Stretching

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."

~Richard G. Scott

Apparently I've been in need of some major stretching....

Kicking off the Fourth!

Our Fourth of July Weekend started out with one of our favorite traditions...meeting our friends, the Tongs at the Freedom Festival's Balloon Fest. Every year we get up way too early, while it's still dark outside, and head down to Provo. It's so worth it to see all of the hot air balloons getting set up and taking off into the morning sky. It was also our anniversary that day so it was a fun way to start out the celebrations.
Happy Anniversary to us!! It's awesome that I totally look pregnant in this picture. I'm not. :(We, of course, loved the Darth Vader hot air balloon the most. It was also really cool that the Star Wars characters were there to oversee the balloon going up.
















All because two people fell in love....with Star Wars:
The kids totally helped the balloon up into the sky by using the force.I think we've been at this tradition with the Tongs for going on 10 years. Next year the Tongs won't be here...we miss them already.
We met up with the Coxs too! We'll have to start a new tradition.
Balloons in the sky:















After the balloons we always head to Magleby's Fresh for all-you-can-eat pancakes & french toast. We usually can only eat one plate...but oh yum!






Afterwards we went over to the pond nearby and watched the ducks and the kids had fun exploring the trails. We love this tradition with the Tongs. It's one of our favorite things.

It's What Fun Is!

Ben's work is awesome, have I mentioned that? Every year they take the entire company to Lagoon for the day, buy us lunch, and even clothe us for the day. It pretty much rocks...especially since I don't think we'd ever make it to Lagoon as a family without them. This year was cool because I could go on rides with the kiddos. We had a fun-filled day.
The next pic is our only family pic of the day. Dang it! We were totally all matchy matchy and that never happens. We looked completely cool in our Solution Stream shirts...it totally would've been Christmas Card material. :)The kids always love this boring ol car ride...what's up with that?








So the entire week leading up to us going to Lagoon the weather was perfect...82 degrees. The entire week after we went...82 degrees. The day we went...98 degrees!! It was a scorcher!! Thank heavens for Lagoon-a-Beach which saved us from the heat of the day.








The wet rides saved us too. We all love the log plume!









We got a little soaked on Rattlesnake Rapids...just a little.
This is Nick's favorite ride, the Zoo Train. He begged all day to go on it. That kid can't wait to be a zookeeper!
Okay, Alexis thought the Rocket looked like the most exciting ride ever! She kept asking me to go on it. I filmed this whole explanation from her about why she loved it but I have no clue how to get it onto my blog. It was hilarious. Someday, little crazy girl.
Kade's also a little daredevil and will try anything once, even if it makes him nervous. It took awhile but Skylar will pretty much go on everything now and loves the craziest rides like Samauri.









Oh ,the carousel...the most sickening ride for me at Lagoon. Serious, ugh. Of course the kids wanted to go on it like 732 times.
I think this ride is the best at the park these days. Skylar was so lucky to get to go on all of the big rides a few times each so Ben and I could both get our thrills in.
Nick's our more hesitant one when it comes to rides. At the very end of the night Nick decided he was brave enough to go on Colussus. His little heart was beating out of his chest when we took this picture but he still got on the ride. Way to go Nick!! The next morning he admitted that he thought it was pretty fun after all.
Now, I'm not usually a fan of Lagoon but on company Lagoon Day I am. We had a really fun day! Yay for company Lagoon Day!!

Summer 2011: Month 1

Here's what we did in the month of June:

Skylar begged for me to let her start out the summer with a lateover with her friends, so we did. They had a blast eating pizza, playing Dance Dance Revolution, & watching the Princess Bride. Skylar has also been busy with piano lessons, dance, and reading all of the Harry Potter books in basically a month.








Nick went to soccer camp once a week throughout June and has loved starting piano lessons and playing coach pitch b-ball.








Kade went once to soccer camp and has also been taking tennis lessons and t-ball.























We went up to Hobble Creek Canyon with our friends, the Coxs, to check out where the boys were having their Fathers & Sons. It was beautiful up there! I really want to go camping as a family there sometime. The boys went on the Fathers & Sons campout but I can't find one single picture of it. What?! They said they had a blast!
We went to the Parade of Homes and saw some cool stuff with the Tongs.
We went to Orem Summerfest's Parade with the Tongs!








Then we watched some amazing fireworks that night.







We headed out for one of our yummiest summer traditions, PG Strawberry Days with strawberries 'n cream. Yummers!

We celebrated Father's Day with some of the greatest dads (& cousins) out there!















We headed out for the first Owlz game of the season. It was a beautiful night but the game was super crowded. There was an amazing fireworks show afterwards.
















We've only fired up the firepit once but it was so fun. I love campfires! Oh and yum, s'mores!
















We went to 7 Peaks one time with our friends, the Hoens. It was insanely crowded!!
I tried to talk the kids into going to 7 Peaks again but they refused because it's too crowded. We did some backyard slip 'n slide instead.
Then they begged to go to Grandma & Grandpa's pool instead of 7 Peaks. I have to admit, having the pool all to yourself is the best....and the kids love playing with Grandpa who throws them in the air and lets them carry him in the pool.