No one get excited, this is merely a post for Emily to have some birthday pics. for the Christmas calendar.  Em, I didn't know if you needed ones of me and Todd, so I put some anyway.  Some you will probably need to crop or whatever, but hopefully this is fine. Also, I chose a nerdy one of Jordan for funny or you can crop him out of the one with Katy.  The one of him and Evalyn is just cute and maybe should be in the calendar somewhere.  Anyway, here you go!

It's Just Be Cousins!

It seems like all the Cousin fun days have been at parks this summer. I guess they are easy, fun for all ages, and free! We have tried out some great new parks-below are the pics! By way of information, Jordan is a fair weather JBC participant. He is pretty old to be hanging out with the kids and such, but he does make an appearance sometimes if there is lunch or a good movie involved! He really is cute to still want to hang with his mommy, sisters, baby bro, Nana, aunties, and cousins! We love it when he graces us with his presence! In all fairness, he is busy doing big boy stuff during most of our cousinly times. It's just fun when he IS around--I love hanging with his funny self!

First we went to the regular old park in Lehi:

Then we tried the awesome new Alpine splash pad/huge park:

(The girls loved this park so much that we took Todd and Jordan with us the next week for family night. They played basketball and hotbox and played in the water. It was such a fun and relaxing time! This park also has an awesome bike/walking path around it and we have been riding our bikes there and running around the path a couple mornings a week. Corie and I meet Mom and Dad there on their bikes and Cami drives over to run with us too! It is about a 16 mile round trip bike for Corie and me, and then we run 2-4 miles depending on our energy levels. Let me tell you, this burns a TON of calories and it is so fun to meet up with everyone!)

Next was the lovely Manila Creek Park with a beach and reservoir for swimming (too bad Melody realized her purse camera had a smudge on it for the first pics... My kids really loved this cool swimming spot and couldn't wait to take some friends a few days later. I'm sure this will be something we will frequent!)

The last one was a cute little park near Melody's with hobbit tunnels and a b-ball/tennis court:

We have had a blast at all these parks this summer. We also went to the Highland splash pad, had a movie day at Cami's (it was awesome-we had 3 movie stations. One for adults/teenagers, one for toddlers, and one for the in betweeners!), and this week we all painted and glued pictures on composition books to make awesome covers for journals at Nana's house. I should have taken a picture, because they all turned out so cute and reflected everyone's personalities perfectly. Melody was actually not at this cousin day, just her kids were, since she was at girls camp. Well, unless I forgot one of the days, that sums up cousin fun so far this summer. We are hoping to get in the aquarium and a dollar movie too, so we will see!

Softball times!

I really didn't think that in third grade when we painstakingly watched Katy's first year of softball (if you can call girls standing there at home plate waiting for someone to actually pitch a perfect strike to them or they are never going to swing and after the 4 walk rule you have to swing so you may get 20 pitches before you decide to swing softball...) that she would still want to play, but she loved it and it has gotten much better to watch over the years. This year, she was able to be on a team with 2 of her close friends (one of their dads was the coach) and we all had a great time now that we are in the 7-9 grade league. They had a great season, only losing a few games, and at state they won 2 games before they got out of the tournament. It is fun to watch her do her thing at first base. She is very competitive, like her brother, but doesn't get quite so crazed (Jordan has come a long way with his sportsmanship since the early days when we almost banished him from his beloved sports forever!). The thing I love the most about Katy and softball, is that she doesn't sacrifice her girly style! She is never without her sunglasses on the field, her ribbons on her sleeves, and her shirt tied up in the back. Next year I think I will actually spring for some of those cute white pants with a belt that used to look so scrumptious on Jordan. He would never have been caught dead in the grey ones that the city gives you. Katy has never asked me for other pants, but there was a girl on another team with the white pants and she looked so cute that it reminded me of them and now she must have some! Anyway, I digress. Here are some cute pics Cami took of Katy's team on the windiest day of the year. I am surprised any of them turned out in the hurricane winds! Thanks to Cami for her mad photo skills despite adverse weather conditions!

Camping At Granite Flats

I know others have already posted about this camping trip, but these are different pics. so I thought I would throw them on! Brady loved the dirt and treats, and the girls loved sleeping in the tent and exploring. Jordan had a game in the morning, so all the boys went home to sleep in their beds. The big news is that we sold the trailer yesterday which is good since we sold the truck some months ago and can't actually take the trailer anywhere now! I am sad that we won't have the fun times in our trailer anymore. We have such fun memories with the kids, and really sleeping in a tent is "sub par" (name that movie) compared. The trailer was like our own little traveling condo. I actually preferred staying in it than a hotel because everything was our own, we had a kitchen, and we could go to so many fun places! We will miss it, but on the other hand are so grateful that it sold so quickly when we needed it to! Now, I will either have to decided to like ruffing it, or even better, rent an RV for the weekend! Honestly the kids love it all and will have fun no matter what we do, so let the good times continue!

Big Boy got a Haircut!

Brady doesn't have much, but the few hairs he has were beginning to look unruly! The sides in the back and the top were growing at a much faster rate than the rest making him look a little scraggly. I put a few before shots in the slide show, but there is a really good one on Melody's camping blog when he had bug spray in his hair! Cami offered to cut it for me, so after our cousin day at the Manila Creek, we all went over to Cami's for the big event. He was actually really good, and even laughed a little during. He was pretty done when we got to the after shots, so he has some great expressions! Thanks to Melody who took the pictures so graciously so I could hold the little man still! We tried a few different styles, but my favorite is the messyish one on top (probably because he looks like Todd and Jordan). I saved his tiny white locks and he does look so much better, and much older.... Everyone at home loved their baby brother's "studly" new hair!

Father's Day

I was organizing my pictures on the computer today and saw this pic I took on Father's Day. Jordan had the idea to re-vamp a tie he "made" for Todd when he was 4 or 5 in primary. Todd still had it, but many of the pieces had fallen off so Jordan and the girls fixed it up like new! He was a good sport and wore it too church, even though the first time it was a different ward and everyone was wearing ties their kids decorated. He is a funny daddy!

Some Trips with The Normans!

I never posted about our Lake Powell trip which is so silly. I was excited to go since I have never been, and I have always wanted to take the trailer to the beach. We never actually want to drive that big thing all the way to California when it comes right down to it, so I was pleasantly surprised when we were able to park right next to the water and I could hear waves lapping on the shore in the morning. The sand was so soft, and the kids had a blast on the boat playing on the tubes and jumping off of the big rocks. I have to say, it was way way so awesone (in the words of Juju) and we all loved it! By the way, we went during Fall break in October! I think I never did this post because I was going to get some pics from Peni that were really cute, but who can worry about that now! Also, I just noticed that some of the pics. are pretty random...




Our most recent adventure with the Normans was to Moab. I decided it was high time for our kids to hike Delicate Arch. For as many times as we have been there, we have never taken the opportunity. We always wimp out and go for Sand dune Arch, which is very fun or some other easier things. We also did a cool hike to a waterfall not far from the condo. We heard about it from Melody and Bree, and also one of Peni's friends. After taking the wrong fork in the river for a mile or so, a local lady got us back on track and we found the falls and played and jumped in the freezing water. Jordan and Todd were troopers to carry Brady on the hikes in Melody's stylin backpack, and Ally only complained all the way back from Delicate-we may have worn her out since she kept falling asleep all around the condo! Jillian and Pine climbed on any huge rocks available, the teenagers were actually a pleasure to have around, of course we all loved the pool, the boys golfed, and we enjoyed the awesome warm weather. Brady especially enjoyed a bud light that some guys left for him at the pool. I was taking pictures and looked over toward the gate to find my baby holding a beer. Mother of the year! Some may ask why I didn't get a picture--well I was completely freaked out and didn't want him to take another swig! Besides a drunk baby, we had the best time! Thanks Grandma and Blake! Also, I left in all the shots of Brady on Todd's shoulders at the arch because he wasn't smiling for the camera, he just thought it was so funny to pull Daddy's hair!