the ones you live with, laugh with, love: June 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

Family, Family, Family......

We went to my grandmothers family reunion on Saturday. Lots of family I have not seen in a very long time. It was great! Hot, but fun. Lots of pictures below. I missed so many people. I forgot to take out my camera until the end. OOPS!

My parents with all of their grandchildren, eighteen to be exact!

Mom my sister, M.A. and my grandma... ( Fletcher and Josie in the background)

Making necklaces..

Necklaces complete! :)

My cousin and I . We are only 3 days apart and had great fun together as kids....

Okay, I really love this man!

Little A, Tiny A and cousin Josie playing in the kiddie pool!

Lots of cousins! They played and played!

Mom, Jorianne and Tiny A! What a good grandma!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Our Very Own Cold Stone Creamery!

MMMMMMMM....M's brother and sister in law came over the other night and brought ice cream and all of the fun candy to mix in. So M and James went to work taking orders and mixing in the good stuff. They even sang for tips! MMMMMmmmmm.....It was yummy!

Wiped out!!!!!!!

The kids have been swimming so hard lately! They have been swimming hard 2 hrs for swim team and then they go with me and swim while I am swimming. So they are getting between 4 and 5 hrs of swimming a day! This is what I saw when I walked into my room yesterday evening. They had been watching a little TV and crashed. What sweeties they are.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Happy first birthday.....

My nephew, George, is turning one! We went out Sunday evening for a little party in his honor. I can't believe he is already one! Crazy! They change so fast.

Gateway to Heaven.....

When I was a little girl and would see the sun shining over the clouds like this I use to think it was Heaven shining through. I would sit and watch it and hope I would see something wonderful. I may not have seen what I had hoped for as a child but it was definitely the beginning of my faith growing. I knew that Heaven was there and that miracles did happen. I also knew that my Father in Heaven and My Savior Jesus Christ were there watching over me. So whenever I see these beautiful scenes it always makes me so grateful for all that I have been given.

Our little Cub Scout...

The Newest Member of Our Extended Family....

Welcome little Bella! This is Becca and Stetson's new baby puppy! She is so much fun.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Summer Fun!

It is summer and we are loving every minute of it! It is hard to believe that we are close to 1/2 way through our summer break already! How does this happen? I think we start school on Aug. 11. Isn't that crazy? They get earlier and earlier every year.

Anyway we have had some interesting things like our snake in our front yard trying to get the dove's eggs. She fought him back and chased him off. It was quite a show! She was lucky he was just a little bull snake. I don't think he got any of her eggs.

Unlike the bull snake that was in our chicken coop last year and was eating our chicken eggs. This guy was huge! We decided we would let him stay around and maybe he would eat some of our rats and mice that are always in the barn.

The kids started swim team again. We started right before school was out. Our 4 older kids do it and are loving it. Even if they complain when I wake them up at 6:30. This is the 4th year they have done it. It is a lot of fun and a great team to be on. Go Duke City!

Little A swimming !

Triple A!

Big A and Double A were the only two in their group yesterday and they were dueling it out! They are so competitive!

Our kids made a club house in our yard this week. This is a video of them giving me a tour of it with all of its accommodations. Pretty Fun! It reminds me of when I was a little girl. We did stuff like this all of the time!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

I am going to start this post off with a poem that my sister wrote for a talk she gave in church several years ago. It has been very special to me every since. It really sums up everything that I feel. Thank you Mary Anne for letting me put it on my Blog.

My Two Fathers

By Mary Anne Mirabal

As a child I sat on his knee
He told me of the life to come and gently prepared me.

A body you will be given
And things will be different than in Heaven.

Trials will come your way
And you may be tempted to stray.

But with your faith and courage strong
You will be gently guided along.

And if ever you have a thought to roam
Just ask and I’ll help you come back home.

From one Father’s arms to another’s I came
What a comfort it was-the love felt much the same.

As a child I sat on his knee
He cuddled me close and whispered that he loved me.

This world, he said, can be a tough, tough place
But with faith in your heart it is one you can face.

We’ve been entrusted with your spirit from Father above
And I promise to give you my never-ending love.

And if ever you have a thought to roam
Just ask and I’ll help you come back home.

From one Father’s arms to another’s I came
What a comfort it was the love felt much the same.

Daddy please teach me to do what is right.
Father please guide me with your Spirit and light.
Then we can be together as one family
My Daddy, my Father and me.

I feel so grateful to have a loving Father in Heaven who sent me to earth to my sweet father here. And who gave me a sweet father for my children.

My dad has always been such a rock in my life! He is always stable, always strong. I appreciate the example he always set for me growing up and the example he still gives to me, my husband and my children! I Love you Dad!

M's dad has been a fabulous father-in-law! I am so grateful to him for raising his son the way he did. He is a great grandpa and dad! We appreciate all that he does with the kids and with us! We love you!

My Matt. He is amazing...What would I do without him? He is such a fantastic father and Husband! Thank you, thankyou ! You amaze me! I Love YOU!

Happy Father's Day!

Triple A's B~day....

Okay, I know I have a post wishing Triple A a Happy birthday but I keep

forgetting to put a few pictures on of his day! We had a great day trying to make him feel great. We always have fun doing this. Even the kids do everything for the birthday kid, including their chores. :) And to do more than what you really have to is a big deal. So, great job kiddos! And we had our greatest neighbors over for a birthday dinner! Triple A always requests donuts for his cake. I'll admit it is the easiest dessert ever! And Yummy! Notice how he just stares at the camera while we sing to him....He was in such a silly mood that day...I guess it was just all of the excitement of the day and then of course we put in the magic candles and he could never blow them out...

Any way we had a great day celebrating this cute kid's b~day!

Trip Home....

I have been meaning to post these pictures from our last visit home. We had such a great time. I won't write a ton, I think the pictures will say enough.....

My niece, Josie, and Tiny A. They live in Arizona so we don't get to see them too much. These cute girls are only 3 weeks apart and it was so much fun to have them around each other. They were really starting to be great friends. It was so much fun!

Josie on her little pony, Cookie. This pony was a blast. We all fell in love with it and now the kids are thinking they need their own "Cookie".

More rides on Cookie....Did I mention we love this Pony?

Josie, Uncle Fletcher, Tiny A and Double A. Uncle Fletcher was a huge life saver while we were laying tile in my mom's kitchen. I think he pushed the two little girls on the swings for nearly two hours!

More riding...But this time on Big Jake! This horse is tall!

And while most of this riding was going on this is where Tiny A was happiest. Isn't this cute? My Youngest and my oldest! They really have a special bond!

Little A with Grand-daddy. This is where you would find her most of the time. She loves her grandparents (on both side!).

The new kitchen floor....

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY, TRIPLE A!

Happy birthday my sweet little man!

It is so hard to believe that he is 8! Oh my goodness where does time fly? He is going to be baptized at the beginning of July. He is so excited!!!!!!! Eight is such a big deal in our family. For starters he now gets to do cub scouts( he has been waiting for this :) ) and being baptized is just the icing on the cake! Wow! What a big step! We are so proud of him!
I asked all of the kids how they would describe Triple A. This is what they said:
Big A~~ Funny
Double A~~ Dare Devil :)
Little A~~ Cool
Tiny A~~Funny
And then, of course, Triple A put in something for himself~~ Handsome :) ( Yes, he is confident in himself! :) )
Now the way I would describe him is: determined, loving and funny. He has always had such a gift for making everyone smile and laugh in any situation. He is so determined to do his best. He will work and work at something until he has mastered it. Wether it be at school or with sports.

His baptism announcement.....I don't like to put personal information out there so I blacked out all of the important stuff.......