Smith Reunion

Had a blast doing the smear dad with pudding game. Then there was the toss cheetos at your partners head after it is covered in shaving cream game. Whoever got the most cheetos to stick won! It was a messy weekend and I was glad it wasn't at my house. The kids had a blast staying up late with their cousins, forgetting to eat their vegetables and getting super messy and wet.

The Great Outdoors

Took the hike around the lake and watched the firefighting helicopter drop down for buckets of water. Quite impressive! The wildflowers were amazing.

Took a one night camping trip to Tony's Grove Lake on August 13-14. Had a blast with the Wiberg clan - sort of crashed their party. It was so beautiful up there in the cool of the mountains. Started to rain in the middle of the night and realized we had not put the rain cover on. The kids had a blast out in the pasture making forts under trees and chasing each other all over the place. Jaxson sprained an ankle! But it didn't slow him down for long, until he needed to be carried around the house and didn't feel that he could make it to church!

Sophie's Birthday!!!!

Sophie turned 9 on August 8th and had a great time being the star of the show. Her sisters gave her the royal treatment and she loved every minute of the pampering. Olivia informed us that no one else could have their nails done on Sophie's birthday!

Trip to Rexburg

Borrowed the Ripsticks from the cousins and found the skate park in Rexburg. The kids were getting pretty good at it and had to take turns using the Ripstick that still had all the ball bearings. Had a great time helping each other learn.

Jaxson and I picked up donuts on our way home from an early morning trip to the skate park, LaRee had leftover pizza and we called it breakfast. This is what you get when you stay at Grandma's house. Also hit the irrigation canal to cool off after the skate park. Found lots of golf balls as a bonus and got soaking wet and cold.

Happy 11th Birthday Maggie!

Maggie turned 11 on July 24th and we had a fun filled day doing

whatever it was she wanted to do! Hit the neighborhood breakfast, then the Heritage Center, lunch at home and then swimming in the river and jumping from the rope swing. Maggie bravely swam through the very cold water with Olivia while I stayed mostly on the tube until it tipped over and dumped Jaxson, Sophie and I in the deepest spot.

We all went to the concert and fireworks at Willow Park and Maggie got to share her cupcakes and glow sticks with lots of people. She is really good at sharing and getting so grown up.

Trying to Make Ice Cream

Had this great idea to make homemade ice cream last night. Forgot that the motor burned out last time on the ice cream maker, only had 1% milk, not very much salt, nearly out of ice and ran out of sugar. Put the fixings in a two quart jar and then filled the 5 gallon bucket with the ice and last of the rock salt. Rolled it around on the trampoline, jumped and walked around for a while and then drank lumpy cold milk. We will try this again when we have the proper ingredients. Maggie didn't think it was very fun and left after about 5 minutes. Just a note of caution, the bucket full of ice hurts when it rams into your bare legs and feet.

4th of July In Blanding

We took the kids and drove to Blanding for the 4th of July. Went to the Melodrama with the cousins and had a great time trying to throw popcorn at the villan from the back row. We basically just annoyed the people in front of us.

Got in a great hike up Dry Creek and the kids loved going through the tunnel, Olivia went through 5 times helping everyone get found. Hiked out in a great thunderstorm and were soaking wet. Didn't mind the rain so much, just that soggy sandwiches are pretty low on the list of things I want to eat. But we were pretty hungry from the hike so we ate them anyway.

Did get in a lot of swimming at Dry Wash, until we got rained out both days, didn't even make it into the water after the hike it was raining so hard. But of course Blanding was nice and dry until we served dinner out on the front lawn.