Not so Green Thumbs

We gave Lexi and Averi flowers at the end of their dance recital last week. They noticed the flowers were dying so today they tried to save them. 

Lexi put sunblock on hers.

 Averi planted hers to try to revive it.         .       

Both very good ideas, but I'm a bit skeptical.

Ethan's Creations

Ethan is constantly creating things out of paper. He will cut and tape all day long. His junk drawer was so stuffed that it could barely close. There were creations stuffed under his bed, in his closet and all over his desk in the playroom. It was time to get rid of them. However, he is very attached to his things. So we decided to take pictures of them so that we will always remember them. He accepted that idea. Here are a few of those pictures.

 His favorite subject matter is always fish, but birds have really started to appear more often lately.

 He really likes to make very large creations by taping multiple pieces of paper together. The blue whale above is a favorite as is this stingray.

 

Below is a little jewel we found among the clutter. It says, "Nephi returns from geting plates."

Dance Dance Dance for Lexi and Averi

 

The girls have been dancing queens lately. Jazz, Tap, Ballet, and Performance Group have kept them super busy. Tonight was their final performance of the season. They were beautiful of course.

 Averi only performed two dances while Lexi performed in four. I was back stage helping with all the costume changes and trying to get girls lined up. So I didn't get any pictures from the stage side of things. But here they are back stage.

 
Averi's favorite was probably ballet.

 
Lexi really loved tap this year.

 

I have no idea if we will continue dance or not, but it was fun to try out. The girls both loved getting all dolled up for the performances.

Jill and Colt

 Jill and Colt have decided to get married. I had a good time taking their engagement pictures. We went to the farm behind Lindsey's house to take them. I am really still learning how to use my camera, but I think there were a couple pretty good ones.

Since they are both animal lovers I felt this one worked well. The problem is that darn green hose on the ground. I wish we would have moved that.

Randomness

I found Averi today serving Canon his binki on a platter. Silly girl.

 Whenever I have my camera out Lexi strikes a pose. Here is one that I captured today.

 And here's a little smile from the family toy boy.

 And here we have a little Averi with the toy boy ready for a picture.

 Poor Matix has a good size cut above his eye. He took a good fall and bonked right on his eye. I'l just glad it wasn't any lower. It could have been much worse.

 

 I played with my camera on one of my favorite subjects tonight at Lexi's soccer team party. Cory stayed home with Ethan and Averi.

 Lexi is such a good little mommy to this sweet baby. 

 
 Trophy time! Lexi had a great season. I was so impressed with how much she improved.

 
Matix played in the splash pad during the awards. We love the amenities here in the Villages. The pool and Splash Pad are our home away from home during the Summer heat.

 

Cubsout Day Camp 2011

Ethan was able to attend his very first cub scout day camp this week along with his pack. It had a space theme, but they did a lot of water activities in order to keep the boys cool in this heat. Ethan really had a good time. Here he is with his best little buddy in our ward, Ridge Reiman.

 I'm really proud of Ethan. He gets so nervous to do things that he hasn't done before. This was no exception. But he went, and tried all kinds of new activities. His favorite accomplishments were the bow and arrow shooting and the BB guns.

California Trip 2011 Part 2

From the beach we went to Barry and Heather's new house in Paso Robles, CA for 2 nights. We went hiking and let the kids run around with their cousins. Ethan and Brock have always been good friends and of course the girls all have a great time as well.  I'm sure Canon and Braxton will be best of buds one day as well.  But somehow we didn't take any pictures : (

From there we headed to the homestead in Sanger. Great Grandma Severin got to meet Canon for the first time. Again with the bug eyes on this silly boy. Here we found more and more cousins to play with.  They did the slip-n-slide for hours. Below we have Lexi and Mackenzie showing their stuff.

 
 Little Averi just didn't want to get wet. She would act like she was going to do it, and then just run through every time. Such a silly girl.

 
Tater and Ethan both gave me a happy little pose at the end of their runs.

 While Matix and TyTy took things more seriously. Pretty sure Mad Dog flipped on this one above.

 With swings and frogs, what's not to love about Grandma's house? Maybe the fact that Grandma and Grandpa don't lie here anymore : (  But at least the Millers do so we can still come play.

 

 Girls will be Girls I suppose. I never did get those glasses back from Mackenzie.

 And Grandma is always singing something. Some things never change.

 And some things we hope never change. Grandpa loves to give tractor rides to all the grankids. Below we have Brooklyn, Tater, Matix, Ethan, and Kynzlee

 Then came the big day we scheduled this whole trip around. Uncle Sean and Aunt Brook were married in the Fresno, California Temple on June 11th 2011. I love this picture of all the kids trying to look through the windows while waiting for them to come out.

 From left to right: Matix, Brooklyn, Kimber, Jaxon standing right behind Landon, Kynzlee, Macee, Mackenzey, Lexi, Averi, and Emma

 Averi, Kimber, Landon, Macee, Mackenzie, Lexi, and Emma

 Such cute girls and good friends.

Since we were going to be altogether with Cory's family for the wedding, we decided to bless little Canon that day as well. I felt bad that none of my family would be there, but since it would be our last blessing I knew Cory would really appreciate having all of his brothers in the circle. 

 So our precious baby Canon Donald Williams was blessed after the temple sealing and before the reception began on June 11th 2011. What a wonderful day it was. 

Here he is with Mom and Dad. Such proud parents we are. He sure turned out to be pretty darn cute!

And here he is with his daddy and one of the Grandpas he was named after.  What a seriously good looking group of men. 

 Looks like Mommy was able to steal a kiss.

Now let the party begin!

 
 Or should I say, "Let the Dancing begin!" Through these still shots alone you can tell that Ethan has some moves. All the kids really had a ball dancing together.

 

 What a bevy of beauties. Brooklyn, Averi, Macee, Mackenzie, Lexi, and Emma.

  Oh, how we love them. Our own fabulous five.

  Pretty sure Averi danced with everyone she could that night. Love this picture of her with Grandpa above. She even danced with the groom. Go Lexi and Macee go! Aren't Ethan and Kelsey cute? Can't wait to show them this when they are both teenagers.

 

  Not sure what Matix is doing, but this might be the best move yet! Though Averi is in strong contention for a medal here. Big points for her facial expressions! Everyone danced the night away. It was an exciting end to a very long fun filled vacation. We love spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and all our California cousins. They will be missed greatly until we meet again.