Summer Fun!

 During the hot summer months in St. George we have to find some way to beat the heat. And that usually involves water. The kids love to come to the St. George town square. There is a little stream that they can splash in and there is also a fountain. Eli is learning to love the fountain but Brianna still isn't sure about water splashing onto her head.

I really love this picture! Maybe I should hold a contest for someone to think up a great caption for it...

He's headed over to the fountain in this picture. I'm not sure why we don't have any pictures of him actually playing in the fountain.

I've seen this merry go round there many times but I've never bothered to check and see how much it costs to ride. It's only 50 cents! Why haven't we done this before?! Next time I'm going to convince them to ride on one of the horses.

It's a girl!

Due October 2nd!

Father and Son

Eli went camping with Cameron again. They do that rather frequently. I could have gone too, but there was too much going on that weekend. Anyway, while they were on a hike the next morning, Eli found something that he thought was super exciting! Can you guess what he decided this was? I included several pictures because he was making silly faces.

It's an Angry Birds slingshot!!! He really wanted to take it home, but Cameron told him no. Wouldn't it have been perfect?

Happy Birthday Cameron!

One thing that's nice about having a husband five years older than me is that I can tell him he's old but he can't say the same about me! Ha!

Cameron, you are such a wonderful husband and father. Thank you for all that you do. I've never seen someone that works as hard as you do. I'm often amazed at the things you are able to accomplish. Your children think you are the best ever. They are so excited when you come home from work and run to give you hugs and kisses.

I hope you enjoyed your birthday breakfast, dinner, and cheesecake! I love you!

April Fools!

Do you remember last year when I shared the best April Fools joke ever?! Well, they got us again! My friend called me on Saturday night to see if I might like to come to dinner on Sunday.  Not too long after getting off of the phone, it occurred to me that Sunday was April Fool's day. Remembering, the great April Fool's joke from last year, I figured there was something up, but I didn't know what. I told Cameron my suspicions and he said something like, "Maybe we shouldn't go and just text them 'April Fools' five minutes after we are supposed to get there."

But I knew that if my friends invited a big group over for dinner, then we would actually be served dinner, and the joke would be harmless and funny. So we went.

When we got there, everything appeared to be normal. We could smell the dinner. Everyone was sitting on the couch chatting, waiting for dinner to start. There were plates set around the table. 

We said a prayer over the food, and then our host said, "Well, I don't think there is enough room around our kitchen table. Let's go to our formal dining room." He then led us to the garage! When we opened the door, we saw that there were two long strips of brown paper set on the floor with placemats, plates, and silverware drawn on. Over the entire floor were big sheets of plastic. We were told to "Each take a seat but make sure not to step on the tables!" Next they handed out bibs made from wrapping paper. All of our cups were filled with what appeared to be water, but was actually a clear kool aid.

Soon our host walked in carrying a bowl full of salad, which they dumped into piles directly onto our "tables." They did the same with bread, spaghetti, and jello. We ate with our fingers, off of the floor. Don't worry, the floor was covered in plastic! Remember?

Pictures of the night!

It was fun! And I think Cameron is making plans for the Young Men in our ward. Only he said he'll use mashed potatoes and gravy instead of spaghetti.

I also played a joke on Cameron, but it didn't work. I put a drop of blue food coloring on his toothbrush, but he noticed the blue water when he ran his toothbrush under the water before brushing. He made sure to rinse it all out before putting it in his mouth.

Happy Birthday Eli!

Happy Birthday my little man! You are such a special boy. You are so smart and creative. How did you get four years old so fast? Some of your favorite things to do right now are:

Play with your cars

Play hide and seek with Brianna

Draw pictures

Write letters to Grammy

Dig in the dirt looking for buried treasure

Go on 4-wheeler rides with daddy

Look for Geo Cache treasures

Eli, we love you so much! You bring such joy to our lives! Keep making us smile and laugh with those great jokes of yours!

......

And now, on to the birthday party... We had a party in the park. It ended a little sooner than it otherwise would have because it got cold and windy. That was rather unlucky since every day leading up to the party was 74° and sunny.

The first thing we did was have a treasure hunt to look for the pinata. It was pretty fun watching all of those little kids looking for all of the clues. In this picture the pinata has already been broken. I haven't made a pinata since Spanish class in the 9th grade. It was pretty fun! This one is a pig from Angry birds.

After breaking the pinata, we sang "Happy Birthday," opened presents and had cake. Eli requested a Lightning McQueen cake. Probably the hardest cake I've ever made. But it was fun trying to figure out how to get him to look right. It took me an entire day to make this.

Then the kids played on the slides until either they, or their parents, said, "Ok, I'm cold. Let's go home!" Our kids didn't seem to mind the cold quite as much. We were the last to leave, and the only way we could convince Eli to go was by telling him that he couldn't play with his new toys until we got home. It was a fun day! I've got some videos that I might post later.

Happy Birthday Brianna!

How adorable you are! I can't believe that you are two years old already! You bring such joy to our lives. Some of your favorite things right now are...

Piling "blankets" on top of your babies

Feeding your babies with the new baby bottle you got from Grammy Teena

Playing with your brother

Riding your "bike" (it's more like a scooter)

Repeating EVERYTHING mom and dad say

Giving hugs and kisses

Playing Hide and Seek

I can't wait to see what the future brings for you my love. Everyday, you make us smile and laugh. Even your brother has caught on to that. In his prayers, he never forgets to say, "And thank you for Brianna, that brings us good happiness." I love you my darling!