Happy Birthday Kyle!

Kyle wanted to go camping for his birthday. His sister and her family joined us for a night.

Carson's train. Not to bad for a five year old!

This picture helps me to remember to treasure every second with the kids while they are small. I know our chairs will not always look like this:0(

The kids were so excited when their cousins arrived!

They all liked to play by the bathroom. Not my idea of a good hang out spot, but they wanted to cast their fishing poles from the ledge.

The large moth before it met Carson

The large moth after it met Carson

This was one of my favorite pictures! I could picture them as old men out fishing and talking together. ha.ha
We ran to the store one day, and Kylie and Carson took a nap on the way back. Camping is hard work!
Before Kyle's sister and her family left, we went swimming at the reservoir and had lunch.

There was a fallen tree that the kids loved to walk on. It made a bridge across the creek and they would get water from it to water the flowers that they picked for the table.
This ax was one of Kyle's birthday presents. He got it early because he was going to go buy one.=0) I thought it was cute to see him and Carson chopping wood together.

First catch of the day

Our trailer has an indoor and an outdoor shower. The outdoor one was perfect for the kids!

Watch out for this girl......she is dang good at card games!

My birthday boy and I

Presents! He had a lot of help opening them.

Tri- tip to celebrate the special day!

I forgot the candles, so I tried to light some small sticks on the top, but that didn't work either.ha.ha

Lex was asleep about five minutes after this picture.....good work grandpa!

Fourth of July!!!

We have made it a tradition to go to the God and Country celebration that takes place about a week before the fourth. We sit across the street from it and hang out until it is time for the fireworks. We always have a lot of fun, and the kids love it too. They bring frisbee's and hula hoops and we have lots of snacks while we wait. We met some friends there, and some family too.

My friends Melissa and Keri

Then for the fourth, we went to a parade. Here are Kyle and Lex on the swings next to the parade route.

Waiting with bags ready for lots of candy! Love this holiday!

It doesn't get much more patriotic than this

Kylie snuggling with her daddy! It was early in the morning, so it was a little cool out.

Lexi watching the kids play in the dirt

We went to the parade with Kyle's sister and her family. We went to their house after so the kids could swim, and we had lunch with them.

Then we headed back to our neighborhood for a B.B.Q. The kids did a little fishing in the pond by our house

Since the fourth is about celebrating our freedoms, Carson gained his own personal freedom that day. No more training wheels!! We were all so excited for him! I thought it was funny that he learned on independence day!!

Kyle and I made this festive cake

Whoa!

There was a flag inside of it.....how did that get there. ha.ha

Kyle's favorite part of the day

Lex and I......you can see she got a little sun-burnt at the parade

And finally it was dark enough to let of the fireworks

My sister-in-law and Lainah

And the main reason for all the fun that we had that day!

Camping, swim lessons and more...

Our first camping trip of the year! We bought my parents trailer from them, and it made for a much more comfortable camping experience! We love it.We found a really nice campground about an hour and a half away. The best part was that there are hardly any mosquitos, and it was not too hot.

The bug man got to work right away. ha.ha

For some reason, hot dogs taste even better while camping

The kids love to bring their bikes

Our campsite was right next to a creek

we also had some friends join us, and the girls love their dogs. I also loved having the dogs around when it got really dark. I felt like they would warn us if some crazy animal was lurking around the campground. ha.ha

Kyle and I love how we don't have any distractions while in the woods. We are able to spend all of our time with our kids and not have to worry about anything else!

and the kids absolutely love camping!!!

There was a trail right in the campgroud, so we went on a hike before we left

The kids were fascinated by this cool tree that has bark that looks like puzzle pieces. I forgot the type of tree it was, but the bark also smells sweet when it gets hot. Cool stuff!
My grandma came up to visit for a couple of weeks. The kids loved spending time with her. She read them some stories and they liked to sit and listen to them. We went to my parents for dinner one night, and my mom let them help make this fruit pizza. It was delicious!!
Kylie and Carson took swim lessons again this summer. They learned SO much this year. They can now swim without floaties. I am so proud of them. Kylie can even do a dolphin style swim.
For their last day of lessons they got to just play the entire time.

And they passed!!

Lexi was a little sad that she didn't get to swim, so I had to buy her a candy out of the vending machine to keep her from being upset.

hmmm........what do we have today??

pretty funny, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make it work!