Summer, please slow down!

Well time continues to move in fast forward. I really can't believe July is almost over. Summer has kept us busy. Here are some pictures to show what we've been up to this past month.  

As busy as we've been, days at home are still the majority. I've been trying really hard to enjoy these crazy days with little ones and its smiles like this one that make it easier. Being a stay at home mom is so much harder than I ever imagined but there is nothing I would rather do. I love being a mom to Cason, Kami and Ellie. They are a lot of work but they also give a lot of love. There is no shortage of hugs in this house. I've realized lately that what they love more than anything is just spending uninterrupted time with Dan and me, so I've been trying to give them more of that. Sometimes its hard to ignore the  piles of dishes and laundry and get down on the floor to wrestle or read but when I do I feel like it pays off so much more. 

My family had a family reunion this month and for it my parents planned to take the whole family on a guided horse back ride through Zion. The only problem was that it was only for kids 7 years and older. My mom knew it would kill Cason to see all his cousins go without him so she worked it out with the company that if Cason took riding lessons he could go on the ride with the rest of the family. So this is a pic of him at riding lessons. He did so good and absolutely loved it. He had to miss part of *swim camp to go to the lesson which  he was sad at first about but after he went he didn't mind at all.

*So I don't have a picture of swim camp but it was awesome! It was only $10 for the whole week and I would drop him off at the community pool and pick him up two hours later. It wasn't swim lessons, instead they just have organized games and such to let get become more comfortable in the water. He loved it!!! The week he had swim camp we also went swimming at our neighbors pool one day and the hotel one day so he basically went swimming 7 times in 6 days. Needless to say he has become quite the little swimmer and is way comfortable in the water. He makes me nervous! 

We've started to pull out the front yard that the builder put in at our house so we can change the configuration of it and put in a little curbing, sprinklers and grass. We are still waiting to put in the back yard until we know exactly the the property line will be (the neighbor moving in next to us wants to give us some of his land!). Since we can't work on the back yard yet we've decided to focus on the front yard so we have been moving the rocks. The kids are actually pretty good little helpers when they want to be. But they really love to pull each other around in the wheel barrow after we dump a load. I say we, but Dan has really done most of it. I just help when I can. 

I could watch this video 10 times a day and never get sick of it. She is getting so big! 

I LOVE mornings here in Hurricane! It's the best time to play outside. 

Sisters watching cartoons together. Ellie doesn't actually watch cartoons but I still love this picture. 

I've still been working at the front desk on Wednesday nights while Dan stays home with the kids. I came home from work one night and found this on my nightstand. He loves to draw us pictures and such and I just wanted to document one of them so I don't forget all the sweet little things he does for us. 

Cason and Kami love to move her bed (which is still on the ground because it doesn't hurt so bad if she falls off) so they can jump onto it. I know its not good to let kids jump on the bed but it entertains them for hours and is a good way to get energy out on really hot days. Anyways, I wanted to take a video of them doing it and happened to capture this gem. Once I realized he wasn't hurt I laughed pretty hard. Never a dull moment when Cason is around that is for sure! 

These two are becoming best buds. I love this picture of them. We were swimming at the hotel and a storm started to roll up, we could hear thunder in the distance so I had them get out of the pool to wait it out. It ended up turning into a ginormous downpour. We just hung out in Dan's office with him until it blew over and watch the streets of St. George flood from up above.

Waiting for candy at the 4th of July parade. I was pretty proud of Cason. He made sure Kami got candy before he took some for himself. He rode to the parade on his bike with my parents. They went early and took him to a pancake breakfast. 

Kami wanted a turn on the way home and was holding on tight to Grandma while she got a ride. 

Just being silly waiting for Dan to pick us up after the parade. Its impossible to get a good picture with the kids so I just decided to embrace it and join in the fun!

Ellie getting a nighttime snuggle with dad in. 

So... my parents bought a pony! Her name is Magnet and is the cutest calmest little pony ever. I think I like her more that the kids. This was the day my parents got her. They surprised the kids. They were in heaven taking rides around my parents property. Magnet came just in time for the family reunion so she got lots of love her first week here. 

My mom planned the best family reunion ever. Everyone in our family was able to come. It was so fun to have everyone together. When the family gets this big it doesn't happen very often. My Aunt Erma and her daughter Shayne and her family also came. This pic is the first morning. We took a hayride to Three Falls and then went on a hike and had a picnic breakfast. Later that day we also went bowling and had dinner at the restaurant. 

We roasted hot dogs for dinner on Friday. I love this picture of my Dad playing with Kami. My kids absolutely love their Grandpa. 

This is on our trail ride in Zion. It was so beautiful and so much fun. I grew up going on trail rides with my family and it really took me back to being a kid. It was really fun introducing Dan to that part of my life. It was his first horse back ride. When they were assigning horses they took one look and Dan's Wyoming Cowboy's hat and put him on a horse named Stomper. It make me laugh pretty hard. 

I was way nervous when they put Cason on this huge horse and then put him in line surrounded by kids with no adults around. I could hardly even see him from where I was in line. But he did great. His horse kept trying to go off the trail to eat and he would just yank on the reigns to get his horse to come back. It was pretty funny.  Kami and Ellie staying with one of my friends since they were too young to go. 

My parent's put in a putting green in at their house and Rob designed this awesome little golf tournament for the whole family. It was so much fun. He broke everyone into teams and made a little put put course with five holes. There was a prize for the team that won, the lowest kids score and the lowest adult score. Cason actually ended up tying with Jason for the kids so they went to a playoff and Cason won somehow. It was seriously hilarious. I wasn't on Cason's team so I thought everyone was letting him win but sure enough, he actually won with no help. He just happens to be a really good putter. He even beat a lot of the adults with his score. I was dying watching him in the playoff. I don't know how he got so good at putting but it was really impressive. Everyone was cheering for him the whole playoff (I have the nicest family), and he had a permanent grin the whole time. He ended up winning $20 to Dairy Queen, I got a $10 gift card too because my team won...so we've been having a lot of ice cream since then! 

I got a Blentec blender and Ellie and I are really excited about it!!! We've been having a lot of fun trying new recipes and making up lots of smoothies. 

While we were working outside one Saturday Dan made this kids this little bowling alley! It happens to be really fun. The kids love it and so we've played quite a few bowling rounds with them. Cason makes up a little score card and keeps score. It's pretty cute. 

Kami and Cason dumped out their toy bins and pretended they were camping the other day and wanted me to document their little adventure. I love watching the imaginations at work. 

The kids and I borrowed my parents Jeep last week and went exploring out to the Dinosaur tracks. It ended up being really fun. We hiked quite a ways past the tracks and I just let them explore and do whatever they wanted for a while. It was fun. I love being places where they don't have rules and can just be little kids. 

Kami has turned into quite the little climber, she had no problem following Cason around and hiking up any hill he went up. She is so much fun to have around. Dan and I laugh at her constantly. She says the most hilarious things but is also the sweetest little snuggler ever. We sure love this little girl to pieces. 

Erin brought Amanda, Riley, and Kyle down for a few days last week. It was so fun to let my kids play with her kids. They are all the best of friends. Cason and Kami idolize them. They are such good kids. While they were here we went to the lake with the jet ski and kayaks. It was really fun. There is nothing better than being at the lake. We went to the lake on Monday for FHE too. Sand Hallow is such a fun little lake with kids. I really love it there. Cason is obsessed with cliff jumping. He is way to comfortable jumping off huge cliffs. 

On Pioneer Day Cason got to ride on the primary float in the little Hurricane parade. It was so cute and I'm pretty sure he thought it was the best thing ever. My parents and Erin and her kids came to watch him so he felt like a pretty big deal! 

The evening on Pioneer Day we decided to pack the kids up and go exploring to find a good play for a camp fire and picnic. We went up to the mountains out of Cedar City and found the most beautiful spot at Navajo Lake. It was absolutely stunning. The kids conked out on the way up which was good because we kept them up way past their bedtimes. 

We got lucky and found a spot with a picnic table and fire pit right next to the lake. 

Ellie was a happy little camper. We got so lucky with her. She's such a good baby. I love having her around. 

Me and my girls. And Cason crouched in the back ground looking for the perfect skipping rocks. He pretty good a skipping. He has spend a lot of hours mastering that skill in his little life. 

Dan and I don't get pictures together very often so Cason took this one for us. 

We had so much fun playing together in this little meadow by the lake. Dan stood this log up and the kids took turns climbing up on it so Dan decided to take a turn too. I caught this pic as he was jumping down. 

My little clan getting ready to roast marshmallows.

 

Last Thrusday, while Erin was still here we took our kids over to my parents house to play with their cousins and Dan and I escaped to Zion. We rode his KLR and first stopped at Oscars in Sprindale for a yummy dinner and then went for a ride through the tunnel at Zion. When we got to the other side of the tunnel we jumped of and went for a quick hike to the overlook. It was absolutely stunning. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. It was the perfect night. I love spending time with Dan so much. It is so nice to have some time away from the kids every once and a while. It was a really fun night! 

I really should be better about posting more so these aren't so long. Until next time!