Cornbelly's--again!

 As my children get older I love to watch them be friends.  They have always gotten along well for the most part, but seeing them laugh and have fun together makes my joy complete.  Alivia and Soran can barely be separated.  Christian and Alyssa are movie buddies and Amber goes back and forth between the two.  

 The favorite game of the year was actually a foosball game.  They had long pipes that you hooked yourself onto and then a soccer ball.  Sad to say the boys won again.  Another couple years when we have older girls and we will kick their butts, though!  Then they found a softball throwing game and played that for awhile.  You had to make into a target.

 Liv and I watched while Alyssa, Scott and Christian played a bean bag toss game.  I love the tree all it up.  And the slide in the back is my favorite thing.

Lots of dates and an anniversary

 Most of the time I just can't get enough of him anymore.  So we have been going out a lot more than we used to.  Our poor kids probably feel like orphans.  But on the 2nd anniversary of his accident, we  went to Taste of the Valley and then to the temple.  It was really good to remember how grateful we are he's still here.

 Standing in line at Taste of the Valley.  There was a lot of that.

 We threw a How to Host a Murder party at the cabin.  It was 80s themed and a lot of fun.  

Thriller!  We found a way to get in free--usher.  So we have done that for the past few years.  The show is so good, and even though we don't get to sit together it is fun.

Daddy time

 I was throwing a baby shower on a Saturday morning and needed the kids gone, so Scott took them to the UVU family day.  They had green pancakes with ice cream, got to grab for money, played lots of games and came home with a lot of junk.  It was the first time he's taken all the kids out since his accident.  It was awesome!  I forgot what it was like to have help, and I think they had a great time.

 Daddy-daughter date.  A blonde and a red-head on each arm.  What a lucky man.

One bonus of having Scott a little broken is he likes to ride bikes since he has a hard time with most other kinds of physical activity.  I love it!  This summer we rode bikes a couple mornings each week and then usually at least one evening with the kids.  I have always loved biking, and now even more so that he's with me.  This was a dead owl we found on one of our rides.  It was right underneath an electrical power line, so we think it got electrocuted.  It was so beautiful still. 

Fall drive 2015

My birthday

Scott surprised me this year with a much-needed weekend away.  It was one of the best trips we've taken.  I think we are getting better at vacations.  We used to try and cram so much into them we came home exhausted--not that there's not a time and place for that, but sometimes it's nice just to get away and relax.  He told me to take Friday off and the Henlines picked us up.  We drove to a little town where we rented these reclining tubes and then had lunch while we floated down the river.  It was awesome.  We just chatted and laid back while floating around.  Then we drove to Cedar City where we had a nice dinner and then went to the Shakespearean Festival!!!!  It was amazing!

 Getting ready to head down the river.

 That's my man.

 View from my little tube.

 I am so grateful for the Henlines.  I was worried since Mike and Nicole moved that we wouldn't have good friends to hang out with.  So it was perfect timing when they moved.  We have been blessed with some great friends.  Anyway, this was the theater where we watched King Lear.  This is the last year they are using it, so we felt lucky to catch it.  Alyssa was a city away, in St. George at a tennis tournament, burning her buns off.  They played in 115 degree weather. It was insane.  I felt a little guilty sitting and watching the play instead of her, but I got over it.

Back to school

Along with getting ready for school we had a lot of other activities planned.  I know I took some first day of school pics, I just can't find them.  Alyssa is a sophomore this year, Christian is in 8th, Amber is in 6th, Livi is in 3rd and Soran is at Lakeview with the girls in 1st grade.  They are all so smart and good!  I love that they love school.  We had the ward campout the first weekend after school started which was really fun.  I was wondering why we haven't camped for so long when it is such a good time.  Then I remembered that for the past 5 years I HAVE been camping, just not with my family. Girls camp sucked all my camping energy out of me.  But now that I am free I think we will be going a lot more next year.  

 Surprisingly, Livi is my little pyro.  She is always putting sticks in the fire and pulling them out and waving the flames around.  It's pretty funny, actually.  

 Lyssa and Courtney.  There weren't that many people at the campout, so the youth put on skits.  They reenacted what they had done at their camps.  It was funny and interesting watching them interact with their peers on the stage.  They don't get nearly as nervous as I do.

 Brother Steineckert brought these cool copper pipes that changed the fire colors.  It was beautiful.

 My girls.

Scott and I getting ready to sleep on our deflating air mattress.

We also had Alyssa's back to school ballroom bash.  They had a big water fight this year.  This is one bunch of fun, nerdy, good kids.  I am glad she associates with such great group of kids and coaches.

Summertime

I have come to a new appreciation of summer.  Since I started working at the school, I love the break.  We had 5 parties the first week after school let out.  I was just so excited.  We did Liv's birthday party, our annual end-of-school party with hot dogs, games, an outdoor movie and night games, I threw a block party that was pretty successful, we had an outdoor FHE with the neighbors and a high priest social.  Whew!  It was so fun.
But I digress.  I also love that it's more relaxed and I get to hang out with my kids.  I am so busy running them to activities I don't really get to goof off with just be with them.  Even during the slow times, though, it's hard to get all together.  We had to make the effort to get everyone together.  But here are some things we did this summer:

 The girls had an outdoor piano recital in Brother Jensen's backyard.  

 We took a trip up to Salt Lake on the frontrunner.  We had a good time riding the train, playing guess who.  I was surprised considering how long we've lived in Utah how little the kids knew about the history and Mormon culture in Salt Lake.  We went through the visitors centers, took a tour of the Conference Center, ate lunch at City Creek, visited the planetarium and rode the train home.  

 Aw.

 Christian on Mars.

 Gutter of Fire

 My cute girls

 We spontaneously took a ride put the canyon to Heber and got shakes at the Depot or whatever it's called.  They were excited to each get their own.  That rarely happens.  Then we went to the park across the street and played.  It was a beautiful night, we just missed Alyssa.  As usual.

 Have I mentioned Amber belongs to 4H and how much I love it?  She wanted to join last year and I was hesitant, but it's awesome!  She has activities every week where they do crafts or games and once a month they have family nights where they FEED US DINNER and then usually have a cool activity.  This night we went to Rock Canyon park and they had bubbles to play in and large trikes to ride.  I love them!