A few days to ourselves

My mother-in-law offered to take our kids for a few days in July! How sweet is that!?! I had a million ideas run through my head on what I would do when I was by myself and I thought for sure I would take a nap each day... that one didn't happen... it is amazing how much LESS energy/sleep I need when I don't have kids to keep up with (both physically and mentally!)

Bryce and I tried to take full advantage of every moment that we had. We borrowed my dad's street bike and headed up the Provo Canyon for a drive. We ended up at Park City for a little shopping and some dinner. WHAT A BLAST! I LOVE motorcycles and the canyon was gorgeous! My rear end was not appreciating the ride as much as I did though!

Thursday morning we started off bright and early up AF canyon on Kellen's (my brother-in-law) dirtbike for a litle bit of single track. (Bryce was driving and I am on the back.) I have never been on those trails before. After the first half hour and praying to Heavenly Father that he help me live through this experience of creek crossings, steep uphills with HUGE jagged rocks and wicked skinny trails we came to some nice grassy fields and beautiful scenery. That must have made me forget the first part cause I was crazy enough to go back again w/ Bryce on Saturday. More about that in a minute. We ended up having a great time. I did come home and soak in the tub for a while cause my body didn't appreciate getting bumped around so much and again my rear end didn't like the tuff seat on the motorbike. A little bit of lunch with my sister, Karen, and my mom made things a lot better. Then we headed off to get our toes painted! This was a first time for my mom (and a still a special treat for me since I am such a cheapskate). We had lots of fun talking and laughing as I tried not to squirm out of my chair from being so ticklish every time they would touch my feet! The night ended with Blackberry sponsoring dinner and a movie in Salt Lake with Bryce (and about 30 people from T-Mobile!) I love free movies! :)

With all of our running around we spent a relaxing Friday watching a movie on the couch (in the morning!!!), grilling up some steaks for lunch and heading down to Fairview, UT to watch Deric (Karen's husband) drive in the demolition derby! That was a BLAST!!! They had fireworks set to music for the 24th of July celebration and it was a picture perfect night. One like you see in the movies.

Deric is the #8 car. He just hit the gray car and knocked it up on 2 wheels for a bit. What entertainment!!! :)

Saturday morning I was wiped out and somehow agreed to go with Bryce one more time on the dirtbike up AF canyon. He took me on the East Ridge Trail (should be named trail of death!) to show me all of the cool things that he has had a chance to see. I was tired, scare to death and we now both agree that it wasn't the best place to take me. I don't like to see my life flash before my eyes every few seconds or to wish that I would just die so my rear end wouldn't hurt any more! It is an experience that I can say that I had and won't ever have to do it again. I can't believe that he likes to ride on those kinds of trails... and he thinks it is fun!!!

We made it home and headed up to Idaho to go get the kiddos. They were having so much fun at grandma's house that they didn't want to leave but vacation was over (for all of us). It was a hard reality on Monday morning when they had to do chores and I didn't have a quiet moment in the house!

THANK YOU to Trish for a wonderful time to myself and for having so much fun with the kids!!! I can't tell you how nice that was!

Happy Birthday Abbey!

Abbey had an idea for her birthday cake in her mind and she was kind enough to draw me a picture and post it on the fridge for me to fret about for weeks! It turned out to be a lot of fun making it with her (minus our struggle with the black frosting for the bees and such that you probably can't even see). Besides the #7 all of the decorations are made out of candy!

I loved this picture! Somebody is teasing her and she is finally getting old enough to take it a little bit! :)

When Abbey first started blowing out her candles her hair fell right into the flame and singed a good chunk! This is a few attempts after the first initial blow and a little bit of help from Landen.

Abbey was loaded up with presents and she LOVED each and every one! This year I took pictures of each individual family that came and that was too many pics to post. I wished I would have done one huge group shot cause I love to document all of the fabulous family that we have that are so supportive!


As tradition in our house we take the kids out for a birthday lunch and of course they pick CHUCK-E-CHEESE!!! They had such a fun time! Karen's kids came and met up with us and that kept the lunch party alive for a few more hours!


Back: Abbey, Hannah Shelley, Porter Shelley

Front: Braxton & Landen Got to love the chuck-e-cheese cups!

Missing: Mikayla-- I guess she is too old for a chuck-e-cheese cup but she was fantastic at earning lots of tickets!


A few things about Abbey:

*Very sweet and considerate of other people

*Big helper to all

*Loves to please

*LOVES to do art projects, pretend to be a mom and/or a teacher

*Always wants to be the boss... she must have gotten that from her dad! ;) jk

*She loves to save EVERYTHING -- that one FOR SURE she got from her dad cause I can't stand clutter!

*She is a fabulous sister to her two younger brothers

*She always has a piece of gum in her mouth!

*Is great at saving money... she started her own savings account a few years ago and gets so excited to see when interest is added in from the bank!

*Not a dare devil

*Loves to ride on Bryce's motorcycle but doesn't want to drive her own (just like her mom!)

*Social butterfly (when she is comfortable with her setting) and is quiet as a mouse when she isn't.

*Fantastic baker! She is learning quickly how to make some delicious desserts!

*LOVES to do lemonade stands and would do one every day if I was up to it!

*Started piano this summer and is doing really well

*Started to do her own hair this summer... I am trying to let go of control! It is hard!!! She is doing really well at her ponytails!

We love you Abbey and feel so lucky to have you in our family! You are so sweet and I hope that you keep that kindness with you always!

Love,

Mom

A few fun summer pictures...

During a rain storm this summer I caught Abbey outside having some fun. I love summer rainstorms when you can be outside playing and not freeze to death!

4th of July: Abbey, Landen & Braxton in front of our house

Braxton... a little distracted by something to the side of me :) He is a firecracker for sure though!

This was about as close as I got for Landen laying down in the grass and looking at me. With his lean muscle mass he could have held that position for hours but the ants in his pants distract him!

My sweet Abbey- by far the easiest one to take pictures of! Too bad it was so hot and sunny!



4th of July afternoon-- we had just had a water balloon fight and they were enjoying some popsicles on the driveway while Bryce made a few of his own fireworks! He didn't like the pictures I took of him so I didn't post any.

We ended the evening with a fabulous BBQ at Lisa's house (my sister) and watched the city fireworks in PG. It was a really fun holiday!

T-Ball ... What a FUN season!

Braxton played t-ball for the first time this year and LOVED it! He had such an amazing coach that was incredibly patient with all of the kids! Here are a few pics from one of the games:


I love the medal and the award winning smile for earning it! He was so excited!!!

The most amazing coach (Brent) handing Braxton his medal. Braxton wanted to know though if they could still get a treat too. If he would have had to pick between the medal or a treat... it would have been a hard decision!

Braxton running with all of his might for 3rd base.

This is going to be a home run hit!

No ground ball is going to get past this kid! He is set and ready for some action!

I love baseball and it was so much fun helping and watching Braxton's little team! Some times your gut would hurt so bad from laughing as they would do circles in the outfield to try and figure out the bases. It was a fantastic season and I can't wait till next year!