some summer fun

I have been trying to fill the kids day up with stuff to do. Here are some of the things. One day the kids played on the slip-n-slide. Ella walked up and down it.Nichole put her whole heart into it.and Tyler only did it half way. He wasn't brave enough to just slide.We also went to Jumpin Jacks one day. The kids always have a great time there. Notice this first picture how there isn't a kid in it at all. There was supposed to be. Natalie was running down the slide so that I could take her picture. When she got to the end she threw her body onto the little wave stopper thing and it just plummeted to the ground with Natalie on it. It was hilarious. Because of the camera I was using this is the shot I got of Natalie.Otis got to have fun of his own the summer. He got rides in my mom's scooter. He was not a fan.Ella slept over at the neighbors house and this is the outfit she chose to wear home.The 2 younger kids spend a lot of time up in the walnut tree in my parents front yard. Tyler can climb up it himself but Ella can't. This was their solution to that dilemma.

We have had some great times and hopefully we will have many more.

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author Unknown

My mom has been taking the kids out on dates this summer. She gave them the choice of doing it one on one or with each other and all chose to do it with each other. The first one she went on was with Tyler and Ella. They went to get ice cream and then went to the park to play. Then she took Nichole and Natalie. They went to buy scrapbook stuff and to dinner.The girls didn't like getting their picture taken as most girls their age don't like to. And refused to do it until some guy threatened to hold them down so that my mom could get their picture. I would of cooperated too. Plus what punks are they. They should just get used to them being done.

They say genes skip generations. Maybe that's why grandparents find their grandchildren so likeable. ~Joan McIntosh

One of the things that my dad has started to do with the kids while we are down this time is read to them. He picked out his favorite book which is The Hobbit to read to them. The kids all gather around Grandpa and listen to him read while they enjoy a snack. I can tell how much he likes to read to them and how much he wants for the kids to enjoy this book too. He started it the night that Caleb and Ryan came for the weekend. Unfortunately they don't get to listen to him read the whole thing.Another thing that we have been doing together with Grandpa is taking hikes up in the Mountain. My dad walks the dogs almost every day and we go up to the canyon with him almost every time. The kids love going on the trail with him and enjoy the scenery too.This tree kinda looks like a face to us.The city has made some new bridges for people to cross. This is one of them.

By the time we get all the way up here the dogs are so pooped that they lay right down in the stream to cool off. The best part about hiking up the canyon with my dad is hiking down when we are done.

time with the cousins

Pete's boys spent some time with the kids after the girls got home from girls camp. They all love hanging out with their cousins. They spent a lot of time outside playing and they spent a lot of time awake at nights when they should of been asleep. But that is what is so great about having cousins. You get to do that kind of stuff. The kids spent the last day with their cousins at Grandma Swenson's house. It was the first time that Caleb and Ryan have been there and they loved it. The kids ran around the house and barn and fields for a couple hours and I didn't even see them. I am glad that the cousins get to see each other every time we come down to Utah. The kids always have so much fun with them.

Girls Camp

The girls went to Young Women's camp with Nate's Parents ward. They had an great time and learned a lot and grew a lot. The very first day there I had the opportunity to go up to the camp. Nate's mom was asked to be a speaker so she invited me to ride up with her. The camp area is really nice. We prepared for winter because there was still snow up there and the girls said that it wasn't even that cold. They got to sleep in cabins. There was running water and toilets not outhouses. They had a full kitchen that was staffed with someone from the ward to cook for them everyday. Doesn't sound much like camping to me at all. They also only sat around a campfire one night. The girls took their cameras up there with them. These are about all of the pictures they took. Actually Nichole only took the video at the end.There were lots of deer up there.This is Natalie and her friend Marissa on the way up to camp. Nichole rode up to camp with my first grade teacher. The crazy part is that she recognized me I didn't recognize her.This is the girls cabin. Nichole slept on the top bunk and Natalie slept on a bottom bunk. Natalie's bunk is the hello kitty one.The girls did secret sisters while they were at camp. The decorated pillow cases for the secret sisters to put their stuff in. Natalie took a picture of hers. They got fun things like hair accessories, candy, drinks, goggles, bubbles and tons more stuff.

Art City Days 5k

Natalie, Nichole, Joy, and My Dad all ran the Art City Days 5k. I was so proud of how well they did. Especially since they didn't train at all. They ran 5k 6 days before the race so they would know the race route (which they actually didn't go on because it was the wrong route).Before the race at my dad's work. My dad stops by there every time to see if anyone from his work is going to run with them. There were 3 other people that ran from dad's work and 2 form Joy's. There were over 2 thousand people running that race. The fastest person came in at a little over 15 minutes.And of course I couldn't be left out so at the last second I decided to race. I ran it in 10 min. and 3/100's of a second. Man I am fast. (the funniest part is the guys on the left of the picture cheered me on when I crossed the finish line).I almost missed Nichole. My mom and I watched and watched for everyone to come in. Nichole ran in with a group of girls all about her size. My mom said I think that's Nichole about 15 seconds before she crossed the finish line. I had just enough time to snap a picture. I wasn't even sure if it was her. I had to zoom it in and read the numbers on her back to see if it was her.Natalie stopped running at about 2 miles and just decided to run walk the rest of the way. Joy stayed with her. It was a lot harder then she thought.Here are all of the people that ran the race.Good job girls. At the end of the race they handed out power bars and power aid, fruit, Ice cream bars and hot cocoa? yet hot cocoa. Nestle sponsored the race and were not shy on giving away stuff.