Oh No!

I have never had a child who climbs but Summer has quickly learned that if she moves things around she can get just about anywhere she wants to be. This is what I walked into a few minutes ago. Heaven help me! And YES this child loves her tongue. One day I just might take a picture where she is not sticking it out!

Baseball...

Another season of baseball games in the heat has come and gone. It was fun to watch Nick improve and his confidence grow. In the team hudle after the final game he announced to everyone that he was "the best player on the team"....we are working on teaching him to be humble. Tyler helped coach which usually meant coming straight from work or a meeting hence his baseball uniform of a white shirt and tie. I love the ball park. It brings back many childhood memories of laffy taffy, over cooked hamburgers, and red dirt. That is the way that I grew up while watching my brothers play. It is fun to watch my own kids grow and start doing the same things we did as kids. Now we are on to soccer, volleyball and cooler weather!

Picking Berries

Thanks to my dad for joining us in some family night fun picking raspberries. My sister-in-laws family has a large raspberry patch that was in need of some picking and we jumped at the chance. My kids did as well as I expected - Kylee picked the entire time with Grandpa and I, Nick picked for a few minutes and then took off to explore with Austy, and Austin picked three berries before saying he was too tired and went off to play. Summer did great in the stroller reading books. Like I said, just as I expected! It was a great night and I am excited to make jam with my sisters later this week. There is nothing like homemade jam! Yummy!

Simply Adorable!

My mom is off visiting Geoff & Aleena and the gang in Las Vegas this week. Her camera is with her (of course) and she just sent me these darling pictures! Aren't the twins the cutest...and their older sisters are pretty stinking cute too! I just had to share!

The parade...a family tradition!

Thanks to the great weather this year the Freedom Festival parade tradition continued and was actually quite enjoyable. Our die hard neighbors didn't disappoint and saved our spot again this year. The temperature was perfect and the kids had a blast. How fun to be surrounded by such great friends! Kylee and Aunt Kesley...love these girls!
Austin and Kelsey - love it!
Ty and Nick - these two loved watching the parade together and thought the mouse that run in the street was the best part...no joke!
Summer taking a walk.
Our attempt at a 4th of July family picture...I am still in my running clothes but at least we are all together!

We did it...

A good runner needs to stretch well before and after the race...right?Taylor, Sarah, Me and Kelsey - official race finishers!
Sisters!
So we were a bit excited to see some familiar faces along the race route.

Finally, I can say that I finished a race. Kelsey, Sarah and I decided that it might be fun to run the Freedom Festival 5K this morning as part of our "training". We all whined and complained and each threatened to back out and sleep in instead - but, we did it. I have heard that once you start running races you get a bit addicted...I must admit it was a BLAST and I would love to do it again....hopefully with injured sister #4 (Abbey) included next time. It was fun to laugh, chat, and motivate each other. We were all nervous and a little wound up, or at least I was. I am pretty sure I embarrassed both of my sisters pretty good when young college guys were making cat calls and I yelled and made it clear that Kelsey is not single! I still can't figure out why they weren't hitting on me....maybe it was the fact that my pants were a bit tight and I have had four children...not a great combination! Anyway, in the end we got a medal which we all proudly accepted. I am starting a collection and am pretty sure that now that I am a "runner" I will have to find a place to display all of my trophies. I am pretty sure that my 12 minute miles are good enough for some award...don't you think? Thanks to my cute sisters for running this fun race together! Hopefully this will be a new tradition!

Forth of July Weekend...

The last few days have been crazy busy for our family and we have loved every minute of it. I have liked having the 4th of July fall on a Sunday...for us that means the festivities began on Saturday and continued through today. I loved attending Church yesterday and singing patriotic hymns, BBQing three nights in a row, watching numerous fireworks shows, eating yummy homemade ice cream and spending lots and lots of time with family and friends! I love being surrounded by so much family. My mom (a.k.a. he best grandma in the world) purchased a huge blow up water slide for the grandkids to enjoy. As Nick would say, it is "awesome"!!!!

Eclipse

Just saw the movie....Jacob is HOT...enough said.