Its hot out here!

We have had some hot weather, to say the least! Summer has definitely snuck up on us. There has been thunderstorms forecasted, but we have yet to see one. We are getting out and staying cool in the water.

Cherry Hill Play Day

We spent the day with friends at Cherry Hill. What a fun place to enjoy the hot sun and stay cool. We has never been so it nice to tag along with people that new the place. We all had a great time and will definitely do it again!

These mat slides were fun! You could ride down two to a mat, so it made it fun to ride with someone.

Cardiac Canyon was very fun, but can be a little frustrating when you get stuck.

We all were slightly red from the deceiving sun hiding behind the clouds, but we had an awesome time! One more week before our summer days are cut short with school starting.

Let it be known...

So for those of you that knew about my first experience of getting a pedicure last year. It has taken me a whole year to get back into a pedicure chair since my last toe cutting nightmare. Thanks to my sweet sister-in-law Tracy and her friend Krista (which turns out that she lives a street away from us). I have now experienced a normal pedicure without a drop of blood. Wahoo! I was surprised how quick and easy the whole process is and it shouldn't take an 1hr and 45 min to get one done. Thanks Tracy for making the arrangements. I love my new toe nails. Maybe one of these times I will have to go for the deluxe and get the leg wraps, but for now I am sticking to the simple pedicure. Don't want to take any chances.

Celebrating our Freedom

We had quite the celebrations for the 4th of July weekend. The holiday lasted 3 days and it felt like we really celebrated our countries freedom. We started on Saturday morning with our neighborhood breakfast. It was nice to not to be in charge of the festivities and just enjoy our new neighbors. We then headed to Lagoon for some fun in the sun and cooled off at Lagoon-a-Beach. We had fun with Carter taking him on the slides. He was excited that he is now tall enough to ride them this year. Ashlynn will have to wait one more year to grow those extra 2 inches. Then, we ended Saturday at our neighbors "culdasac of fire" fireworks display. The culdasac was loaded with people, snacks and lots of fireworks. Sunday we headed back to Bountiful to celebrate the 4th with a BBQ and homemade ice cream at Craig and Gail's and then we played with some sparklers with are old neighbors. Monday, we saw the local parade in our new hometown. It was quite toasty sitting in the sun for 2 hours, but we survived and had a crazy and exciting weekend.

Thoughts...

This past weekend I have been thinking about people that have shown great courage and strength to me.

My brother that sustained a massive brain injury in a car accident about 13 years ago was in the hospital for a brain bleed last weekend. He is such an inspiration to me with all that he has gone through these years from multiple brain surgeries, physical therapy, medications and the list goes on. He has been rather healthy for the last 5 years with no major hospital stays. So, when he woke up this past Thursday and could not move his left hand and then we were told that he had a hemorrhage in his brain. We all suddenly were alarmed and did not know what would be the outcome of this event. I was so thankful that I was able to go to Boise and be with him.

His hemorrhage has now stopped after slightly increasing in the amount of blood for 2 days and now he is going to be doing physical therapy with the left hand to help with the paralysis. He still does not have function of that hand, but we are thinking positively that he will regain it back. During his hospital stay he was his normal self, easy going and funny self. I am so blessed to have him in my life to remind me of courage and to continue to press on no matter how hard things may be.

When Carter found out that Corey was in the hospital he immediately said that we needed to go see him and make sure he is okay. Carter was very inquisitive about everything in the room and most concerned about the IV in his hand.
The kids in their bed at the hotel room.

I think Corey was thankful that the bed was his protective shield from the kids jumping all over him. It drives Corey crazy when Carter wants to jump on him to give him a hug.

The other person I have been thinking about is my dear friend Erika. She passed away last month and I have been having hard time coming to terms that she is no longer here with us. I was not able to make it to her funeral so it just feels like I have not had closure. As time has gone on I have been thinking about her and what she had gone through. I know that she battled with cancer for 3 years, but I feel I cannot say that she lost her battle with it. I just think that Heavenly Father needed her more than we did. During her battle with cancer she showed great courage and strength and I will always lean on that strength. I will always remember her will to move forward and just take on those cards that are pulled out from under us and continue to shine. She will always hold a special place in my heart!

This photo was taken last summer at Lagoon. We had the best time there together! One of my favorite memories of that day was when we put the dads in charge of the kids and we escaped to ride all the big rides and chatted about life and all the good things.

Carter, Macie and Erika on the log ride at Lagoon.

Finally, it can be summer vacation...

Ashlynn ended her dancing with Expressions Dance with their finale concert. All the kids did so well! Ashlynn had a tumbling act in her snazzy striped socks costume. Those kids were doing all sorts of stunts during their routine, it made me tired watching them. Then she performed a ballet routine in her cute white and pink tutu. It was called their Happy Birthday dance. Ashlynn also participated in a singing portion of the concert. She belted out the songs and knew all her words. Lastly, she performed in the finale dance. I have to say that Ashlynn is amazing when it comes to high stress. I was the chaperone parent backstage with their class assisting them with costume changes and I never had to help her out, she was always where she needed to be and dressed in the right costume. I sometimes even forgot that she was back there while getting all the other kids ready. Ashlynn had a great year with some amazing teachers and we are sad that we have to find a new place to take dance.




If finally feels like it is summer vacation! We have been tied to schedules everywhere we go from baseball, teeball and Ashlynn's dance schedules on top of moving. We are finally free and we don't have to commute to Bountiful everyday! It has been an exhausting 2 weeks. We have about 3 weeks before the kids are back in school and we are going to be busy having fun and doing whatever we feel like it with no schedules. Here we come Lagoon...and water activities!

He's our hero...

What can I say about this man..just that he is our kids number one hero and I think he is pretty special too! The kids just adore him and they have such a good time together. When Matt is around you can guarantee there is going to be laughter especially between Ashlynn and him. Those two understand each other's jokes and then Carter and I just follow along and pretend we understand what their talking about. I am so grateful for him and all that he brings to our small family. We love you!

We had his favorite dish BBQ ribs for dinner and then while Matt got to take a nap the kids and I made these fun BBQ cupcakes.