Missed

Mark, Ashley, Sam, and Scout were here for the whole summer and that made the summer so much more fun. Before they went home we stopped by to pick up my parents car before we headed out to family dinner. This would be the last time we would see them.

Gracie sure loves Scout (we all do but man was she smitten).

I sure do miss that sweet girl.

And the kids sure miss Sam. The other day William was talking to someone and said, "I have a cousin who is only three but he sure knows his manners." It's true, Sam is one sweet kid and we love it when he is here.

After we headed out  to my parents to celebrate Connie's birthday.

we also celebrated a few day earlier by going to see the movie Austenland again, which was so funny and I highly recommend.

Science Center with dad

I spent the whole day that they were at school to try and get home school ready but I wasn't quite there so on Tuesday I sent them on a field trip with Dad to the science center.

I think they all loved the stomach slide with farting noises best. 

They all had a blast while I stayed home and prepared for school.

Our family is 10 years old

As our 10 year anniversary approached we played around with different ideas on what to do to celebrate but decided in the end to keep it simple. We watched our wedding video at home and then kids really liked it. Then we went to a nice little local restaurant and got something to eat for lunch. The kids had a good time cause Nacho Libre was playing on the TV there.

Then we went to the temple grounds and talked about how great the last 10 years again and we decided on our family vision for the next 10 years. Our goal is to be out of debt by then and to have taken a family trip to Europe.

After that we wanted to do something fun for the kids to we took them to the Mesquite groves pool where they have a really good time.

William and Gracie in the whirlpool

Joseph just wanted to snuggle in the towel or be held in the lazy river. It was actually a really cold day for August. I think it was 84 degrees.

On the way home we stopped at Bosa Donuts. All in all it was a pretty great day.

Later that week Russ' parents watched our kids so we could go out to dinner. We decided to try ZinBurger since we had heard so much about it. I was skeptical because of the hype it had been given but man was that a delicious burger and shake (salted caramel).

The past 10 years have truly flown by. So much has happened, so much growth. I can honestly say that the best choice I have ever made was to marry Russ in the Temple. He is my first, my last, my everything.

Sicks

It started with Joseph throwing up on the 4th of July and just got worse. I think everyone had their turn being sick, but Joe was the only one who threw up. The rest of us just got major colds and felt pretty bad. Russ and Joe seemed to take forever to get better. But finally when we left the month of July we left the sickness behind.

Becoming a Bobcat

This kid loves scouts.

Gracie's 6th birthday party

Our attempt at an Alice In Wonderland cake.

Waiting for her friends to come

Gracie and her best buddy Jonah and their decorated hats

With Presley and Joseph too

Time for the tea party, the brothers always have to join the fun.

Connie came on her lunch break to celebrate with us. Wouldn't be the same without Connie there.

William being a goofball and making everyone laugh.

Everyone with their hats and then it was time to paint the roses red.

They did so good and no one got paint on themselves!

Then they got to decorate cupcakes.

Time to blow out the candles

She told William he could help (she is the best at sharing).

These are little piggy candles I found for her.

She got a lot of fun stuff but the best part was sharing the day with all her friends.