Little Buck-A-Roo's!

On June 29th, we are able to get out as a family and attend the Riverton Rodeo with our neighbors and friends, Jason and Natalie Bradford and their boys. When I was younger my parents would take me and my siblings to the Rodeo in St. George every year. We looked forward to watching the Clowns, The Bull Riding, Barrel Racing and the Bucking Bronko's. My favorite event was the Bull Riding. I loved it! I also loved that we got to stay up really late- like 11pm. That was so late and exciting when you're a kid!

 Mark and I have never taken our kids to a Rodeo before and I wanted them to experience it for themselves. Kaleb and Karmindy were super excited and both wanted to wear their Cowboy hats. Karmindy had a Jessie Dress from her Birthday Party that was perfect and I let her wear that as well. They looked so cute! Before the Rodeo we were able to watch some Skydivers dive into the Arena wearing the American Flag. It was really cool to watch them. The kids thought it was amazing!!

The kids really enjoyed watching all the events! They even had a calf money event for the kids where they attached a ton of bills to a belt that was tied around the calf's middle and the kids in the audience could come down from the stands and chase the calf and try and get the money. I didn't think Kaleb would do it but he did and he did a great job. He is truly motivated by money so he was in the arena chasing the cows for all his life. He was unsuccessful in getting any bills and was quite upset about it. I told him when we got home we would put a few bills in Kozette's collar and she could chase her around the yard. That seems to pacify him  and calm him down until we got home. We still haven't followed through with that and Kaleb hasn't let us forget!

 It was so nice to be able to relive something that I did as a kid and watch my kids enjoy something that I enjoyed when I was their age.

Diggin' Dinosaurs!

One of my dear friends from Southern Utah, Marylynne Miller and her hubby, Nathan just moved up from Ivin's to Saratoga Springs. We, along with several of our other neighbors from our old Ivin's neighborhood  have slowly moved to Northern Utah. The Recession, job losses and better opportunities have been the reason for all of us moving to Utah and Salt Lake City Counties. I have kept in touch with Marylynne and It is so nice to have a good ol' friend live so close again.  She has always been a dear friend to me and I have always loved her company.

 On Monday, June 18th, we were able to get together and head to Thanksgiving Point  Dino Museum for an afternoon of fun. Marylynne brought her two adorable boys along- Mckay, 4yrs and Andrew, almost 1yr old.. We have always had this joke that McKay and Karmindy are betrothed because they are they same age and are so cute together!! McKay is only a month or so older than Karmindy.

See!

Match made in Heaven!!

Kaleb, Karmindy and Mckay had a blast hanging out and exploring the Dino Museum. It was so fun to reconnect with Marylynne and catch up with her. We all had a fun afternoon and me and my kids are really looking forward to when we can get together again!! Here are a few pictures of our adventure-

Girls Afternoon!

I am so fortunate to have always been blessed with good friends. Good Friendships mean so much to me and they are something that I truly value and cherish. There is nothing better than knowing you have a Good friend that is there for you through thick and thin. I know that previous sentence sounds corny but it is true to who I am.

This past week, me and one of my besties decided we were in need of a break from the mundane of life's responsibilities and decided to take our girls to the mall, for lunch and to let our girls ride the carousel. Karmindy and Emilia are the same age and love playing together. They are also in the same Pre-School class. Karmindy has truly made some good friends in her Pre School this year- Avery, Emilia and Grace. I love that she enjoys doing different things with each of her friends!

I love these pictures of our little Girls' Afternoon!

 Karmindy on the Horse!

 I love this Picture. These two little girls are not lacking in personality! They are both fiesty and strong headed! I am looking forward to their tween and teen years! They will keep us moms on our toes!

Cute and Sassy Emilia!

The Children's Garden

In an effort to have one last hurrah before school begins next week, we decided to spend the morning at The Children's Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. We love Thanksgiving Point and all the fun things that are offered there. My kids have been begging me to go again and it has been a whole year since our last excursion to the beautiful gardens. On this trip we invited some friends to join us- we had so much fun. When we arrived we decided to walk through the gardens before it got to hot. The kids really enjoyed playing in the stream and floating their plastic boats in it. Another favorite was visiting the Bear Cave and going through the tall hedge maze (think Alice in Wonderland maze).  Kaleb and his friend said they actually heard a bear growl during there little adventure of running through the maze. I love this stage of life with my kids and I love that they have active imaginations! It is all very cute. Needless to say, the boys had lots of questions about bears and what they should do if they encountered one. :)

After walking through the gardens we had a picnic lunch. I had taken the kids grocery shopping several days before and let them pick out what they wanted to eat. They selected Lunchables and were excited to eat this special treat. After lunch, the kids enjoyed playing in the Noah's Arc water feature. It is my personal favorite at the Gardens and is so whimsical. The kids had a blast and I am so grateful to have good friends to go and make fun memories with.

Swimming with Friends...

While Kaleb is off track, I try to cram in as much fun as I can into the time we have together. Kaleb only gets 3 (short) weeks off before heading back to school. Over these next few weeks though I have Girls Camp, Preparing for and Teaching Sunday Lessons, and PTA responsibilities thrown in to the mix. I feel a little jipped because we haven't had a ton of time to go and do a bunch of things. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with it all that is required of me. Life has definitely been a little crazy here.

This past week, we got together with friends (Hattaways) and had a little pool party in the back yard. The kids enjoyed playing in the pool, jumping on the tramp and swinging on the swing set. I have to remind myself that the activities that we do don't have to be big things to have fun and make memories. 

 Kaleb-

 Cadence-

 Melody

Karmindy-

Having fun with Side Walk Chalk

When the weather warms up here in Northern Utah, my kids love to be outside and play. One of their favorite things to do is put their creativity to the test and decorate our side walks with their chalk artwork.

 This past week, a friend of mine needed me to watch her little boy while she ran to an Dr. Appointment. Kaleb was at school, so Karmindy and Dylan headed out back to have some fun. The kids had fun drawing and I was able to break out my new camera and take pictures of the two of them while they were having fun.

Karmindy Playing with Side Walk Chalk

Dylan, Karmindy's Friend

Friends...

We have been fortunate to have some dear friends in our neighborhood(right across the street) that have kiddos the same age as our kids! It has been very nice to have built in playmates that come and go across the street! It is also great because we have arranged a babysitting trade with one another. Each month we alternate watching each others kids so that each other can get out and have a nice night away from the kids!! It works out beautifully! On one particular night while we were watching our friends kiddos, we made homemade popcorn in our old time popcorn maker. Kaleb and his friend fight over who gets to pour the popcorn in the machine and who gets to carry the bowl to the couch to settle down and eat it (while watching their favorite movie-"Cars"). They are too funny! I took some pictures of all the "Kids" even one big kid digging into the popcorn and having a great time! These pictures were too cute not to blog!