Our Summer Vacation

Wow! There are lots of pictures. We went on our vacation up to Seattle. Me and the girls were gone for two weeks. Curtis joined us a couple days before my brother's wedding. We missed him so much. And I'm told that he missed us A LOT. There were a couple times when I wasn't sure if he'd survive. It was hard for me to survive also. So there are tons of pictures and for some reason they loaded in reverse than what really happened. (I am weird like that, all my pictures have to be in the order they happened. It drive me crazy when they are not.)

All my siblings. My brother on the left was the one that got married. I'm the oldest and the shortest. Its not fair. (I was in 3" heels and everyone was still taller than me.)

My dad and step mom

Shaunnacy dancing with the girls. Mark (left) is having a great time! I don't know who the guy is on the right

My brothers

We went to get our nails done before the wedding.

Waiting for the wedding to start

My favorite picture

My brother Dale messing around with the kids

Dale, Anna and the girls

Haley jumped off the tall post off the dock at my moms house. She was such a fish. Always asking if we can go swimming

Sunset from the deck at my moms house.

My niece, Payton, was in a pageant and we went to see her. We were so proud of her. She looked beautiful.

I couldn't resist this picture. I told everyone to say "cheese". Look at Lindsey's face. There are a couple more pictures like that. She is hysterical

We went to the zoo and everyone loved to ride on the motorized scooter. They got to take turns driving it.

"Cheese"

My aunt and uncle are rebuilding a Mustang. Natalie, Haley and Kate got to go for a ride in it. Lucky ducks!

Haley's first (and last) ride on a Harley. I am so jealous. I've never been on one before.

Nat riding the pocket bike

My dad had a huge pool at his house. The kids were always outside playing in it.

Kate's poolAfter a long day of swimming, she's tuckered out. She loved snuggling with Grandma

Payton gave each of the girls one of her pageant dresses. They love trying them on and playing in them.

Cousin Leah, Natalie and Haley

Summer . . . In a Nut Shell

It has been such a LONG time since I have updated my blog. Hopefully I will be back in the swing of things. We had a great summer. We loved the lazy days. Its really hard to go back to school when its really hot outside. No fun.

We went out on our friends boat - Kat and Cody Lewis. They were so nice to invite us. All of us had such a great time. Lindsey would hardly sit still. She was all over the place having fun. Now we want a boat really bad!

We went to the library and rented some books. I am so glad my kids love to read.

I did my 2nd triathlon in July. So much fun. I had a few family members join me. Carrie Fediuk, Jenny Farr and Ruth Reed.

4th of July excitement

We had our good friends, Randy and Sheryl Draper and their boys, over for a BBQ and fireworks.

Saturday's Numbers

Race Number - 529

1/2 mile swim

16 mile bike ride

3 mile run

5 places I was inked (with permanent marker)

- on each arm, each leg and back of calf -

Completion time - 2:41

Yep, I did something completely crazy, but completely addicting. I participated in a triathlon on Saturday. My first ever! I was totally nervous. It started with the swim. I was pooped by the time I was done swimming. Then on to the bike - 16 miles and there were tons of hills. I was so tired. But still not done with my race. I had a 3 mile run to complete. PHWEW I was tired. I finished and that's what I was going for. Next time (yes there will be a next time) I will be faster.

Finally finished! I was so happy to have my family there to cheer me on.

My number had worn off by the time I was done, so I had Curtis mark me again. I am dang proud. I worked hard to get it done!

A Visit with Kelly

Curtis' really good friend came to visit us last week. His name is Kelly. They went to high school together. They were inseparable during those years. They even went to Ricks College together. I hear they created mischief wherever they went - speeding down the highway at speeds I don't even want to mention, pulling people over after a church dances, while on a date making someone mad that had baseball bats (no one was hurt), they would go on rabbit (which were really people) chases with HUGE CB antennas on their cars and chase their friends through neighborhoods CB radio - Breaker? Breaker? Got your ears on? The list goes on. What's really weird is I've heard tons of stories about Kelly, but this is the first time in 12 years that I had met him. He is great and I can see why they are such good friends. Curtis made the comment that it seems like they had never been apart. Kelly lives in Texas now and has a wife and two children. It was lots of fun to get to hang out with him. Thanks for coming Kelly!

Santa Cruz, Memorial Day

If you are Shannon you might want to stop reading . . . If you are not Shannon, this is what we did on Memorial Day weekend. We went to the cabin again in Santa Cruz. It is so nice and relaxing. We met Ruth, the Roelofs and the Farrs (minus 2) there and spent a couple days there. The kids loved playing with their cousins. I don't think we saw them very much.

Kate and Emma - they were buddies the whole time. Emma had a shadow with her.

All the kids love to ride scooters and go on walks after dinner. We even did a little shuffle board and the sisters in law did a game of bocce ball. I am proud to say that I won 1 game (I won't tell you how many games we played)

Capitola Beach

Who can resist cute buns . . .

. . . or cute posing?

Kate and Brinn

Here Birdie, Birdie!

A few months ago, Curtis and Haley built a birdhouse - something Haley has been asking to do for a long time. The girls finally painted it. Of course it would have to be purple and sparkly. It wouldn't be any other way. This last weekend, Curtis hung it up. Not exactly how I would have done it, but it works. Great paint job girls!

Sunday Nights

One of our family's most favorite thing to do is watch America's Funniest Videos and have popcorn and orange julius. Everybody loves eating the yummy dessert. There is a trick to drinking the julius from the cup (spoons are for wimps). Natalie and Haley figured out that if you tilt the cup, like you would to drink, you are going to get a face full of julius (they are VERY thick). It was everywhere - they were not happy. The trick is you have to gently tilt then, tap the side of the cup. Here is the yummy recipe. Enjoy!

Orange Julius

1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate

ice

milk

1/2 capful of vanilla

a little sugar

Add the orange juice, ice 3/4 way full to top of blender, milk (almost all the way to the top of the ice), add the vanilla and the sugar (enough to fit in the palm of your hand). Blend until no more cubes of ice. Then taste test. Yum! Serve with air popped popcorn~mmmm!

Wedded Bliss

This past weekend I was able to take a very quick trip to Seattle to see my cousin get married in the temple. It was so nice to see her happy. It was a really short trip - I flew in late Friday night and left EARLY (6:00am) Sunday morning. Curtis was so sweet and let me go by myself. It was really fun. We didn't get to do too much relaxing we were busy with wedding stuff, but nice to see a lot of family that I haven't seen in years.

Instead of having a guestbook, she had a trunk with different things to dress up in and then they took pictures for a scrapbook. My 92 year old grandma even dressed up (darn I didn't get a picture of her.)

Me and my sweet cousin Julia Gulia

You Are My Sunshine!

Curtis and I have a ritual each time we put our two little ones to bed. We hum "You Are My Sunshine" quietly. When the kids hear this they know it's time for bed and they start calming down. Lindsey will lie her head down on our shoulder and snuggle up. Today, I was getting the girls ready for a nap (they sleep in the same room). Kate was already in bed, but I was changing Lindsey's diaper. Haley was in the room with me and she was humming softly in Kate's ear "You Are My Sunshine." It was so sweet. I love that I have 4 sweet girls. They are all very thoughtful and caring. It is so fun to see them grow and watch them be tender to their siblings.