Steel Days Recap

The kids get so excited about Steel Days because of all the festivities, especially the carnival just down the street. This year we really only had time to participate in stuff on Saturday, but we packed in quite a bit…..Abby, Jenny and Karol ran a 5K in the morning and Abby received a trophy for taking 3rd in her age group! Wahoo Abs! We then went to the Parade where the kids loaded their sacks with all the candy and freebies. After that we pretty much spent the rest of the day at the Carnival - and from the looks of this local carni, you just hope that they put all the pins in the right places and tightened all the bolts properly - a little scary, but we love it!

I’m not sure what happened to all my pictures, but here is a shot of Jacob and Emeron after one too many rides on the Ducks. ;)



And, this is just about how we all felt at the end of the day…..

Tuning Up!

The girls spent a grilling week at Violin Camp – not even ‘grilling’ they had fun!! They have the most amazing teacher ever, Ms. Libby. She is so well educated and highly experienced that we really count our blessings to have her as our teacher. She motivates and challenges Anna and Abby in a unique way to each of them. Also, my girls think it is pretty neat that she plays with the Orchestra at Temple Square.

One of the things she does every summer is hold a violin camp called, “TUNING UP!” at her studio where she teaches music theory and violin technique in a group setting. The girls go every day for a week and it culminates with a recital at the end of the week. This year they did a lot of fiddling and had so much fun with it! Playing the violin has become Anna’s favorite thing lately, she did so well! It has given Abby a renewed love of playing also; I said to Abs after the recital, “you did awesome!!” to which she replied enthusiastically: “I KNOW!!” There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when one is well prepared!!

Here they are after the recital; Jacob wanted to be a part of the picture.



Next is a shot of Abby with her friend Bekah. They both started playing the violin around the age of four and have remained good friends thanks to the common thread of music! It became tradition to take their picture together at each recital – I think I have a scrapbook full photos of these two already!

Counting The Days of Summer

Aahhh, summer. The kids are home all day, plenty of time to spend together, appreciating one another, making lasting memories, etcetera. These two, lately, have found it entertaining to.....well, drive each other....c r a z y!!

And, so right around August I usually find myself counting the days until school starts. As of today, there are exactly 28 days left of summer break. But then..... the kids will surprise me and show me that they really do love each other and really are each other's best friends.....

And then I want summer to last just a bit longer..... :)

A Place To Ponder

Farrell climbs any tree that is climbable (is that a word?) Here he is in a tree at the school and I do wonder what it is that he is thinking about, maybe......."what's for dinner....... if I jumped, I bet I could do a triple back flip from here.......I wonder if my mom brought any snacks.......I sure am hungry.......I can't wait to get a four-wheeler......" possibly some of his thoughts??

Two-Wheeler

Look who's on two wheels! Emeron had been asking us for weeks to 'cut' his training wheels off his bike. Well, we finally did and all it took was one push and he was off on his own. Aaaaah, the freedom from those restrictive training wheels!

Stadium Of Fire

Happy July 4th! (on the 8th) We celebrated at the Stadium of Fire this year....



We had so much fun - with sky divers, flying jets, a great 'mc' (GLEN BECK), all sorts of patriotic respects, the BLUE MAN GROUP and of course MILEY CYRUS ::::can't you just hear girls squealing:::: and the most fabulous fireworks show ever!



My sister-in-law came upon 8 tickets and she used 3 for her family and we got the rest. So the four oldest went with Mom -- Dad stayed home with David and Jacob and sparklers.

Most entertaining part of the show: The Blue Man Group

Favorite phrase from the show: "wave your hands in the air, like you don't care"

Who screamed the loudest: Farrell and Abby

Person to 'rock out' with Miley: Annalyn

Person most surprised to see Miley 'rock out' - and she really did 'rock out': Abby

Who was most embarrassed by Karol singing: Jay and Ade ;)

Who was more entertained with the light sticks and freebies than the show: Emeron and Seth

Who said more 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' during the firework show: all of us!!

Hammock

Remember the phrase: "first is worst, second the same, last the best of all the game"? Well, that is not always the case, especially referring to the DARLING pictures I took of the kids in the hammock we gave Daddy. The first was the BEST -- well, as good as it gets with six little cuties. Notice the gradual 'melting' of Jacob and Emeron....

Idaho Cousins

We had a few of our 'Idaho' cousins over for a bbq and swimming Saturday -- so fun! We don't get the chance to get together nearly enough. This is Jacob, Seth, Ems, Trevor and Farrell.



I'm not sure why Farrell has the look of fear on his face....reminds me of this picture of Abby on a lagoon ride - sheer terror!

Here is a happier picture of Abs with Daphney at the bbq.

With the sprinkler under the trampoline, splash pools, and water fights (which nearly always originate from Uncle Jay-the family instigator of all water fights) they were all drenched in minutes! It was such a fun afternoon, we all wish they could have stayed for another day.

Hangin' Out

David's baby swing is the inside-out tire swing. He loves it!