Spy in training

Shoe phone:

Master of Disguise:

Two girls, one dress

Kay and MJ both at 12 months old:

Church History Museum

** Note: I will be posting some entries out of order while I wait to get access to some pictures.

Saturday, August 13, 2011
The kids had two Saturdays in a row where they had two performances of the musical. The first show started at 2:00 and then the second show was at 7:30. The kids had about 1 1/2 hours between the end of the first show and the call time for the second show. On the first Saturday, DH and his family attended the matinee performance and then the younger kids and I met up with them afterwards to tour the Conference Center and walk around Temple Square. On August 13th, DH and the younger kids and I met up with them between shows and took a walk over to the church's history museum. The kids had a blast in the children's exhibit. Everything is hands on there and they loved it. The theme had something to do with Mexican/South American culture plus some stories and activities from the Book of Mormon.

Fishing from a boat
And when you can't catch anything from the boat, just jump in the water and catch those fish by hand! (The "line" on the fishing poles were pretty short and Kay couldn't reach the fish with it from the boat.)
The girls doing some Mexican dancing. This was a really cute exhibit that had two demonstration dancers on T.V. screens and you would put on a costume and follow their dance steps while the music played. They also had big mirrors so you could watch yourself while you were dancing. They had some vests for the boys but not too many boys were interested in trying it out.

Cascade Springs

Friday, August 5, 2011
This was a mostly paved/boardwalk little hike. There were three "loops" that went different distances taking you around the springs. I think we managed to hike around the whole thing, but we kept coming to forks in the path and sometimes got confused on which path to take (and the signs along the path were not very helpful).

Trying to help each other get a drink of water after the hike!

Family time!

Since Blondie turned 8 in July, that meant that her baptism was scheduled for the first Saturday in August. DH's brother was able to take some time off of work that same week so he and his family joined us the Wednesday before and then left Saturday evening. They drove down from the Spokane, Washington area and we really appreciate them driving down here with their four kids (and our sister-in-law pregnant with baby #5). DH's parents also joined us and flew in Thursday morning and then left Monday evening. It was definitely crazy around our house with 8 extra people sleeping in our house and the middle kids being back in school and rehearsals and performances for the musical going on. It was just bad timing because the cousins weren't able to spend a lot of time together. We ended up taking them out of school on Friday (since it is a short day anyways) and we also had them miss the performance Friday night so they could have a little bit of time together.

We drove down to American Fork Canyon and had a picnic lunch and then went on a short hike at a place called Cascade Springs. DH, his brother and their father and the older kids tried going on a hike up to the Timpanogos Caves that morning but the timing was bad and they weren't able to get tickets for a good time so we ended up just doing the lunch and short hike. They were all a little bummed about that...

(Friday, August 5, 2011)
The place where we picnicked was right near this river. The kids had a blast playing along riverbank and throwing rocks into the river!

This picture cracks me up because all of the kids are in a line along the bank, busy doing their own thing!

Officially a Teenager!

Saturday, July 30, 2011
M&M is officially a teenager now! (I can't believe that I'm old enough to be the mom of a teenager!) M&M's birthday was pretty low-key this year because it took place right in the middle of rehearsals for Faith the Musical. In fact, the kids had a long rehearsal downtown at the Conference Center on her birthday. After the rehearsal we had Papa John's pizza for dinner and brownies and ice cream for M&M's birthday "cake". I also promised her that after all of the chaos with the musical was over we would go swimming with the family as a late birthday celebration.We're lucky to have M&M in our family. She is very responsible and is usually a very pleasant person to be around. (We just have to work on her being a little nicer and more patient with her siblings sometimes.)

First Day for Kitty

Wednesday, July 26, 2011
This year they had the first graders start a day after the older grades. The day before they started the first graders went in to meet their teacher and to be assessed and find out where their classroom is and where to lineup in the mornings for school. Things will definitely be different at home with Kitty gone all day. She was excited to go full-day and be able to eat lunch at school and ride the bus both ways. I think some mornings may be rough though because some days she has a hard time staying on task and hurrying if she's short on time. Hopefully she will have a fun year and be able to make lots of friends!

First Day of School

Luke and Blondie started school on Tuesday, July 26, 2011. They are in 5th and 3rd grade this year. I can't believe the summer went by so quickly! It's crazy with kids in year-round school. (There is a rumor going around that our school might switch to traditional in the next year or two...)
Blondie's class is in a portable this year (trailer on the school blacktop).

Pizza on the grill!

Monday, July 25, 2011

I found a recipe and instructions for cooking pizza on the grill so I had to try it. It was nice because I made smaller pizzas and individualized them for our family's tastes. It was AWESOME!! Definitely a new family favorite! If you would like the recipe that I used, here is a link: How to Grill Pizza

The crust and sauce from this website were awesome too!

Swimming... finally!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

My oldest brother and his family came to Utah for a visit and we were able to get together to take the kids swimming. Yea!! The kids had a lot of fun and my sister-in-law was a great help with the kids, especially Kay. And my mom helped out with MJ.