Helping

As I've said before Sophia loves her popsicles!  One day Brandon and Sophia were playing outside and Brandon came in to see if he could give Sophia a popsicle.  I said yes, but as soon as she was done she needed to go down for her nap.  He came in a little while later to let me know she was done and I told him to take a washrag outside and clean her up.  I walked out to bring her in for her nap and this is what I found.  Sophia was laughing and they were both having fun.  Love it!

One of my favorite things

I love it when my kids are quietly reading.  Of course I have to force them to every day, and they grumble while they get their book and find a place to read, but after that..........Ahhhhhhhhh. Bliss.

4th of July

Over the long 4th of July weekend we did some of our own fireworks and Sophia especially loved the pop-its.  She would throw them down and if the didn't pop (which they usually didn't) she would step on them.  She is not afraid of the fireworks at all and says loud, or boom boom.

I think it's necessary for every kid to play in the hose naked.  OK, so she's not completely naked, but she doesn't have a diaper on, so it counts.  I just didn't want to cover her entire body in sunscreen.

On the 4th we always go to our friends house for a barbecue and fireworks extravaganza!  This year they rented a bounce house for the kids and they had so much fun!

After lunch Ben had some time to relax and talk with his girls.

Everyone who comes brings some fireworks and they all get set up and fused together.  This little city is complete with army men and small containers of gasoline to keep things going.  It is really loud, but the kids LOVE it!

The aftermath.  The soldiers get collected to use again next year as veterans, and the whole thing gets hosed down and put in the garbage.  Their driveway recovers remarkably well each year.

After this we head over to the soccer fields on the other side of town to watch the fireworks display by Melaleuca.  We are pretty far away from the river where they are set off, but we get home quickly, it is a lot less crowded, and the kids get to run around before the fireworks get started.  Next year Sara said she wants to be closer, so I will probably be with the older kids by the river and Ben will go with Sophia out to the soccer fields.  We made sure Sophia got a nice long nap, so she was fine staying up late.  Sophia of course loved the "big boom booms" and would call out every color she saw in the sky.  We had such a fun weekend and it's reasons like this why I love living in Idaho Falls!

Utah in June (again) continued.....

While Ben was back in Idaho working the kids and I had a great time and had a lot of fun adventures.  On Tuesday Grandma Esau took Sara and Brandon for the day and went to the movies among other fun things.  Sophia and I met up with them for dinner at this fun park.

The kids and I went to The Living Planet Aquarium one day.  Sophia was scared of this frog at first, but ended up giving him a kiss.  She liked seeing all the fish and the penguins. 

Brandon really liked the stingrays and he wanted to feed them instead of getting a souvenir.

Another day we went to Hogle Zoo with my sister-in-law Nicole and her two kids, my other sister-in-law Kim and her five kids and Grandma Esau.

Sara and Olivia

Olivia splashing in the water

Grandma Esau with her grandkids at the end of the day

Sara and I went to a bridal shower for my soon to be sister-in-law Crissy and got glitter toes!  Love it!

Finally the day of my brother Owen's wedding was here!  Here is my sister Rachel watching Owen's kids Jessica and Mitchell before the wedding.

The wedding started about an hour late, so we had to entertain the kids by taking walks, jumping, playing games, and looking at all the plants.

Of course snacks and treats worked too.

Crissy asked Sara to hold the train of her dress while she walked down the aisle and Sara was so excited to be part of the wedding.

The happy couple......

I mean the happy couple with the best man and maid-of-honor.

After the wedding at the luncheon Eugene the happy clown made an appearance to give the couple some marriage advice.  Wow, he looks a lot like my brother- what a coincidence :)

Here is the cake I created.  Of course the heat/air conditioning messed with the icing a bit, but I think it turned out beautiful!  

Ben had to drive home that night, since he had a training in Boise, so Nicole and I left the reception early and took the kids to see Cars 2.  Such a cute movie!

We had such a great time, but we were worn out!  It took me a couple of days to recover from the "vacation" to Utah and catch up on all the laundry and housework.

Utah in June (again)

We drove back to Utah June 17th so we could be at our friend's wedding the next day.  Ben's high school friend Matt Barker married his sweetheart Marcela in the Salt Lake Temple and it was so beautiful!

Sophia eating a chocolate covered strawberry

Later that night we went to a reception for Matt and Marcela.  Sara and Brandon didn't want to come, so they stayed with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Nicole.  Sophia came with us and we had a great time visiting with old friends.

Sophia had a great time playing in the dirt and dancing with Dad.

I always take pictures of wedding cakes, and this one was very pretty.  

Sunday was Father's day, so I made sure to bring Ben's presents with us to Utah.  He got a Bocce ball set, a new case for his phone and pictures of the kids.  The picture is horrible I know, but I am still learning to use my new camera.  Ben drove back to Idaho Sunday afternoon because he had to work the next week, while we got to stay in Utah and play!

June 4-5

We drove to Utah the first weekend in June and we had a lot to do!  The first thing was a bridal shower for Chrissy who is going to marry my brother Owen.  My niece Emma is so cute and easy-going and Sara loves holding her!

Brandon even took a break from running around to hold Emma. 

After the bridal shower I got to meet up with the girls on Ben's side of the family for dinner/baby shower for my sister-in-law Noel who had a baby boy a few weeks ago.

Sunday morning  my entire extended family got together at Murray park for pictures.  I haven't seen them yet, but I heard they turned out awesome!  After pictures we went to the playground so the little kids could run around and the big kids could try and break something.

After pictures Ben went to the baby blessing for Jared and Noel's cute baby boy and I took the kids to a different park to play for the afternoon.  My cousin's little girl Paytin is about 8 months older than Sophie, and they are so cute together!  

Ben called when he was done with the blessing, so we picked him up and went to Monte and Kim's house for Craig's birthday party.  It was nice to finally relax after running around all weekend!

Pitching machine 2011

Baseball season starts in June around here, so it's still pretty cold.  Most of the time Brandon had to wear his coat and long pants.  He was on a really great team this year and had 2 amazing coaches!

He really likes playing and is getting better every year.

Running for home!

June

I will start with some random fun pictures from June.  Sophia loves popsicles and will eat 2-3 every day. I bought the slow melt ones and they are fabulous!  

She really likes reading the books Grandma Esau sent her.

I have been trying to get Sophie involved in doing some chores around the house.  She seems to like folding towels.

Here is my pile of "folded" kitchen towels.  Gee thanks Sophie.

Her new favorite show is Dora the Explorer.  Sara is usually watching Netflix on the t.v. and Brandon is playing on the other computer, so Sophie gets set up on Dad's computer with his headphones.

Sara and Brandon are getting much better at playing with Sophia.  This night Brandon played with her for a long time building with her blocks and riding the horse.

I taught Brandon how to mow the lawn and he really likes doing it!  I think it helps that I pay him.  

June was very busy for us, so stay tuned for more of our adventures!

Working on it!

I am working on editing my pictures so I can update everybody on what we have been doing.  I should be done soon, so check back!