Bringing in July 2010 with a BANG!

Our July began with foot surgery for me! I had a severe case of Plantar Fasciitis and chose to correct it with surgery. While I was getting over the nausea and inability to "chase" after kids, my in-laws and neighbors made certain our children were taken care of. Austin and Alyssa spent several days at Grandma Barbie's house while Taylor and Jaxson spent hours on end with Jen and Yolanda. Thanks to all!

JULY 4th FIREWORKS
from our front porch

Dave took these pictures. Obviously, they aren't too clear but it does show the wonderful view we enjoyed from the porch of the fireworks over the temple!

PIRATE ISLAND

Since I was limping around okay, we took the kids on July 5th to Pirate Island for lunch and playtime. It was a blast! The food was delicious and the kids had a great time. We met the Johnstons there for a while as well.

Taylor and Riley with their hats and pirate muscles

Baby Girl on the train!

Alyssa and Ella LOVED this little ride!
They rode it again and again and again....

Austin working the game!

Our family

HIGHLAND SPLASH PARK!

There is a new splash park in Highland. After spending hours at the splash parks in Vegas, we were all over this one! The kids spent a few hours playing in the water. They loved it!

Okay, baby girl Alyssa is just too 'butterball" in her little swimming suit! I had complete strangers approach me to tell me how adorable she was and how much they wanted to squeeze her little body!

Alyssa and Jaxson having fun!

Cutie Pie, Taylor!

I LOVE THE WATER!

STEEL DAYS

We went over the Jeff's house for the Steel days parade! What did I learn about this parade? That 2 hours with only a handful of candy thrown gets quite boring for kids! Jeff and Nicole are awesome company and helped keep the kids hydrated and fed during the 2 hour parade.

Jeff, Dave and the kids

Where are the floats?
And more importantly, WHERE is the CANDY?

Say, "Cheese!"
Alyssa loved this mask! What a funny kid!

MERIDETH'S 31st BIRTHDAY
On Saturday night, we met at Thanksgiving Point Gardens for a nice dinner in honor of Merideth. Last year, we were all out of town for her birthday so this year, we were happy to be here to celebrate her 31st. Merideth is super generous, kind and a great friend. They just had their 3rd child a few weeks ago.

Merideth, Nate and baby Keaton

Our dinner party

Rueben and Yolanda

Nate is soooo cute with this baby. What a great daddy!

One of the many dinner dishes we enjoyed....

Alison and her husband, just back from Texas

"Happy Birthday to YOU!"

Blowin' out the candle!

NEW EARRINGS

Yesterday, we met at the mall for new earrings for Riley and Taylor.

Jen with her cute kids!

One happy girl....!

Taylor and her daddy

The Lindsays showed up for the fun

Moms and their girls.
It doesn't get any better than this!

June: RODEOS, CEDAR HILLS CELEBRATION & SWIM LESSONS

THE LEHI RODEO

We went to the Lehi Rodeo with Dave's parents and Cheri's family. We ended up taking Jaxson and Austin. We had the greatest time. The boys loved it, especially the motorbike jumping. Here are some pictures from our good time.

Yeeeha! Dave, Barbara, Dave

Cheri, Austin, Hope and her friend

Bucking horses!

Cheri and Austin

Blue tongue boy!

Happy boys!

Beautiful Cheri and Hope

Motorbike Jumps!

CEDAR HILLS CELEBRATION
We have a 15+ year tradition of attending the Cedar Hills City celebration with Uncle Doug. It is always so much fun. Anyway, we met at our usual meeting place for the parade and tailgating (Utah style). The parade was short and fun.

Tailgaters....Uncs, Dane and Taylor

My cute baby boy, Austin

Cousin Doug and his adorable family (minus Brendon)

Cousin Doug, Dave and Uncs

Melissa's mom, Marcia, just arrived from Brazil. She LOVES children and loves to spend time playing with them. Marcia took a liking to Alyssa right away and played with her and Dylon for several hours at Uncle Doug's house.

Austin, playing games!

Jaxson, enjoying his chips and fruit!

Uncle Doug has the best backyard! He works so hard to keep it beautiful. We loved playing croquet and soccer. The kids roasted marshmellows down by the creek to make smores.

SWIMMING LESSONS

This year, I tried something different than having the kids take swimming lessons at the local pools....and it worked! There is a lady who lives near one of the schools where I teach who used to be the swim coach at BYU. Her daughter, Sarah, teaches along with her mother during the summer. I enrolled our oldest 3 children and they flourished (except for Austin).

A blog entry isn't complete without our baby girl, Alyssa!
What a sweetie!

Baby girl and her cheesy smile

Jaxson, jumping off the diving board into the deep

Swimming to the shallow end, ready to flip on his back for a breath of air

Back float

Yes, this looks like Taylor is walking on water. She doesn't jump as enthusiastically as Jaxson. Guess I caught the picture at the right moment....!
Watching Taylor swim is amazing! She is long and strong so her strokes are long and strong. What a little athlete.

Flipping onto her back for a breath of air....!

Sarah (in the yellow sweats), is teaching the kids diving techniques.

Jaxson, learning how dive.
(I love how Sarah does this)

Lift your leg!

Sarah then "dumps" him in the pool!
Let's see if Taylor caught on to the trick.....

Getting her form ready!

A perfect 10! :)

Austin
The first 3 days of lessons, Austin was amazing! He was in the pool with his little friends learning how to breath under water etc. On day 4, half-way through the lesson, Austin quit wanting to do much of anything! Then he bawled and bawled. And that is how we left our 2 week lessons.

Grandma Barbie, trying to coax Austin into the water.

Alyssa loved her jewelry

Jaxson and Alyssa in the jeep car I bought from our neighbor's yard sale