Happy Fathers Day!

This is totally late since we were out of town on Fathers Day, but. . . I just wanted to tell Nate what a great dad he is and how much we appreciate everything he does for our little family. One of my favorite things to do is watch him play with our kids. . . he loves them so much and takes such great care of them. They are so lucky to have him and I am too!

We love you dad!

St. George

Last weekend we went to St. George with our friends, the Smiths. It was so nice to get away from real life for a few days and escape to the heat of Southern Utah!

We went to Snow Canyon on Friday - the kids had tons of fun climbing around on the rocks. Unfortunately, the heat eventually drove us away when the rocks and sand started burning us all!





We spent tons of time in the water. Our hotel window looked out at the pool and it was ALL Lola could talk about. She is such a little water baby these days and could definitely get used to all that pool time! We went to a really fun community pool in Santa Clara. Jacks, Miles and Luke spent the entire time running up the stairs to the water slide and down the slide in record time. . . over and over again.

On Saturday morning Britt, Justin and I got up at 5:30am for the Utah Summer Games Triathlon. Justin did the whole thing while Britt and I took the easy way out and did a relay. Another girl did the swimming part, Britt did the bike and I did the run. It was tons of fun to be there (even if we were the lazy ones) and great to do it together. Maybe next year I'll motivate myself to do the whole thing.



While we did a triathlon, Nate did his best to outdo all the competition at In-N-Out. Seriously. . . he went 4 times. It was a little bit disgusting but he was oh-so-very happy! He was so great to watch all 5 kids while we went to the race that he totally deserved as many burgers and fries as he could consume.



One night after dinner the kids found this little stream that meandered through behind the restaurant. They had so much fun splashing around and getting soaking wet.








It was such a fun weekend. . . and so much fun to be with friends that we wish we could spend more time with.

Being Outside

Last Monday we went up the canyon for tin foil dinners and smores with our friends, the Hollands. The kids had the time of their lives running around the woods with their friends, playing in the fire, eating almost nothing and throwing rocks in the river of death.

Every summer I say I will do better at taking advantage of this beautiful area that I am so lucky to live in and every summer we seem to get too busy. This year my kids are old enough to really enjoy it and I am recommitting myself to this goal!

Catching Up

The past few weeks have been so busy. From sun up to sun down my kidlets want to be outside - they can't stand the idea of missing even a moment of sunlight. It always seems that way in the summer - the days melt away faster than I can ever believe! It's been so nice to be able to get outside and enjoy running wild, burning energy and completely wearing ourselves out. Here are a few things we've been doing.





Jacks finished up his soccer season. He had such a fun time and really improved over the season. I sat there watching my son playing the sport that I love so much and couldn't believe it. How in the world do I have a son old enough to play soccer? I don't know where the time has gone.





Memorial Day with granny and grandpa. It was nice to spend time with family even if the weather was far, far less than perfect! Jacks concentrated very hard as he attempted to climb his first tree.







We are oh-so-lucky to have the very best neighbors. My boys don't know how blessed they are to have so many little friends so close. We decided to buy one of those huge waterslides together and everyone has been having so much fun on it.





I so love this time of year. . . there's nothing quite like the lazy days of summer!

Pirate Ships

I walked into my boys room to this sight:



They told me that they were building a pirate ship.

Apparently they found it necessary to empty ALL dresser drawers in doing so. They also felt the need to remove all bedding from their beds and relocate the mattress. REALLY?



At least they're creative with their mess making skills.

Preschool Graduation

It's really hard for me to believe my Jackson just finished his 3rd and final year of preschool. I so vividly remember that day, well over 3 years ago, that I first dropped my then barely 3 year old off for his first day of joyschool. That morning he cried and cried when it was time for me to leave. I thought we had such a long road ahead of us, with kindergarten so far off. Time has flown and now he is a big, independent, capable, almost 6 year old, ready for bigger and better. He has had the most fabulous year at his preschool where he has had swimming lessons, tennis lessons and tumbling along with mastering all he needs to know to start school.

And, me. . . I think I just might be able to let him go this coming fall knowing that he is ready for all that awaits him.


(Lola loved the bright yellow frosting on the cupcakes at graduation and thought she should wear it on her face!)

Being The Dad

I constantly talk about my kids on my blog but rarely give any blog attention to my awesome husband. On Tuesday night I had Young Women's at my house and Nate was so great to get the kids out of the way for the evening. I thought he'd do something like take them to Borders to read books or maybe to the pet store - you know, something I would do. But when the garage opened later that night, Jacks, Miles and Lola all came running in so excited about the hike dad took them on. A HIKE, I said??? This is something I would never fathom doing alone with my 3 kids and would only ponder momentarily if Nate was volunteering to go with us. Afterwards, he took them to the gas station and let them each pick out a treat and a drink. Dads can get away with things like taking kids to the gas station for treats. If I was to do it, they would try to make it a daily habit.

I'm so grateful that Nate is such an amazing dad. He balances my order/routine-crazy-self out and gives the kids things that I can't give them (even if it does sometimes makes me feel like the totally un-cool parent). He's always so very willing to give me the breaks that I need so that I can be a better mom. And for all of that, I am thankful.