Girls Summer Camps

Erin on her last day of Yummy, Yummy in my Tummy Camp. She got to make lots of goodies in her class like cookies and cupcakes!

Emma & Hayley went for the Rockstar Diva camp. They had a blast jammin' to Hannah Montana, playing games, making crafts, and dancing!

Her teacher was Mrs. Larson who was also her kindergarden teacher!
The girls had so much fun and so did their mom!

I totally took advantage of my alone time and
got lots done and even treated myself to a pedicure!

Oh what do we do in the summertime......

Swim in the pool.....

The kids are getting more and more brave in the water this summer. Especially the girls. This day we were at the Frosts and Emma started out terrified of jumping off the diving board but by the end she was doing trick after trick!

Seth can't wait till we are in Utah and gets to swim every day at Grandpa & Grandma Mac's

Even my little Erin who just turned 3 last month became quite the little dare devil! She too started of terrified of just swimming in a floatie and thanks to some one-on-one swim time with aunt Emily she came around. Yes that is her just jumping off the side with nothing but a floatie. The little girls were so cute counting to 3 and jumping over and over and over......

By the end of the afternoon she too was jumping off the diving board!!!

Boating on Lake Lavon....

Thanks to the Pedersen's we enjoyed a very hot Texas day on the lake! The kids tried lots of new things! Although totally terrified we got Emma out to try skiing and I was impressed with her squat-skiing! She did a great job!

Yes, that is me! Up on a wakeboard! Growing up we went skiing quite a bit but wakeboarding was a lot different. I was not used to having my legs bound together. Anyway I was just glad that I finally got up with the great instructions by coach Greg!

I wish I could say the same for Ryan!! He so tried but just couldn't get up! He was in the water alot! We were both so sore the next day...guess we aren't as young as we think.

Although Seth had a few traumatic experiences in the water (he tried to get up on the wakeboard and skiis but took in a bit too much of the lake) he loved the tubes!

So did Ryan and I! Greg showed no mercy...

Erin loved riding in the boat

Texas Thunderstorms......

We have had quite a few big storms this spring/summer. This one came very unexpectantly. We have a nice long storage closet under the stairs that the kids have dubbed the Harry Potter room that is our storm shelter. I came in to check on the kiddos after listening to the weather reports and found them snuggling together and trying to take their minds off the storms by reading. I have to admit that is long as there is no damage I absolutely love thunderstorms!

Last Day of School

The last day of school was definitely one of mixed emotions for all of us! This was our last day as Story Falcons. Because we have moved we now have to go to a different school. Stinkin' boundaries! The kids will start attending Chandler in the fall even though we are still in walking distance to Story! So it was a bittersweet day. I think they will be fine. Seth was probably more upset since this is his 5th grade year. We are trying to convince him that when he starts Middle School (7th grade) he will be back with all of his old friends and know many more from the new school. It's not working yet....the only thing they both agree on is that it is a cool school because it's two story.

On our last day of school we had our annual scavenger hunt with our cousins Alex and Hayley. This year we started off at Story and then on to our favorite little sno cone place. There they received the next clue....

On to the park where we rang in the summer with a 'bang'. They enjoyed their sno-cones and POP em's

Erin really liked throwing the pop em's

The girls doin' what they do best...posin!


The last clue led them back home to have a water balloon fight! It is amazing how fast you can go through hundreds of balloons in a matter of minutes even though it took a couple of hours of manpower to fill them all up! Oh well, they had fun and are excited for all that awaits them this summer!

Dazzler Spring Show

Emma has been doing Jazz this last year and has loved it. Much more upbeat for her! She did a great job and looked fabulous doing it! Here she is with a couple of the girls in her class after their STELLAR performance of "knock on wood".

Emma's Baptism Day

I am definitely playing catch up today! Our computer crashed last month and I was so upset because I had not saved Emma's baptism pictures. Luckily Emma and her cousin Hayley were baptized on the same day so I at least got a few from Emily. Still sad that I don't have one with just Emma & Ryan or a family one :( Ohe well...moving forward, I will be forever good at backing up my pictures so this doesn't happen again!!! Here are a few from her very special day!

May 2, 2009
Looking beautiful and all grown up in their matching white dresses

We were so happy that we were able to have so much family join us in celebration of the girls

Skipping happily along after after a great day spent with family & friends. Just seeing her all dressed in white made me teary-eyed thinking the next white dress will be a wedding dress. Where is the time going???

good ole' crawfish boil

Since we were still in Louisiana on Memorial Day we tagged along with my parents to their ward crawfish boil. This was my kiddos first introduction to the southern delicacy. If you aren't familiar with crawdads, they are are boiled live in a large pot with seasoning and other items such as potatoes & corn on the cob. I used to love them growing up but have discovered this year that I haven't really missed them much since moving to Texas. It was a lot of work for a little meat. Still fun though and very much a "social food"...fun to eat with friends. Glad the kids could try it for themselves.

Grandma teaching Seth & Emma the proper way to eat the tail of the crawfish. No headsucking!
Seth was a little weirded out but still ate it.

Emma was just freaked out and thought it was gross.

In the end everyone was a trooper and tried something new and unique to their Louisiana heritage.

The girls!

julie & nick

The new Mr. & Mrs. Burton!

Julie looked beautiful in her dress! The little girls were in awe of her and all wanted to help hold the train of her dress as she walked around the temple.

The kiddos all rushed the new bride and groom as they came out. Being the youngest in both families has always made them both the cool aunt and uncle.

It was a busy day. After the wedding which took place in Dallas at the Temple here it was off and over to Shreveport for a reception in the evening.


I love this pic of the bride & Seth! Seth actually ended up getting sick that night and spending a lot of time resting on the couch. Glad we got a few pics of him with a smile on because he looked so handsome in his tux.

The kids all loved getting dressed up!

Julie has great taste! I loved her colors - black, white with splashes of yellow.

The reception was at the Burtons home and of course it was lovely! The only thing that could have been better was if the rain had held off - but no such luck. Ironically, the rain seemed to come just in time for the reception and other than that it was a beautiful weekend! The patio looked great so we did get one pic after the rain had gone.

My men in tux's! So handsome....I love it!

Me with my Grandpa Harry. See the resemblance?

Mother of the bride with my sis Laura. Mom was rather emotional as now all of her girls are married and they are officially empty nesters. At least Julie & Nick will continue to live in Shreveport!

My sis Mandy with her littlest Fox! I love weddings! They are just big fun reunions! We had a great time visiting with family and friends and sharing Julie & Nick's special day!