4th of July

I'm a little late posting this, but the 4th of July sure was a fun day! We went to our ward's traditional 4th of July breakfast. It was at a park so there was lots of fun stuff to do. Alyssa couldn't get enough of the swings.

It was great spending the day relaxing with dad. YEAH! No work!

After we ate, there were games and a parade.

The kids worked really hard on blowing those bubbles!

Then we went to grandma's for a bar-b-Q and to swim. Then we actually went to a country club to watch the fireworks. It was a blast! There were rides for the kids, cotton candy to eat, and we saw quite a few people from our ward there! It was great! The kids loved the big fireworks, and oohed and aahed the whole time. Somehow Alyssa fell asleep through the noise. It was a great day. Well, any day that you get to spend with the whole family is a great day! The only problem was that they sure were missing their cousins and grandparents considering they were with them last year on the 4th.

From Caterpillars to Butterflies!

This summer we got to witness a caterpillar's metamorphosis to a butterfly. It was so awesome! My mom ordered this kit and it came with a jar of tiny caterpillars, with their food on the bottom of the jar. In about a week they became ten times their size, and then you got to see them make their cocoons.

Trey liked calling them their "cozy cocoons!" The cocoons were attached to the top of the jar lid, and we took the lid off and pinned it to the "treehouse."

Then we got to watch as the butterflies came out!

We released them a few days later and the kids had a blast holding them, and then watching them fly away!

What a fun thing for the kids! They watched the caterpillars so carefully, and were so excited for the next step.

All of the kids LOVED the butterflies!

Our Neighborhood Festival

We had a fun time at our neighborhood family festival. We played games...

...everyone got prizes...

...we ate goodies...

...blew (and tasted) bubbles...

...and played games with dad! Some of our friends (who want to be baptized) came with us, which made the day even more fun. But it really got me thinking. Their mom doesn't want them to get baptized because their family would disown them because they are Muslim. I am so grateful to have been born into the family I was, with the restored gospel, and to live in this free land. We have been so blessed!

Another Monday

Today was a really nice Monday. The boys played so nicely all morning, making plans for these ramps they were going to make for their mini-skateboards. I just love it when everyone gets along! Then we went to this play date with everyone from Trey's preschool and that was great too! The day digressed a little after that though. Brody came rushing in to tell me that Alyssa and Charli were getting into the yogurt. I came in and they had opened about 10 yogurts, dumped them out, and were finger painting all over the table and themselves. I was pretty mad, but I wished I had just taken a picture of it and laughed. Anyway, after dinner we had FHE and that is always a zoo. It ended with Alyssa dancing around to "Follow the Prophet," which was so cute. Then she started running around the house. She suddenly stopped, took off her diaper, and peed all over the floor. I was trying to chase her to put another diaper on and some PJ's, but she kept refusing and would get away. I finally got the diaper on, but I wasn't too sad for bed time!

TJ's Cub Scout Day Camp

After the reunion, we left early Monday morning so we could get TJ back for his cub scout day camp. He had a great time and for more details look at his blog. On Wednesday, my mom watched the kids so I could go up and help at camp. I love being able to spend some one-on-one time with my kids. We especially had a fun time doing the skit. I'm kind of sad because next year TJ will not be in Cubs anymore, and the Dad's go with them if they have overnighters. But, Travis will have a blast camping with him! I absolutely loved being able to work with TJ in scouts!



When I got back to pick up the kids, my mom told me some cute things that the kids said while I was gone. In Brody's evening prayer he blessed that the endangered animals would thrive and not become extinct. And my mom asked Trey if he knew that she loved him and he said, "Grandma, I've known that for years!"

Pack Meeting Olympics

TJ has really enjoyed cub scouts. Brody can hardly wait until he's in it! And I miss being their leader! It was the best calling! I really enjoyed being able to work with TJ and the other scouts! Hopefully I will get that calling again! Anyway, this was a fun pack meeting where they raced and had several Olympic events! They had tons of fun!


Trey is a funny kid. Half of the time I didn't know where he was. Then I would see that he was really far away playing with his friend in the field. Remember on Sesame Street the song, "One of these kids, is not like the others... One of these kids is doing his own thing..." It's the perfect song to describe Trey. He is so independent, he makes his own fun, and if he doesn't want to do what everyone else is doing... he won't! Luckily, he did join us for some of the races!


Here is picture of another typical event in our family. Everyone loves Alyssa! The kids just can't keep their hands off her!