That's how we roll....

Riley: "I wished that I could have icecream. But I just put on my lipstick, so I can't."

 



 Lindsay spread out a blanket one morning and was doing something. I looked over and realized she was doing yoga poses just like Grandmummsie! Loved it!

 

 

I told Hyrum that soon we would be helping Gmummsie with bottling her green beans. Hy wasn't really excited with the idea and protested: "Mom! We don't even know when Grandma will 'hatch' her green beans!!!"

 FUN girls night out for a sad reason: Nicole is moving to Wyoming. We're going to miss her. She's Riley's "friend." L to R: Lacey Higley, Tana Christensen, Me & Kels, Jami Bingham, Cobie Holtman, Nicole Dastrup. PS- I was the oldest one there. What the??? I'm not that old am I?

 

 

Lindsay has an ear infection and was crying in the truck. After a while, Riley finally yelled, "Lindsay!" and then started singing, "Don't go cryin' to your mama" (Paramore song)

 



 The kids had their first campout on top of the club house. Lindsay came in after the popcorn. Riley came in about 5:30 because the wolves were going to eat her. Hy had so much fun he slept out there the next night! We love the clubhouse!

 



 Beautiful sunrise on my way to meet Mummsie for a bike ride!

 My covergirl. She found mascara, eyeshadow, chapstick & lipgloss. Pretty girl!

In town we were stopped for a train....with tractors on it. Hy thought it was AWESOME!

A few FIRSTS....

Riley came up to me a few weeks ago b/c her tooth hurt. Surprise, surprise her FIRST loose tooth! She lost it a week later. The bigger surprise was the permanent tooth that was poking through right behind it. Ahhh, braces!

 My FIRST cousin, Emily Banks let two of her kids, Caleb & Ila come help Aunt Vickie watch the kids while I helped with the harvest. 1-Aunt Vickie is like Mary Poppins. 2-I was grateful for the chance to work a little but, I'm even more blessed to stay at home and raise my kiddos. I love them so much and wouldn't have it any other way!

 Evan went to his FIRST broadway musical (in SLC) and I saw "Wicked" for the FIRST time. Loved it. Loved the date night, too!

 Kelsey had her FIRST swim at Grush's pool at the family swim night after the older 3 finished summer swimming lessons. She also got her FIRST ponytail....compliments of the Mummsie!!

A few more pics from 4th of July weekend that I couldnt resist!!

 

 The "quads"

 All 11 grandkids!

 Red, white, & Blue! Janeen commented from her mission that the only thing that could make this picture cuter would be.....her!

 Pinwheel!

 Cousin twins!

 I could write a million captions for what they are probably saying here. I love that they are starting to play and talk to each other.

Tenesa & Christian

MY cousin, Tenesa came from Arizona with her new baby Christian. Aunt Josie came as well and it was such a fun visit! Tenesa and I are almost a year apart...for 5 days, we are the same age. We have grown up together and have always been close. Tenesa got married a year and a half ago and had Christian just a few months ago in March. I love that she finally gets to be a mom....she's dreamed of this forever! And Christian is the oldest grandbaby on both sides of the family. That baby is gonna be spoiled! :) He better get a sister soon.

 Cute bubbies!

 On a walk. Riley loves Tenesa!

 It was fun to see Dad, Mom & Aunt Josie being grandparents :)

Hard workin' Kiddos

It was a BUSY week this last week! We have been harvesting peas & barley. My aunt, Vickie Kofoed, was here helping to watch kids so that Jessica & I could help swath. I'm not gonna lie...I've enjoyed the peace & quiet while working on the swather. But I have once again renewed my appreciation for women who daily work outside the home and then come home and be MOM. It reminds me to use my time wisely.

 

But my kids have been working hard this summer as well. Hyrum is working towards a canoe. He is very self-motivated, like his dad. I told him he could clean out the floor of the swather one day-he pestered me about it for a day and a half. And then he vacuumed it, swept it, and mopped it out. It looked AMAZING!

 

Lindsay LOVES to be outside and on the equipment with me. I love this pic of her in her swimsuit and boots. Great Grandpa Craig Johnson might say, "She's not dressed from S*@&!?!" but she might get a pass b/c she has boots on ;)

 I went out to swath one morning at 6 am and she woke up. She begged to come with me, so I let her. She slept on the floor for the most part, but she loved it.

 We like listening to Dave Ramsey, and he is big into getting your kids money smart at a young age. So we let Riley work and save money for a Frozen dress. She paid half and I paid the other half for her Elsa dress. She was so excited to get it!

Funny kid quotes of the month:

Hy: God gave us flies as a challenge.
Ri: To kill them?

Lindsay's vocabulary has just exploded and she is quite the talker. Her latest phrase is "not yet...." I don't know where she got it from. Maybe I use it more than I realize. She uses it in place of "no!"
"Are you ready to get in the stroller?" "Not yet....."
"Can you finish your breakfast?" "Not yet...."
"Do you want t sit on the potty?" "Not yet...." etc.

Happy 4th of July!!

 

 Decca took this panoramic shot! How cool! I didn't know that you could do that :)

 Cousin twins in matching outfits from Aunt Cara. They are hand-me-downs from Allison and Lindsay.

 And with the coolest aunties! We tried to wait for Janelle, but she took to long and Sara & Neener weren't there so....I guess we truly are 'da bombs!'

 Riley has me take pictures of her hair so she can see what it looks like. The one on the left is her 4th of July star.

 Cousin fun! Top: the QUADS! L to R: Kelsey & Jack, Kelsey borrowing Stevie's firecracker hair bow, Logan & Linz at the race.

 4th of July Rootbeer floats!

 Decca was teaching me how to take selfies. Hmmm.

Running the 5K. We got 48:39....under 50 minutes was my goal this year. Yay!

 Hyrum practiced for his 1.25 mile race this year. He got 12 minutes! Way to go buddy. He was probably 4th in his age division. In his words, "I didn't get a medal, but I got some toys!!!"

Riley did her first race this year. I really didn't want to put her in it, b/c she was horrible when we practiced, but she wanted a shirt and to do it for Uncle Steve. So I let her. When the race began, it freaked her out and you can see she is crying and running to family in the beginning because it scared her. But Ev walked the race with her. She was dead last at 21:35. I don't know if she didn't care or didn't realize she was last, but she was smiling at the end. I was so glad she just finished!! yaya Riley :)

So, we had the Malta celebration on the 3rd; I swathed most of the 4th, and that evening we had a BBQ and fireworks, Leftie rides, a Harley ride; on the 5th was the Malta Fun Run and my family did it in memory of Steve who ran it a couple of years. Dad was the fastest and he did GREAT! Fun thing to do with family :)