summer fun!!

We are having a great summer so far and it's going by WAY too fast!! We have some fun neighbor kids that love to play!! All of the kids go out and play pretty much all day every day. They go back and forth between the three houses and it's a good thing because my kids aren't just sitting home bored and trying to kill each other all of the time!! We've been doing lots of yard work- right now I am working on staining the fence around our house. For father's day weekend we took a break and went camping for a few days. I t was pretty fun! This is Gavin trying to take a picture of me and Avery. He usually does a great job taking pictures so I don't know what happened!! I think the sun was in his eyes so he probably couldn't see!! These pictures are not at all in order- but I am not going to take the time to fix them!! After 2 long days of fishing and playing, the kids were exhausted!! The kids sat down to watch a movie and Avery crashed within 5 minutes!! Gavin just wanted to go fishing again!!! Mackenzie roasting a hot dogThis was Mackenzie and Avery's entertainment. Kenzie would take some food out to the picnic table, then her and Avery would watch from the trailer window to see what comes to eat it. They fed lots of chipmunks, squirrels, and birds. Avery LOVED it!! She would get so excited and scream and clap her yands and say "YAY"!!! Avery wearing Gavin's hat

A couple weeks ago I walked into the living room and this is what I found. Avery never sleeps unless she is in her own bed so I was pretty surprised!! Notice the green binki in her mouth... Well, it's GONE!! It was so hard!! She threw the worst tantrums I have ever seen!! But, It's been about 2 weeks since she has had one and I am amazed with the difference it has made. She has probably tripled her vocabulary. She is talking so much more. Within 2 days we could see a huge difference in her.Now that she doesn't have that binki hanging out of her mouth all of the time she just talks constantly. It is so much fun but it makes me sad at the same time because now it's like my baby is officially gone!! Gavin just got done with t-ball. Mackenzie didn't want to play this year so it was all about Gavin. He had so much fun!! It was freezing at all but the last 2 games but he still had fun! At his first game, it was snowing and windy but they still played! I was a baby and sat in in the car with Avery. He did a pretty good job and he loved his coach. Again, when I asked him what his favorite part was, he said- "the snacks". This year they gave out medals instead of trophes. I don't think I got a picture of him with it though.

pre-school graduation

Last week Gavin had his pre-school graduation. They did a little program and got a scrapbook that their teachers made for them throughout the year. Gavin was so cute! I just love that little boy!! I can't believe he is going to be in kindergarten next year!! He is so excited! I have mixed feelings about it. I know he is ready and that he needs it but it's so hard to see my baby growing up and going to school. I am excited though to be able to spend some one-on-one time with Avery because I have never been able to. Gavin will miss his teachers but he has a great teacher next year for kindergarten!!

Miss LizzMiss Holly
Miss Heidi

Girl Scout camp/ Crazy Avery

This past weekend Mackenzie had her mom and daughter girl scout campout. We went up to Meeks Cabin Friday afternoon and stayed till Saturday afternoon. There was lots of food, fun crafts, and cold, wet, weather! Mackenzie had a blast though!! crazy eyes! Mackenzie and Zoie

roasting marhmallows in the snow!
The lodge
some of the moms trying to warm up by the fire

best buds!!
Mackenzie's cute picture frame that she made
All of the girls
Making recycled paper

It was fun! It's always nice to spend some one on one time with Kenzie lou!!

Avery is such a troublemaker! Today I was on the computer looking at dishwashers because mine broke and when I got off, I turned around and she had gotten a bag of flour out of the kitchen. It's a good thing it was half way gone! She had it all over the kitchen: in the cupboards, on the floor, on the table, and all over the living room floor as well as the couch. Then tonight, I noticed I hadn't seen her in a few minutes so I sent Kenzie to find her and suddenly I can hear Kenzie laughing hysterically! I walk in my room and this is what I saw. Avery had gotten into my underwer drawer and was wearing about 15 pair around her neck and had some on her wrists too. It took a minute to get the camera and she had droped some by then but it was so funny! She would NOT let anyone touch her because she thought we were going to take the underwear away. She walked around the house saying "pretty" over and over, After about an hour, I took them all off and she cried and cried- she was so sad!!

Here's my handsome Gavin boy with Lasagna all over his face!

Avery's first haircut

I gave Avery her first haircut this past weekend. I wish I had taken some "before" pictures but I didn't think about it. Her hair was getting pretty long on the bottom but it looked so funny because it is so thin. Plus, i want to keep the back trimmed up so the top can have time to catch up! She was really good. She just sat and looked in the mirror while I cut it. I put the hair on the counter so I could take a picture of it but she knocked half of it onto the floor-so here's a picture of what was left. I cut about an inch and a half from the bottom. I had to put these on here too. This blanket is her FAVORITE!! She carries it around with her everywhere she goes. The funny thing is that when she is tired, sad ornery, or upset, she grabs the silky part and rubs it on her nose. She will sit for hours, just rubbing her nose with her blanket, and sometimes, she will bring it to me and rub it on my nose. It is the cutest thing!

Indianapolis!!!

Dallas and I went to Indianapolis for 5 days and it was so fun! The best part was...NO KIDS!!!! BTW- Thanks mom for watching the kids so we could go!! These pictures are backwards but I am not going to take the time to change them! Going home- I took this from the airplane as we were flying back into Salt Lake.

Our last stop of the trip was to the Indianapolis motor speedway. It was fun to see. It is so much bigger than I would have thought. We went on a tour of the grounds and went into the museum where there were lots of cars- lots of really old ones and some newer ones. There was a fun gift shop too- Of course we had to buy lots of souveniers everywhere we went!
Getting ready to check out of the hotel- Which was really nice!
a few pictures of the city

dallas and Eldon at the FDIC convention

Joni and Amber

In front of the stadium
A few pictures from the convention- It was HUGE! The stadium was Packed and so was the convention center. It was all guy stuff but I did manage to find a few fun things for the kids.

They have these cat walks all over connecting the different buildings so you don't have to cross the street which I thought was so nice!

A view from the top of the stadiumThis is our rental car. It only had 33 miles on it when we got it. Dallas and Eldon spent the first 2 days in class at the conference- Amber and I met up with them after class got out but while they were there, we shopped till we dropped! There was a big 3-story mall and it was fun to go to becuse they have so many stores that we don't have around here. And, I don't ever get to go shopping without fighting 3 kids so it was so nice be able to do some STRESS-FREE shopping!

I met Eric Estrada. I didn't know who he was at first- but he was really nice.
There were a lot of neat really old buildings there. This one was my favorite.
I had to throw this in. This is Dallas coming back from the swimming pool. It was pretty funny. It was so nice to get away- no cleaning, no cooking, no laundry, and no kids for 5 days! We ate at some really good resturaunts and I ate way too much!! But, that is what vacations are all about!!