Father's Day

 These three little faces are so thankful for their dad!  He is the most loving father.  He plays with them, teases them, challenges them and teaches them what it means to be a good person.  I am thankful that my children have a father that is a big part of their lives.

Making daddy's favorite pancakes for breakfast! Ethan was the chef and Ella was the waitress!

Ella's Field Day

The last days of kindergarten Ella was able to have fun at the field day.  To celebrate, they have fire trucks come and do a sprinkler for the kids to run through, they had a dunking booth to dunk their principal, play relay games and other fun activities. 

 I had the honor of going in to Ella's class each week to read with the kids.  It was a wonderful experience for me.  On the days that it seemed like to much work to find someone to watch Cannon and coordinate my schedule, I was reminded how wonderful these children are when I would walk into the room and they would start clapping and cheering to see me.  I can't think of a better way to lift your spirits.  These kids are seriously the sweetest little things!!

Saying goodbye to Miss Welch was a bit emotional.  She has been the best fit for Ella and her first year in public school.  Thank you to you Miss Welch for loving our little Ella girl! Goodbye kindergarten, Ella is now officially a first grader!

Flaming Gorge

At 8:00 A.M. this morning, just as promised, Grandpa and Grandma pulled the RV into Camille’s driveway to pick us up for the camping trip!  We loaded up the endless bags of groceries (that we said we weren’t going to buy because we could just get food at the lodge to avoid having to pack food) and then loaded up the kids.  Down the road to head up the canyon we went.  Destination? Green Lakes campground at Flaming Gorge.  We had grandma’s famous streussel cake, along with donuts for breakfast as the kitchen on wheels hummed down the highway.  We stopped at the Jim Bridger Historical site on the way and even saw a cattle run while we were there.  

Of course Ella was excited to learn about the Pony Express.

 Once we got back on the road, the kids must’ve still been wiped out from our marathon Lagoon day yesterday, because they all grabbed a pillow of some sort and watched a movie or fell asleep.


When we reached our beautiful campsite on the lake, everyone was well rested and ready for adventure.  We began with horse trail riding and fishing in the pond.  Ella and her cousins had such a good time teasing back and forth with our “ornery cowboy guide”.  Ella’s cousin was on a horse that was a bit skittish and it made her cousin nervous to go  on.  We asked Ella if she would go on that horse and she did without hesitation.  I am happy to see that Ella’s hard work in lessons are teaching her some skills and courage regarding horses.  Ella hopped on and the horse never gave her any problems- if he started acting out, Ella would quickly rein him in and move on. 

We took a break to eat dinner at the lodge and then continued a few more hours of fishing, but upgraded from the pond to the lake and using canoes, row boats and paddle boats.  

Ethan has found a new thrill as he falls asleep telling me all his fish stories and has his tackle box on his pillow next to him.

This is the view we saw when we reached the top of the horse trail.


The staff at this lodge where we ate dinner was so welcoming and friendly- even with a party of 18 with the majority being children.



Cannon has been a trooper, with very little complaining. He has been needing to be suctioned a lot and I am thankful that the generator is working in the RV so we can use the suction machine on him. I just love that little guy and I look forward to our family reunion tomorrow and Saturday to have my extended family get to spend some time with him.  They have all been so supportive and loving, and I am excited to reconnect with them.  I’m also happy to  show my children some of the places in Vernal that I have a lot of fond memories when I was a little girl.

Hot Dog Roast

Since Camille's girls stayed over at Grandma's with us last night, we decided to meet up after church in the canyon to take pictures in the poppy fields and she could pick up her girls from me.  Camille called and said she had lots of hot dogs and suggested that it would be a fun idea to start a fire at the campground near the poppies and roast hot dogs and s'mores. It's amazing how something as small as a mosquito can put a kink in the works?  Camille to the rescue- everyone sprayed and on with the fun!  The boys found a snake and butterfly. The girls found a rope swing.

 Unfortunately the poppies weren't in full bloom yet but I made Jess stand by this tree while I snapped a few shots of her.  The mosquitoes were terrible so we only had a few minutes before we were ran out of the trees.  Luckily Jessica is gorgeous and it doesn't take long to get some great shots of her.  I can't believe how quickly she is growing! She starts her Sophomore year this year and already has her learner's driving permit!!

Jessica went back with her mom because she had a church meeting to get to, but we were lucky enough to keep Morgan and Afton for another night.  Back at Grandpa and Grandma's house we were having delicious brownies and ice cream.  Russ came with the kids (Mer has a sore throat, so she stayed home with Sawyer),  Jeff and Cristal, James, Hannah, Brandon, Caitlin and Shawn were there and Spencer and Jenny came with their kids as well.  It was fun to catch up with everyone and share some good laughs.  We are getting ready for our family reunion in Vernal this weekend and we talked about different things we remembered growing up.  It's been over 10 years since I've been to Vernal and I'm excited to show my kids where I was born.

We are in Utah- so it's time to party!!

The first thing Ella said when arriving in Utah was, "I need to have a birthday party at Grandma's house like I did last year."  Nostalgia beat out logic as I remembered all the fond memories I have of celebrating my June birthday at my grandma's house in California every summer.  We have so many activities planned that are going to be crammed into the next ten days that I figured tonight was the only logical option.  Two hours of party planning was all it took. Ella requested a theme of unicorns and rainbows.  I loaded Ella and her cousins up in the car and we headed to the dollar store and walmart to let them pick the party decorations out.  We made a stop at Hobby Lobby and we were set.  If you know me, you know that I'm not big on plastic tablecloths and mismatched serving bowls, but tonight was about Ella and her cousins creating the party and just having a good time! We ended up going back to grandma's to find additional party guests ready to have some fun!  After pizza and ice cream, we made unicorn horns and the kids played unicorns in the backyard until dark.  Then we pulled out the glow in the dark rainbow colored necklaces and bracelets and the kids went back outside for some more fun.  When it was time for bed, we put on Barbie and the Magic Pegasus video to help them unwind.  What a great birthday at Grandma's house!  Thank you everyone for being so awesome!

Brandon and Caitlin added Skittles candy to the cake so we could all "Taste the Rainbow!"

Morgan got some clay at Hobby Lobby to make this unicorn for the cake topper.  She has never made a unicorn before and this one only took her about 10 minutes.  She is so talented!!!

James and Hannah strategically hung the garland.

The little girls worked together to set the table for pizza and make-your-own-rainbow fruit kabobs.

Logan

My parents basement, with the blackout curtains, cool temperature and sound insulated from the rest of the house, it is a recipe for sleeping in.  Today was filled with a relaxing morning, followed by lunch at Herm’s- an old gas station that has been restored as an amazingly cool restaurant. There were so many elements that I would love to add in our new home (yes, I am still hopeful that we will one day be building a home).  Not only did this place have the style to impress but the food was divine!  Cannon started crying as soon as we got there and couldn't stop.  I thought maybe he had been stung by a bee so I checked him, and his car seat, but found no evidence.  It was so sad to hear him cry for so long.  Once he finished, he was exhausted and grandma snuggled him while I ate my lunch.  Ella, Afton and Avery had a good time and for dessert? Chocolate mustaches!!

  

Ethan stayed the night last night at his cousin Brady’s house. When they returned to Grandma’s house this afternoon to go swimming, Ethan was super excited to tell me all about the adventures they had.  They went biking down an “80 degree sloped mountain” where Ethan had to “hold on to the brakes almost the whole way so I wouldn’t go too fast and crash.”  At the bottom of the mountain was a sno cone stand. They cooled off from the 100 degree weather with a sno cone and headed back up the “80 degree sloped mountain” where Ethan had to “pedal as hard as I could so he “wouldn’t fall backwards down the steep mountain.” Even though I don’t love the fact that we live so far from family, I do love that when we get together with them, the cousins pick right up where they left off and don’t miss a beat.  

The last three days have been filled with lots of activities; sleep overs, swimming, campground picnics, birthday parties, and the whole family meeting up for brownies and ice cream. 

Our neighbor found out a couple months ago that he has a degenerative eye disease and the only cure is surgery.  The only surgeon that performs this particular surgery is located in Beverly Hills.  Tonight I am trusting my children to grandpa and grandma while I meet Kent in Los Angeles for a little getaway because our neighbors invited us to go along.  In turn we are going to do some fun tourist things and make a tough situation a little bit better.   Their flight was delayed and so I have a little time to myself.  It’s amazing how being away from your children for an evening to go on a date is not a big deal, but only being away from my children tonight for a few hours so far, I really am feeling sentimental.  Maybe it’s because I am so far from them or that I know I won’t be kissing their cheeks when they go to sleep tonight.  Kent and I try to keep a healthy balance of time with the kids and time for just each other.  I know my children are safe and happy and that helps me to be able to enjoy the next 36 of “Kent time”. 

Our Funny Ella

I had to write these funny stories down because they were too good to forget:

Funny #1:

Today we went to my parents ward- I must tell you that my parents live in retirement community- and before church started, all of my mom's friends wanted to see Cannon so they all came around our bench to say 'hello'.  When church started, everyone settled down in their seats and Ella sat next to my mom and said, "Grandma? ...  There are a lot of old people in Utah."

Funny #2:
Ella was overheard having a conversation with her cousins where she was bragging about her little brother by saying, "Cannon is a lot smarter than me.  He can do things I can't do."
Grandma interjected and said, "Oh,?  What can he do that you can't do?"
Ella quickly responded, "He can put his eyes clear up in his head and I can't do that."

Prosser Grand Opening

tThe Grand Opening Event for the Prosser office was a great success.  We aimed for a certain number of people to be there and blew past it within the first hour.  We are so thankful to have the support of the community to welcome us to the neighborhood.  The local High School Cheerleading team came to help run the games, the fire dept brought their firetruck and even gave out fireman hats to all the kids.  The staff was wonderful to keep organization and the flow going smoothly.  I had major help from my friends, painting the paper lanterns to look like hot air balloons, making game posters and getting the game supplies purchased and put together.  Luckily my parents came up to help and brought my niece Jessica with them (surprise!) because she was a BIG help.  We had a great time setting up paper lanterns - hot air balloons- in honor of the Hot Air Balloon Rally that happens every fall in Prosser.  Our friend was kind enough to DJ so we had great music to keep us in the party mood.  The whole event was complete with food, games, raffles and two bounce houses for the kids.  The two top prizes were an iPad and Free Braces!!  We are excited to become a part of the community and couldn't have been happier with our warm welcome.