A few pictures from our family photot shoot

Look mom, NO BRACES

Only 13 months she had to have those bad boys on!!!  (as compared to my 3+ years!)  She was serious about wearing her rubberbands so she could get them off quickly and it paid off!!!  She looks beautiful!!!!

Temple pics with a friend

Kailee's friend Angelique (Angie) wanted to go up to the temple with the youth but she can't go in cuz she isn't a member (yet)!  So Kailee offered to hang out with her outside while the rest of the youth were doing baptisms.  The girls had such a fun time!  Angie has been a good friend to Kailee and I am so glad that they have each other in High School!!!   

 cute Angie

 beautiful Houston Temple



Conoeing on the Buffalo River

Shawn & Austin went on High Adventure last week.  The boys went conoeing on Buffalo River up in Arkansas.  They had a great time!  Shawn was excited to get to spend some time with Austin and all these boys that he just loves!  They fished, swam, ate pretty good, got rained on, fought off raccoons, did some cliff jumping, acquired some awesome muscles & blisters from all the rowing and friendships were strengthened!  Austin has still been talking about all the fun he had!!!

Getting ready to head out for the week...

fishing...he caught a handful throughout the week

 breakfast...fruit loops the breakfast of champions!

 Shawn said it was soooo pretty up there!

 stopping for lunch and a rest

 cliffjumping

 Shawn said the fog (it's back in there if you look close) was really cool...

Summer Update...again

Another update since summer is quickly winding down!!!!



go to South Padre
-Schlitterbahn in Padre
-turtle rescue
-Pirate Ship Cruise (it rained the last 2 days we were there and so we didn't get to do this)
Schlitterbahn in Galveston
Natural History Museum
Astros Game...one two three
Drive-In Movies
send Kailee to Girls Camp
paint the Laundry Room
get the boys beds painted
get vinyl finished for Ty & Kyler's room
get Kailee into and through Driver's Ed....which also means I have to add
get Kailee her driver's permit
see all the movies on our list
Transformers 3
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Cars 2
ZookeeperMonte Carlo
Kung Fu Panda 2
Harry Potter
Pirates of the Caribbean
Soul Surfer
Captain America
The Smurfs
X-Men First Class
send Austin on High Adventure
Shawn to take the boys camping or canoeing
Ty & Kyler going to OLC Camp
Kailee and Austin going to EFY
go to the Car Races
go to Ritter's
take the kids up to the temple grounds and have a picnic lunch
clean out and organize the closet under the stairs (if nothing else happens but this I will consider it a successful summer)   SUCCESS!!!!
get Austin's wisdom teeth pulled  (August 9th is the big day!)
get Austin's braces on
everyone needs their teeth cleaned (appts made!)
have a read in
go to a concert  (there were no concerts that were good for all of us to go to)
lots and lots of swimming (we are doing great with this one!)
Miller Outdoor Theater
zoo  (we still want to go but it has been so hot I think we would melt walking around)
go boating at Lake Conroe (we have run out of time...we are hoping to go in September!)

Read-In

 Ya know it's gonna be a good afternoon when you start with this!!!  We wanted to do a Read-In!!  It was sooo fun!  It gave us a really good excuse to turn off the tv, the computer, the phones, the music and just have some quiet reading time.  We went to the library the day before so everyone had books.  I even had one to read!  We went to Walmart and everyone got to pick out all the junk food they wanted and then it was home to read.  I LOVED doing read-ins when I was in elementary school!!  They were the most fun days! All the kids got to pick the spot in the house that they wanted to read and hang out.  We read for 3 hours!  They are all asking to do another one, so I think we just might! 

 Tyson read Fablehaven.  (I read the Alchemyst)

Austin lounged in the bathtub with his books

Kyler wanted to be under his bed...tight space.  He lasted an hour and then came downstairs and found a new spot! 

Kailee was reading The Book Thief...it is her required summer reading for English.

Temple Trip

One of the things the kids and I put on our "Summer To-Do" list was to go to the Houston Temple.  We wanted to go up, walk around and take pictures.  It is soooo beautiful there!  The grounds are gorgeous!  The kids were troopers cuz it was HOT outside!  We will have to go back in the fall when it's cooler and we can get pictures without the sweaty heads and red cheeks!  Our besties the Daileys went with us!

 Adam and Kyler...first thing Kyler did was run to the fountain and got his head all wet!

 avoiding the sun...kinda

  That was quite the crew we were walking around with!

 Austin took these ones of the temple

 Kailee had this great idea for a picture!  I can't wait to go back to this exact spot and do one with all the kids!!  It was perfect!

 Man...is he growing or what?!!!  I forget how short I am when he is right next to me!

 The cute Daileys...Leah was the only one looking at me...the kids were looking at Tyson or Kailee (i can't remember who was taking their picture)  this is the best one I got though!

 Sarah took all of these ones...I think that girl has a real future in photography

  hit by the sprinklers

 hmmm....did I mention how hot it was?...look at all of them laying on the concrete at the water to cool off!

 Look at these 2 beautiful girls!!  I am so thankful that Kailee has such a great friend in Sarah!!!!

This was funny...Madelyn was curious why Kyler was sad!

well at least we got 8 of the 9 to smile!

 Austin took pics of the moms...Leah and I were both so sweaty we were trying not to get yuck on each other! 

cooling off in the air conditioned waiting room!!!  We love the A/C!!!!

 What a fun day!  After the temple we went to IT'Z pizza for lunch!