Girls night out!

On Thursday June 29th I went hiking with Jan and Kathleen. It was nice to get together and do something other than celebrate a birthday.

We hiked to Stewart Falls that night.  It was a nice hike and we were in the shade the whole time.

I took this picture of the upper part of the Falls.  It was nice to catch up on each others lives as we hiked along.

Jannie and I took our traditional selfie together.

We went and got snow cones at The Barn together afterwards.  It was a fun night out and just what I needed.  I love these girls and am so blessed that they are my lifelong friends!

Family traditions

We have made a family tradition to go see the Manti Pageant every year.  It is always great to see the temple where we got married.  It has now been sixteen years since we were married there.

Mckenna took some pictures of us with the temple.  At one point Kev literally swept me off my feet.

We walked around and took some pictures while we were waiting for the pageant to start.  We walked by my Aunty Helen's place affectionately referred to as the "doll house."  We always enjoy watching the pageant together. We were missing Parker who was on another scout camp out at the time.

Mckenna's 15th birthday

Mckenna turned 15 years old on Monday June 19th!  She had a fun day celebrating.  The YW put this sign in our yard for her birthday.  She was wearing the new shirt Abby gave her for her birthday.

Abby arranged with me to come over and surprise Mckenna in the morning.  She woke her up and took her to breakfast at Kneaders.  It was a fun surprise for Mckenna even if she is not a "morning person".

I took Mckenna to get her birthday balloons that afternoon.  I loved the ones she picked out.

Tessa came over later and brought Kenna a gift.  She gave her some new makeup.  I am glad she has such good friends.

Mckenna chose to eat at JCW's for her birthday dinner.  Kev was happy because that is his favorite place to eat too.  

We went to Waffle Love to get dessert for her birthday.  When we went to pay we found out they give you a free waffle on your birthday!  We love Mckenna and our glad she is a part of our family.  She continues to be responsible, does her best in school, excels at the piano and organ, and is good example to others.  We love our beautiful girl!

Kevin's "Mega" birthday weekend!

We went up to the cabin on Thursday June 15th to spend a few days for Kev's birthday.

We spent the majority of the time riding horses and being outside together.

Kev loves taking all the kids for rides up the mountain.

The girls enjoyed picking bunches of wildflowers one night.  They were happy to find this big patch of buttercups.  They also had fun floating the flowers down the stream.  It was a peaceful summer night at the cabin.

Spence came up the next day.  He brought Kenna this awesome birthday gift.  It was a group gift from Heather, Spencer, Ken, and Sue.  Mckenna could be found reading a book in her hammock most of the weekend.  

Megan also came up on Friday night.  We love having her with us.  The kids had the greatest time playing ping pong with her in the barn.  Spence also introduced us to Aggie ice cream.  I am hooked now!  My favorite flavor he brought was "True Aggie night".  We ate ice cream every day we were there.

It was Kev's 38th birthday that Saturday.  Cody, Kamille, and the kids came up for the day.  We loved hanging out with them.  They even brought up their dog Ani.  She kept eating the horse poop which made us all laugh.

The kids loved having their cousins to hang out with.  Addy loved being on the teeter totter with her cousin Aubrey.

I went on a horse ride with Kev around the field.  He loves it when I ride the horses with him and I obliged since it was his birthday.

Kev opened birthday presents when we got home that night.

Parker surprised him with a coke that even said "Kevin" on it.

The next day was Father's day.  The only thing Kev wanted was to have some smoked beef brisket. It was my first time smoking meat on the Traeger.

We also had Spencer come over for dinner that night.  We are glad that we get to see him so often this Summer.  We played a game of croquette after dinner. Spence beat us all.  It was a adventurous and fun weekend celebrating Kev!

10 years....

It has officially been ten years since we started the family blog!!  Kevin was the one who originally created this blog and I have taken over since.  I am glad to be part of a "dying breed" of bloggers.  It has become our family journal and that is why I am still keeping it up.  I am not sure if there are many that even read our blog anymore.  I know that my kids love to read it.  They love looking back at the funny things they said when they were little! They also enjoy reading about experiences that they had forgotten about.  There have been times lately that I have felt like giving up on this blog.  There are many easier ways of documenting our life now.  I have also joined the fast paced world of Instagram now.  I do feel this record of our lives is important and so I am going to keep on posting.

Anna + Devon

My cousin Anna had her wedding shower on June 8th.  We had lunch together at the Towne Club.  It was memorable being together with all these amazing women in my life!

Anna shared with all of us how she met Devin, about their first date, and how he proposed.  I loved hearing every minute of it.  We also all gave her some wedding advice.  I had saved some advice that Anna had given me at my wedding shower 16 years earlier.  She was only 14 years old at the time and gave me this advice, "eat muffins with lots of cheese on them!"  Anna thought it was the greatest that I had saved her advice all these years!

Anna and Devon were married in the Salt Lake temple on Wednesday June 14th.  We were happy to celebrate with them that night in Sandy.  It was also nice to meet Devin.

We enjoyed spending the evening with family.  We took a three generation picture of Grandma, my step mom Loni, and I.

Kayley and Kenna looked so cute that night.  I can't believe how grown up they are now.

Anna and Devin's reception was the best!  They had apple cider donuts, goldfish crackers, and Swedish fish.

Parker and Mckenna were enjoying their butterbeer.  Cheers!

They also cut a wedding lasagna instead of a cake.  I have never been to a wedding reception where they cut a lasagna.  Anna's friend baked it for them and it was delicious.

Mckenna waiting with all the single ladies to catch the bouquet.  My cousin Wright's daughter Taylor caught it.

They ended the night with dancing.  It was sweet to see how in love they are.  I am so happy for my cute cousin Anna.

Summer fun with friends!

We went to the splash park with friends on Tuesday June 6th.  It was fun to get together with Brekke and Justine.  We hadn't seen Justine since they moved a couple months earlier.

Mckenna was so happy to get to spend the afternoon with Kallie.  Mckenna was Kallie's favorite babysitter when they lived by us.

Parker decided to come with us too.  I got this great pic of him "dabbing" in the middle of the fountain.

Addy had a great time with Kallie too!  It was so cute to see them holding hands and running around together.

I thought this picture of Halle was cool.  You can see all the water droplets.

Hayden chilling on the rocks.  The water shuts off every so often for ten minutes.  He couldn't wait for it to turn back on.

We all loved holding Brooke and Ellie!  They had grown a lot since the last time we saw them.