4th of July

We are in Wisconsin spending some time with my family. We had a reunion on the weekend of the 4th with 22 grand kids and 15 adults. It was quite the gathering and a good time. We had various activities to keep the kids busy and a good fireworks show.

Olivia working on the dirt pit.

Jed showing his talent of crossing his eyes. All the kids did a talent for the parents.

Grace posing with her sparkler.
We all had a good time were able to be acquainted with cousins. We are looking forward to 2013!

Close Encounters of the Reptile Kind

While we were eating dinner about a week ago, Chris looked outside and found this little turtle under our trampoline. He picked him up and showed the kids, then put him back in the wooded area behind our house. About 10 minutes later we see him in our yard again, going towards the neighbors house, and the 5 dogs that live there. This time the kids went outside to love him a bit before he was put back in the woods. 20 minutes later, we had to rescue him again, and Chris put him in a box and drove to a dead end in the neighborhood that is backed by woods as well. Hopefully he was safe there.

The next day I took the kids to the library and the "gator man" was there. Grace and Jed had a chance to sit in a class and learn about alligators and at the end, they all had a chance to pet or hold a baby one. Olivia LOVED it. She oohed and aahed and giggled like it was a baby. Funny girl.

Once again, my children have no idea how to take a picture, except Grace.

Hot Hot Days

It has been HOT here. The kids have spent several afternoons in the sprinklers and on the wet trampoline. We are ready to get cooled down in Wisconsin, hopefully the heat won't follow us. I am trying to figure out how to survive the next two weeks. Any suggestions?

Preschool Graduation

We had another graduation to attend a week after Grace had hers. Jed graduated from preschool. These are some major milestones we are reaching here! It was fun to watch them sing a few songs and recite some poems. At the end, they all had a chance to say what they wanted to be when they grew up and why. Jed's exact words were "I want to be a viking because they get to kill dragons." His 3 teachers were shocked because he had never said that in the 2 weeks they had been practicing. I guess he was holding out for a larger audience. He is excited to start kindergarten. We will see about being a viking.

Kindergarten Graduation

Grace has been out of school for almost 2 weeks now, so I decided it was about time to get this up. Of course there was a graduation, with cap and gown and everything, because how can you move to 1st grade without it? Anyway, I went to Grace's class early to help all the kids get dressed up in their gowns and her teacher was nice enough to take a picture of us. Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Mathis. She was awesome, if she could be her teacher until she graduates, I would have no worries about her education, but alas, we have to move to another teacher.

After the ceremony. I don't have any good pictures of it because we were too far in the back because I was helping dress all the kids, go figure! All the kids had the chance to say what they wanted to be when they grew up. Grace said a librarian, which if you know Grace, probably will happen.

Last of our Vacation

One day while still in Salt Lake, we took the kids to Temple Square and waked around. It was fun to be a tourist again in a city I know pretty well. The kids thought it was cool and we had a good time. I took this shot right as we were walking back to Trax. While waiting for Chris to come by on the bike, I gave the camera to the kids to keep them busy. It is fun to see the world from their perspective.

Grace is sitting on top of the electrical box. Needless to say, we were waiting for a while, so I had given up by then.

We waited for Chris for 2 1/2 hours, I think, and we still missed him. He rode by about an hour into our wait, but we just didn't see him. It was fun to watch all the bikes though.

Dinosaur Museum

While in Salt Lake, we spent a day with cousins Rae and Quin and went to the Dinosaur Museum. It was pretty neat, but only held their attention for so long. I guess after a while all bones start to look the same. Here is a really bad picture of one of the dinos. It was really cool, but too dark for a good shot. There was an area for kids to make their own dinosaur. They could put on different legs, heads and tails.

There was also a huge sand and water table with toy dinosaurs and palms trees. They ended up spending some good time there.

Just a funny shot of Liv.