Saturday Date Night

Andy and I were able to have a date last night thanks to my sister, Ashana. I was tired of the usual dinner... maybe a movie... "What do you want to do?" routine. We ended up going to a place called Costa Vida for dinner and then went and played miniature golf at Boondocks. It was one of the funnest dates we've had in a long time. I got 4- hole in one! Andy still won due to a couple bad... really bad rounds. We're lame, though. We ended up stopping at Walmart for dessert because we're cheap... why spend three times as much at a Cold Stone? And then grabbed a movie at Red Box. Thanks Ashana for babysitting... again!

A Fun Filled Day At The Zoo!

Cards in the Mail

The last couple of days have been wonderful for mail. The other day I got the cutest card from my niece, Whitney, thanking me for spending time with her. She and I had a lot of one-on-one time during the family reunion in July and it was awesome. Thanks, Whitney for the card... it was the best part of my day!

And this is a picture of Sammy holding a card she got from her Aunt Cindy and Uncle Adam. The card read, "Sammy! We heard that you're about to start preschool so we want to wish you a wonderful first day of school. We hope you have lots of fun and learn lots of new things. You'll have to tell us all about it! Love! Aunt Cindy and Uncle Adam." Sammy was so excited and it came on the perfect day since we just got back from her preschool to check it out and meet her teacher. Thanks, Adam and Cindy. You're so sweet to Sammy.

Endless Laundry

I HATE LAUNDRY! I was so excited the other night when I told Andy I only had about four loads of laundry left... that didn't last long. I finally finished folding my last load of laundry tonight. And of course I already have a pile of dirty clothes started. I'm needing advice from anyone willing to give it... Even doing one load bugs me. So, I wait till we don't have clean clothes to finally do laundry because I hate it so much. Does anyone have suggestions on what I can do to make it less dreadful?

Good Morning Kate!

I thought this was hilarious! This is what Kate looks like most mornings. Still as cute as can be!

Katie's Walking!

Katie is finally walking everywhere. The only time she crawls is when she happens to fall and is in a hurry to get somewhere. In this video she is laughing... not crying.

You're ruining my life!

The first time Sammy told me I was ruining her life she was almost four. I laughed and called my mom. Sammy was even more upset that I laughed at her... but it was really funny. Well, Ashley topped Sammy. Ashley is two and just said, "Mom, your ruining me life." I'm sure there are thousands of moms out there that have heard those words, but how many were told by a two year old? I can't help but laugh. And I'm sure that will come back to bite me in the butt. Oh, well. I'll laugh anyway!

Sammy's Shots

Sammy had a doctor's appointment today so that she is all immunized for preschool. She had to get four shots! I just wanted to share what I thought was a great idea. The nurse, Shannon, told Sammy to focus on singing her ABC's with her, and mommy. So she counted to three and we all sang together. Sammy was singing away and barely even noticed the shots... she didn't even cry! She barely even whimpered after we were all done. Wow, way to go Sammy! And thank you, Shannon, for thinking creatively! Preschool here we come!

Kids Say the Darnest Things

I've been sitting at this computer for awhile now looking at blogs and Ashley brought me a fruit snack and asked me to open it. It had been sitting in the diaper bag, which was in the car during our camping trip. So of course it's melted and squished together. As I opened it she was looking at it with her face scrunched and said, "What... happened?" I just laughed and tried to pry it out of the package. Ashley then said, "Mom, that is discussing."

For the 4th of July we spent it down in Utah with Nate and Emily (Andy's sister & my brother who happen to be married) and these are some of the fun pics doing fireworks! Sparklers!
More Sparklers!
And more sparklers!
Poor Katie, she had to retire to bed before it all started. But she didn't mind.
Sammy loved spending time with her cousins, Aunt Emily, and Uncle Nate... Even though she probably can't see them since her hair is always in her face!
Ashley was a bit surprised by the loud fireworks.
But, she loved it anyway!
Ian, Sammy, and Ashley... loving this event!

How cute is this chubbers? Noah, you make me smile anytime I see you. (Sorry about cutting off part of you face, Emily.)

Katie's 1st Birthday!

Okay, so I know it's late... but better late than never. This is Katie's first birthday! We do cupcakes instead of whole cakes... less cleanup!
I think she was a little overwhelmed with everyone there.
This is the before picture. How darling is she?
She loved her cupcake! I don't think there was a crumb she didn't try to eat.
She was very happy with the fun toys she got... but so were her sisters. We had a hard time keeping Sammy and Ashley away so Katie could play!
This ball rolled around on the floor and lights up while playing music. So fun!
She loved the stacking tower as well. "Which one?"

Camping at Silver Creek Plunge

Katie loved sitting in the walker with water or juice and let it run down her chin and belly.
After she was done with the juice I took off her shoes and her toenails were dyed red. One less set of toenails I have to paint. :)

So Silly!

Along with decorating their visors and sunglasses, Sammy and Ashley got some fun little fans that light up when turned on. They loved them!

Cutie Pie Courtney... I think this trip was the first time I've seen her break away from her Mom.
This is just a bunch of us around the campfire after the big rainstorm in the morning. Notice Sammy eating the muffin on the right? She asked me if I wanted some... I told her, "No, thanks." She said, "It's chocolate," in a peer pressuring way. I again told her, "No, thanks." She then said in her pressuring manor, "It tastes like cookies." Merridy busted up laughing at that point. Where does Sammy get that from? :)

Sammy with her Uncle Adam. She loved riding around with him.
Ashley was playing in the nearby creek and decided she wanted to get her head wet. Of course we laughed and then she loved being the center of attention... so she did it over, and over.
During the day I had a few activities for the kids. This particular one was decorating silly sunglasses and visors. How stylish are these cute girls?
Since the swimming pool was ridiculously expensive, Brigetta brought up a kiddie pool and filled it with cold water. That was a big hit during the heat of the day. (Katie, Sammy, and their cousin, Jessica.)
Katie, you're a little young to drive by yourself.

This past week the girls and I went to Silver Creek Plunge with my side of the family. The first day was great! We played, we ate, we played, we ate, and we played some more. Even the night was better than I expected. We all slept very warm which was a huge improvement from the previous years. The second day was still fun, but it rained a lot. It would rain for about five to ten minutes, (just long enough for us to rush to get everything put away and out of the rain) and then it would stop. The night was much harder. Katie woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep for about an hour. After that there was a huge thunderstorm and we learned how great our sleeping bags and tent are. We all stayed warm and not a drop of rain got in the tent. Everyone stayed dry with the exception of Shiloam... she got soaked! After that I decided I had enough! My family was so great and asked if they could keep Sammy and Ashley till Saturday. So Katie and I packed up a few things and went on home to see Andy.

Las Vegas

Andy and I recently took a trip to Las Vegas and had a blast! Andy went for business... me for pleasure... we're such dorks... we went there on our honeymoon and came home with only one picture. (Our camera broke and the picture we have is from the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur) This time around we didn't take any pictures of us. Oh, well. It was still fun and this is what we saw...
We stayed at the New York, New York Hotel and Casino and right across the street was Coke World and M&M's World.

(This is the hotel we stayed at) We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and they sat us in a booth that was right next to a guitar signed by all the members in the Smashing Pumpkins band. Way cool! We also saw the Tournament of Kings again at the Excalibur and sat on the front row... but didn't get a picture this time.

Do As I'm Doing

My darling little Ashley sang a song for her Papa (Grandpa Wyne) for his birthday. This is her favorite song in the world and I'm so glad I got it on video. Love you Ashley Cakes!

Girls Retreat 2008

Every year my sisters, sisters-in-law, and mom have a girls' retreat. Brigetta planned it this year and we went camping in Cascade. Lovely Kim and Cindy!
We also went on a mystery murder train ride... Three Strikes You're Dead. As a souvenir we all had the cast members sign baseballs for us and all of our shirts have our names and a number on the back. Go Crazy 8!
Shiloam, Shiloam, Shiloam... she gave us such a good laugh... we told you to get out of the pool!
Go Crazy 8! These were two of the cast members. The girl on the right was the trainer, and the guy on the right was the dung beetle mascot gone FBI.

While in Cascade we went to a nearby hot springs which was really fun. Merridy and I sat by the pool and watched Mom and Cindy barrel race Brigetta and Shiloam (while trying not to drown them).

This year at our annual girls' retreat Cindy had a funny idea to try synchronize swimming... this is what she came up with. Enjoy the laughter.