Our Camping Weekend

The kids have been wanting to go camping for a while, so last weekend we headed into the treacherous mountains of. . .Morgan, Utah. We found an ideal spot. It had a nice, level, no rock campsite. There was a fire pit, trampoline, swimming pool, indoor plumbing, and most importantly a nice king size bed for Linda. Now where was this great spot that we found?? This was in Andy's parents backyard!! We really had it rough! We actually headed up to Morgan to spend a night and celebrate Father's Day with Andy's dad. The kids have been wanting to camp forever so we figured that was as good a time as any. My mother-in-law even made tinfoil dinners so we felt a little more like real campers. We had a great time. The kids swam a ton and loved it. We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Then Andy and the three older kids headed off to the tent to sleep, while Ethan and I headed inside for a nice quiet night. We had a really good time and I prefer this kind of "camping"!

Just some fun pictures of the kids enjoying the pool!







The kids outside the tent!


My mother-in-law was prepared with a fun craft for the kids to do the next morning!

My Little Criminal

A couple weeks ago we were out back doing some yard work after dinner. Andy and I were up on top of our rock wall pulling the weeds and the kids were down below on the grass just playing around. Ethan had been playing with his toys and just crawling around exploring. After a while, Ethan found our phone that I had set out on the steps. He LOVES the phone and began pushing all sorts of buttons. I let him go ahead and play, he does it all the time. While playing with the phone he happened to hit a button that transfers one phone to our other phone. It makes a beeping noise and won't stop until you either pick up the other phone or turn it off on the actual phone beeping. So I climbed down and turned it off. As soon as I did that the phone rang. It came up with some weird ID that I didn't recognize. I almost didn't answer, but decided to. Boy was I surprised when the lady identified herself as a dispatcher for 911 and said that a 911 call had been placed from our house and they were calling to see if everything was all right. I told her that my baby had been playing with the phone and he must have dialed it. I apologized and hung up. Neither Andy or I could believe that Ethan had done that. What are the chances that he would dial those exact numbers in that exact order. Crazy, but unfortunately not the end of the story. After I had hung up with the dispatcher Andy commented that it was a good thing that I had answered or else they would have sent an officer out to check on things. Well, to top things off a few minutes later there was a police officer in our backyard. He had come to make sure everything was okay. Luckily he was very understanding and even offered to help with the yard work! Let's just say that Ethan no longer plays with the phone!

Christmas in June

For Christmas we got the kids an air hockey table. The idea was to put it in the basement, along with some other big toys that we keep down there for them to play with. Well, if you had seen my basement a few months ago you would understand why it has taken this long to make room for the air hockey table. We had so much stuff down there and it was taking up so much room. For the past couple months we have been working so hard in our basement going through each and every box. We organized everything that we are keeping and set aside everything we don't want for a garage sale that we are having at my mom's this weekend. Well, the good news is that we finished, the basement looks awesome, but best of all the air hockey table is FINALLY assembled!! The kids were so excited that they had half the neighborhood in the other day to play!

Bragging Rights

We all have those moments when we really want to brag about our children, and as parents it is definitely our right to do so. So indulge me for just a minute while I take my turn. There is a test that is given to 3rd and 5th graders called the IOWA test. It is given nationwide and covers just about everything. Since Cassidy is in 3rd grade this year she was one of those who had to take this test. Cassidy's school had an awards assembly a couple days ago and she received an award for scoring in the top ten percent in the NATION on the IOWA test. When I saw the award I seriously started to cry (I seem to do that a lot ever since I had kids). I am so proud of her!! Way to go Cass!!
But I think the most important thing we learned from this is that she definitely gets her brains from her mom!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!

Please forgive me for hijacking Linda's blog, but I have to post to wish her a happy birthday! She made me promise I wouldn't do this, so hopefully I won't be in too much trouble.

In any case, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!! I hope you have a wonderful day. You deserve it. Thank you for all you do to take care of our family.

I LOVE YOU!

David Archuleta Wannabe

About a week and a half ago Andy got tickets to the Jazz playoff game. This was the game where David Archuleta sang the National Anthem. He did awesome. Check out this video of him singing.



Now fast forward to tonight. The boys were watching the video of David singing the National Anthem. Kaden then went to get in the shower and this is what we heard.



He obviously still has some work to do on the lyrics!
Kaden really didn't want me to put this video on my blog, but I couldn't resist!

Happy Birthday Andy!!

We just want to wish Andy a very happy birthday!! In honor of Andy on his 32nd birthday, here are 32 reasons why we love him. . .

Cassidy:
*He helps me with homework
*He cheers me up when I am sad
*He is very nice
*He is really funny
*He calls me Bug
*He plays with me

Kaden:
*He takes me to lots of Jazz games
*He makes good breakfast
*He plays catch with me
*He loves me
*He goes to work and makes money for us
*He bought us a house

Spencer:
*He builds legos with me
*Makes good pancakes
*He bought me a fish
*He built us a swing set
*He teases me
*He loves me

Ethan:
*Takes really good care of me
*Changes my diapers
*Gives me baths
*Plays with me
*Always smiles at me
*Makes me laugh alot

Linda:
*Very hard worker--not just at work, but at home too!
*Very handy around the house
*He is a great dad
*He is a great husband
*Very selfless
*Very helpful
*Provides for our family
*Would do ANYTHING for us