and it just breaks her heart. Guess we'll try another one or a kitten when she is ready again. Good thing her lamb is hanging in there and doing well! I've always told the kids that I can barely keep kids alive, I can't deal with pets, but she has been doing so well taking care of them...We'll try again when Mike builds the kids a chicken coop/bunny cage that may work better.

Sisterly Love

These two love each other and it's so good to see that even an 8 year gap doesn't separate them. I did see a litte change the other day though, when Addy came upstairs crying that Syd locked the door when her friend was over. She didn't want Addy to bug them. I know they have to grow up, but really so fast? Syd is really sweet to Addy most of the time, though. She is like her 2nd mother.

Fun with Family

Jan (Mike's sister), Kendra and my mother-in-law came for a visit last month. Jan and Family moved to Texas just as we were moving to Utah. We were wondering if they were trying to avoid us (just kidding, Jan). But they did come back to see us and we had a WONDERFUL time visiting with them while they were here. Mike's mom got to stay a whole week and the kids loved having Grandma here to visit with. She is an amazing woman!

Summer fun in the tub...HUMONGOUS BUBBLES!

When I first saw this, I laughed...they had asked to use my jetted tub and I obliged. The 3 youngest put on swim suits and went to town. I heard the laughter and came running in to find this:Then we had to mop it up- and boy- it was a mess. They are grounded from using my tub for a while...even though I was secretly still laughing.

Addy's self portraits...

Little miss Addy has figured out my i-phone and takes hundreds of photos around the house. I'll spare you the embarrassing ones of me at different and strange angles, and show you a few I didn't delete of her. She's also into taking videos.

Baseball- 2011

I love this picture of my little guy playing baseball.  He was on such a nice team this year.  He has only played a year before and his coaches were very patient and encouraging.  Thank goodness for such nice guys!  Nathan had a great time.  These pictures were taken at the tournament in Pleasant Grove at the end of the season.

SO excited to share my new job charts!

So my friend Jenny shared this online job chart and I thought I'd check it out. I've been doing it only a few days now, but my children have been so motivated to do work and log in their chores to get points. They are all working towards a Lagoon trip (which we were going to do anyway) and a kitten (which we were going to get them in a couple months anyway) WOW, can I tell you how hard they have been working and I haven't had to remind them to do a thing! Even Addison- I just let the point system work for me. It's free but it's worth a million bucks! I've done a million different job charts in the past (ok, not really a million, but it feels like it) and they only last a short time until they get bored of them. I'm not one to really pay allowance or pay for jobs they should be doing anyway as part of a family, but you can change the point system so they have to do a lot to really get a reward. Although I would suggest some rewards they can redeem early enough they don't get discouraged. You get to choose your rewards and how many points they have to earn. I'm sure I'll have to adjust as I go along, but so far, so good!

Find it on myjobchart.com

Thought I'd share...

4th of July Celebration

I didn't get pictures of every activity, because there was a lot going on and I got roped into helping with the greased pole climb. But we had SO much fun- even the 20 minute pouring rain episode! Here are some of the higlights:

Addy in the foot race. (red shirt, white skirt in the center- with Sydney holding her):
My brother getting the greased pole climbing ready.
Syd, Addy and Matthew. So happy to celebrate!
Addy and cousin Mathew:
More cousins joined the scene:
Addison looking for coins in the traditional money in the hay:
She got lots of coins and was SO excited!
The tug of war with the firetruck spray. Nathan in red/white stripes: (he never gave up)
Cousins and Jessica...Such good kids!
Playing on the playground just before the parade:
Parade time! Always a favorite: Willy the clown- I don't think he'll ever retire~!
Too many fireworks...couldn't light them all. Each family brought more than this even...we are going to light the rest of them on the 24th since we got rained out.

Sweet Grandpa King enjoying the fireworks on the porch:

Fireworks time!
Cute cousins (and Mikayla) enjoying the fireworks:


Love to have the same traditions year after year. It's what makes life memorable.

Day in recording studio.

Or should I say "hour in recording studio". A day would be way too expensive ! Thanks to Uncle Greg for doing the sound system, it wasn't too bad. McKenzie recorded some of her flute music for some competitions. It was so fun for her and a great learning experience. She'll even do better next time!

Putting in the sprinkler system...