Happy Birthday Andrew!

Andrew turned 12 on the 25th. I think he would agree it was a pretty good day. His mom made him all his favorite foods and all his friends came over. The best part was going to see the Dark Night. We are one birthday away from having 3 teenagers in the house.

Time to take a breath.....

From the second school got out in May we have been going nonstop. This has been one of the best summers for our family. We seem to say that every year but this year is especially true. From river rafting trips to quick trips to Vegas, we have been plenty occupied. We will attempt to recap some of the hilights we have had so far starting with the most recent...........

Last Saturday we took the three older boys to see the Police. Originally it was just going to be Heather and I but our boys definatley appreciate REAL musical talent. Not to mention this would probably be the last chance to see them together ever. The show was better than anticipated, and we had high expectations. It was amazing to see just the three original members playing all the music; bass, lead and percussion, with no backup anything. These happen to be the three instruments are boys are currently learning, they were inspired. We loved being with our boys and none of us will forget the experience.

For the 4th of July and the week after we were able to spend time in Bear Lake Idaho. I think everyone would agree it was the best trip we have had there. The only thing missing was Uncle Justin. We had a lot of time to visit, play in the water and relax. There was not quite enough time for fishing though. Below are some of our favorite picks. Click on the slide show at the top to view the slide show bigger and view or save pics.

Nothin' like a breakfast chucked from a wagon on the 4th!

Everyone loves a parade.....even if it is mostly vehicles advertising something

Jacob gets a piece of candy hand delivered from the military!

We all love 7 hour days at the beach, even Uncle Aaron has been converted

Cleaning up the old fashioned way

In June we spent some time at one of our favorite redneck pastimes.... Demo Derby!!

The week after school let out we spent a week at another one of our favorite places, Capital Reef. We went on many hikes, probably too many for the kids, and spent time with our good friends the Grimes. Click on the slide show at the top to view the slide show bigger and view or save pics.

In May Matthew was baptized and had a party where he began mastering yet another superhero's skills. It was nice to have all of the family come out.

No more pencils no more books.....

The end of the school year is here, and not too soon! All of the boys spent their last day a little different...

Ian spent it like it was just another Saturday morning

Andrew had a dance festival, that he was so excited for, and graduated 6th grade

Gavin went to the dance festival to mock his brothers

And Matthew, well, Matthew may have been the most excited of all

New Dew!

This weekend we discovered there were three new Mountain Dew flavors. We went through 9 cans trying to determine which new flavor is the best, as only one flavor will be chosen to stay. Most of the boys liked the Revolution flavor but we did come to a common conclusion on one thing, ALL DEW IS GOOD!

Nationals

Heather and I spent Saturday at the National Alpaca Show at the Sandy Convention Center on Saturday. Mom, Dad and Aaron had been there since Wednesday and were not quite as enthused as us at that point. I think everyone enjoyed it and we got a taste of what the shows are about. Hamilton and Heather did great in the ring. Dad was on channel 2 news and the boys were excited their grandpa continues to be famous.

FINALLY!

Matthew has been greatly anticipating his birthday since, well, the day after his last one. Thank goodness he doesnt remember all the things he has asked for over the last year and we have told him "Not right now, that would be a good birthday present". It may be wrong but it works. There was so much excitement and we had so much fun we celebrated it over 2 days. He was able to spend time with his friends and family swimming, eating pizza and going to a movie. There have been transformers running around everywhere. Matthew is excited to be 8 because now he gets to play football, and his dad had no influence over that. He is the last one of the boys that actally wants to be anything like his dad. The countdown has already begun, only 363 days until his birthday!

Happy Bithday Mom!

We have been able to celebrate mom twice this week. We all know how much mom enjoys having her birthday close to Mothers Day, especially when it falls on Mothers Day, NOT! I think she enjoyed both days this year though. She has officially joined the digital age with her first IPOD from dad. Now she just needs to learn how to fill it. We love you mom!

Training For Nationals

Last Saturday we were able to spend some time at the ranch. Hamilton was finally able to do some halter training with Heather. He thought she did pretty well......

The Great North Western Celebrity Alpaca Tour

Mom, Dad, Aaron I spent last weekend touring the mecca of alpaca ranches. We were able to see some of the best alpacas in the country in the likes of El Ninio, The Godfather, and Kahuna. The setups of the ranches were incredible and they were HUGE. We enjoyed the green country and experiencing some of the Oregon rain, not too much though. The best part was learning from and visiting with the Aussies at Pucara International. They were very nice down to earth people with a lot of experience, not to mention good food, to share. It was a great motivating weekend......

Masked Matty

Matthew made his dad's day with this picture. Anyone who knows Matthew knows he loves costumes, year round. He frequents the breakfast table dawning one of his masks. We love having a little boy and are obviously having a hard time letting Matthew grow up. Maybe it is time we have another.....maybe not.

Matthew will always be welcome to eat breakfast, with a side of Dorritos, in disguise. After all, who doesnt like eating breakfast with a superhero?

Some of our favorites......

Welcome Baby Hannah

Congratulations to the Olsens on their beatiful new baby Hannah!

Hannah was born Thursday March 27th. We were able to visit with the Olsens last night and take these pictures of their sweet girl. Gavin was looking at the pictures this morning and the first thing he said was "Wow, that babies head is perfect!" She truely is a beautiful girl. Heather and Gavin are more baby hungry than ever.

Who is more tired.....Mom, Dad or Hannah

Happy Easter!

We have spent Easters in Bloomington where it has snowed before but it melted by mid-day. This year there was several feet still on the ground with temperatures in the teens in the morning. We brought basketballs, footballs, laser tag and other outdoor spring games but traded them in for gloves, hats, sleds and late night board games. All of the snow and the blue skies made for a beautiful and fun Easter. The kids enjoyed hunting eggs on the frozen tundra. It was easy to hide eggs in the boot holes and snowdrifts. Most of the boys had fun doing a geo cache for their Easter candy but not as much fun as Heather and Seth had creating it, including getting stuck in the snow. We spent some time at Ollies' where Ian and Aaron also found some treasure. We loved being together as a family and missed Jenny and Justin. As usual, it all went too fast but we have some wonderful memories...