My Girls

Oh how I love being a mom to four girls! They are so much fun.
These two especially crack me up. They love to wear matching outfits and say they are besties.

I love how Minnie takes any opportunity to have her picture taken. It was hailing outside, so let's take a picture!

Tink has already had a great start to the school year. She is much more confident in herself and enjoying friends. One Sunday, she and one of her best friends ended up matching, both wearing the friend necklace Tink had given her for her birthday.

Hanging out in the front, the boys threw something on the roof. Minnie eagerly jumped on PC's shoulders to help get it down.

 And I'm so excited that she and her cousin get to go to the same school in the same grade! They aren't on the same team, but they do get to sit together at lunch!

 One more of this cute face. Minnie won this koala bear at a birthday party this summer. Tink is a little creeped out by it but the little girls love it, so she gave it to them. Who can resist that smile?

Trek

Tink was able to go on a Pioneer Trek up in Wyoming this year. She had a great time, other than the horrible allergies she had! She woke up both nights crying because her face was so swollen and stuffy. I felt so awful for her. She was very grateful to get home and wash all those allergens off and get some stronger meds!

July

Some other things that happened in July.
1. Our garbage disposal needed replaced. It was leaking and disgusting. I'm pretty sure it was the original one put in when the house was built. So I went to Home Depot and got a new one and installed it all by myself. :)

2. We had hardwood floors installed throughout the rest of the main floor. So they sanded down the old stuff and feathered in the new stuff. We picked a darker stain as well. We like the end result a lot.

3. Because of the new floors being put in, we stayed with PC's parents for a week and a half. The kids had fun playing in their yard. Yeti especially loved the big yard to run around in.

4. Rosie started wanting to say prayer at family prayer time. Shortcake wanted to help one time, and it was the cutest thing. I tried to get a picture real quick.

5. The last weeked in July, we had family come into town. They were supposed to stay with us, but since we still weren't in our house, they stayed with PC's brother who moved in just a few houses down the road!!! We have been so excited to have them so close!!! We had fun that weekend playing games and hanging out.

6. My BIL bought the house down the road from some of our good friends. We knew each other way back in the day when Bucko was born. Our oldest girls were friends at age 2 and then have been able to be friends here for the past 3 years. We had to reenact a picture we had taken before they left.

Camping

We only had one time we could go camping as a family this summer. We went up to Farish, did some paddle boating, and exploring of the big rocks. Always a good time. We adopted a dog a couple days before we went camping, so we got him used to our family really quick. When we got him, he was in bad need of a grooming. He looked like the Abonimable Snowman, and so we named him "Yeti." I was able to get him into the groomer's the day after we got home and she had to cut him down pretty close because he was so matted. He looks like a completely different dog! His hair is growing out again, but we won't let it get as long as it was.

 Bucko had Scout Camp soon after. Here he is ready to go.

Back to School

And just like that, they are back in school! Grades 11, 8, 6, 4, and preschool! Summer flew by!

Rosie turns 2!

I cannot believe how big this sweet girl has gotten! She is so full of life, has the funniest expressions, and loves to sing! 

We invited all the family in town over for dinner and cake.

 I love this age because they are so excited for presents! I love her expressions!!

 Some of the cousins had a blast playing dress-up after the party! Love it!!

4th of July

We went up north to visit PC's brothers for the 4th. We went to the parade in Greeley in the morning and then had a barbecue for lunch.

We had fun playing games and enjoying time together. We got some little poppers for the kids and sparklers.

 We all had a lot of fun.

That evening we sat outside and watched everyone shoot off fireworks. So nice to enjoy the holidays with family.

Temple

The Denver temple closes in July for its annual cleaning, so late in June, I decided to take the kids up to the temple. Tink and Bucko went in to do baptisms for the dead, while I stayed out with the younger ones and took pictures. We had some friends with us as well so it was actually really fun.

Wedding!

My plane landed in Salt Lake a little early, which was fine with me. My brother-in-law picked me up and took me to my sister's house, where we ate breakfast (we stopped at McDonald's on the way) and got ready for the wedding. It was so nice to see my parents and some of my siblings. Then we drove to the Draper temple where my niece and her new husband were sealed for time and all eternity. It was beautiful!

 They had hired a photographer to be at the temple, so I didn't take a ton of pictures there, but for the reception, it was just me and my mom taking pictures. That was fun, though my arms were so tired from boating the day before!

The decorations were beautiful!

 My favorite decorations were how they transformed the weird carpet rectangles on the wall of the gym to look like huge posters of the bride and groom. I had suggested it and it turned out so awesome! Everyone commented on it, so I'm sure more will do it in the future!

The crepe ribbon send off was fun too!
That evening, we all went out to Cafe Rio to celebrate my brother's birthday. I slept like a rock that night and enjoyed a nice, relaxing Sunday with everyone before heading home.

Young Women's Camp!

 Young Women's camp came quickly after school let out. I spent a week with the YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders) and my assistant getting everything prepped and ready. On Wednesday, June 7, we took the 4th year girls and YCLs to Red Rocks Open Space for some rock climbing adventure. I was so proud of them. Some of them were really terrified to repel down the mountain, but they did it! PC helped with a repel station. We are slowly acquiring our own climbing equipment and hope to take our own kids out soon. I used my left elbow to boost myself up on the rock when I couldn't find any hand holds and scraped it pretty well. But it was fun.
We then took them down to camp which we had at Lathrop State Park. When we arrived, we found tents already set up in our tent site! There was a communication mix-up with another group and they ended up moving down to the group site next to us, but we had to wait a couple hours for them to move. I had a huge, long snake go across the road as I drove in to welcome me! Yes, I totally screamed. I only saw one other little snake the rest of the time, though, so it was okay.

The YCLs did a great job planning everything. They picked "themes" for their outfits for every day. Wednesday was superheroes, Thursday was patriotic, Friday was Disney, and Saturday was luau.

Tink was in charge of Destiny, which is a time where they teach gospel principles and apply them in a fun way. Here they are talking about putting on the armor of God and staying together to cover all sides from the enemy. They had a lot of fun spraying them with water guns and silly string.
We woke the girls early on Friday morning for a sunrise devotional and then headed out on our 3-mile hike.

We had an absolutely stunning view for our hike around the lake Friday morning. About halfway through the hike, we had another Destiny time where they blindfolded the girls with "faith" blindfolds and led them through some obstacles, comparing them to life's trials. It was really powerful. At one point, they had them stop at a rope and wait. They let go of the girl they were leading and just waited next to her, just like sometimes in life it feels like we are left alone to go through trials, but our Savior is always there for us, even if we can't see Him. At another section, they each were sprayed with water. This represented how trials are sometimes surprises but can also be seen as blessings (it was a hot day).

 Friday afternoon we went down to the lake for some boating and crafts. The girls all had a blast. PC had the kids down there playing so it was fun to see them for a little while before they headed home. The two little girls LOVED playing in the water. I had a lot of fun being pulled on the raft behind the boat, but boy were my arms sore the next day! I held on for my life and my hands felt like they were going to fall off when I finished. I really felt my age that day. But, oh so fun!

 We finished off the day with a testimony meeting around the campfire. It was great! These girls are amazing. I had to leave after that to get home. I ended up driving the trailer home, but put all the empty boxes and coolers inside the Suburban, so the trailer and the cartop carrier were both empty. I thought that would make it easier, but if I would go over 70 mph, the cartop would start to vibrate and bounce on the hood of the car. I guess it was good because it helped keep me awake, but scared me to death the first time, that I had to pull over and make sure everything was okay. I finally made it home at 12:30 a.m., was in bed by 1:00 a.m. after a much needed shower, and back up at 3:00 a.m. to get to the airport in time to fly to Salt Lake City. What a night!!