4th of July

We spent the 4th at my mom's in her pool. It was the first time in awhile that most of the family was there. Becky, Frank and Lauren came from Florida. CJ, Brandon, Ryan and Brittany came from San Antonio. All the Dallas folks came too! We were missing just 3 people. My 2 brothers and my cousin Duey. It was so fun to have everyone together. It seems right now all is good in our family right now and it was a blast!

Harlee got out of the pool and got dressed and then later got back in in her diaper. Becky said she looked like Daffy Duck with her big ole swollen diaper!

Brandon spent a lot of time goofing around on the couch with Lauren and Ella!

Harlee got a yummy fudge pop that went everywhere!

Burgers Lake

The weekend of July 4th we took the kids out to Burgers Lake. We didnt get any pictures of the kids in the water because Jared did not want to take his camera out to the water but we got some of our little picnic. The lake is so much fun with water slides, boards, a trapeze and a beach. The kids had a blast! We brought my cousin Brittany and Uncle David.

Jared the grilling stud...
Uncle David loves his hot dogs!

Melted Cheese!

The studly uncle David!

IT was so hot that day! They are just dripping in sweat!

Fathers Day

Happy Late Fathers Day to Jared! The kids and I wanted to do something fun this year so we started to collect some of his favorite things and put them in a gift basket along with the new MLB Wii game. The kids contributed ideas for the basket and they were spot on. They sure know their dad. He is the most amazing dad ever! He plays with them like he is one of them and they sure do know how special he is. I am so lucky to be married to a man like him! We love you!!!

random

So this summer so far I have been carrying my camera around and taking more random pictures of the kids. I dont take enough I decided.

My friend Serena came to visit me from Amarillo and we took the kids downtown to the Water Gardens and for smoothies. We did not end up staying long. It was 102 degrees that day with a heat index of 110 so it was SCORCHIN!!! Serena called it "Satans Lair". That is a good way to describe the heat here sometimes. SOmetimes I really miss Idaho! LOL Above is the kids just bein hot and below is Harlee chompin down. She was not hot yet. We were in Jamba Juice still.
Ella is an amateur photographer. HEr favorite past time is getting my camera and taking pictures. Below is her handywork and I thought it was cute!

Last Day of Kindergarten

On June 5th Ella had her last day of Kindergarten. I was a big dork and took a picture because I was a little sad that she was not in Kindergarten anymore. It seems like just yesterday we had her and it seemed like so far away that she would even go to school. Now, here we are in First Grade! What is this? I cant believe it!

Fort Worth Zoo

THe other day a friend of mine and I took our kids to the zoo. She has 2 boys that are my little ones age so it is a lot of fun to play. It was a beautiful day so I even let Ella play hooky and come with us.

In Texas town at the zoo they have a bucket of water that dumps over on the kids. I have never let my kids go through it because it is usually not hot enough when I go but I braved it and took my kids the other day. It was hot enough that they were completely dry an hour later and they got to cool off. I had a hard time getting them to stay still so I could get some fun shots so I just started clicking my camera.
Harlee had the most fun but I could not get any shots of her face so I threw her in the stroller when we were done and took this. Out of all 5 kids she was the most drenched.

This is Breil and his new buddies Luke and Cameron. Cameron is 4 just like Breil and they have become fast friends. He has never had a "boy" friend his age before so this is a lot of fun for him. Cameron and Breil ran a lot and I would assume their little legs were exhausted.

We tried to get pictures of all the kids together and they just would not stay put. This lady offered to take a picture of my friend and me with all of the kids but it was not happening. So this is what came of they "group" picture.

Nephi's Courage

This is BReils favorite primary song. It has gotten a little old for all of us because it has been his favorite since before he was in Primary. We recorded a video for my little brother who is on a mission and I thought I would share. He is a little showman.