My daughter...

Araleigh is a stinker. Well, all of my kids are stinkers, but Araleigh comes up with things that even the boys didn't do - and I thought my boys did everything possible when it comes to making me crazy! She keeps me on my toes, for sure, but she is a lot of fun - especially at the store...

I don't even know what else to say about this :)

The Annual Delta Trip!!!!!

Well what would summer be without Delta??? I only know of one summer in my entire life that I didn't go to Delta, the summer Araleigh was born. It is my absolute favorite place to go in the whole entire world, and it is becoming my kids' favorite as well! It is always a great time and a lot of fun. Some great moments this year:

Riding on the big "taco tube" with all my kids!!! They are slightly wimpy when it comes to this stuff, so getting all of them on there was quite an accomplishment! This tube is very difficult to fall off of, though not impossible, we discovered, thanks to Liz :), so the boys decided to be brave and give it a try. And, not surprisingly, they loved it!

Traeden even got really brave, and stood up! Woo hoo!!!

Araleigh's awesome aunts were very nice to teach her how to bend the hose so that water doesn't come out, and then have somebody go look at it, then let go so water sprays in their face. Thanks. :)

The funniest thing was when Grandpa was going for an evening swim while Araleigh and I were sitting on the dock with our feet in the water. Grandpa asked Araleigh if she wanted to get in the water and she said no, so he swam away a little. Well, I guess she changed her mind, because the next thing I know, she's tearing off her nightgown and jumping into the water in her underwear! She had fun swimming with Grandpa, and I think he liked it too :)

Still catching up on summer...

More of the summer adventures that I am documenting for myself :) I was very excited to be able to take my kids to the new temple in Daybreak for the open house! It was so neat to be able to have them in there with me, and show them all the beautiful rooms where such important and sacred ordinances take place.

I really hope it is something they (at least the boys) will be able to remember. It's funny, because at first they didn't even want to go - but only because they had to dress up! They weren't even really dressed up anyway because we didn't bring "church clothes" since we hadn't planned on staying. But since it was 100 degrees outside, they did not want to wear jeans and a shirt with a collar - way too much to ask :) Well they finally complied, and then of course the people in front of us once we got there were wearing shorts and t-shirts. That didn't help my case :) Oh, well. Once inside, they were really interested and asked a lot of questions, and I think they really did appreciate the beauty of the temple. And of course the cookies at the end helped to keep it an over-all positive experience!

Another fun day was a trip to Liberty Park, one of my favorite things as a kid, although I couldn't find that really cool playground with all the ropes and the zipline!! Does anyone know what I'm talking about??? Anyone know what happened to it? So sad... anyway, I think I mentioned maybe once or twice that it was super hot while we were there so pretty much the kids just got totally soaked while I tried to stay somewhat cool in the shade. They did a few rides on the old ferris wheel and carousel, had snow cones and cotton candy, and then we were too hot to do anything else, so time to go. But I do have some cute pics to remember this day forever :)

Wheeler's Farm - still catching up!

I don't think I have been to Wheeler's Farm since junior high when I used to go to the barn dances and the haunted woods! It was so fun to take the kids there with my favorite dancer friends!! The kids had a lot of fun playing with the other kids and seeing the animals. Thanks Wendy, Sarah, and Kenlee for meeting me, it was so great to see you and your adorable kids!

We started off by feeding bread to the ducks and geese, thanks to some guy who gave us 2 full loaves of bread :) I think the kids could have done this all day, but we eventually forced them to move on!

Baby cows!!! Araleigh LOVES animals, but she especially loves baby animals!

My kids were also very excited to see the bunnies, even though we have a dozen bunnies in our yard every day...

The goats were cute, and let the kids pet them, so that was exciting!

This horse loved Traeden and let him pet him for a very long time.

Since it was over 100 degrees that day our visit was short, but a lot of fun!

More fun while in Utah...

*Julie - this may freak you out a little, read with caution ;)

So another fun thing we experienced on our SLC trip was the reptile bday party going on in Grandma's neighbor's backyard - which they were super nice to invite the kids to! Yes, that is my daughter petting and loving a 15 foot anaconda!

And Traeden wearing a 7 foot Burmese python around his neck!

Jax enjoyed the snakes also, but the giant tortoise was definitely the most fun! He just chomped on the grass like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

It was a fun little surprise! My kids always love an opportunity to learn about and touch real animals!

Smith happens :)

Okay, so I don't know why it's been so long since I've posted anything! Could be that we have either been out of town or have had company every week since my last post!!! Not to make excuses... :) So we were very lucky to make an impossible-looking flight to get to SLC this summer for the annual Smith Fam Reunion!!! What a blast! We always have such a great time with the Smiths, they are such a fantastic family! We really had a lot of fun! It is always great to give our poor, cousin-less kids a chance to play with the next best thing - our cousins' kids!!

Araleigh, Nicole, and Kataunna on the swings

Traeden enjoying croquet with Hunter, Michael, and Jackie

Getting ready for the movie!!

Araleigh performing on the "stage" that she found, with Kataunna!! So cute!!!

So day 1 of the reunion, we met up at Grandma's for dinner and a movie under the stars. Day 2 was golfing for the guys, then bowling, then on to family pictures - quite an ordeal for over 50 people, lots of those being under the age of 5!!! Next we had dinner, the annual "fishing pond", then out to Draper for the fantastic fireworks show. Day 3 was up at the cabin in Lamb's canyon, for tons of food, hiking, and games. We had such a great time, and it was so fun to see everyone and catch up on everyone's lives!!!

Beach Bums :)

For the 4th of July this year we took a last-minute trip down to Panama City, FL to have a nice, relaxing family vacation on the beach! We literally were bums all weekend - it was great! We totally slept in every day, then lounged on the beach and at the pool and that was it!!! It was great to have a trip with no agenda! Panama City is a beautiful beach, and we are very blessed to be able to visit there!!! I know I have posted pics of this place before, so here are just a few this time:

Araleigh had the right idea :) She took "relaxing at the pool" to a new level!

The boys had a great time jumping over and into the big waves. There was a lot of seaweed, which is why the water looks green. We all came out covered in green slime :)

Araleigh loves the sand. She never fails to get it absolutely everywhere! I am still washing it out of her hair...

The morning we left there was a storm moving in, which just looks awesome!!