Finishing up Summer 2010!

I know I'm very behind, but I thought I would make a post that finishes up our Summer 2010.  All the kids are at an age where it is becoming fun to spend time with them and outings are more enjoyable.  I had a great time with them this summer.

After the 4th of July festivities were over I headed out for the weekend with the "girls" as in the teenage girls of the ward on Girls Camp.  I had a great time and felt young again being around all of them.

the theme this year was "It's a Jungle Out There" so I created a Jungle Mail station for secret sister exchange

Girls Camp 2010


The Colton Family Gathering 2010 was a lot of fun this year.  We spent 2 nights with all of my siblings and their families in Paradise, Utah We had a nice large house to stay in and camping cabins down by the river. we played games, played in the river and enjoyed some time around the campfire together.  Joey was a bit sleep deprived so he spent a lot of time getting "rides" with Grandma. ( sorry the picture is turned and I'm not sure why)

I also discovered a nice place to go with the kids on a nice summer afternoon.  We drove to Pineview reservoir to a swimming beach there and played in the water and sand, the kids had so much fun they wanted to go the next day... I told them they had to wait,  so we went the next week.  The second time we went I made sure to bring more shade as it was pretty hot. 

Another new and exciting part of Summer was our new puppy, Sophie.  She is part pug and part beagle called a puggle.  She's playful and fun and a bit sneaky.  The kids have come to love her (though it took Bekah and Leah a few weeks to get used to her)

Joey and Sophie have an interesting relationship, they are like pups together, wrestling a bit. Joey just pushed and shoves her if she starts to annoy him.  He also likes to be like Sophie, crawling around and chewing a shoe if she does.... or strip and climb in the bath when we are trying to wash the dog. I think they will be great buddies

 

 

This is at her first trip to the vet, we took all the kids so they could see what it was like.

Wheeler Farm... Gateway Discovery... Zoo etc.

Here's some more snapshots at a few more fun places we visited this summer

Oh so behind!!

Okay,  quick recap:

April:  Yahoo! great, awesome, wonderful, beautiful, relaxing trip to oregon... a couple days with our cousins in Grants Pass and 6 Days on the beach with our friends from Washington.

Easter With the Sill's

At the Sea Lion Caves

Beach Time

Tillamook Cheese Factory

Evergreen Aviation.. Emma next to a model of the spruce goose, the actual Spruce goose is behind her but too large to fit in a photo.

Searching for sea life in the tide pools

 ( I will try and post some more pics later when I have time I have waaay tooo many!!)

We also took a day trip to Carbon County, Utah with G&G Colton for Emma's county report.

May:  Sarah turns 7!! All she wanted to do for her birthday was go to the Mayan restraunt and watch the divers they have there. G&G Colton met us there.  She had a family birthday party as well.  Sarah is so easily pleased and had a great birthday.  She loved her Hello Kitty cake

May also brought us all the end of school programs, field trips, etc....

Economics fair

Joey is an artist

recorder fun!

Family music night for Musikgarten

and the best thing in May.... no more braces for me !!! woo hoo!  I know, not much change from before... but I have a  much better bite now and tons less jaw pain!

June: was packed full of swimming, working in the garden, and music camps.  Sarah and Leah got to go to a one week summer camp for Musikgarten and I got to volunteer yipee, it was actually lots of fun!

The great time/money sink growin in our backyard...

Bekah, Sarah and Leah all had swimming lessons for 2 weeks and did fantastic. We celebrated the end of lessons by going to the Roy Aquatics Center and spending the day.

Sarah showing off her dive

Leah, still not wanting to lay back in the water

The 4th of July we spent doing the usual Parade... play in the water at G&G Nilson and then off to fireworks at Davis High..  a very busy day, but lots of fun.  

and there you have it... I'm all caught up... time to start staying caught up... yeah... right...

April Fools!

Haha! funny Mother Nature.  Joey and Leah were the only ones able to play in this late season snowfall.  It was pretty much gone by the time the older kids got home from school.

Joey would just run...making footprints in the snow and laughing to himself.  It was quite funny to watch

March randomness with Joey and Leah

Leah is 4!

Me (2 months ago at Bekah's birthday) "Leah! your birthday will be next, it's in  March!"

Leah  "YAY!  I want a parade cake!"

me "okaay.. a parade cake" (weird kid)

Leah a few days later " I'm going to have a parade bithday!"

Me...thinking... okay I guess she is stuck in this "parade" thing

A few days later the kids are playing, marching around after each in a parade.  Then it clicks... They are MARCHing and Leah's birthday is in MARCH.. so no wonder she wants a Parade birthday, because obviously we will be marching in March.  Hahaha  silly 4 yr old !

So the parade cake didn't really work so I talked her into putting Tinkerbell on her cake instead.

We celebrated at G&G colton's house with a combined party and then we took Grandma Nilson out for dinner the next day to Spaghetti Factory. Leah got a new "big girl" bike and helmut, she was very excited and rode up and down the street telling every neighbor she saw that it was her birthday...what a cutie!

School fun

Sarah's class got to creat a Chinese Dragon and the entire 1st grade did a little parade around the school celebrating the Chineese New Year.  They had a blast!

5 years ago...

Just doing a little pondering and remembering tonight...

5 years ago this month, Zack and I made a monumental decision that sent us on a whirlwind adventure to move back to Utah.  The holiday season of 2004 was a lonely one for me. We had lived away from Utah for 8 years (minus a little 9 mo stay inbetween school and residency). We had 3 little girls and Emma was going to be starting Kindergarten in the fall. We wanted to have another child and the thought of being so far from our extended family was getting really depressing for me.

We put lots of thought and prayer into it and decided that Zack would start "looking" for a  job in Utah. In 2 weeks, Zack not only had a great job but we had put the house up for sale and sold it within 5 days and we were moving out.  What an amazing thing! The Lord provided a way for us to return.

I still deeply miss beautiful WA state, our friends there and the cozy little "easter egg" house we had in Stanwood.  But I'm also grateful to be close to Grandparents and have enjoyed watching my kids play with and enjoy their cousins.

It's amazing how time flies!

The 3 girls.. not long before the move to Utah playing in the back yard: