Summer is Here!

 We've been busy around here. Here's a quick summary of what we've been up too.

Two weeks ago my mom took the kids and I on a Jeep ride out to the desert for a quick picnic and to do some rock climbing. It was fun to hang out with my mom and let the kids roam for a while. It was a really hot day so we packed up early and took them to the splash pad to cool off. 

They sure love their Grandma. Her feet may hurt but that doesn't stop her from doing some rock climbing with the kids.

This was another day at the splash pad (it's been really hot lately so we've been a few times), but I absolutely love this picture of Kami. She's such a happy girl (most of the time). 

Two weekends ago, our nephew Holden got baptized so we headed up North for a few days. We stayed at Christie and Cory''s house. Carlie had some little doll glasses that Ellie looked pretty darn cute in! It was fun getting to stay with them and hang out as we came and went all weekend. 

While we were up there we did something that has been a long time coming, we bought Dan a truck! This is a picture of him at the dealership after we signed for it. It's not a great picture but I don't want to forget this day. Its kind of a big deal for us considering we've only ever bought one car.  I am so happy that Dan finally got a truck. He has sacrificed a lot for our little family and one of those sacrifices was driving his old Explorer for our entire marriage so we could budget our money elsewhere. The old explorer has been a huge blessing for us through the years. It has 265,000 miles and has been great for us. We've been able to go almost 8 years without a car-payment because of it. However, it finally decided to die a few days before we were planning to go get the truck (a nice little tender mercy that it lasted until the exact week we were prepared to buy a new truck). In the week leading up to this I towed Dan home from work one day and he had to pick me up off the side of the road another day, so it was definitely time for a new vehicle. We are very happy with our new purchase, it's been fun to drive around and like Dan has always said, "Every man needs a truck!" 

This picture was taken after Holden's baptism on Saturday. It was fun to be there and be able to be a part of his special day. Brandon baptized and confirmed him, which was awesome. After the baptism they had a little get-together at the park. I was nice to get to spend time with Dan's family. Even his Aunt Terri came from Colorado and his cousin Kristy, it was fun catching up with them. 

After the baptism we spent the day hanging out at Brandon and Brittani's house, while we were there Dan taught the kids the art of Domino's. 

It is always fun to see Grandpa Tony. The kids absolutely love him and it's always a good day when we get to spend time with him. As you can see, Ellie already feels the same way!

Here's a picture of Dan and his four babies. Isn't that a good lookin' group (truck included)?

We took a little pit stop on the way home and Dan snapped this pic of me and my little girl!

After we got back from Northern Utah, we came back to a busy week in Washington county. Marcos and Oscar came to spend the week with my parent's. Erin also brought down Kyle, Riley and Amanda for a few days so we had a fun week playing with cousins non-stop! One day we 4-wheeled (and took my car) to this really cool spot on the Virgin River. It has been about 110 degrees lately so it was nice to cool off in the river. They kids floated and played the whole time and had a blast. It was a good place to float down with a life jacket or a tube. 

Right after I took this pic of Kami floating on her tube she pick up speed and wouldn't put her feet down to stop herself. She got to the part of the river where it gets shallower, rockier, and faster. I had to run as fast as I could to try and catch her before she got too far away. She was panicking and I was literally sprinting to try and catch her, I biffed it right as I grabbed her and cut up both of my shins and knees. I have some pretty nasty cuts and some huge bruises. And to add insult to injury I lost both of my slippers. 

On Wednesday, before Erin took her kids home we all went swimming at the hotel. It was the first time I've taken Cason to the pool since he's had swimming lessons. He didn't want to wear floaties and swam the whole time all by himself. He was making me so nervous but was so confidant in himself. He would just take off and swim across the pool without telling anyone. Kami is also getting a lot more confidant in the water. She will finally wonder off into the pool with her floaties. When she does she yells over and over "Look at me guys... I'm swimming!" After we swam we all had a delicious lunch together in the private dining at Cliffside with Dan and my parents. Then the kids and I hung out for a while because my front desk shift starts at three. While we waited my parents let Cason, Marco's and Oscar "work" for the restaurant. Cason thought it was so cool to actually work for money. 

My parent's put up a nice gazebo in their back yard last week. Dan helped them build it so we went over a couple mornings in a row. It looks really good. The kids love being at their house. Kami was pretty excited about this new little table set that my mom set up. 

Poor Ellie hasn't been able to catch a decent nap, so she takes matters into her own hands and will just fall asleep wherever we lay her down. It's pretty cute. She also had her first little tooth pop through yesterday! 

On Saturday we cleaned up our back yard a bit. Here is Dan cutting off some of the dead branches from one of our pecan trees. 

Of course Cason needed a turn as well. 

Sunday was Father's Day. Unfortunately Dan has been sick for an entire week now. He's just had a cold so he's still been going to work but is up all night coughing. So I didn't think it was a good idea for him to go to church, so the kids and I made him  breakfast in bed then we headed to church without him. We had a nice day after church, I made him a nice steak dinner and the kids spoiled him by giving him every toy they have haha. The kids were actually in terrible moods all afternoon so we decided to go for a drive in the new truck so they would fall asleep early for the night, which they did. And Dan and I just kept driving and driving and driving and ended up all they way in Kanab. It was nice and peaceful and then Ellie started screaming so we stopped to feed her. When we stopped Cason woke up and cried most of the way home because he was SOOO thirsty. So much for a peaceful ride home. It was still a fun little, impromptu adventure though. But back to Father's Day... I am so grateful for the amazing Dad that Dan is to our kids. He loves them so much and they absolutely idolize him. There is nothing I love more than to watch him interact with them. He does such a good job at taking the time to teach Cason and help him learn. He is a busy guy but he always makes time for the kids. They are lucky to have him and I'm lucky to have him next to me as we try to raise these little ones. 

Yesterday the kids and I had a bit of a rough day, so today I decided we needed to get out of the house before it got too hot so we went to the park first thing and it really helped get our day off to a good start. They were so much better today (or maybe I just felt better). I love taking them to the park, it's nice to be so close to a good one. 

We played picture tag while we were there. They would run away from me while I chased them to try and take their picture. They thought it was hilarious!