Little Trip to the Park

I have a fun sister..well, a few of them...but this one called me up and asked if we wanted to meet her down at the Spanish Fork splash park. I've never been excited to allow my kids to run on wet cement. I figured it was a dental trip waiting to happen. Aren't there lifeguards that spend their whole day telling kids to stop running for that very reason. Anyway, we met up with her and her boys and everyone had a great time. And no slipping! Yay!

Ryan spent the entire time at this mini fountain. Just his size.

Ry-Guy Turns One!!

What a fast year! It seemed like yesterday that I was 9 months pregnant trying to enjoy the 4th of July and all it's festivities and heat! And now Ryan is one year old, already. He has been a high maintenance, yet sweet baby. Derek likes to ask which baby was harder... him or Ry-Guy and I answer that Derek was the hardest for the first 6 months, but Ryan has been hard (but not as hard) for longer. He has always wanted to be held AT ALL TIMES, spit up a lot, and started sleeping through the night at 8 months instead of 6 weeks like my other babies. But he is a sweet angel and a little ham too! All the challenges he brings are worth it!

One of his nicknames is "Monkey Face", so I thought it would be fitting to make him a monkey face cake. We actually thought the cake resembled him especially once he smothered himself with brown frosting. (See below pictures.)

Okay, notice Dave in the background. Too funny! Can't leave a baby on a table without supervision.

We let our babies dig in their first birthday cake. He was hesitant at first but soon got to digging.

See...he's a monkey face!!

After cake it was on to presents! He was a spoiled little guy by his aunts, uncles, and grandparents!

Little Ry-Guy, Bubbers, Monkey Face, Bubba, or Smubbers is one fun baby! He gives the tightest hugs and loves the attention we shower on him. His brothers and sister adore him! He is definitely the star! We love our sweet baby! Happy Birthday, Buddy.

Red, White, and Blue...I Love You!!

The Fourth of July is a very very close second to Christmas in the race for my favorite holiday. It's really the only holiday that is full of fun the ENTIRE day. Ours starts with a parade. This was the first year since I was a little girl that we went to the Kaysville parade. It was great! Not too long and not too short. It's a smaller town so they still throw candy and it actually had floats and great marching bands.

My McKenna, Dave, Derek, Maddie, Taylor, Ethan, and Doug (Bro-in-Law)

Oh my word...you wouldn't believe the amount of candy the kids hauled in. We even scored a couple frisbees, otter pops, frozen yogurts, and Dave was so close to getting a tie and t-shirt. My favorite part of the parade was when we were showered...literally showered with small play balls like you find in playground ball pits. This float had a lot of helpers and they were all throwing as many as they could as fast as they could. The kids were scrambling to pick them up while my mom, my sister, and I laughed and screamed at the chaos and balls hitting us in the head. We laughed ourselves to tears. I wish I had some sort of footage to document it. It was hilarious! Needless to say, we came home with many toy balls.

My mom, Laurel (sister), and Ryan (almost 1 year).

Sweet cousin-friends!

To prove that I do come along with the family.

After the parade the kids (and usually Dave) swim in my parents' pool. The kids spend all day swimming while the adults chat and prepare the BBQ.

I wandered my parents' backyard and took pictures of all their hard work. It's a beautiful place!

The girls love picking Grandma and Grandpa's strawberries. They gathered a cute little pile. McKenna likes to pick "the baby ones" of everything.

After swimming and a BBQ we drove over to Davis High School and watched their fireworks. We ate snacks and played with glow sticks until the show started. I LOVE lying on my back next to my family in the cool summer evening and watching beautiful fireworks above. LOVE IT! Each fun event of the day adds up to make it almost the best holiday, in my opinion. Can't wait until next year!

What Happens At Girls Camp...

...Stays at Girls Camp. That was my motto for the 4 days we were at Camp "Shiver Me Timber"line. Something weird was in the air up there. My silly side sure came out and that hasn't happened since college. Those girls had no idea what hit them. There may have been a move named after me and the bishop may have named it "The Brock"...but I confess nothing because what happens at camp stays at camp. :)

It had been 7 years since I've left my kids overnight and that was for only one night...never for 4 days! I missed my family, but I have to say that it was a blast and so freeing to be on my own.

The YW Leaders and Camp Directors.

The YW Presidency. I love serving with these ladies!

Here we are with Smitty, our camp mascot. He was a hit with the girls. :) The note on his chest says "If you find me, return me to a leader for beads". (Beads were given for good behavior.) We put him in one of the bathroom stalls expecting a girl to find him, but apparently we shocked one of the priesthood helpers who walked in and thought he was walking in on a young woman. He said he had a heart attack. We thought it was very funny.

Girls camp really gave me a chance to get to know the girls. I loved it!!

Here I am "walking the plank" like it is a fashion runway. This is where the alleged "move" came from. :)

This was taken after our leader skit set to the song "Three Blind Mice".

The girls assembled and decorated this pirate ship on the first day. The next day a storm blew in and it rained for 24 hours straight. The poor ship didn't make it. :( Our camp site was literally on the peak of a mountain. The lightning, hail, wind, and rain were more intense that anything I've ever seen in Utah. Luckily, we were in cabins and not tents. All the rain gave us leaders more play time in the cabin. :) With all the rain, the roads were almost washed out, however it stopped long enough to dry out the roads to let us out. There were still some tricky parts.

I was excited to see my little family again and I was surprised that Ryan had forgotten me. He gave me a weird look when he heard my voice. I knew he recognized me, but couldn't figure out who I was. He let me hold him, but showed no emotion until about 5 minutes later and then started to smile and hug and love me. It was good to be home, but I couldn't help feel like I did when I was a youth...I wanted to start the week all over again.

The First of MANY!

With three boys in our family, we are going to become seasoned at Pinewood Derbies. Derek and Dave cut and assembled his first Pinewood Derby car together. And he designed and painted the car all on his own...with very minor help from me. I wanted this to be his own creation. I think he did an amazing job! The competition was fierce!

Part of Derek's cheering section. (The other part was behind the camera. :)

I imagined the track to be an old wooden homemade thing, but this was a very high-tech computerized track.

It was a lot of fun to watch all the boys race.

Derek won the award for the "Most College Spirit". Oh yeah, That's right!

Taylor's 7th Birthday!

Taylor is 7? What?! Where does time go? Yep, the boy just turned 7. He had a choice between a family and a friend party and he chose a family party. After his first first morning of swim lessons, he opened his presents, went out to dinner, and we all went miniature golfing at Trafalga.

Finally, he got his dolphin "Pillow Pet".

Happy Birthday, Taylor! You are such a sweet brother to your brothers and sister. I love how you want to help others and make them happy. We love you, Tay Dawg!