Taking the Plunge!

Sammy begging for some help to get out!

My Little monkey!

Me getting the nerve up to jump!

Not as easy as it looks getting out of this!

Janell was the balance beam pro!

Here she is giving Neeley some pointers!

Kate and Daddy

Charlotte getting ready to take to podium!

Cassadie trying to swim out of the foam!

Danny ready to take the plunge!

Hunter, MacKay, Jim and Tye

Ken and Suzy (preference of teams is not endorsed by blog author!)

Jason

Neeley

Kimberly

Garret, Danny, Addi, Ward and Hunter. Garret is giving some advice on how to flip!

Lilah perfecting her jump!

Haleigh, Gavin, Grandpa and Grandma

Kayla perfecting the beam!

Ryan

Tyson

Jer rescuing Kate just after he himself was rescued!

Kimi, Beth and Karl trying to swim out!

Neeley

Every year my sister Janell throws a super fun back to school bash. Usually it involves swimming but this year we tried something new. She rented out a gymnastics studio for a couple of hours and let us all loose. I don't remember seeing a group of all ages enjoy something so much. From Kate to the adults, everyone had a blast! We had a relay race with the adults and kids (my team won of course!), tumbled, vaulted, performed tricks on the balance beam and jumped to our hearts content. The most fun was the foam pit with "diving" board. So realistic I went to plug my nose the first time in! Lilah was the pro of the day with that. By the end she was doing flips into it. Little Kate couldn't have been any happier with it all. Maybe we have some future gymnasts in the family, Neeley sure hopes so!

Our little brave one, Lilah flipping out!

Thanks for all the fun Janell and Jim!

Last Summer Vaca!

Wanting to get away all summer, we finally managed to do it! We dropped the littles (Kate and Lilah) off at Grandma and Grandpa Greyhairs and headed out for an adventure with a mature bunch! Neeley and Kayla were in heaven having some big girl time alone and we enjoyed a break from diapers and little messes!

Saint George is the perfect place to have a quick get away. Close enough to drive but far enough to get away. Our first stop was the community pool in Washington, then it was off to the temple, running through the stream bed downtown, the carousel, and a ride out to Tuacon. I was amazed by the beautiful surroundings along the way. We tried to get last minute tickets to the show but sadly they were sold out.

One evening we drove up to Dixie rock and hiked around. I had remembered doing this in college when I came down to visit my good friend Emily. I think the girls would agree it was just as fun and beautiful as I had remembered it.

We really enjoyed doing big girl things with girls. They had some spending money they had saved and spent hours maticulously looking for just the right things. It's funny how money is so much more difficult to spend when it's your own. They also loved their little apartment. We stayed at a cute local motel that had two bedrooms. Neeley and Kayla pretended they had their own house and kept themselves shut in their own place whenever we were there. Little did they know, we loved that they had their own space just as much as they did.

So now that summer is riding off into the sunset, we can say we lived it to the fullest, right to the last day!

Tenting it!

Just before summer ended we managed to get a few more things checked off our list. Sleeping in a tent was among them! Daddy joined us for the bed time activities, songs and stories before going off to sleep inside. He claimed it was so he could keep an ear out for baby Kate, but we know better. He was too scared to brave the wild outdoors of the back yard! Everyone slept well and we loved testing out our new tent!