This past weekend was Mike's family reunion. All of his aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids were able to come except for just a couple. We first all got together at a park and got to eat, go swimming, and play games. The next day we met at a church building and it was more to celebrate Mike's grandparent's anniversary and a tribute to them, which was really nice. I have to thank Mike's dad for letting me steal his pictures, most of these were from him - I was too busy chasing after my crazy Ashton to do anything else!Mike's grandparents got to be like Santa Claus, all of the great-grandkids got to take their pictures with them! This is them with our niece Alyssa.Everyone was supposed to share a memory of Mike's grandparents, so Mike and his brothers and sisters put their memories in a song to the tune of "Over the River and Through the Woods."There was supposed to be a talent show, and so I had gotten my kids all ready to do a little dance we practiced off and on for a couple of months, and our nieces and nephews also worked hard on putting a skit together. It turned out we were the only ones who did anything for it! There wasn't a stage in the gym at the church we were at, but the kids still got up there and did it. I was able to get some of my nieces and nephews to do the dance with my kids because I knew they wouldn't do it by themselves. It may not be perfect since most of the kids had just learned it that day, but it was cute. It was so sweet of my niece Crystal for doing it with them - I know it was kind of cheesy, but she was so awesome to go up there and help out the little ones! The dance was to "Achy Breaky Heart" and I made up some actions for the chorus, and part of it was to touch their hearts, but instead Ashton looks like he's choking himself. It was pretty funny. Oh, and Brayden walked away before it was over because she thought some kids were laughing at her, even though they were probably just laughing at her goofy little brother! Mike's whole family:Mike's Dad's sister's family:Mike's dad's brother's family:
This is what I walked in on when I went into my kids' bedroom this morning...
Ashton pregnant, waiting patiently for the doctor...This is serious business!The doctor arrives and checks the baby's heartbeat...Baby's healthy!The new arrival and a proud daddy!
This past week we got to have play group at a swimming pool, thanks to our friend and neighbor Kara, who invited us all to her parents house! The kids had a blast! It was so funny how not afraid Ashton was to go down the slide, jump in the water, and even off the diving board!It took Brayden a little longer to warm up to it all...here you can see her trying to decide whether or not she should jump, then she ended up turning back around and got down. She did get more daring later, jumping in the water and going down the slide. (Never went back to the diving board though!)This past weekend was the ward campout - we aren't campers at all, so we didn't want to spend the night but thought it would be fun to just go up for the night. The kids had fun running through the woods looking for bears and helping gather fire wood, then we all roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. I didn't get any pictures except for this one after we got home. Within the first hour or so that we were at the camp site, Ashton fell between a big rock and a stump and scraped up his face. He was so brave - he cried hard when it first happened, but then after we cleaned him up best we could, he told me "It's all better now." and was ready to play some more! Poor kid, though. This is what it looked like that night...luckily there were no deep cuts so it's healing pretty well so far.After coming home late from the campout, we had to wake up early to meet Mike's sister Mindy and her family to go boating with them Saturday morning. It was super hot out that day, so it was so nice to be out on the water!
Here Ashton is with Mike's sister Mindy - she let him drive the boat! He thought that was the neatest thing ever! He seemed to really know what he was doing too!Mike ready for some wakeboarding!Brayden with her cousin KyraAshton with his cousin ParkerMy white hubby trying to get a tan!Ashton watched Parker wakeboard and cried the whole time because he wanted to do it so bad! Our brother-in-law Scott thought we might as well let him give it a shot! Here's Scott getting Ashton strapped onto the wakeboard. It was so funny to me to see him on a wakeboard...I am so scared for the future with him! He's not afraid to try anything! He tried but had a hard time holding on. They also had kid skis for the kids to try, and Ashton tried that too but couldn't hold on long enough for that either. He'll have to try it again next time!Then Brayden decided to try skiing. I didn't get pictures but I got this quick video of it. She did really well, if she would have just stood up she might have had it! And she held on too well, not even letting go after she fell. In the video you can hear everyone yelling at her to let go. Here's Mike wakeboarding. He actually hadn't done this in almost 8 years, so he thought he'd be pretty rusty...this doesn't look rusty to me!The kids had so much fun doing this! It's kind of funny to see the looks on their faces though...Ashton couldn't stop smiling and Brayden looks so scared you wouldn't think she was having fun, but she told me later she loved it!It's all I was brave enough to do. I wasn't planning on getting int he water at all and thought this was the best thing to do and be able to avoid getting in the water at the same time. Unfortunately Ashton and I were both lying down to begin with and weighed down the front too much so we ended up tipping over. So much for not getting in the water! It wasn't too bad though! Anyway, once we got back up it was tons of fun, and I couldn't stop laughing because it cracked me up at how much Ashton loved it, especially when we got going super fast and his body would fly around! He is such a daredevil!!!We ended up being out all day and had so much fun, then we all went out to icecream afterward. We were burned, and exhausted, but it was all so worth it! And I am determined to try wakeboarding next time! I think I'm braver now after being knocked into the water!
Our 4th of July was packed full and I didn't want to leave anything out, (this is my only version of a scrapbook!) so just a warning, tons of pictures ahead!
First thing in the morning, we met my parents, my brother Cameron, and my aunt and uncle and cousins at Ruth's Diner in Emigration Canyon for breakfast. It was beautiful there! We loved the restaurant, we had never been there before, it was so fun!On our way back from breakfast we just happened to hit a parade that was on the street we needed to go on to get home. We thought we might as well stop to watch it!The Stadium of Fire! We got there super early, so we got Red Vines and sodas to keep the kids happy before the show started! I think it backfired on us later though, Ashton was so hard during the whole show!David Osmond got everyone singing the National Anthem. You might remember him from this last season of American Idol, he was cut in Hollywood...Fighter jets flew over us so fast this was the best shot I could get!The host Glen Beck came out as the "Music Man" leading a band in "76 Trombones"!Shedaisy!And of course...The Jonas Brothers!!!Brayden so happy!This is how excited Ashton was...Before Ashton layed down like this, he seemed like he was starting to get into the concert dancing and singing along, but then I realized he was singing "Boom boom pow, gotta get that, boom boom pow..." one of his favorite songs by the Blackeyed Peas! Sorry Ashton, maybe they'll be the main act for ya next year! The Jonas Brothers just weren't doing it for him!This was the last song they performed, and they even had Big Rob there to join them!
There were fireworks immediately after the Jonas Brothers left the stage. We were sitting as close as you can get to the fireworks. It started raining right when the fireworks started, and we had a mix of rain and ashes falling on us! When the fireworks were done, the rain stopped, the sky cleared, and Glen Beck announced a special ceremony where they would be burning the giant flag they always had there at the Stadium of Fire, the one I have a picture of above, because it was no longer in proper condition to be a symbol of our country. It was really neat the way they did it.During the burning, they had a ton more fireworks, then it took us about an hour of more to get out of the parking lot, and I don't think we got home until after 1 am! It was all so worth it though! We had an amazing 4th of July and can't wait to celebrate it again next year!
Mike's grandparents got to be like Santa Claus, all of the great-grandkids got to take their pictures with them! This is them with our niece Alyssa.
Everyone was supposed to share a memory of Mike's grandparents, so Mike and his brothers and sisters put their memories in a song to the tune of "Over the River and Through the Woods."
There was supposed to be a talent show, and so I had gotten my kids all ready to do a little dance we practiced off and on for a couple of months, and our nieces and nephews also worked hard on putting a skit together. It turned out we were the only ones who did anything for it! There wasn't a stage in the gym at the church we were at, but the kids still got up there and did it. I was able to get some of my nieces and nephews to do the dance with my kids because I knew they wouldn't do it by themselves. It may not be perfect since most of the kids had just learned it that day, but it was cute. It was so sweet of my niece Crystal for doing it with them - I know it was kind of cheesy, but she was so awesome to go up there and help out the little ones! The dance was to "Achy Breaky Heart" and I made up some actions for the chorus, and part of it was to touch their hearts, but instead Ashton looks like he's choking himself. It was pretty funny. Oh, and Brayden walked away before it was over because she thought some kids were laughing at her, even though they were probably just laughing at her goofy little brother!
Mike's Dad's sister's family:
Mike's dad's brother's family:
