A Cousin Photoshoot

My mom really wanted to get a quick photo shoot of all of the cousins gathered together before Dax heads off to college.  (Still freaks me out that he is old enough to go to college.  He was Jade's age when Scott and I got married).  Anyway, she would have liked to get a family picture of all of us dressed up on a Sunday (her plan was right before Dax's party) but we just couldn't make it work out.

Both of my girls decided to strike a pose for the camera.  They really do crack me up so much of the time.  Eventually they cooperated  and I did get a pretty cute one of them.  And with Asher, they were both willing to pose nicely.

In the end, I did get one of all of them looking at me (okay, Zachary isn't quite looking at me but at least he's looking straight ahead).  I think it is funny that they are all in such a random collection of clothing but at least it captured them for who they are.

Balloons -Freedom Festival

We have an annual tradition of going to the Freedom Festival Balloon Fest.  It takes place for the 3 mornings leading up to the 4th of July.  This year, because the 4th was on Sunday, they did it Friday, Saturday and Monday.  We made the mistake of going on Monday.  It was so crowded!  Parking was a nightmare and once we finally found a place to park, the balloons were all launched.

We (just the girls and I) went with Mom and met Melissa there.  We watched the balloon games for a while, and the girls and I took a few pictures.  There weren't many to see.

The first collage is mine, the second is Jade's (she had me take a picture of her with her camera) and the third is Ivy's.

Next year we will go on Friday, it is less crowded and they still have the Kiwanis breakfast.  (And that is one of my favorite parts).

Congratulations Dax- Our first High School Graduate

Dax is an absolutely amazing young man.  I am so excited for all of the wonderful things he has in store for his life.  He is brilliant.  He is sweet.  He is faithful.  He is talented.  He is loved.

As the first of the grandkids to graduate from high school, my mom put on quite a wonderful party for Dax.  Our family was all there to support him, plus many of our life long friends. It was very fun to have everyone together.It is very fun seeing how much our crew has grown.

Congratulations D.K.  You are going to do an awesome job at Oxford.  We are very proud of you.

The 4th of July

In the past, my family goes ALL OUT for the 4th of July, but this year we actually scaled it down a bit.  By scaled down, I mean we didn’t have a fierce competition with assigned teams and a trophy.  Instead we watched some of the World Cup, did a craft, had an adult volleyball tournament and my mom rented a great big blow up water slide.  We started the day later than we normally do, but I feel like we packed in just as much as every other year.  Only without the fierce competition.

The craft was a hit and the , blow up slide was a blast!  My sweet Jade felt really badly that we didn’t have the competition, because she is always on the team that wins.  Plus it brings everyone together and starts the party.

After the day activities, we gathered outside for the “Cul de sac of Fire”.  This year there were three bands.  The first was “Love-capades” and the second was “He and She”.  In between the bands was the children’s parade.  And a specialty dance number by “550 South Fire Girls”.  They were joined or rather replaced on stage by the hip hoppin cool guys of 550 South.

Finally the headliner show was ready to take the stage.  This year we welcomed “Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband” to our ever growing “cul de sac of fire- fire – fire”.  They did an absolutely awesome job.  The little girls danced and grooved to their music and even joined them on stage for a moment.  It was a lot of fun and I’m sure there is no chance of topping this year’s – EVER.

We ended the night with fireworks.  Ivy stepped on a sparkler so I missed most of the fireworks while I nursed her foot.

We really do LOVE the 4th of July.  I just wonder how on earth we can have another party next year after this one went over so well.

The Two Jumpers

Tom is a serious "pool thrower" and when he's in town, the girls like to fly.  He always pays for it the next day, but it is worth it.  At least for me to take the pictures.

Jade and Asher are the two that enjoy it the most.  Neither of the big boys wanted to be thrown and Harrison wanted to but he couldn't master the jump and throw all at once.  He'll get it.

My Brother - the real swimmer

Not all of the grown ups in our family can do the butterfly.  Actually, I think only one adult really can.  Everyone else suffers from shoulder issues or just can't do it and look quite as impressive as Tom does.  I love when he gets into his "I'm a swimmer" mentality.  He was an excellent swimmer back in high school and my birthdays were spent at his state tournaments three years in a row.

We had fun trying to capture the perfect picture of him doing the butterfly.

Making Progress - Swimming

Jade is a fantastic "swimmer" but not great at her strokes.  This summer, hopefully, she will improve on those. She has the desire to be better and I'm hoping that translates to paying attention well in her classes.  Mom got the kids signed up in a group class and the Utah grandkids also did a couple of semi-privates earlier.

Ivy, well, she didn't make a lot of progress on her semi-privates, so I decided to have my own little lesson with her.  She's very timid.  But, I convinced her to take off her floaties and see what we could do.  She actually did pretty well, she just was a bit scared to start.

We did some floating and kicking and paddling.  Eventually she started to feel more comfortable without her floaties.  Finally I was able to convince her to swim with just a noodle.  That quickly became her favorite way to swim.

Jade has been really working on her dives.  Hopefully one day Kat will be able to really teach her how to dive.

The first day of the cousins visit

All of the kids were so excited to see each other.  So, we spent the majority of the day playing down at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The biggest hit of their yard is the sand box.  The kids played there well into the night.  The last picture is with a flash (just so you believe me that it really was into the night).

Meet my nephews...

Every year my brother's family comes to town for our big 4th of July celebration.  This was the first time they have been here since we got our boat.  We had big plans to go down to Yuba for a couple of days and we were going to camp and swim and boat and just enjoy the family boating.  Instead, there ended up being a lot of wind and we decided not to experience Yuba again with major winds.

Instead, Scott took just the "big boys" out on the boat to learn how to wakeboard.  They both had a lot of fun but both said they weren't eager to go again.  I think the fact that they were SOOOO sore from using muscles they have never used might have something to do with it.  The other thing that might have come into play was that Dax had a pretty big wreck.  Big enough that Scott has decided that if they do go out on the boat again, they will be wearing the helmet.

As you look at the pictures, notice how they do not let go of the rope when they are crashing.  Not letting go really adds to the impact of the wreck.

Both boys totally got the hang of it, and were pretty decent.  Next summer we'll have to try again.  This time with the whole family camping at Yuba.