Celebrating the 24th

We got together for brunch & games to celebrate

PIONEER DAY!

(Thank you Jocelyn Harris for organizing this)

Some of my favorite childhood memories

are from this holiday,

sadly living out of Utah for so long

my kids don't really have memories of this holiday

until now!!

Two legged race... Avery & McKenna won!

Sack race

Egg race

Watermelon spitting contest

Pudding eating contest... Kayla's favorite

How can you not love

celebrating such a fun holiday,

even without the fireworks.

It was a great day!

It had been awhile...

It was summer 2004,

I had two months before Avery was due,

our family drove to Circle S farms

with the Orme family &

picked RASPBERRIES!!!

You can tell how much Kayla enjoyed them

by the evidence on her shirt.

Now with two more helpers we

finally went again.

I took my kids

to a farm not too far from our home.

The drive was beautiful.

And I couldn't help keep thinking,

these are the things

I LOVE about

OHIO!

My girls did a pretty good job helping pick

& watching Evan.

It is a hard job to do when

they are so yummy to eat...

just ask Evan.

We were only able to make

3 jars of freezer jam.

Not nearly enough to last.

Hopefully we will get back

& get more this season.

Fourth, Family, & Fun

I have to start this post by thanking

my Mom & Dad

for making this trip possible.

It had been three years since my family had all been together

and had gotten a family picture.

After my sweet sister-in-law, Kara,

said she could take my family picture,

my Mom & Missy got on the computer

to find our family tickets to come.

( I was in the car, traveling to Florida at the time.)

I threw out the the idea of flying into Las Vegas

to have my kids & me, spend a few days with Missy and her fam,

then drive up to Utah for the fourth & family pic's.

And what do you know,

Missy found the tickets and made it happen.

THANK YOU!

We flew out the 29th of June to Las Vegas,

And spent two days swimming & playing with cousins.

Then we piled our eight kids into Missy's two cars

and took a road trip up to Utah, to see the rest of the family.

We spent two full days eating, playing,

& enjoying the company of each other.

Oh, and we got that family picture....

with 18 grandkids and 12 adults,

Kara had her job cut out for her.

Can't wait to see the results.

Can I tell how great it is to have both

Spencer & my parents in the same town!

Since my parents house was pretty full,

we enjoyed sleeping at

Grandma & Grandpa Elmore's house.

Though the time was short

they spoiled my kids with ice cream sundaes

& BIG yummy breakfasts.

We were happy to also sneak in a visit to

Grandma Mitton,

who lives only two houses down.

Oh, how we love to see FAMILY!!!

We then took another road trip back to Vegas,

and enjoyed a few more days before we flew back to Ohio.

Spence flew out for only the weekend,

making the flying back & forth a little painful for me.

It was well worth it.

the BIG trip!

Sunday night, the 13th of June,

we gave the news to our kids that

the following morning we

were heading to Florida

to meet up with the Morrill family

&

spend a week in Disney World.

The anticipation had been killing

me & Spence!

The first stop was Savannah, Georgia.

Where we spent the evening walking the riverwalk

& enjoying all the candy shops along the way.

Savannah Georgia

Here is a picture of the kids, moments after the Morrill's

arrived at the condo we stayed in.

What can I say... we love these guys!

The Caribe Royal Resort

The most Magical place on earth!

Disney World

Animal Kingdom

Hollywood Studio

Cocoa Beach

The original Ron Jon Surf Shop.

Well that's our trip in a nutshell.

One of the best weeks of our lives!

Almost the big day

Last night was Kayla & Avery's

dress rehearsal for their

big recital.

Next Saturday is the actual recital,

no pictures are allowed to be taken

that night.

I hear it will be three hours long!

Ouch! That is a long time to entertain Evan during the performances.

But the girls have loved taking dance

and it is fun to see them up on stage.

Preschool Graduation

Today Avery graduated from preschool.

She got to walk down

the aisle by herself

& receive her diploma.

Spencer even got to come

& witness this special day.

(And help keep Evan quiet.)

All of Avery's classmates could have gone to

kindergarten last year,

but decided to be the oldest

rather than the youngest.

I was very hesitant on doing this

but can now say I am glad we did.

Avery will miss her teachers

& classmates,

but can't wait to go to

the same school as Kayla next year.

Yay Avery!!!

Guess Who?

We went for ice cream at

Culver's on Wednesday night,

trying to see Sarah as much as possible

before her & her family move in two weeks.

Then we came to my house to watch:

Modern Family,

the best show on T.V. right now.

Sarah was showing us her new house on the computer

when I turned on the camera

and we got carried away the

taking pictures.

Our version of "girls gone wild"

We are going to miss you Sarah!

Here are a few other

fun things

we did recently...

The day before Mother's Day

shopping trip to the outlet mall

& dinner at Olive Garden.

Family night at Sports Ohio

with the Walton family.

Walton family, thanks for some great memories!

Dan you will be a fantastic

Orthodontist in Reno.

We will miss you all!