Summer Fun 2011

We have been enjoying our summer. We have done some really fun things, and have enjoyed the nice weather. Josh has been doing a lot of school, which means he has been gone every night, but he has a break until the 30th of August (Hallelujah)!! It will be nice to have him home at nights, and enjoy the rest of our summer. Here are some of the fun things we have been doing.

Josh got the bike trailer hooked up to our bikes and took Drake for a bike ride on Saturday while I was at a sewing class. Drake loved the bike ride, but when he got home, he had dirt between every single one of his toes. I have no idea how it got there, because he didn't have dirt anywhere else??

Earlier in the summer we went to the Summer Fest. You should have seen me pushing this double stroller around. It was a sight!

We have had lots of Ice Cream!

Picnics at the park

Boating

Lauren turned 16 on Monday. The siblings all went to lunch, then all of the girls went and got pedicures, then we all went to dinner and went to my parents house for Lauren's favorite dessert. She also got her license and is now on the roads,. WATCH OUT!

On Sunday we went up the canyon for a cook out with Josh's family and the Neils. It was so much fun, and great for the kids to play and just get filthy dirty. We had really good food, and even better treats (s'mores) I love those things!

Gracie and Drake

Cooper. This kid is so dang cute, and has the cutest personality. He truly is one of a kind!

Drake was so dirty after only being there one minute.

Joshy and Me

Logan and Emmy

Me and Grace

The kids loved climbing up the side of the mountain and then sliding down the mountain on their bums. It looked pretty fun I have to admit. I kind of wanted to do it myself!

Uncle Brad with baby Capri! She is so sweet, and I am so happy she is my niece, I love her!

The 4th of July 2011

I love the 4th of July. It is by far my most favorite holiday! I love the food, hanging out with family and friends, the time of year, and most importantly celebrating our countries independence. I love patriotic songs. It makes me so happy I live where I do and have the freedoms I enjoy. I had to speak in Church a couple of weeks ago on "The Inspired Documents of our Country". I about pooped my pants when I was told that was the topic I had to speak on. But I am so grateful it was, because I learned so much, and it made me appreciate the 4th of July holiday this year even more.

We went to the stadium to watch the Fireworks. It was really fun. James had a mission companion here from the Dominican Republic and we thought it would be fun to take him, so our whole family went.

Drake putting his hand over his heart for the National Anthem.

James and Drake

James and Anulfo

Lauren, Lexi and Me

Isn't Lexi cute! We sure hope she will be a part of our family one day! :)

Me and Elli

Lexi and Elli

Cutest couple ever! Love them both so much!

Family Photo

Drake loving himself some Milk Dud's

James and Elli dancing to some Diamond Rio

Watching the Fireworks

That weekend we also went to the pool, and went to the canyon for a cookout with my family. It was really fun, and exactly what I love to do this time of year. On Monday the 4th, we did some stuff at home and then later that night went to our neighbors for a BBQ, games and fireworks. It was so much fun to get to know our neighbors better!

Grace with her sparkler

The Neils

Drake and Grace. He loves Grace. We are in the Neil's ward and Drake loves being in nursery with Grace. She takes care of him... it is really sweet!

Watching Daddy light fireworks!

We Moved

Josh and I moved the first week of June. We were renting a town home in Logan, and decided to look to buy something. We met with a Realtor who only had to show us one place. Not only was the place in our price range, but we loved it! So we made an offer on it that day and moved in a few weeks later. We bought a town home in Smithfield (just north of Logan) and love it here! It is quiet, pretty and we are super close to our friends John and Hayley! It is a great place and we are loving it!

This is where we moved from. I loved this place actually. Even though we were renting, there were some awesome things about it. It was Drake's first home, it was close to everything, we had fun times living there, and we absolutely loved our ward!

This is our new home in Smithfield.

HAWAII 2011

HAWAII

We just got back from the most fantastic vacation with my family to Maui, Hawaii. It was so relaxing and warm. The Rohwer's, Wood's and Haslam's really know how to have a good time. We haven't done a big family vacation for a couple of years because of James being on a mission. It was so much fun to go on a family vacation and have everyone of us there.

Drake was so good on the plane. He didn't sleep at all on the way over. Probably because of all the sugar he had!

Thanks to Dora, she also made the plane ride more enjoyable for us, and everyone around us.

We got there really late on Saturday night and Drake had been such a trooper, but he was exhausted. So exhausted in fact that he didn't sleep very good the first couple of nights. He was so off on the time change. But once we were there a couple of days, he got right on track and did awesome.

Drake was definitely the life of the party. He was the crowd favorite and everyone was so glad he came! Most of the evenings we just sat around and watched him.

We had an ocean view room. Listening to the ocean was awesome. It was so nice to just sit out there and take it all in.

Drake took over everybody's space and everyone catered to him! He came home so dang spoiled. We are still trying to recover!

Here are some of the fun things we did...

BEACH

Drake wasn't so sure about the ocean and the sand at first. It scared him, but after some time he started to love the sand, but still didn't want anything to do with the ocean.

After we took that picture of my Grandma above, she got stuck in the sand and couldn't get out. I couldn't help but just laugh at the old girl!

Drake had sand all over his body. He had a few baths a day just so he wasn't itchy.

POOL

This is where Drake was the happiest. Right by the pool, or in the pool playing with his toys.

My little sister is so cute!

WALKS

Drake loved going on walks. He would look at anyone that was around and say "Walk" and get into is stroller and wait for someone to take him. Good thing it was a beautiful place to take a walk and there was always someone willing to take him.

Road to Hana

I am still not quit sure why I did this again. It was my 3rd and last time! I get car sick and this time it was the worst I have ever felt it. It is so pretty up there and some of them hadn't seen it so I decided to go along. It was fun for the most part, but driving back was awful!

Drake loved the black sand/rock beach. He just sat there and threw rocks.

I know.... CRAZY!

He loves his Grandpas

Grandpa Larry

These waves were strong! I got knocked over so many times. There were a few of those times I didn't think I was every going to get back up.

HANGIN OUT

We did a lot of hanging out. We had a kitchen in our condo, so we at a lot of meals at home. It was nice to just hang out and not have to get dressed up to go to dinner.

I tried on my Grandma's Muumuu (yes that is how it is spelled). That thing is comfortable. No wonder she wears that thing around.

These two played on their iPads so much!! Once the sun went down, you could find them playing games on this thing.

ENJOYED THE BEAUTIFUL SCENERY

NAPS

We all got a couple of good naps in!

ATE LOTS OF YUMMY FOOD

Thank goodness for this thing. Drake was an ANGEL at dinner!

We went to Cheeseburger In Paradise.

Ate lunch on the beach.

Bubba Gumps

Awesome snow cones

And Inari Sushi. It is so good and Drake loved it!

WARREN AND ANNABELLE'S

If you haven't been to Warren and Annabelle's in Maui... you have to go. It is one of the best shows I have ever seen. Josh and I went to Maui for our honeymoon and saw this show then. We went again this trip with my Grandpa, Grandma and James who hadn't seen it. They along with us were laughing so hard. It is a great show!

After the show we hung out on a hammock right by the ocean.

Drake stayed back with grandpa and grandma Rohwer and Aunt Laur Laur.

FAMILY PICTURES

We brought a couple of our nice cameras and tried to get some family pictures while we were there. We took so many pictures and were able to get a few good ones. Drake is so hard to get a good picture of!

This trip was so much fun. Yes, the place we went was wonderful, but the best part of the whole trip was spending time with each other. I am so grateful for my dad who works so hard and travels so much for work. If it wasn't for him, we never would have been able to enjoy this vacation together. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a wonderful trip. We love you!