The Kindrick family

Girls trip to Whidbey Island

2016-09-08T17:32:00.002-06:00

Zions/Horseshoebend/GrandCanyon 2016

2016-04-14T10:15:00.001-06:00

Visiting the Provo Temple Open House

2016-03-06T11:44:00.003-07:00

At the end of February we were able to attend the Provo Temple Open House. It was a very nice morning with Grandma and Grandpa Toolson and the girls. I used to attend Stake Conference in the old Provo Tabernacle when we were newly weds living in Provo. I also graduated from BYU at the old building before it was mostly destroyed by fire. They have done a beautiful job making this into a temple for all the enjoy now.

The girls with Grandma and Grandpa

Celebrating a little Christmas

2015-12-13T09:11:00.001-07:00

We have tried to do a few activities to bring in the Christmas joy over the past week. Last weekend, we had Windsor for the night, and I took the girls to the Riverwoods in Provo. It was lit up beautiful, and we enjoyed a ride around in a horse drawn wagon. I made the girls stop and see Santa. . . who thinks they are too old to see Santa??

Visting Santa!

We also stopped at some of the fire pits and roasted some marshmallows for S'mores

Roasting S'mores

It was a nice little evening with the girls all together.

Last night, we decided to take the Frontrunner train up to Salt Lake to check out the lights at Temple Square. It was our first time on the train, and I really enjoyed the ride! We were able to get on the train in Provo and just enjoy the ride. Jeff and Eliza and Windsor hopped on at the Orem station and joined us for the evening. The train rides up to almost 80 MPH and is a very nice way to travel.

Lizzy and Kennedy with friends, Lily and Kailina, on the Frontrunner

Temple Square was bustling with crowds. It was still beautiful. . . even though extremely crowded!! It felt like everyone in Utah was visiting the lights last night in Salt Lake!! We got a bite to eat and enjoyed walking around and seeing some of the lights.

We took the Trax from Temple Square back to the Front Runner and enjoyed the crowded ride back to Provo. .. the girls enjoyed making some friends on the train and singing Christmas Carols most of the way! It was nice to not have to worry about driving or parking or traffic. Overall, the evening was a success !

Thanksgiving weekend

2015-12-02T07:38:00.001-07:00

We had a very different and nontraditional Thanksgiving break this year. We drove down to Southern California to support Lizzy and her team play in a tournament in San Diego... The Surf Cup. This is a very big tournament with teams from all over that travel to compete. The competition is very good to say the least. Her team managed to win their pool which is a very big deal, and move on to the quarter finals. They ended up losing to a powerhouse team from southern California, but were happy with the experience. Lizzy played hard, and narrowly escaped what looked to be a possible concussion at the time of the hard hit and fall she took on the field. One of the teams she played was overly physical. . . .it was a pretty brutal game.

Lizzy's Celtic team at Surf Cup

One nice thing about the weekend was we were able to stop in St George on the way coming and going. . . so we still spent a little time with Grandma and Grandpa Toolson, as well as Mike and Shareen. Wednesday morning, Kennedy wanted to get up early and go to the St George temple before we drove on to California. .. So how do you say no to that?? We got up at 6am and she was able to go. We hope to go again with both Lizzy and Luke at Christmas time when we are there again.

Kennedy at the St George Temple

Our Thanksgiving meal was definitely not the highlight of the weekend. We have never eaten out for Thanksgiving before, so this was new to us. I just made a reservation at a restaurant with a few families from Lizzy's team. We were a bit dissapointed. .. but tried not to let it ruin our day or weekend by dwelling on it. First, we weren't even seated with the other members of her team. . . we were in the opposite side of the restaurant in a booth. . .the whole point of eating there was so she could be with some of her teammates? But luckily, we were able to switch to a booth that was at least in the same room a little later. The meal was just ok. . . we had Pasta for our Thanksgiving dinner! But the kids loved the huge icecream sundae we shared for dessert. Would I go there again?? Probably not. . . live and learn.

Our Thanksgiving of Pasta

Lizzy with Elle, Rien, and Peyton at "Thanksgiving"

Luke couldn't wait to try out the dessert!

Mia was smiling when they brought this out to try :)

Luke and Mia

We weren't able to get too much Beach time while we were there, but we did stop for a short walk and took a few pictures on Thanksgiving. I was hoping to get back, but the timing never quite worked out. .. it was a pretty quick trip!

Kennedy walking on the beach

All my kids together!

Lizzy playing with the soccer ball

It was a bit of driving, but we had a nice time and it was fun watching Lizzy and her team play so well together! Luke got safely back to Logan to finish up his first semester. . . And we are back to school and work etc. . . .

Vegas Weekend

2015-11-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we skipped the Halloween festivities and headed to Las Vegas to cheer on Lizzy's team playing soccer in the DPL (Desert Premier League). . . This is a league where they play the top teams their age from Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. We stopped in St. George on the way down and brought Grandma and Grandpa Toolson with us :)

Lizzy's team won their first two games, and ended up losing the last one to a very physical and heated game against one of the Arizona teams. So heated, that Grandpa left early. . . didn't like the contention. . . it was a little crazy, which happens in sports far too often!

Kennedy opted to stay home with a friend for the weekend, so we let Mia invite a friend. They spent a lot of time at the soccer fields, but also enjoy time swimming at the condo on Friday night.

Celtic Premier team

Mia and Emma enjoying the hot tub

Lizzy playing hard

getting a bite to eat after a hard fought game!

Fall Break

2015-10-25T13:21:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we enjoyed Fall Break with a little getaway to Yellowstone National Park with our friend the Parkers and the Sorensons. We took our time driving up there on Thursday, and took a slight detour to stop for a visit with Luke up at Utah State in Logan.

My kids :)

Luke seems to be doing well at school and is figuring things out. He passed a couple of big tests this last week including his first PFT for the Air Force ROTC. He really is enjoying the ROTC and I look forward to seeing what opportunities the next few years bring for him.

We stayed in a Hotel at West Yellowstone, MT, and spent a couple days exploring the beauties of the park.

David giving Mia a warming hug (mornings were cold!)

Kennedy, Lizzy, and Mia

We encountered quite a few buffalo

taking a quick break on a stop along the way

You have to pose for a picture at the park entrance!

Mia

Lizzy and Kennedy

David and I

Maybe these buffalo are a little close for comfort!

Stopping for lunch at Yellowstone Lake

Kennedy reflecting

Old Faithful

working on balance along the boardwalk

Our cool shadow pic

David and Kennedy

It was a great weekend with fun company and we loved exploring the park and sights. The weather was warm and pleasant. A perfect fall break getaway!

BYU spectacular

2015-10-11T09:13:00.000-06:00

Another week has gone by, full of school, work, soccer, and busy schedules.

The highlight of the week for me was taking the girls to the Homecoming Spectacular at the BYU Marriott Center featuring David Archuleta. It was so good and we enjoying hearing him sing, as well as seeing and hearing some of the other groups from BYU, like Vocal Point,

BYU Spectacular

The girls and I

We have found ourselves singing the song "Glorious" all week. That has been one of my favorites for quite a while. I love the message of the song.

2015-10-04T19:37:00.000-06:00

Just finished watching General Conference. Inspired for a few things. Greatful for Shannon for taking it a step further and starting our family Facebook page devoted to our weekly pondering of the scriptures.
"Per Devin G. Durrant's challenge during General Conference, select a scripture each week and post it somewhere that you can ponder it. Share it here with the family. We can use this group to share insight and support with each other! "

Mine for this week is:
Ether 12:27
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Should there be anyone who feels he is too weak to change the onward and downward course of his life, or should there be those who fail to resolve to do better because of that greatest of fears-the fear of failure-there is no more comforting assurance to be had than these words of the Lord: 'My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.'" (Conference Report, Nov. 1999 Ensign, "Priesthood Power")

2015-10-04T09:55:00.000-06:00

It's been several years. . .

I haven't even looked at this blog for about the same amount of time, but a couple days ago something inspired me to look it up and read it. I have realized what a priceless way this is to journal, and I think someday this will be special for my family and my children.

I am not sure why I stopped blogging.. . . but I think so much of it has to do with the fact that shortly after my last post in 2013, David's mom, Mary became sick and passed the first week of March. How do you write about that, and how do you not write about that event and keep blogging? . . . . So I guess I just avoided it and never wrote about it at all.

So here I am two and a half years later. Where do I start? I'll just dive in. Today will be a post in memory of Davids mom, Mary. Although nothing I say is good enough. . . I need to say something to move on.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mary with my kids. This was taken in 2009. And now it becomes a priceless picture. After her death, I put a slide show together for her funeral, and realized how few pictures we had of her with the kids. I think she was a little camera shy and didn't like being in front of the camera.

Mary was a constant in our lives and our kids lives. She was faithful and really strived to live the gospel. She attended the temple regularly, read her scriptures, and served her family. When the kids were younger, and we lived in Springville, she would come down each Saturday night for a visit. Usually David and I would go get a bite to eat, and we would return to a clean kitchen, bathed kids, the kids read to, and maybe they would be sitting watching a Disney show with their grandma. Usually she would bring some type of a treat, most common would be powdered donuts, and maybe twizzlers, oreos, or a Little Caesars pizza to share. She would say "Don't worry, it was on sale". She loved her family, her grand children and her sons with all her heart.

The week before she died she told me "I just want to be there to watch my Grandchildren grow up, but maybe I will need to do it from the other side".

Losing her was losing someone that loved my kids unconditionally. Words can't describe the loss to our family.

I hope she is still watching over us and guiding my children each day. We love you, Grandma Mary!!

Soccer Champs!

2013-02-20T09:02:00.002-07:00

We were able to head to St. George over President's Day weekend to spend some time in the sun and watch a little soccer. Elizabeth's team ended up being the champions of their age division! It was quite exciting. Elizabeth took quite a beating in the final game. There were several girls that were very aggressive on the other team (that's putting it mildly). She was fouled several times, flipped over, tripped, etc. It was rediculous. She showed them when she kicked a rocket into the goal for the win! It was kicked so hard it knocked their goalie over as she tried to attempt to stop it.

This is what Elizabeth's coach had to say about the last game. . .
"The team we played in the final (HC Storm) were 100% positive that they were going to win the tournament, we even had a few shooters supporters that did not think that we could pull off the win. What they didn't count on was how much heart our girls have; they are the best."

And these girls do have heart! To watch Elizabeth take the beating she did out there on the field, but to still hold on, not back down, and show them that they can't intimidate us! They were awesome. And Elizabeth was a trooper! She had 4 goals over the weekend, 4 assists, and drew several fouls as well. It was a great kickoff to the Spring Soccer Season!

We loved getting away from the snow for a few days (unfortunately the snow was still here when we got home at 11pm Monday night), The weather was gorgeous! I enjoyed a run outside, a little hike in Mom and Dad's "back yard" with some friends, and a nice walk with Mom one morning as well. We had a great weekend, and are so appreciative to Mom and Dad for not only having us, but another family stay over the weekend for the tournament at well. It boosted my spirits to see the sun for a few days! Spring is coming!

November. . .

2012-12-18T16:23:00.001-07:00

Jumbled up post. .. here we go!

In a lot of ways, November was one of the hardest months I've faced in a long time. . .but either way, here are a few mixed up pictures from the month. . .

Definitely had fun seeing Brian over Thanksgiving weekend.

Spent every lunch hour at the high school with my friend, "the iv pole", giving Luke his antibiotics!

Elizabeth at Costco. We have enjoyed having Costco right here in town!

Decorated for Christmas

Fun seeing more family over Thanksgiving. Definitely fun meeting Kyle's cute girl, Chantell :)

More exploring over Thanksgiving. Notice how Luke is holding a football? Well, in spite of everything that has happened with his shoulder, he is looking forward to playing next year!

More St. George Exploring

Mike and Shareen were so generous to cater Cafe Rio for Mom and Dad's anniversary dinner! Everything was so nice and yummy! Thanks Mike and Shareen for everything!

Just a reminder that despite the rainstorms. . . rainbows will come!

Loved this awesome soda machine that you can pick your flavor of soda! Every restaurant should have one!

We froze our tails off at a BYU football game

Mia has been having nightmares a lot at night, and I find her in Lizzy's bed a lot at night. She has just started sleeping in there all the time lately.. . .

Celebrating our Awesome parents! 50 years!

Highlight of the month is definitely Thanksgiving weekend. Being able to celebrate mom and dad's 50 happy years together! What a great example they are to me. Had a great weekend with every one! Wish we all could be together more often!

Got to wait in this CRAZY line to shop on black friday. Seriously, so many people!

Well. A lot more than that happened in November. But that gives you a little taste. As I said, the highlight was definitely our weekend in St George over Thanksgiving. Wish I had more pictures to share. Thanks to everyone for your love and support. It's been a rough couple months.

Ups and downs

2012-10-28T22:38:00.000-06:00

These are in reverse. Newest to oldest. Hard to recap properly the last few weeks. But here goes. I bought a sewing machine and it came this weekend. I am quite to excited to "get crafty" as Elizabeth says. I tried something fairly simple today to break it in. The girls are pretty happy with their new headbands. It is fun to create something yourself. . .even if it isn't cut straight, sewn straight. etc. . . .

Look at me getting crafty today!

Saturday night my friend had a halloween party. We stopped by for a while. She had a DJ, dancing ball and all! David and I dressed up too, but didn't get a picture.. . .I am not the best at remembering to take pics!

Dancing the night away

Wrap the mummy game

ready to party

Friday evening we drove up to Brigham City and stayed with Uncle Bob and Corene. We didn't get there until 9 pm and then had to get up early Saturday morning to head to Logan for some soccer tryouts for the girls. But it was still fun to visit for a while, and I loved that their basement is still just how I remember it as a kid! After soccer in Logan, we stopped at my cousin Janet and family's house for a quick hello. So fun to catch up, even for a few minutes. I feel a special connection to the Logan/Brigham City area just knowing that's where my roots are! We stopped at the new temple to at least walk around the grounds before heading back down south! Beautiful, of course!

Brigham city temple

I'm sure you all know Luke's sad shoulder surgery news. He tore all three tendons in his right shoulder playing football. done for the year, no basketball this year. . . we are hoping he can rehab in time for baseball. We shall see. overall he is is good spirits, but of course it is a huge bummer! those first few weeks after surgery he was in a lot of pain, and it was also the end of term so he was still going to school and keeping his grades up despite everything. (4.0 for the term!) He starting physical therapy last week and will go twice a week for a couple months as he gradually gets the use of his shoulder back. The pain is just about gone now, so the biggest challenge will be to not use his shoulder too quickly and give it the proper time to heal. Thanks for all your prayers in his behalf. It has been felt and appreciated! It will be a long couple months of rehab now. . .

Smiling before surgery. .. he wasn't smiling after. . .

We have loved going to the BYU soccer games. I think they are ranked 5th in the nation right now! We went to pink night for Breast Cancer awareness a couple weeks ago.

the girls favorite player on BYU soccer team!

Going pink before the game. . . we were there early to get the cool pink headbands! These stands were packed by game time!

Soccer season for the fall ended the first part of the month. Kennedy's team did really well. Placed second in their division with only 1 loss for the year. That was a HUGE improvement from last year where I think they only won one game!

Last game of the season for Kennedy

Team huddle

Victory tunnel!

Elizabeth also had a great season. She placed second in her entire league for goals scored! That is quite an accomplishment as scoring in this league is not easy. .. the competition is a lot harder than the city level. she continues to be a firecracker on the field!

Elizabeth's last game of the season

Sadly, I never was able to get the photo of Luke in his football uniform. His injury prevented that from happening, because I wasn't on the ball early enough in the season. He is number 23. .. you can see him from the back here. he really LOVED playing football and despite the injury I think he is planning on playing next year. We can't afford any more surgeries. . .so I will just pray he stays healthy. He had some great games during the season. Playing a lot of JV and of course Sophmore as well. Our varsity team is currently in the playoffs and won their first game over the weekend. We'll see how far they go. Luke is sad to watch from the stands instead of being with the team :(

Luke's team. . . his last game when he got hurt :(

Torn AC joint :(

Well, that is about it. A rough month in a lot of ways, but we are making it.

The girls are trying out for the ODP (Olympic Development something or other) team which they could get some higher level training through the winter. We will see what happens. But there are four 3 hour "tryout" sessions. The first was where we were in Logan on Saturday. This Saturday we head to Layton, then Orem for the last two. If nothing else, they are getting 4 really good sessions with some high level coaches. Whether they make it or not, it will be a good experience for them. I think they already learned quite a bit just from the session on Saturday.

Other highlights with no pictures include having Bronte and David over for Sunday dinner last week. I tried making Cafe Rio style pork salads. .. they turned out pretty good! Bronte and David of course entertained the girls for a couple hours while they were here. Not much visiting time because the girls hog all the time!! ;)

Well, I am off to look at Pinterest for some fun sewing/craft ideas! Beginner level for me, of course!! This week I am going to make my cushion covers to go on our built in benches in our addition. If they turn out, I will try to post pictures for all 5 of you who ever check this ;)

Mia

2012-10-08T12:02:00.002-06:00

Mia second grade

Mia soccer

Time for some individual updates! Mia started second grade this fall and is loving school and her teacher! She signed up for soccer for the first time, and did pretty good out there! She enjoyed running around, anyway :) Her team didn't do too well, however! They didn't win a single game.
Mia is a great joy to have around. She has an infectious laugh, and is a great friend. She loves dancing, riding her bike, playing with Elizabeth, and playing with her friends! She is growing up so fast right before my eyes.

PK time!

2012-10-01T11:05:00.002-06:00

One of Elizabeth's goals on Saturday was a penalty kick. She hasn't missed one yet this season:)

September Update

2012-09-24T10:51:00.001-06:00

Fall is in full swing here! It is finally starting to cool down at night! Hooray! We are keeping busy with the kids sports, business, school, etc etc. You know, LIFE! Here are a few pictures to keep you all updated.

I wanted to add this picture of the girls helping David wash the truck the other day. Can you see how our grass is starting to come in? It is looking so much better! But don't look too close. . .then you will see the weeds and all the bare spots that haven't filled in yet. But do you remember my pile of dirt photo from earlier in the year? HUGE improvement. We will weed and feed it this fall and keep working on the grass until it is beautiful. It will probably take another year or so until it is how I really want it.

Time to wash the truck! Elizabeth and Mia had a blast helping David on Saturday morning :)

We have gone to quite a few BYU Women's Soccer games this fall. They have been so fun! The team is really good, and it has been great for the girls to see how soccer should be played :)

Go Cougars!

The girls are in their uniforms, because it was Shooters night! that is their club teams name.

Elizabeth Celebrated her 10th birthday is style on the 12th of September. She wanted to have a Soccer Party and invite her soccer team as well as some friends from the neighborhood. I learned my lesson after Mia's party and held this party at the park! No kids running around the house!

Ten!

The soccer pinata was a big hit!

The group. I think everyone had fun. They are a cute group of girls.

Rain Picnic!

This picture just makes me smile. . . what do you do when it starts to rain? Well, Elizabeth and Mia think it is a great time for an outdoor picnic!
I will do a post soon just dedicated to our fall sports. . . Football and Soccer! We have been busy and having a blast!
What is keeping you entertained and busy so far this fall?

ok, ok, summer is over!

2012-09-03T19:22:00.002-06:00

Summer is officially over. . .. but the temperature doesn't really feel like it yet! I love fall, though! We have already started football games, soccer and all the fun fall festivites. But first I have to finish off our events of the summer!

Mia turns 7!
Mia turned 7 on August 25.

We had a party with about 14 little girls. . . I don't know what I was thinking! but we danced the night away. . .:)

Ice Cream Sundaes!

Mia and her cousin, Windsor!
See how cute the sundae glasses are? Somehow the icecream tasted better in the cute glasses! (thanks Shannon for the Ikea find!)

getting ready for the party!

Making sundaes. . .
Bronte even stopped by for a bit. .. which says a lot! Thanks Bronte!

The Birthday girl!

Off to High school and Jr high!
Seriously. . . I have a high schooler now!! So far, so good!

starting 4th grade.
And no. those aren't real glasses. Elizabeth like to wear her "fake" glasses!

2nd grade and 4th grade, here they come!

My big 2nd grader!

Aladdin
I was able to take the girls to St George for a few days before school started. We had so much fun, shopping, swimming, and of course seeing the show. We all loved it!

Aren't they cute!
Thanks mom and dad for having us!

Elizabeth and Mia had swimming lessons for the first couple weeks of August.

We were able to have Paul and Joe visit on their way to and from EFY this summer. We had to make a stop for some shaved ice :)

Soccer Tournament Champs!
Elizabeth's team was in a little tournament the first weekend of August. And they won!

Champions!

Celebrating with shakes!
After Elizabeth's soccer game, and also after Luke's board of review! That's a lot to celebrate!

We all love ice cream!

Celebrating completing his Board of Review! Luke is now an Eagle Scout! That was a lot of work!

Kennedy's first temple trip

At the end of July I was able to go with Luke and Kennedy to the temple. It was Kennedy's first time, and I am so greatful I was able to go with her!

A small project completed! David put up some hooks in the garage. . . .

Taking the girls to see our community producion of My Fair Lady!

Luke had a fun week at EFY in July. He loved is roommates and had a great time!

Getting all checked in for EFY!

Well, That is a quick recap of highlights of the past 6 weeks. As I said, I am ready for Fall. Bring on the crisp cool evenings and Fall leaves!!

Celebrating "Fiesta Days"!

2012-07-23T18:36:00.001-06:00

Every Year here in Spanish Fork we celebrate "Fiesta days"! It is always right around Pioneer Day on the 24. There are activities for about 2 weeks. . Parades, movies in the park, carnival rides, craft booths,

rodeo, etc. On Saturday we went and explored a little bit.

The morning started with the "children's parade". Our ward primary participates in this each year.

Here is the back of our entry. . .

Later in the afternoon, we went and tried out the carnival rides. Each of the kids had a few tickets to try out the rides. Elizabeth and Mia wanted to hit the carousel first.

Luke and Kennedy choose the Ferris Wheel.

RollerCoaster for little kids!

Funnnn!

Put those arms up, Elizabeth!

Rocket ship

I told Elizabeth to try the swings. .. this is always one of my favorties :)

Luke convinced Kennedy to try out this ride. . . :The Zipper. . . .Kennedy wasn't so sure about it!

There they go! I could here Kennedy screaming almost the whole time!!
But she survived and has a story to tell her friends now!

David and I just tried to find some shade. .. it was HOT!!!

We finished the day by running to Costco and getting some smoothies to cool off! Tomorrow morning I run in a 10K race for fiesta days. .. hopefully I can complete the run :) Then the main parade is also tomorrow morning for Pioneer Days. Not sure if I can convince David to go to the parade, but I may take the girls down for it.

Halfway through July!

2012-07-16T20:00:00.000-06:00

Well, July is now half over, so here are the highlights (in reverse order) of our couple weeks of July!

Trampoline!

We are still making progress on the yard. This past week the big news was getting the trampoline mat set back up and ready to jump on! We still have some grass seed to plant around the front. .. but as I always say. . . I have to celebrate every little bit of progress we make!

Finally Have our Trampoline back!

Just a reminder of what this area looked like a couple months ago. . . just so you can appreciate the progress! We have a fence on one side of the house now as well!

Dinner at Cracker Barrell

David's good friend, and old roommate, John was in town and we were able to meet up with him and his kids for a dinner. It was fun to visit and catch up!

Dinner with our friend John

Visit with the Ortiz family!

We were lucky to have our good friends, Johnny and Jennifer and their kids come visit and stay with us for a few days. We haven't seen them for several years, so it was so fun to see them. David and Johnny have been best friends since they were kids. Our kids get along great! We love having them around! It was sad to see them go, but we are greatful for the time we had together.

Hiking to the hot spring!

The weather was so hot while they were here! I am not sure whose crazy idea is was so hike up to the hot springs! The water fall wasn't even cold when we got there, so it wasn't really very refreshing.. . but all the kids did great, and as always. . . we enjoyed our company!

Hiking with two of my girls!

Daddy and his little girls

trying to find some cold water to cool off!

BYU!

We stopped off at Lavell Edwards' stadium to take some photos with the cougar!

GOOOO Cougars!

Swimming!

We went one evening to the Payson Pool. I think this was the highlight of the visit for the kids! They loved the slide there, and the lazy river! It was much more refreshing than the hot springs!!

Finding time to swim

Creamery and BYU

We spent one day touring the BYU campus, and of course had to hit the creamery! Again, it was sooo hot! And ice cream was the perfect way to cool off for a while!

Ice Cream time!

BYU Creamery

The whole gang. . . minus Kennedy

The Ortiz family! We love them soo much!

Mia loved Johnny

Girls Camp!

I can't believe that Kennedy is old enough to go to girls camp! But she spent the week at Heber Valley Camp last week with the stake. She had a great time. I have heard from several people how touching her testimony was when she shared it.

Kennedy is off to Girls camp!

Kennedy and Maddie (Johnny and Jennifer's daughter just her age) really enjoyed each other. Kennedy was sad that she left for camp right after they got here. She did get to spend a Saturday with them up in Salt Lake ( we stayed behind for baseball games of Lukes)

Maddie and Kennedy really hit it off! New BFFS!

Our Exciting 4th celebration!

We didn't do anything exciting for the 4th of July. But David spent the whole day working on our floor. We are replacing the tile with wood floor. We finished the entryway and down the hall. David was working until 11 at night. The kids did take some chairs outside to the curb and enjoyed the neighbors fireworks! The big arial fireworks are legal here in Utah, and some one around us must have spent a lot of money, because there were some pretty cool fireworks to see just from our front porch!

Working on the floor

Making some progress

Luke turns 15!

We celebrated Luke's 15th birthday on July 3rd. We had a fun day. Went and ate a bunch of pizza at the Pizza Pie Cafe ( I think this is my kids' favorite place to eat). David and Luke went to see the new Amazing Batman movie ( and both really liked it), and I took the girls to see Brave (so cute!!) . Luke is enjoying preparing for football this summer, and is looking forward to playing this fall. As his mom, I am a bit nervous!!

Big # 15!

Brave!

Pizza Pie Cafe is the restaurant of choice for the birthday meal!

First Month of summer update!

2012-07-02T20:07:00.000-06:00

It would be much easier if I had done this in little increments throughout the month, but here is a quick update of our first month of summer!

ST GEORGE

School was out the Friday before Memorial Day, so we kicked off the summer with a little trip to St. George.

Hiking in Snow Canyon

Swimming at the pool

Mia under the water

Mia's Huge pancakes!

Breakfast!

DANCE RECITAL!

They all looked great up on the stage. They had a very fun year with their dance classes.

All dressed up and ready to dance!

Washington Trip!

We were able to drive up to Washington to spend a week at Mom and Dad's condo at Lake Chelan. We had fun seeing Kurt, Shannon, Paul, Joe, Becky and Bob. We were also lucky enough to see David, Tiffany and the adorable Sean and Audrey while we were there.

Chicken Wars!

Pool time!

Visiting the beach!

Lakeview Drive in

My models in their new suits!

Becky and I.

Evening mini-golf

Yard work!

This picture is out of place. . . .but We continue to do yard work. I have already posted this picture, but just using it to represent all the hours we've spent in the yard. We put seed in the front about a week ago, and are waiting to see if it takes. I'll post some updated pics soon.

Placing the Sod in back

Heading into Seattle

After our week in Chelan, we drove over to Seattle for a day. We stopped at Snoqualmie Falls and then ate at the Spaghetti Factory downtown and caught a Mariners Game. They actually won! It was a great way to end our fun week.

ok, it's blurry, but I was there too!

love that Seattle skyline in the background!

Go Mariners!

Kennedy turns 12!

Kennedy is now in Young Womens! She is loving every minute of it. She had a fun birthday on the 18th, and celebrated with some friends at Jump on It ( a giant trampoline park). I didn't get any photos at the park, but did at least get a group photo. She is such a sweet daughter!

My big 12 year old!

The whole party group!

Summer Ball!

We have also been attending summer baseball games with Luke. His team is playing in a summer league and have been playing 3 times a week. It's always fun hanging out at the ball park!

David and Luke eating at THE PHILADELPHIAN after one of Luke's games.
This sandwich shop is a bit of a hole in the wall, but David LOVES the sandwiches!! See how HUGE they are??

SEGWAY!

Riding our Segways on our tour!
David and I were lucky to get invited by some friends to go on a Segway tour for FREE! We had a blast touring around town!

ACTIVITY DAYS

I am one of the activity days leaders in our ward. We had a bike ride activity last week. Only one of our girls showed up, but we took our own kids with us and had a fun time riding on the trail by they river.

Ready to head out on our bike ride!

Manti Pageant

I drove the kids out to Manti last week and attended the Manti Pageant. It is a pretty spectacular setting. The pageant is pretty fun and is done right on the lawn in front of the temple. Mia curled up on a blanket and slept through the whole thing!

What a beautiful Temple!

You can see a few "Lamanites" in the background

before she fell asleep :)

Almost starting time. It doesn't start until dark

So that is our first month of summer highlights. There is always more going on, but I won't bore you with more details!

But it includes early morning football for Luke (including getting a concussion at practice ), soccer practice for the girls, a lot of umping and reffing for david, early morning runs for me to avoid the heat of the day, etc etc.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

Happy times!

2012-06-06T06:24:00.001-06:00

Kennedy graduates from 6th grade!

Luke's team - 9th grade champions!

I am back-tracking to before school got out here. Had to note a couple fun things that happened! First, Kennedy graduated from 6th grade! You can read her full report here. I do have to defend myself a little. . . no, I didn't cry like some parents were, but that doesn't mean I am not touched by my childrens' milestones. I did get teary eyed. Kennedy just didn't see it! Kennedy is growing up to be a fine Young Women.
Also had to make note of Luke's team accomplishments. They had a great season. Went 23-1 (or something like that). They easily won the tournament at the end of the season. It was fun to watch! Now summer ball will be starting up in the next week. Luke hopes to start hitting like we all know he can!

One small spot of "green happiness!"

2012-06-04T22:30:00.001-06:00

My little spot of green joy!

I decided with all the yard work going on that I needed a little bit of "instant gratification". So now that our sprinklers are in and working, David, the kids, and I went out and bought some sod for the one patch in the back yard that we won't be re-seeding. You can see here the girls helping carry the sod together. . . so cute! Luke is doing his part as well. Tonight before I go to bed, I think I might just go take a little peek at my little spot of green joy!!

What's been happening here. . .

2012-05-10T08:48:00.002-06:00

Of course, things around here have continued to be busy, busy busy! I was lucky enough to have Mom come to visit me for a few days last week. I cannot say enough how nice it was to have her around for a little while. We had a variety of activities while she was here. .

The first night, I took her to see the musical "The Secret Garden" for my early Mother's Day gift. It was performed at The Hale Center Theatre in Orem. It is a very small community theatre. The Theatre itself is "in the round". . .which means that the little stage is in the middle, and the few rows of seats are all around. The production was absolutely fantastic! I have always had a special spot in my heart for the book, because I remember Mom reading it to me as a girl. But now I can appreciate the music as well. The actors were as talented as any I've seen in any other production. We both really loved it. I have now got my book out and have started reading it to my girls! Maybe I can continue the tradition!

I also put mom to work with a few yard projects. We will be working in the yard all summer. There is so much to do. But I have to celebrate every accomplishment. We went and got a load of dirt to fill up my garden boxes. We also got a load of rocks to put around the boxes. I am absolutely delighted with the result! The soil was great quality and will hopefully make up for my lack of a "green thumb" this year! It will definitely be trial and error as I learn to garden. I am so excited to go pick out my plants to garden!

We also went up to Salt Lake on day and spent a few hours at the new City Creek Center by Temple Square. It was so nice there! They have done a great job making a beautiful shopping center. We met mom's sister, Sherry as well. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed walking around all the shops.

We also saw the girls in several soccer games and watched Luke play baseball. It is always busy with something to do!

This what I am tackling this week.. . .

I have this mound of dirt that needs to be spread around the front yard so we can get some new grass put in. It is a bit overwhelming. I am also tackling some other things that feel like this huge mound of dirt. . . so I could use a few extra prayers. Love and miss you all. Wish you were all here to help me shovel my way out of this!! One shovelful at a time I'll get it done. . .

A little baseball update!

2012-04-26T20:02:00.000-06:00

Not only have we been to soccer games lately, but we've been watching a lot of baseball as well! Luke's team has been doing really well. They play double-headers every Saturday and one game during the week. Last night they played and the final score was 15-2!

Luke had some great plays in the outfield.

This catch was the play of the game! In our humble opinion, of course :)

Yeah, you actually caught it, Luke!

He also had a great base hit with an RBI.

Elizabeth's great game!

2012-04-25T09:42:00.001-06:00

I wanted to give you a taste of what it is like to watch Elizabeth play soccer. Last night her team had a great game. Won 9-0! Elizabeth had a record for the year of 5 goals in this game! This is a bit extreme for soccer, but WOW. She is such fun to watch. She has speed, aggression, great footwork, can finish, etc. No, I am not proud at all!