Summer Sun

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the summer time.  There aren't many from when we were actually HOME, because we were gone so much over the summer.  It was a lot of fun, but very bussssy!  

We celebrated Jordan's birthday while traveling in Colorado, but he got his present when we got home- a little tikes coupe car.  As you can see, the kids had a lot of fun playing with it outside.  (What do you get the 5th child that inherits every toy??)  We have loved our backyard and encouraged the kids to go out there as much as possible.  

Oma here to visit- they're all in for a good book!

Jordan happy as can be in the swing

I love this picture of Jared and Kyle sleeping together.  The kids have this thing where they want to sleep together/ have a little sleep-over every once in awhile.  We've never let them have sleepovers except with with cousins, so with siblings it has become a little treat.  This was one night when Kyle and Jared squoze onto Jared's bottom bunk.  They both sleep pretty deep and didn't even wake up.

Erika learned to mow the lawn this summer, which was great for her and for us!  She was able to earn a little spending money and free mom and dad up, too.  :)

For the fourth of July, my parents had their "grand opening"  of their new pool.  My dad built it himself, which is pretty darn amazing.  It is beautiful!!  We spent a couple of days there swimming and the kids got to ride in the traditional 4th of July parade.  

Heidi couldn't get enough of the pool, especially the slide.  I'd bet she went down it over 50 times!  We finally just had to make her get out.  It is fun to watch her because she is so happy!  

Kyle all geared up to jump off the diving board

Riding in the neighborhood parade on 4th of July morning

Kyle is so proud he can ride the horse all on his own!

Colorado trip to visit the McLeans

I am lamenting my long break from blogging and since this is our "family journal" I need to get caught up on all the many events we have had since May.   We had an amazing summer, with so many great vacations and fun family time.  We consider ourselves very lucky to have the ability to do so much in the summer, with Aaron's job being as flexible as it is when school it out.

So, the first weekend of summer, from June 5th-9th, we headed out on a road trip to Colorado to visit our good friends the McLeans.  They recently moved back from Georgia, and we are so excited to have them in driving distance again!  They were expecting their 6th baby in August, so we thought we'd better visit them at the beginning of the summer.  The kids had a BLAST!  We spent most of the first day, Wednesday, driving.  The 8-hr drive was just a warm up to prepare us for the 13 hour drive to San Diego a few weeks later.  We actually take pride in being able to travel long distances with only a couple of stops.  The kids did really well!

We did a lot of fun things while we were in Colorado.  The second day, Thursday, we went to a really fun waterpark near Westminster, CO.  The kids had a lot of fun swimming there.  It was a perfect day and the water park was the perfect size for our age of kids.  There was the little kiddy pool where I spent most of my time with Jordan and Jared and some of the smaller kids.  Erika and Kyle had a great time with the older kids going down the small water slides there.  I got to down with them a few times and it was really fun!

Aezlyn, Erika, and Mahri

Jordan and I loving the sun

Exactly the place you would expect to find Kyle!

What a sweet sister to help Heidi down the first time!  

Everyone heading for the waterslides...

Brieyah adored Jordan and gave him lots of love and attention...

Me and Kyle going up to the waterslide together

Now, this isn't the best view but the picture always makes me laugh because of the situation.  We tried and tried to get Jared to go down the slide and he cried.  Then, once he went down it he loved it and didn't want to stop.  So, there's me at the bottom trying to coax him down.   Heid also loved the slide- I'd bet she went down it about 50 times!  

One of my favorite pictures-  Aaron and I watching the kids and just enjoying being together.  

Erika loves jam,  Need I say more? 

After swimming, Aaron and Andy went golfing at a really nice course over there.  They had an amazing round.  Aaron was in heaven because it was so beautiful.  The rest of us just hung out at the house and relaxed.

On Friday, we took a trip to the Denver zoo.  The kids had a great time together.  One thing we love when we see each other is how well our kids get along together.   

Heidi's favorite thing at the zoo was the Komodo dragon.  She was in there giving it kisses through the glass!  

BEST FRIENDS!  

Lucky birthday boy got an ice cream cone!  

"All the better to hear you with, my dear!"

On Friday night, Erika, Mahri, Aezlyn, and Kyle put on a show for us in the basement.   We laughed our heads off!   They were so creative- making up songs and jokes to keep us entertained.  It was classic! 

Saturday, the 8th, we celebrate Jordan's birthday.  We had a BBQ at Andy's parent's house in Littleton and Jordan got his first taste of cake.  Since we were on the road, a basic store bought cake had to do.   But, as you can see from the pictures, he didn't seem to mind!  

Andy and Sarah were so nice to watch the kids for a few hours while Aaron and I went through a session in the Denver temple.  We have never been to this temple before and it was a really nice experience for us!  

That evening, we hiked up Mt. Evans.  When I say we "hiked", we actually drove up the mountain almost to the top and then we hiked up a small distance to the peak.  The drive up was beautiful but also kind-of scary!  Most of the road was quite narrow and I felt like we were driving on the edge of a cliff!  (I was glad Aaron was driving and not me!  The two-way road seemed to me to be just wide enough for one car.)  It was about a 30 minute drive getting to the top, and we just kept on going and going up!!  But, I guess I'd rather drive up it than hike it!!  It was freezing cold at the top because of the elevation.  Mt Evans is exactly half the elevation of Mt. Everest, to give an idea.  We all huddled in our jackets and blankets.  One fun thing was that we saw several mountain goats at the top, too!  

It was a beautiful view from the top!  

After our hike, we were all exhausted and headed out to dinner.  We went to a fun little pizza place located in the small town of Idaho Springs, CO.   We are grateful to have our good friends, the McLeans.  And, although we wish we could see them more, we are glad we are at least close enough to visit now.  Thanks for the great trip, guys!  

May birthdays

What a handsome boy in his little suit!  

The month of May is always very eventful at our house!  With two birthdays and all of the "end of school" activities, it keeps us hopping!  We celebrated Jared's 3rd birthday on May 19th, Sunday.  Because it was a Sunday, we didn't do a whole lot.  It was a pretty simple birthday with a nice dinner and cake.  Jared opened a few presents in the morning and then Oma and Opa came up that afternoon after church and spent some time with us.  I made Jared a "Cars" cake.  

Heidi got to celebrate her birthday a little early this year with a friend party.  We had 9 of her little friends over on May 22nd for a little party.  Four of them are from her kindergarten class and the rest are kids from our neighborhood.   Notice the little boy to the right of Heidi with the party hat on.  His name is AJ and he is in her kindergarten class.  He has been the sweetest little friend to her at school.  He holds her hand on the way to lunch and carries her lunch for her.  He stands up for her at school and "takes care of her" (what he told his mom one day).  One day when I was visiting the school, he said to me, "I'm going to be with Heidi forever..."  How sweet!  Heidi already has young admirers...

For the party, we let the kids come dressed up in anything they wanted.  Most of the girls were princesses.   We had a few little games with prizes and a rainbow pinata (the highlight) and presents and cake.   One fun thing was that Jared also thought this party was for him, too, since his birthday is less than a week before Heidi's.  Great!  Even better :)  Both of them couldn't stop talking about the rainbow pinata all week before the party.  We had it hanging up in our kitchen all week.  You know they're excited about it when in their prayers more than once they say, "...and thank you for the rainbow pinata."  Simple pleasures!  

Heidi wanted a "horse cake"

They don't make those pinatas easy to break!  After the kids each had a few swings at it, Aaron finally broke it open with a metal bat.  We had a shower of nerds all over our carpet!

Big Number 6!

For a second celebration, we took a trip to Boise for Memorial weekend to visit Aaron's parents.  On Heidi's actual birthday, we celebrated at grandma's with a picnic and cake.  Heidi opened her presents from mom and dad and then got to go shopping with grandma and grandpa.  They also took all the kids to a bounce house while mommy and daddy, and Jordan took a much needed nap :)  

That afternoon we went swimming and the kids had a blast!   Because Erika and Kyle both had their goggles, Heidi wanted to wear some, too.  I don't think she knows quite what they're for.  I love that they smashed her eyes almost shut and she was still loving every second of it and SOOO HAPPY!   It was also fun to see how much Jordan loved the water!    I didn't expect him to get so into it, but he splashed like crazy, grinning the whole time.  

"Yeah, this is the life...  I've got it all figured out.
I've got grandma all to myself!

That night we went out to dinner at Golden Corral.   We had a great meal and Heidi got to be sung to by the waiters.  Erika had fun making Heidi a "unicorn horn" out of a cotton candy stick.  Silly girls!