Some Summer Fun!

It's so sad to think that summer is almost over! It's been a crazy but fun one, and it went by way too fast! But I guess for me, summer can never be long enough! It felt especially short this year since Brayden only had a 3 week summer break before starting school again the end of July. Luckily, the way her track is she gets 3 weeks in August off too, so we've been trying to fit in as much fun as we can for her last break of summer!

One of our favorite places to take the kids is Hollywood Connection. On Mondays it's super cheap for kids to ride unlimited rides, play miniature golf, and skate, and there's almost always like nobody there so it feels like we have the place to ourselves! Unfortunately, as of this week they are on winter hours so they don't open until the evenings now, but we got our fill throughout this summer I think! We usually just do rides, but last time we went the kids decided to try skating in the skating rink for the first time. Brayden, of course was very cautious, going slow and holding onto the sides...

Ashton, on the other hand, thought he could just take off, not only going super fast, falling down every second because he has no experience with skating whatsoever, but he tried to dance to the music and breakdance! Oh, that kid has NO fear! This is how he was most of the time, on the ground - he was too crazy to last very long standing up!

Ashton tried to do some weird breakdancing trick and ended up somehow kicking himself in the back with the skate, and yes, I caught it on video! It might seem cruel of me to put up a video of my son getting hurt for entertainment, but Ashton himself loves the video...when we first got home he wanted to see it over and over again and was cracking up so hard each time he saw it! I wish I could say he learned his lesson, but I'm sure next time he'll be back to trying new breakdancing moves!

Last week we went swimming with my mom. There's this pool in Magna that is big, nice, and cheap, and anytime we've been there we were almost the only ones there. There's a huge shallow area, so we could just let the kids go and we could relax! Unfortunately that pool is now closed until next summer (Seriously, places around here need to stop closing so soon! Summer's not over yet!) but we'll have to take advantage of it more next year I guess!

Last week Mike's work had a company party at Boondocks, but the party got rained out so Mike got a rain check ticket, and a lot of people at his work weren't planning on going back, so we got some of their tickets as well and went as a family on Friday. We had so much fun riding the bumper boats and getting soaked, driving go carts, and playing laser tag! Also, while waiting in line for the bumper boats, Mike heard a girl behind us with an Australian accent and he asked her about it, and after talking to her for a minute we found out that she grew up with Mike's cousins in Australia. Her dad was also a good friend of Mike's mom. It is such a small world!

Murri Family Pictures

My siblings and I hadn't all been together at the same time for 6 years until now, so we had to get some family pictures while everyone was here! We still didn't get any as a whole group because we didn't have much time, having to fit it in between my brother Trevor arriving from Reno, Cameron's rehearsal dinner, the kids going crazy, and my sister's husband not being here...but, it's as good as we could get for now!

Dad and Mom

All of us kids: Cameron, Adrianne, me, and Trevor

Cameron and Aubrey

Sarah and Trevor

Us

 All of the cousins: Eva, Breanna, Brayden, and Ashton

9 Years Together!

Today was our 9th anniversary! Every year I say this, but I really can't believe it's been 9 years. It really doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we were married, especially with all of the weddings we've been to lately, it brings back memories of ours as if we just had it! I am so lucky to have Mike as my husband. He really is the sweetest, most giving and patient husband I could have ever asked for. Thank you, Mike, for the 9 years we've had together, and I look forward to many more!

Our anniversary started with Brayden and Ashton bringing us breakfast in bed and homemade cards! It was so sweet! They also made their beds and got themselves all dressed and ready to go for the day! Wow, they really proved a lot to me today...that they don't really need me to do things for them as much as they pretend to! Haha! But it was so sweet of them to try so hard to make our day extra special!

Here are the cards they made for us...the right one is from Ashton - he said it's a picture of me in my wedding dress...as well as he drew it, I figured I didn't need to put up a real picture of us from our wedding day!

My mom was so great to watch the kids for us today so that Mike and I could have a whole day out just the two of us. We went to Park City for the day. We did the Alpine Slide and Coaster (so fun!), and had lunch at a little pub restaurant there at the Mountain Resort. After that, as our presents to each other, we did some shopping at the outlet stores.

Then, we went back to get the kids and my mom and took them to Cafe Rio so that they could have at least a little bit of fun too! To top off the night, we roasted marshmallows and made S'mores!

My baby brother got MARRIED!!!

Thursday night was the rehearsal dinner. Aubrey's dad owns his own catering business, so he made all of the food for it. It was amazing! Here are the girls at the kiddie table...

All of the cousins...

Here's my brother posing with his best man, Bob, one of his best friends that he has known since nursery!

August, Friday the 13th, was the day of the wedding. They chose that date because 13 is a significant number for them. But, it seemed at first that having a wedding on Friday the 13th may not have been a great idea! The draping started to fall that had been hung in the gym of the church, and the bottom layer of their wedding cake melted in the hot church and had to be replaced with a fake cake bottom. I think after that things were better, but I know it made some worry! Here are our girls with one of Aubrey's sisters all dressed in Aubrey's colors, pink and orange, ready for the wedding!

Mike and I

My brother Trevor with his wife Sarah

The kids waiting for the wedding ceremony to start! Once it started, Ashton asked, "Is this a magic show?" I just told him yes so he would be good and pay attention, then he asked "When are they going to disappear?" so I just kept telling him, "Keep watching!" At the end of the ceremony he didn't notice when they walked back down the aisle, so he was all excited that they really disappeared! Whatever works, right?

Cameron's side of the wedding guests...

Aubrey with her dad walking down the aisle...

Cameron was blindfolded before taking the garter off of Aubrey. He was told he had to do it with his teeth...little did he know he was actually taking the garter off of his best man instead!!!

The kids loved dancing! Ashton was the life of the party! He tore up the dance floor! One of these days I'll have to put up a video of it, he was so funny!

Saying goodbye to Cameron and Aubrey blowing bubbles!

Some of the naughty things on Cameron and Aubrey's car! I was warned that the top of the car was worse!

The next morning we met my dad's brothers and their wives and some of their family for breakfast. The black T-shirts some of them are wearing were made by my aunt and uncle for "The Great Tour of Weddings 2010" showing all 4 weddings we had this summer in the family. Cameron's was the last one!

I'll have more professional pictures to come from my sister soon. We had so much fun! I can't believe it's all over and my baby brother is married! Now they are off to Reno to start their life together. We'll miss them tons, but are excited for them and the many adventures they have ahead of them, and wish them the best!

Tea Party!

My mom planned a tea party for all of her granddaughters last Saturday. The girls got to dress up in old fashioned dresses and accessories. Many of the accessories were my grandma's, my great-grandma's, and my grandma's sister's who was a professional fashion model, so some of it was pretty fancy! After the girls were all dressed properly, they met in the dining room for the tea party! The girls felt extra special because they were the very first people to EVER eat in my parents' dining room, AND use their super old tea set! (It's old, but apparently was only used for decoration until now!) The girls were taught proper etiquette, and had tea, taquitos, and brownies. All of our girly girls were in heaven! At least I know Brayden was....she leaned over the table and whispered to me with a huge smile on her face, "This is SO fun!"

After tea, the girls got foot massages, pedis, and makeovers!

Modeling time!

While the girls had their tea party, Ashton got to have a special day with grandpa doing things he loves, like eating at Carls Jr., going through a fun car wash (yeah, he thinks that's up there with Disneyland!), and shooting things with marshmallow blow guns at the park! When he got back he got to have his picture taken too!

And I had to throw this one on here...Ashton wanted so bad to dress up in more than just a hat, and since there were no other options for him, with the girls' help, this is how he ended up...poor kid...he needs some boy cousins on this side of the family!

Thanks to my sis for taking these pictures! It's so nice to have a photographer in the family!!!