We had a Western weekend. We went to celebrate back to school at a steakhouse (Brody's favorite restaurants).

It was a real treat!

Then we headed over to the rodeo. First, we took a look at the 4-H animals. The smell of course, made Brody gag!


Next we looked at the cool tractors! Then we watched the rodeo. Travis told us about all the fun ward rodeos that he went to as a kid. As for the kids and Me, it was our first. We all really liked it. Charli and Alyssa might have had more fun dancing around in the aisles than watching, but it was good. Unfortunately, the girls started running around too much, so we needed to go. We lasted about an hour and a half. The next time we go, I think I'll stay with the girls so the boys could see the whole thing. Brody was disappointed to have missed the Bull Riding. What we did see was amazing. It was a great family night!

First Day of School

Well the first day of school went really well! What a relief. We were not ready for it to start yet. It started really early this year! But I think that the kids were excited to see their friends. We had gone to back to school night the night before so we knew that the kids got great teachers. We always hope for that. Plus, the kids had some of their friends in their classes, so that was great too!

The first day was a little more difficult for Trey. He got into one of his stubborn moods. He did not want to go. He wouldn't talk to his teacher or anyone while we were waiting in line before school. But after a few bribery attempts, he got happy and went into school. When I came to get him, his teacher said that he did great. Trey loved it and he made a couple new friends and even reported that he had a girlfriend! Go Trey! The 2nd day went way better. He rode the bus and then chatted with his new buddies until it was time to go in to school. I always get so nervous for the first day, but everything was great!

Summer is too short!

The kids love to color & draw. The trick is trying to get Charli and Alyssa to color on paper, not on themselves, or the wall!

Out of all the kids, Alyssa has been at the youngest age to develop a love for swimming. She loves to get in the pool and swim around. We have to really watch her because she'll just dive right in! We put her in her little floaty and she loves to splash and kick around!

Alyssa will always give kisses!

All the kids love swimming with Dad and Grandpa!

I forgot to lock my bedroom door and Alyssa made herself "pretty" with my lipstick!

Summer fun

Every activity is more fun with the hose!

Travis and Trey love exercising in the water. They jump on the tramp, then they run around the yard, then they dive into the pool. What could be more fun?

We're #1!

Another thing that the boys love is playing Nintendo!

Trey has switched to a 2- wheeler He loves riding his bike. He also thinks he needs to wash it every time he rides it! But, he only likes washing it at Grandma's house. He has the cleanest bike in town!

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's house

One of Alyssa's favorite things to do is to put on other people's shoes. We have lost so many shoes this summer because she is always taking them! Another favorite pastime of all the kids is to go to Grandma & Grandpa's house. It's the first thing they ask me in the morning. "When are we going to Grandma's house?" So we try to get the house cleaned up, then we go. There is only one thing that could make this summer even more perfect, and that is that we could see both sets of Grandparents equally as much!

The kids love the hot tub! Lately, Charli will sit in there and ask Grandpa about all the things we will do at Disneyland.

They all love jumping on the trampoline. I think Alyssa loves the tramp the most. She says "Wanna jump!"

The boys have all mastered various "pool jumps." Here is Brody's kung fu jump!

They also love having water gun fights! Charli and Alyssa love playing in water too. They love getting buckets full of water and then dumping them out. They also cannot resist picking Grandpa's flowers. I always tell them not to, but they just can't help themselves! The other thing they love at Grandma's, is the food. Even if we have just eaten before we go there, they are always hungry. Even if I bring food, Grandma's food always tastes better!

Just me and the boys!

On Saturday I got to have a little "date" with TJ and Brody! It was so much fun! I hardly ever get to do things with just the two of them! We went to get their free books from Barnes and Noble and the library. They have really worked hard on their summer reading program and it was great to pick some new books. They got coupons for a free meal at Applebee's, so then we went out for lunch. It was such a peaceful lunch! Then we went shoe shopping! I just feel that I don't get to spend very much one-on-one time with the boys, so this was a treat! Meanwhile, Trav had taken the other 3 for a little treat at Wendy's. We ended the day with a fun little round of Monopoly. It was a totally unusual and fun saturday!

Funny Kids

Here are a few funny tidbits from the kids. First of all, Alyssa learns new words almost every day. She is at such a fun stage right now. When she can't open something, or she wants you to help her, she'll come up and look at you very seriously and say,"can't!" It's very sweet!

Today at church, Brody was surprised to see someone sitting on "our" row. Now luckily he didn't say anything to them. But they did move because I guess they found family they needed to sit by. When we saw this he said, "Sweet! We got our row back!" The people who were sitting there definitely heard him too because they said,"we thought we might be sitting in someone's seat!" Another thing about Brody is that he is getting really excited for his baptism. One thing he was very definite about was wanting this certain person (who he has a very big crush on) to sing. (It was the same girl who sang at Isaac's baptism). Anyway, this one time Travis told him to go over and ask her and he said," It's hard for me to talk to her because I love her so much!"

The other day Trey and Brody were kind of joking around with each other and Trey said, "Well Brody, you look like throw up for real!"

This isn't really funny, but lately Charli has been our little artist. Unfortunately, she has been using anything she can get her hands on as a canvas. She has colored on every seat in our car, has colored on numerous walls, has colored on the leather couches, and recently has "colored" on Lyssa with my makeup. I now have to lock my bedroom door & watch her very closely. I don't know how she always manages to find the permanent markers, but she does. I've got to find a better way for her to develop her talents!