Louisiana Trip

We went over to Shreveport last week to finally meet little Fox. Mandy & Andrew came down from Indiana. It was so fun to visit with them. Erin enjoyed having a cousin her age to play with. They are still 2 yr. old toddlers so there was a lot of "mine, mine, mine" going on. With 6 grandkids there it sounded more like a daycare at times but it was so just so good to all be together again. While we were there we spent a day at Gator & Friends. It is an alligator park with lots of other animals to see and feed. We discovered that Erin is such a chicken while Eden has absolutely no fear at all! They actually feed the gators each day and that is pretty crazy to watch. There are at least 50 or so alligators jumping out of the water for food! Check out the clip.

Sweet little Fox all decked out in his gator gear

Gator & Friends

In other news around here....I finally finished the Twilight series. My mom was kind enough to "share" the last book with me. We took turns reading chapters and at night I would steal it! They are such addicting books. I'm just glad I have actually finished! Now I can finally get some sleep, a little laundry done, interact with my children more and maybe stop thinking of Ryan as my vampire!!!

San Antonio

We were a little sad that we didn't get to make it out to Utah this summer so we decided we needed a little family vacation. We have lived in Texas for the past 8 years and have never made it down to San Antonio. We spent a few days there checking out the Alamo, Riverwalk, Market Square, the Temple and of course Sea World. We had a blast! The first couple of days were super hot - over 100 degrees! Tropical Storm Eduardo decided to roll through and it actually cooled things off a bit for us. We caught all of the fun shows on this first rainy day and the next day went for the rides and the water park. I was so happy to find out that I have children after my own heart - they love rides- big rides!!! Seth loved the roller coasters and Emma was quite bummed that she wasn't quite tall enough to ride the big stuff just yet. Seth rode the coasters over & over taking mom or dad with him. Emma loved the Journey to Atlantis (major log ride) and little Erin was even big enough for a few of the rides. Here are a VERY few pics from our adventure because Shamu got my camera wet and it didn't work at all the 2nd day. It still isn't the same - hopefully a new battery might help.

The kids loved feeding the dolphins! $5 for a tray of fish brings them right up to you

Shamu right before my camera went dead! Seth & Ryan sat right down front in Splash Zone city and I took the girls up a little higher and we ended up getting more wet than they did!

The kids on the Riverwalk

Dave & Bruce in TeXaS

I finally found a minute to actually sit down and update the blog. We have been super busy 'round here. Dave & Bruce were able to come out for their annual summer Texas trip. We had so much fun and maybe a few too many late nights. I'm still catching up on much needed sleep! We packed a lot in for a fun filled week including a trip to Hawaiian Falls, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, and an afternoon at the Zone for some laser tag which was a blast. Seth beat me but I did come in 2nd! I was also able to get my "game fix"! We played lots of Settlers of Catan,Speed Scrabble and a little Guitar Hero. This year Dave doubled the glow stick count for our 2nd annual "glow party" and even made homemade rootbeer which was a big hit! The kids loved having their uncles here to spoil them! The girls especially loved playing with their uncle Bruce and he such a good sport as they tend to be very possessive of him. Here are pictures from the week. (Just click on the collage to make it bigger) Dave took most of them on his super nifty nice camera so I can't take credit for them but he was nice enough to share and put them on our computer before he left. He is quite the photographer these days. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two from him!

Grandpa & Grandma Mac's Visit

We were so lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa Mac come all the way from Utah to visit all of their Texas kiddos. We had a fun filled week of swimming, movies, stars, shopping, decorating, eating out, games and just enjoying one anothers company! Here are quite a few pictures from the week.

Grandpa and Grandma with the kids on their last night here.

We went to Lifetime Fitness with Emily for an afternoon swim. Erin loved these fountains!

Grandpa was such a good sport! Letting the kids drag him all aound the pool. The girls were so brave too with his help! Despite their fears they went down a couple of really big and fast slides and loved it!

The boys worked up a sweat and tackled a home improvement project one day. They put new mulch in the flower beds. Two full truckloads! They did a great job!

The kids packed up for a little morning bike ride down to the park where grandpa even let them wade around in the yucky pond water.

Erin loves to go on bike rides!!!

We also went to a RoughRider baseball game. They totally lost but it was still fun to just hang out and be together. Plus the tickets were a great deal - $7 at Kroger and that includes a lawn ticket, free hot dog and hat! Not bad!

Sporting our free hats! Notice I chopped my hair off....summer fever I guess!

The girls with Grandma! All so pretty!

I just love this picture of Erin chillin with her hot dog at the game!

For the Fourth of July we went to McKinney for Red, White and BOOM! It was a really nice night and not a bad firework display either. Performing was Josh Gracin (former A.I. contestant). I thought that was pretty cool so I had to sneak in close and get a picture even though my ears were ringing for the next hour.

The girls with our patriotic red, white and blue.

The little gals with their glow in the dark creation.


Emma with Grandpa at the fireworks

Buds

This summer seems to have brought some sort of "migration" to our ward. Sadly, we are losing some really great families- like 8, crazy! Seth has been a bit bummed because one of his best buds left for Utah yesterday. He has asked that Ryan begin looking for a job in Utah so that we too can move. He just loves Utah! But the Utah he knows is 'vacation Utah'. When everyone is on vacation and there are always fun things planned to do. It is hard to convince him that if we lived there he would still have to go to school and everyone else back to work - not too much different than life here. He'll survive though. At least his bud moved to Utah where we will for sure be visiting. Hopefully sooner than later.....still waiting on some wedding or something to bring us out this year! :)



Seth & McKay on their way to twilight camp this week!

Bayou Visit

Ok, so here are quite a few pics. of this last week............

We went over to the Bayou this last weekend to attend baby Annabeth's blessing. She is the most precious baby girl!


Family Pic. at Brent & Laura's. We had a yummy BBQ

Seth & Emma loved meeting their new little cousin

They fought over who would hold her first each time they saw her

Erin liked having someone her age around. Her duet w/ Brooke

Annabeth enjoyed the water & was so stinkin' cute in her suit

What trip to the bayou would be complete without our usual boardwalk shopping with Grandma where they were each spoiled with a treat of their choosing.

Taking a break in front of the fountains

Erin loved the water fountains! She wanted to get in and cool off.

The nights were actually really nice while there so the girls went for a walk while the boys....

golfed! Yes, right in the front yard. I think they spent more time looking in the bushes for lost balls though. Very few made it in the bucket where they were aiming. But they enjoyed it.

As it got a little darker we began our hunt for fireflies

where we actually caught a few but were a little sad when they didn't glow in the jar

Grandpa brought home a YUMMY watermelon and Erin devoured it!

I just love this picture of her! Notice all the watermelon on her shirt!
We had such a fun trip and look forward to the many more visits with family over the summer.

Summer Fever!!!

We have totally had summer fever around here for weeks and I'm so glad it is finally here. It has been a busy couple of weeks! School is finally out! The kids celebrated with class parties, award ceremonies and the annual treasure hunt on the last day of school. We have also been able to enjoy the fruits of our labors with our garden. Pictured are the yummy "salmonella free" cherry tomatoes that Erin eats like candy. Our blackberry bush also did very well this year. We were even able to save enough for a blackberry cobbler while still eating them right off the bush. The kids love to pick and eat them. I tried roma tomatoes as well this year in hopes of being able to make garden fresh salsa but I'm not so sure they are going to make it. We'll see. I love the summertime ~the sun, swimming, popsicles, fruit, late nights outside and the chance I feel it gives me to slow down. My goal this summer is to take the advice in Elder Ballards talk 'Daughters of God' given by author Anna Quindlen which is to not rush past the fleeting moments....live in the moment....not be in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed...treasure the doing a little more and getting it done a little less.