These are from the kids' award night at the school back in May. I know, I know!! I am a LITTLE behind!! But enjoy these anyway! They are of the school kids doing performances using the hula hoops! None of the teachers know how to hula hoop. So even though they did help with the routine you need to know that the kids taught themselves how to hula all on their own. They would practice during recesses and any breaks that they could!! Pretty amazing!

Fourth of July Fun

Oh my goodness we had such a fun holiday this year. Each year the Flaming Gorge Resort hosts a Car Show...but that isn't all they bring in a HUGE slide for the kids to play on and they had a petting zoo (llama and all) and of course my kids' favorite...horse and mule rides!! Anna and Emmy fell asleep before we left so I left JayDee (who was vigorously creating signs for the scout breakfast) at home with the two sleeping babies and I took the three older ones and had fun.

My parents and the kids' favorite Uncle Landon came to visit us (they don't come often enough!) and as soon as they pulled up the kids all ran out to greet them. Let's just say that they didn't make it past our hill for SEVERAL minutes (probably like 15) I think they were worn out from the drive. Well, I went out to say hi and invite them in but Dad was so excited to show us what he had brought that we just stayed outside. He brought out 4 BEAUTIFUL fish and yes he had brought them to share (well I hope they were to be shared cuz we helped him eat them!). We just hung out until the fireworks, playing and visiting. The kids had all sorts of tricks they just HAD to show Grandma and Papa. For the fireworks we couldn't decide if we should climb up on the roof (an old tradition from my childhood) or go down to the church (new tradition since moving here) so we settled for sitting on our front lawn and watched the INCREDIBLE show. I really think that Dutch John puts on the BEST display of fireworks I have EVER seen. Yes, even for a small town!! Because we had stayed home it was the easiest clean up and get the kids home to bed I have had in a LONG time!! I think we may just do it this way every year!!!!! Grandma and Papa had brought up their tent to camp out in so of course the kids all opted to sleep in our tent. I hope Grandma and Papa got some sleep between the excitement of the kids and the noise of our neighbors. Hey this one is for anyone who has ever slept at Grammy Nelson's for the 24th of July!!! Do you remember the music in the park that usually put us all to sleep out on the back lawn (where we were supposed to be sleeping)? That is what my parents got to experience this summer!! Maybe they will feel bad for us now seeing how they were always comfortably sleeping in the house away from the noise!! :)

Come morning we got up and headed to the ward building where our dedicated Scout leaders and a few of the older scouts cooked us a wonderful breakfast. We always look forward to this, being a Scout myself I love to support these things, plus it is a great way of getting a great meal without having to cook it myself!!!

In the afternoon we wanted to share with them a fun place that we had found so we loaded up the car and headed out. Who would have EVER thought that on the fourth of July we would have to deal with rain and MUD MUD MUD? We headed out to Grizzly Ridge to play and ended up having more fun in the cars where we nearly got stuck and did a near circle in the mud. The kids, who would walk in the mud, had their shoes caked with mud by the time we were done and it was kind of funny to watch them try mud skating! Don't suggest it unless you want to get REALLY dirty!!

We tired of that real fast and headed home. We got here and the sun was out and complete BLUE skies. Go figure!! Dad wanted to go and try fishing again so he started getting his pole and line ready. Of course the kids saw and all wanted to go so we again loaded everyone up and headed to Antelope Flats (good thing we have all this close to us!!) where we had to HIKE to find a beachy area for us to play in while Papa fished. Well, the fishing failed but the kids all had a GREAT time playing in the water. It went from "kids don't get wet we don't have suits on or a change of clothes" to "kids don't go too far out" and "kids time to get out and squeeze as much water out before you get in the van!" Mom was there reminding me that we did the same thing as kids...I GUESS (I of course don't remember!! :) ) we would talk our parents into letting us "WAVE" in the water telling them we wouldn't get wet and soon enough we were as wet as my kids! Funny how water and kids seem like magnets pulling together!! And of course out of all of these activities the only one that I pulled the camera out for was this last part at the beach so here you go... Enjoy the photos and know that we enjoyed the fun!!!