Time to CeLeBrate FiesTa stYle

 Me's brother Chad and Leah. They got married last December and had to wait until now to have their reception....fiesta style!

 This was Leah's last prep before going out to celebrate

 this picture is so tender. Chad has lived with us for 3 1/2 years  of Cole's life. We were spoiled to have him around. Cole is super close with Chad and treasure's the time he can have with him. It has been an adjustment for Cole to have Chad gone and  be married.

 blue bird of happiness...Chad and Leah

 Meryn loved it all!

 Chad and I

 haha. My dad is hilarious! We both took a picture of each other at the same time. This was my shot. Oh, dad...your missed!

 pinata time!

 Well, almost all of us were here. Amanda flew in from California (as a WONDERFUL surprise!) and Cameron couldn't make it from Germany. We missed you Cameron! This is us! All 7 of us.

As I get older I realize it is not all the things or status quot that I am. It is the relationships that matter most. I love my family! They are awesome! We have a special bond. We have a ton of laughs, a ton of cries, and a ton of JOY.  Family...isn't it about time?       Well, they pulled it off! It turned out fabulous! It was super fun! Good luck Chad and Leah on your new adventure's in D.C.!

as Chad says his goodbye...it's always 1 love. So, Chad

1 love

Hogle ZoO time

        For Labor day we went to the Hogle zoo with our friends the Thompson's.

 Our kids love Elephants! My grandma collected them and each of the kids have one. They seem to be humble giants.

 My friend Jess!

 Bryce and lady

Our little pistol Ashton

 This was the twins first ride on a carousel

 The crew! We are a big bunch. Well, anyone that gets with us will always be a big crowd!

 Cute picture of Az

Well,  I think it was all worth it! The kids loved seeing the animals. Especially Azure.

First day of Schoo

 It was all smiles with dad the first day of school. We sat together and eat  breakfast with Bryce. Lucky treat for us lately! .He has been super busy!  Here's to a great year! Our big 6th grader and 2nd grader. ( when lady was little we would ask her where  Cole was and her reply  " he's at schoo" So,  now we have  adopted that word in our family vocab!)

 Cole had enough of me taking pictures. He is starting to get that "pre teen" attitude. Not good. This is where Bryce and I are lame and we "hate him". Because we signed him up for a math class that prepares him for 7th grade. He's super good in math. Why, Soup we don't hate you!  We love  you, this is why we are doing it! goodness...here we go! :)

 perfect picture of Cole! Such a great student but obviously he is not looking forward to homework. :)

 This is where Alayda dropped my hand like a dead fish when she saw her friends! sad for me!

 Alayda had enough of me taking pictures!

 The twins were not into taking pictures! grr. First day at preschool. This is our little friend Daniel.

 First day of  The wild Kindergartners! Meryn and Marli

 AWE! The big K!

 Meryn, Keely and Marli...the inseparables!

This was the twins first day. Meryn was dying to go to school! But, she had to wait for a whole week while everyone else was in it!

Highland FlinG

 LiVing here in the great state of UtaH, We  have some perks...to name of few. EacH city will celebrate for a week various activities. On Saturday we close  with a parade and fireworks. It is so AWESOME to see all the fireworks  in June and  the whole month of JULY. The streets are lined with  the American flag. Every house has one, well almost. It brings such appreciation for our country  and  to the community. I LOVE IT! It is my favorite part of summer...  for this reason .    This is our crew. We our celebrating with the Thompson's. Bryce and Scott went golfing instead of the parade.

 Jess and Bo

 Bo was not sure what to think of the Fire truck tooting his horn.

 Marli  and Meryn

 I'm not sure what lady is doing here but, it was super cute.

 Can you see the Easter basket's in tow? Yes, that would be the children getting those out to collect candy from the parade. There was not a disappoint! :)

River boat racing

 So, we decided to go to the river and let the kids swim. It is only a few minutes away from home. The kids have had a ton of fun here. After playing for a while we decided to go back home and make boats to have a  floating contest.We gathered up some river wood and headed home. Our sweet Cole got out the dermal tool and designed each boat for the kids. What a cool big brother! .

 You can barley see Halle's. It was full of drawn flowers.

 Ashton has Cole's boat. It was super cool. Cole decided to go golf  with Bryce instead of floating the boats.

 Meryn's

 getting ready for the race

 Azure's

 On your mark..get set...

 This was our result of our boats. They don't float but, they look super cool! :)

 Alayda and Halle floating their boats

Halle is loving the cccooolldd river. not!