So, after the last post of goodness, here comes yet another- longer in length....ya, i'm serious. Sorry, but we've been a busy bunch lately!!!!!!
The Friday after graduation, (3 days later) we met my sis's half way and they took our kids for the weekend. Pretty much, my parents RULE. It was the best present ever! We welcomed it with open arms and to think we'd have from Fri-Tues w/o kids made us completely giddy.
one problem- I'd seriously gotten so caught up in my own happiness that I spaced the fact that Casi being here was way more important than being down here kidless. So, We had a marvelous fri-sun afternoon, then we headed up to spend more time with her before she headed back home. I'm so glad we did!!!
But- in the meantime. We did play while the kids were away. It was great to not have to worry about anything but ourselves- ya, I'm selfish like that.
But fri night while we were w/friends, my mom in law texted me that it was time for my sis in law Breanne to start pushing!!! AHHH!!! I was going to be there for the birth, but hadn't really heard much all day and when stuff finally started happening it was about 3 texts in 3 minutes and the baby was here. So, Brent and I zoomed up to the hospital to meet our newest niece Jaina Emilie.
so cute!!! We're so happy for you guys and we love you!
After the weekend of relaxation, we bit the bullet and drove up north for the greater good. It was fun spending time with Cas. I love her so much. My heart aches for her when she's far away. I really really hope she moves closer soon. She's my kindred.
the kids played a nice game of tag with her before we piled in the car for our fifth and a half trip home from this place in a week.
and of course a funny picture was in order
Cas and the kids. We were so sad to leave her.and so sad to leave cousins behind.
When we got home, a couple days later we decided to have an oversleep with Xander and Mara to give Breanne some quiet time with her little new girly. The girls had a ball. And they were so excited to all wear their matching Karri jammies for bed.
of course, it's always pleasant to unload pictures off the camera and find these beauties! Oh the faces this girl makes!
Conli and Mara found their way to a friends house that afternoon and loaded on the makeup. Oh so beautiful!
It was fun having a cousins oversleep!
We were lucky enough to be invited to go boating with Travis and Liz on Saturday.
Boating is kind of heaven for me. I need nothing but a swim suit, water, sun and beverages. Throw in a BBQ and bliss it is!!!
Here are my beautiful girls pre-boating catastrophe
Sawyer was the most brave and asked to go tubing first. Blew us away!!!! Too bad it ruined the rest of her day! She was so freaked out for the rest of the trip!!!! She was worried for whoever was on the tube, sure they were going to fall off; afraid the boat was going to tip; afraid people would drown while they were swimming; just everything......catastrophe. She is banished from any further boating excursion- if they ever dare invite us again
She pretty much stayed right here the rest of the day...again- SO NERVOUS
Brent feeling the flow during our lunch break/BBQ.
Then Liz and Travis showcased their mad boarding skills. We loved watching them
and on the way back they let Max drive us quite a bit of the ways home. He did great and felt AWESOME!!!!
Sawyer FINALLY decided to calm down enough to sleep about 2 minutes away from the dock...oh baby girl- so tired. So worn out. So scared all day. So unnecessary!
That night was Sean's last and I mean FINAL fight.we were excited to go and support the Hooligan again- and this venue was crazy...
I think this might have been one of Kortney's least favorite hanging out's ever...
some of the ladies. It was so fun to hang this night - in this crazy atmosphere- with all the scantilly clad hoochies walking around.... Sum, Nicolle, me and Sab
Finally it was Sean's fight. He had the coolest entrance ever. First came a drummer, then the bag pipes came rolling in. It was seriously cool.
but then the fight commenced.
and Sean got knocked out. And it was sad. And scary.but still good times. I have to say I even wanted to stay for the last fight. I've become a true fan.
Sum. Jill, Nic and I
Sum and the battle wounded
man friendsEric-Mark-Brent-Ben
The next evening. Summer and Sean hosted a FAT FEAST in celebration of no more training for Sean. I ate so much food....it's disgusting....really disgusting....then, whatdya know, a storm rolled in.
Yes, I'm well aware my back ground is still snow flakes. I'm not changing it to happier paper until this wretched weather produces more than 2 days of goodness in a row. I'm ALREADY SICK OF IT!!!!!
love these girls
The lightening was fierce and the kids were DYING!!!
AHHH!!! did you see that!!!???
HOLY LIGHTENING!!!
We got Ethan and Alec over Monday and since Alec was sleeping and we couldn't go swimming, we did the next best thing- da hose. Oh the fun!
Conli's turn to spray
Nothing beats drying off on the hot side walk.
Sawyer having a turn. She took a liking to spraying the booties of the boys...they laughed their heads off.
I love Max's face in this one....wait for it....wait for it.....
We were able to go to Thanksgiving Point Farm on Friday with some friends thanks to Jenny's awesome pass. It was something fun to do with my 5 children for the weekend. My niece and nephew are here for almost 2 months for a visit. How we love them. We haven't seen them for years and they are adorable. My mom took our kids for a weekend to keep them company and so I paid her back with a weekend for them here. Holy moly it was crazy. The kids went ballistic, but they had a ball. As hard as it was to have 5 insane-o kids here for 4 days, I've missed them....
Nya loves the stroller for some reason, and couldn't be bothered to remove her posterior from it the whole time. But, she had a good time nonetheless.bunnies
ducks
fowl of every kind
cute cousins
being brave and feeding the animals. 
this goat wanted a piece of Pierce
and this llama was killing Brynn and Conli. It'd just perch itself right up in their faces and demand corn bits. They were terrified it was going to spit at them and they couldn't stop laughing.
then came the prize winning moment of the day- the horsie rides. The kids all loved it!
Mardy was way excited to brag to Max about how he gets to stay up til like 11:00 every night at Mana & Papa's. We're not that nice, but we did let them have a late night this night. I promised the boys that when the movie was done and Iput the girls in bed, they could stay up super duper late and watch another movie. They were stoked. Funny thing is, Mardy was so worn out by the time it was their turn, he asked if he could go to sleep instead! It was so funny. He didn't go to bed later than 10:30 the whole weekend- because he was so tired!!!
I love going to look at the pictures on the camera and finding Conli's goodness on them...she LOVES herself a bit!!! Can you tell???
Going up the canyon one day for a drive, we saw Travis floating off the side. The kids had to stop and see him, and of course, Brent's always up for a chat w/ a fisherman
It's true. We prayed SO hard for the rain to go away for the Summerfest to be enjoyed this day. And what do you know, a bout 2 hours after a horrific downpour at our house, the clouds parted. It was SOOO awesome!!! Most of the reason we wanted Mardy and Nya down this weekend was so we could go to the Summerfest!!!! I'm SOOOO grateful it worked out!
Girls first stop- the Merry Go Round. I was amazed that Sawyer just got in line, and jumped on a horse. She wasn't nervous at all!!! I thought Nya was going to be just as easy to get on the rides, but she flailed like you couldn't believe and started screaming, so we jumped off that bad boy right quick.
Conli LOVES these things. She'd ride one all day if she could I'm sure. What she would give to be in Mary Poppins when the blasted things actually go OFF the Merry Go Round....
They went on a HUGE slide and Indiana Jones Fun House before boarding the boats, but we didn't take pictures. This was one day I was not feeling top form. Nya still would have nothing to do with the rides. She was perfectly content to sit in the stroller and observe from her spot, all safe and sound.
While we were meeting up with friends in the kiddy part of the park, Brent took the "big" boys to the REAL rides. The first ride they hit up was the Scrambler. Max took it like a champ. Mardy wanted to woof. Brent took a video of it and the poor boy was about to lose his cookies as he rounded the last twirl. So, Max went on a couple others by himself.
We ran into Sabra, Mark and their kiddos and Sabra and I decided to flee to a park bench and pretend we weren't in the midst of twirling things. Our bellies were NOT handling it well.
Summer was driving down the road Thurs. morning and called me to tell me that people were already staking parade spots!!! WHAT!!!?? We always go lay our blankies down Friday morning! But luckily, Karri saved the day with a wicked HUGE tarp she laid out on our plot of parade land!!! After the kids were out of tickets, Karri took them all over to wait for the parade. The sun was still shining- it was blessed.
Mana, Breanne, Xander, Mara and Jaina showed up shortly after we got to the tarp. HOly smokes, you would've thought it was Christmas with how excited the kids were for the parade to start. The A.D.D. was in top form!
Nya couldn't contain herself. She kept tackling the boys and laughing her little laugh.
Since it was FRIGID June air, Summer threw Pierce a hoodie to keep warm. She blocked his line of sight and he figured out how to fix it right away!
me and my baby girl
trying to stay warm- thanks for the blankie Jess...
cutest boy
Nya being crazy yet again...always
I don't think the sway left Mara's hips all parade. She was the best dancer ever!
check her out!
twinners
Every time the "princesses" would come by, they would all try their hardest to get a wave. It was so funny. They'd get so excited when they'd get waved at- yes, even the boys
Pierce, Sum, Sean and Harley chillin
Nya tried to hide, but i got her. She loved snuggling Karri
Mara & Bre
Karri and Xan
from the time the parade ended until the time the fireworks started, we had plenty of time to kill. Karri the Wonder Aunt brought glo sticks for all the kids so they had plenty to do! They chased each other around for an hour. Pure bliss
and lucky us- Brent spotted Heidi, Jer and Co. as they were about to walk right past us. So, we got to enjoy their comp'ny for the evening of fireworks.
Finally the fireworks began. They were great. Fireworks are seriously my favorite. After Sawyer, Conli and Nya got over the initial shock, they loved them too-as long as someone was holding them tight.
these boys were entranced. It was soooo cute
Monday we just played outside. It was great weather, but a little too cold to swim, so the boys made many plans and had bike races
then they pulled out the ol standby for fun- hose
and bike washings
Monday night for FHE the boys wanted to go fishing again. Brent took them Friday afternoon, but they didn't stay too long and they wanted another try. The girls wanted to join them, so I had to go=I was in no mood for it! ESPECIALLY when I was hungry and the drive thru at the canyon Subway was ridiculous! We waited 11 minutes and they were still ignoring us, so I had to be starved- and with a wee one growing inside- that's almost abuse :)but then, look at how cute they are- i cheered up!
I think they only each caught one fish in 2 hours, but they loved it- I'll never understand the fishing obsession.....
pole dancing for the little gals
All ready to catch some fishies
the girls, who begged to go with the boys so that they could fish, wanted nothing to do with it- only with the park. So that's where I sat for 2 hours...
Nya decided to conquer this pole right away- and conquer she did!
Nya showed Conli that it weren't no thang to slide down this pole, so after about 11 tries, Conli finally worked up the courage to try.
then she moved on to conquer the monkey bars. This girl has no fear. She's as tiny as they come, wears size 2T clothes even though she's 4, and does everything without any thought. FIREBALL!
Sawyer tried to be brave also. But it only lasted long enough for her to dangle her feet for oh, about -02 seconds, then she screamed for help.
She was way more comfy manning the wheel and steering us away into the waters ahead.
they played on this slide for an hour of the night. Yelling at the boys as much as possible, and laughing their little freezing hands off.
Laughing EVERY time they ran into each other
Dad helping Max a little bit
Cute Fisherwoman
ah the sunset
i was freezing- pretty sure I shivered until 11 in the p.m. So, while I was trying not to curse at Mr. Brent for making us stay up here so long, I distracted myself with the beautiful scenery. I mean really, it's beautiful up there always.
Conli gave the reel a go go
but it didn't last long and she was back with Nya and Sawyer being crazies
On Tues morning before Papa came to retrieve the children from our house, we had to go swimming. The weather was FINALLY nice enough, and it was perfect! They had a blast. We were sad to cut it short- but little fro's have to be washed post swimming and we almost didn't have time!!! :) (don't worry Tate- I didn't ruin her hair!!! )
the boys took some self shots underwater
these guys are awesome
i really love them. I love that they've been connected at the hips ever since Shamar showed up and that they love hanging out.
jumping skills
I put on my Mean Mom goggles and made Sawyer learn to swim with her life jacket on. She screamed enough to get me called into DCFS I'm sure, but in the end, it worked. She became one with the water, and tears were forgotten and she has never been happier. She's asked me to take her swimming in her life jacket every day since...all day.....
meanwhile the boys practiced hand stands on 2 fingers
all of the sudden it clicked- like I knew it would- and the fear subsided and she was SWIMMING!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!
beautiful Nya
last night before enrichment-er- i mean relief society meeting- i grabbed a couple of my cuties
and we tried curling Sawyer's hair for the first time. It literally took 5 minutes and it's so cute!
still cute- but they always have to throw in a crazy huge mouth face.
love my girls
holy smokies. it's all done. I don't think we'll see that much goings on for a while. And honestly, I'm excited for the chillness. It's been a crazy couple weeks, but I'm so glad we got to spend time with people we love!
I'm so grateful for family!!! i love you all! MUAH!!!
