At the end of the swim team season they throw a banquet. The kids had such a great time and felt truly special. They even had a D.J. and dance at the end for all the kids! Even Emily had a great time dancing. All the kids danced on the stage and had a great time with their friends!
In July, My friend Karen and I had the opportunity to go to Benihana's for pretty much free. If you didn't know you can sign up on their email listing and receive, I believe, a thirty dollar credit. So, luckily are birthdays are by each other and we were able to go together! Super fun!
I love to bake! Cooking is okay but give me anything with sweets! This is an Almond Joy cake I made for my brother-in-law Tim's birthday!
We also went to Ocean Blue our favorite frozen yogurt joint and I went crazy and let the kids play in the fountain!! They seriously had more fun then anything that costs money! Even Emily decided to hop in. There is nothing greater then the laughter of little children!
We live in such a great community! Every year they have a sandcastle contest and we decided to check it out this year! Our friends the Eberhard's even made a Noah's Ark and won first place! Maybe next year we will get creative and enter!
This was taken through the screen of our window. Ryan always comes up with the funnest games for the kids! This was a sort of frog steal the flag. My favorite part was watching them hop around and seriously try to beat Ryan. He doesn't go easy on them and they love it!
Around here our friends have started calling Ryan Spiderman. He can do amazing jumps and tricks! One night after coming out of the mall for our date Ryan decided to climb up this 12 foot wall. So with in just a few tries he was up on top of it, obviously I did not have my camera out by the time he had climbed on top but it was pretty impressive. Especially because he was wearing slippers! I admire his ability to be so daring and adventurous!
As I was cleaning in the front room one afternoon I heard silence....followed by giggles and squeals. I opened the door to find this! Yes, that is Taft and Kenzie in Alissa's clothes. They are so silly. It is the only time they have played dress up together. Taft has made it a regular event and almost everyday for awhile we would see him in a different dress of Alissa's because he wanted to be like his sister. Well, he is over it now but it was hard not to worry. (lol) Now looking back I realize it was cute and funny!
This summer we had a great opportunity to learn some about Nature and God's creations. The kids had swim team four to five days a week. Each day it was a joy to go to the clubhouse and see these beauties. The kids loved watching the Momma duck as she would come to the nest and sit on her eggs. We talked about the joy of being a mom and how she was taking care of her ducklings!
Here they are after they hatched. The kids wondered why there were less ducklings then eggs. Nature sure is amazing! 
For Aunt Sonia's Birthday this year we decided to go to As You Wish and paint her a nice platter! The kids had a great time and made a very bright and cheery platter. I love Taft's silly face in this one! I am so thankful that my kids get to have her nearby. They all love her playfulness and energy! She is soo much fun! Alissa especially loves Aunt Sonia sleepovers!
A young woman in our ward auctioned a week long cooking class to earn money for camp so we signed up! All three of the older kids got to go. I was a bit worried about Taft because he has never been to preschool or away from me really in this manner. They had so much fun making treats from all over the world for the week! Alissa loved to have her cookbook and help with the older girls. The boys were crazy wild a few days with their friends and had lots of fun! Their favorites were Monkey Bread, Milkshakes and Crepes!!
The kids did swim team this year! Kenzie had the entire swim team sing to him! He felt very special!
Alissa's favorite was going down the big slides with Karen, Kenzie loved the wave pool and lazy river and Taft liked rolling down the hills! There was a great nature path too that we used to walk to the restaurant! We only lost kids a few times and they loved getting to have a door in between our rooms! At breakfast we had six adults and ten children. Talk about being outnumbered. There is something absolutely wonderful about the laughter of lots of little children! The adults who stayed awake, stayed up laughing and playing games too! We are so blessed to have such good friends in our lives that feel like family!
