Catch Up

I got behind on documenting again. Surprise, surprise. Here is a quick photo update of what we've been up too the past few weeks. Like I've said, I have a terrible memory so, I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the things I didn't take pictures of, but these will at least be a good reminder of the things I did get the camera out on. The pictures are out of order but it all happened since last time I posted.

A couple of Saturdays ago Dan and I took the kids on a little adventure to the Toquerville Falls area. Dan and Cason rode the KLR.

The girls and I rode in the Jeep. It's the perfect combo for a fun day. 

We found the coolest place to have a picnic and spend the day just passed Toquerville Falls where the road ends. We had the entire area all to ourselves because everyone else stops at the falls. It was beautiful, peaceful and so much fun! We just hiked up the river a little ways and found this shaded area that was perfect for us. It had a mini waterfall that acted more like a water slide which Cason loved. It also had calm wading pools on either side, perfect for Kami to splash around in. Not to mention, lots of skipping rocks, climbing rocks, frogs, and sand. Our kids were in heaven and so were we. Later in the day we hiked up the river quite a ways. It was beautiful! 

Last Sunday we stopped by my parents house for dessert after church. I love this picture. Our kids are so lucky to have her as a grandma! She's the best. 

Ellie started rolling! She started out of nowhere and now won't stop. As a result she doesn't sleep through the night anymore because she flips on to her tummy and gets mad. Hopefully, she gets used to it soon because we got to spoiled with full nights sleep for a while and waking up again is not very fun. But she sure is a cutie! 

Last Thursday Dan, Ellie, and I made a quick trip to Las Vegas to pick up some sinks for the hotel. Afterwards, my parents wanted us to eat at a place called the Burger Bar so we could try these shakes. They are thinking of selling shakes at the restaurant and wanted us to try them out. We were more than happy to. The whole meal was yummy and it was fun for Dan and I to spend some quality time together without Cason and Kami taking over! They stayed with my parents and had a blast hanging out with grandma and grandpa and exploring outside all day! 

This girl is hilarious. She makes us laugh constantly.  She also loves to color on herself with sidewalk chalk. 

I gave Dan a b-ball hoop as an early Father's Day present. We've been wanting one for quite some time and we finally decided to bite the bullet and go get one. We got lucky and the night we went to look, this hoop was $200 off so we ended up being able to get a nice one like we wanted. It was a lot of work installing it, but turned out great. Dan did a flawless job as always. Cason was soooo excited about it and so were Dan and I. We've had a lot of fun shooting around on it since then.

We let the kids stay up late to play on it night we finished it. They loved it! 

These two love the library. I'm pretty sure we could go everyday and they wouldn't get sick of it. Cason got to sign up for his own library card yesterday and felt like a pretty big deal. It was cute. 

This picture was taken on his last day of preschool. Ever. I can't believe how fast he is growing up! 

Waiting for his ride to pick him up, with Kami of course. These two are pretty inseparable during the day. 

On the last day of preschool his class had a cute little program for the families. It was fun to watch him be so proud up there. Dan and my mom both got off early so they could come watch. It was short and sweet and fun to watch.

A few weeks ago we decided to go for a scenic Sunday drive up to Kolob Resevoir. To get there you drive through the back side of Zion. It is absolutely beautiful. We decided to drive all the way around the lake and stopped here to get out and let the kids play and throw rocks in the water. What we didn't account for on our little drive was the amount of rain that we had the week before and the dirt road that took us around the lake turned into a terrible rocky, muddy disaster. We were in my Explorer which was covered in mud at the end of the day. The road was so bad, we were getting a little nervous. There were moments where we were sliding sideways, high-centered on rocks and  flat out stuck. We ended up having to turn around because we couldn't get through. It was a crazy adventure not suited for an Explorer, three little kids or the Sabbath. But we sure made some good family memories! 

They have the best Dad around. He works so hard and when he has time off he spends it playing with them and taking us out to do fun things. Not to mention the million little projects he always has to going on. 

And they love him more than words. Or as Kami says, "Much, much to the moon!"

Kami got her first real haircut (not from me) a few weeks ago. Can you tell by her face how much she loved it? Ha! She did really good though! Her hair grows so funny and is so hard to do, so a good haircut was definitely needed.  But don't worry she still has messy hair 95% of the time. 

Over Memorial Day weekend the Uhrich's came and stayed with my parents. They were nice enough to take me and the kids out on the lake twice while they were here, which is no small task. We take a lot of work! It was so much fun though. The kids absolutely loved it. Not to mention they think Seth and Carlie and the best things ever. We had fun fishing, kayaking, tubing and playing on the beach with them. The first day we went out with them the wind picked up just as Dan was getting there so we had to leave early. (Dan and I took the kids there the following weekend and the same thing happened. Dang wind.)

Cason was a champ on the kayak. I thought it was crazy how he picked it up so fast. He just jumped in a kayak picked up a paddle and off he went with no instruction whatsoever. Here he is taking Kami for a ride. 

Brooke, Jason, and Rylan came to stay with us that same weekend. So the first day they were here we went on a kid friendly hike at Confluence Park. Dan and Cason found this big tree that had fallen across the river and had fun balancing across it. It was a fun little stop to play in the river. It was fun having them here. Ellie and Rylan are only 2 weeks apart so it was fun to see them together. 

This is how the kids felt after all the family left for the weekend. They were exhausted from a fun weekend of non-stop playing. 

This girl is the best. This was taken the day we were shopping for the b-ball hoop. At one point Dan and I talked about how sometimes we forget she's there because she's so good and we're so busy chasing the other too. We never really forget though! How could we forget that cute face?

In other big news, Kami made the switch from diapers to big girl underwear. She is SUPER excited about it and tells anyone she sees. Including complete strangers. She also doesn't like to sleep with pants on and every night we go to check on her we can count on her being pantless. Funny girl. 

Cason working on his chores. 

At the beginning of last month our neighborhood had a Cinco de Mayo block party. It was nice to get out and meet more of our neighbors. Here is Cason taking a turn at the pinata. Little did we know that both Dan and Kami had pink eye at the time. Their eyes were terrible while we were there and we came home and googled it. I was horrified tot think that we potentially spread pink eye to the whole neighborhood. I took Kami to the dr. the next day and got a prescription but we still battled it and a little flu bug for the next two weeks. It just took its time passing through all of us except for Ellie, which is the one who I really didn't want to get it. It wasn't a very fun week though, lots of throw-up, eye-goop and all sorts of unpleasantness.

This picture was taken on Mother's Day. I was sick the day before and still had a little lingering sickness and this was the day Dan got it, so needless to say Mother's Day wasn't too exciting. But besides the sickness Dan managed to make me breakfast in bed and a super delicious filet mignon dinner. It was sooooo good! Plus I got to spend it with these three cute kids. I'm so grateful to be their mom. It is A LOT of work, but I honestly wouldn't want to do anything else. Even on the bad days. 

So Dan made me the best Mother's Day present ever! I handmade farmhouse dining table. He worked so hard on it and it payed off. It turned out absolutely beautiful!

Ta-Daaaaa!

I love it so much and it means so much more that he made it for me. Now I just need to find some good chairs and a center piece to go with it. 

I just had to add a picture of how Cason spends his days He loves, loves, loves to ride his bike. He made this little jump with Dan . We can't believe how good he is at hitting it. He's a little too good for my comfort.

So a few other things to note that I don't have pictures of are... Cason taking swimming lessons for the first time. His last one is tonight. He is doing so good and can already swim across the whole pool.
Also...
This past Saturday Dan and I loaded up the trailer with all of our bikes and went to Washington for a beautiful bike ride around a bluff that gives you amazing views of Washington County from every angle. It was very hilly, but was worth the exhaustion. There was a really cool park in the neighborhood up there that the kids played at when we were done. We were all tired the next day. Cason woke up with sore muscles. He did so good on the ride though. So did Dan. There were times when Dad was peddling up a hill, while holding on to Cason's bike with his hand, not to mention Kami in the Wee-Ride in front of him. I was pushing my bike and trailer with Ellie up the hill behind them haha. I don't have the muscles for that yet.

These kids keep us pretty busy and we like to keep them busy too. Summers off to a great start so far. We have a lot more adventures planned, so it should be a good one!