The last days of Summer

July and August just seemed to fly by!  From Slurpees on 7-11 day till the start of school we just played played played!

We spent a couple of different days at a friend's swimming pool for lunch!  Us moms are great friends that get together a lot while the kids are in school, so it was fun this time around for the kids to hang out too!  They are all such great friends!  I really wish we could all get together more!

 

Then there is the Pass of All Passes!  

We have the great rec center pool right here in Lehi so we don't take advantage of the big Seven Peaks Water Park like we should!  We should go there so much more!  The kids have a blast!  It was fun to go with more great friends!!

Matt had done some contract work this summer for a company called Domo. 

Emily found this hat at Wal-Mart and is still mad at me for not buying it for her.

These were the only 2 pictures I did get from Matt's work party!  He's glad to be back with the guys at Knowlysis!  And we always love the summer swim party and picnic.  This picture of Thomas and Kierra is just priceless!  I LOVE how much they love to be together!  Below you can see their cute giggles as they play a game together on the computer.  It is so wonderful to sneak up on moments like this!

We were glad that we decided to visit Grandma and Grandpa in July, because they went back east in August to the Little League World Series and Washington DC temple.  It is always fun to get texts from them showing us where they are! 

We spent our summer nights riding bikes, geocaching and park hopping.

 

We always love going to Arts in the Park, or neighborhood barbeques!

The kids also did the literacy this summer.  Kaylee and Taylor were tutors, Emily did the book club and Kierra did the summer reading program.  We all had a blast at the end of summer picnic!  It is fun to just pack up and relax for a day at things like this!  The big kids make it easy to go out of the house and we just enjoy being together!

Our traditional Literacy Center picture with Miss Fay!!

Summer Sundays are also relaxing and fun!  Right boys?!  ;)  Matt falls asleep in seconds when he has the girls doing his hair....wish the magic worked that great on little brothers!

Sunday afternoons really are the best...especially in the summers.  We are on a countdown to 9 am church.  1:00 is great and all....the church is true no matter what time we go.  :)  But we can't wait to have the whole day ahead of us!

This one particular Sunday while Matt and I were at Stake Choir Practice we came home to this awesome video!  Sure we have our moments in our home where kids fight or we are tired or cranky....but really...for the most part...these kids really do get a long so fantastic...in fact, they usually get along better when I'm not around to dictate and monitor every little thing they do.  This video was just so fun to watch!  It was fun think that in 2 hours this is what they all came up with and pieced together!  I was just in awe and so happy for the love and friendship that these amazing kids have!  I'm thankful for my older girls that are so creative and good about getting everyone involved!  I just love 'em all soooo much! 

I love that they go back to school and activities, but wow we love summer!  It is fun to be together!  I love my family and will miss having them around all day, but yay for fun memories and new adventures to come! 

Daddy Daughter Date

I'm not sure who told the story or if I have the story completely right, but I remember someone telling the story of a father in a hospital with his brand new baby boy.  The big sister was also there and a nurse or a friend or someone came to admire the little boy and said, "Yay...now you have your hunting and fishing buddy!"  The person who told me the story told of how defeated the look on the little girl's face was.  I don't know if I have the story completely right, but either way...I think of it often as I have the best husband in the world.  He is the best daddy of little girls (and little boys)!  I am so thankful that his daddy daughter dates consist of ice creams, games AND roughin' it!!  :) 

The girls have been looking forward to this backpacking trip for such a long time!  Summer was quickly coming to an end and they had one weekend left to get it in.  Emily was a little too nervous to go this time around, but once the girls came home and told her how awesome it was she knows she'll go with them next year!!

They are the cutest!  I couldn't believe how heavy the packs looked...but I guess they weren't too bad!

They really just did have such a relaxing time!  The weather was perfect!  I LOVE the pictures Matt got!  I think this was Taylor's balance beam!  I love the pictures of the girls just walking.  So cute!

Great memories for these two girls! :)

Kaylee might have been slightly grossed out about killing and gutting a fish!  They caught 7 and had some for dinner that night!  The girls said it was yummy!  They weren't huge fans of the dehydrated egg breakfasts (who is really??), but otherwise they ate great and had a blast!

 

They slept pretty good...although Taylor says their feet were above their heads so they ended up at the top of the tent.  They backpacked out and of course had to stop off at Dairy Keen!  I'm glad that they had such a great time and have something to look forward to again next summer! Matt says our stake president told him he needs to do stuff like this more often...so...since his priesthood leader told him so...  :)  I think the girls are looking forward to it just as much!  If not more!