I must be loved!

Have you heard the saying "the Lord tests those he loves"? Well I must really be loved!! I am going on "Trek" (where the youth in our church re-inact the pulling of the handcarts that the pioneers did) next week. It is 24 miles in 3 days. I was getting something out of the closet for "Trek" and the box with the iron in it fell off the shelf and smashed my middle toe.
The tip of the 3rd toe is fractured. Cool colors huh! I have to wear that pretty shoe for 1 week and then buddy tape it for 3 weeks. But I still get to go on "Trek". This is just a test to see if I really wanted to go.

Washington

Shawns Grandmother passed away this last week and so we had the opportunity to go to the funeral. They live on a farm in Quincy, WA. This is one of the funnest things to do on the farm. The kids loved it.

This is a picture of Great Grandpa, Shawn's parents, and 4 of his siblings. I think 14 people were not able to attend from hubbies immediate family. So if they were all there this picture would have twice as many people.

And of course we needed a picture of us all dressed up. Nothing better then a funeral to get a family all together...OK maybe there are better ways.

3rd of July

We decided to go up to Jordanelle Reservoir. The kids had a great time. This is Shawn, Paige, Shawntell and  Austin enjoying the ride. They even tried to fish a little, didn't catch anything.

This is Shawntell and me out all by ourselves. It was a long but fun day. Shawn was the only one that got sunburned! He put the sunblock on and then when he got in the canoe his shorts rode up a little and he didn't have sunblock on that part....so he is a little red.

This would be Kambree on the ride home. She just had way too much fun and she wasn't willing to give up the licorice!

Cousins.

Austin  loves his cousin, Kylan. They are about 18 months apart in age, but they are the best of friends.
Today they are rocking the "Faux Hawk". Kylan is staying for a couple of days. Just think of all the fun adventures they will have.  Austin is just so excited to have another boy at our house, with 3 sisters he often feels out numbered.

oops! I forgot to mention...

Kambree graduated from Preschool in May. We did a neighborhood group. There were 6 kids, we had to either teach or be the helper once every 3 weeks. The kids loved getting together and the group of moms did a great job with the lessons. I am a little glad it is over, it gave me a whole new appreciation for what "real" teachers do every day.

Fun in the sun...ok it was more like a furnace!

This is my AWESOME family!!!! It was my first time to Moab and I loved it. My sister said that the last time they were in Moab they saw a family that did something funny...every time someone passed them on the trail they had to freeze in the position they were in. So we thought maybe we should do something like that....that is when Austin found a Zoro mask and said we should wear them while we were hiking. Well the girls could not wear that so we got Princess crowns for all the girls to wear. It sure made it easy to see where our kids were...we got a few funny looks but it was fun. (We only made everyone wear them on 1 hike, but Austin wanted to wear his the entire time.)

This is my sister and her family that came with us...ok it was really their trip and we just kind of invited our selves. Don't they look so good in their masks and crown!

These are the kids...it was kind of funny to walk with all 7 of them by myself and then have someone else walk by thinking they were all MINE!

They had so much fun spending time with their cousins. Austin wanted to be a cowboy on one hike...OK.

These are the girls modeling for the camera in front of "Balance Rock".

Shawntell and me in front of "Delicate Arch". That was the hardest hike we did, we all made it back alive.

Paige and  Shawntell were doing cartwheels down this sand dune. Kambree liked to pretend she was surfing.

And this is the last hike of the trip. Shawn and I survived...I am not a fan of 103 degree heat!!!!! Glad to be home and see it raining.

Last day of school!

Austin is now officially a 1st grader. He is so excited to eat lunch at school and not at home. This is his Kindergarten teacher. She is one of the best there is. I told her that she has to keep teaching at my kids school for at least 2 more years, so she can be Kambrees teacher.
Shawntell loved her teacher this year also. She told me one day "people think my teacher is mean, but really she just has a loud voice". Shawntell loved her teacher because she really encouraged her creative side, she had them write lots of creative stories and doing a lot of art.
This is Paige with her teacher. I helped out a lot in her class this year and grew to love her teacher also. She is really big into "letting the kids have responsibility and showing accountability for their work". She would give them a huge list of things that needed to be finished by the end of the week and then gave them time to do it. They could either get it all done during school or they would have homework. Paige did really well with that type of teaching. I think it is preparing them for Junior High.

BRING ON THE SUMMER FUN!