Summer Family Vacation

To warn you now, this post has a ton of pictures in it so be prepared. Around the middle of July we were invited to go on a little hunting trip with some good friends of ours. The boys hunted coyotes and us girls had fun hanging out around the time share. We were there for 4 days and it was fantastic to say the least. All of us had a great time and it was nice to be able to get away and do something fun. The guys would head out early each morning and hunt pretty much the whole day and they were quite successful as well which you'll see at the end of this post. Us girls had fun walking to the pond,

playing on the playground,

exploring,

swimming, swimming, and more swimming,

and just having fun.

We were able to see some horses while we were there and the girls couldn't have been happier,

Jacob also took the girls fishing one night.

This guy had a blast hunting and was beyond excited because he got three coyotes during the trip.

Overall we had a blast and felt so grateful our friends invited us and our energetic kids to come with them.

Spring Break 2014

Last week was Spring Break here in our area and I knew we had to do some fun stuff if we were going to make it threw the week in once piece. Monday was our stay home day to get everything done around the house that we could and Tuesday was our errand day. The real fun started Wednesday when we had a play-date with some good friends, Savannah's old preschool teacher to be exact and her two sweet kids. We had a blast and the girls didn't want to leave! On Thursday the weather was a bit colder so we headed over to the movies with our good friend Marianne and the girls got to see Frozen. To say they were excited was an understatement and all three girls did a great job.

 

The next day we went to the zoo which as always my girls loved and we managed to be there again when they were feeding the bear. Abby was decided the zoo was a perfect place for her to take a nap and after looking at all the animals the girls had fun running around like crazy people playing chase.

  Friday also happened to be Pie Day!!! I love pie day because I love pie and its the perfect opportunity to eat some. This year we invited our friends Fred and Marianne to join us in celebrating and it was a blast. Jacob even surprised me and made the apple pie for me because he didn't want to run errands for me.

 

His pie turned out great and we were all impressed with his made baking skills and he was pretty proud of himself too. After we were all full from pie we had a movie night with Savannah and Olivia and let them stay up way past their bed time. It was a blast, we blew up the air mattress, had blankets, popcorn, and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. It was a cute movie and the girls had a blast. Poor Olivia fell asleep within the first half hour but Savannah surprised us and made it threw the whole movie.

 

Overall spring break was a blast and we all had so much fun doing fun things and being together as a family.

Salt Lake City

We did it, we went on our first real road trip with all three girls this past weekend. Jacob's youngest brother was getting married so we decided to make the trip up to Salt Lake so we could be there.When we left for the wedding it was the most beautiful day and by the time we left the temple it was freezing!!! Olivia's shoes were cutting her feet so she was bare foot and ended up putting her feet inside Jacob's pants pockets. I only had a short sleeved shirt on and was beyond cold.

The next day was lovely and we headed over to a near by park for family pictures. That was quite the undertaking to say the least. There were 16 adults and 20 grandchildren ranging in ages from 16-2 months.

After pictures everyone kind of went their separate ways. Some got on the rode to head back to their homes and we decided to take the girls back to temple square. They were really disappointed they couldn't look around more when we were there for the wedding. Also we didn't want to leave Salt Lake till that night so that the girls would all sleep in the car on the way home. After our fun time at temple square we ended up going to my sister and brother in laws hotel. The boys watched football and babysat the kids while my sister in law and I took Savannah to City Creek, a super nice outdoor shopping center for a girls night.

The girls with their cousin Baylee watching a show.

Here are Abigail and my niece Bree, they're 2 days apart and both are so adorable.

Overall it was a fun 4 day trip, very eventful and tiring but still fun. The entire family hasn't been together since I was pregnant with Olivia I think so it was fun seeing everyone and all being together. Also Jacob's parents are going on another mission so this is the last time we'll all be together  for about the next 2 years as well.

Pumpkin Patch 2013

We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch this year! I really do seem to enjoy holidays more now that I have kids and especially since they're old enough to get really excited about them. We drove down the rode to the same pumpkin patch we went to this year and once again had a great time. The girls loved the wagon ride into the patch and they thoroughly enjoyed all the rides that got to go on. The admission to the patch went up considerably this year which I found to be ridiculous so this may be our last year going there if the prices don't go down next year.

They had a pumpkin catapult contest which the girls had no interest in at all and we quickly gave up trying to watch.

We opted for the hay ride instead which was a huge success. The owner of the farm took us around and then let each child have a turn driving the tractor and also stopped in the patch so we could take pictures. He was so nice and we all loved it.

Next we  had fun on the bounce houses and the girls of course rode the kiddie train. We went threw the easy section of the corn maze and Savannah was our navigator. She did a great job and got us out safe and sound without getting us lost.

We really did have a blast and it was such a fun way to get all set for Halloween the next weekend.

4th of July 2013

I really do love the 4th of July! I love having an extra reminder to really reflect and think about what an amazing country we live in, how lucky we are to have the freedoms we do and to not take them for granted. We had a fairly low key 4th which was fine by me because its been so hot and I feel huge and tired a lot of the time. Jacob had the day off work so we dropped Olivia off in the morning and took Savannah to her last day of swim lessons. She was beyond excited that Jacob came and this was a fun day for her too because they did a quick practice of the things they learned and then they got certificates, otter pops, and they got to go down the big slide! We also decided to sign Savannah up for another session of swim lessons and this time Olivia and I signed up for a mommy and me class too. We start Monday and both girls are super excited. After Savannah's lessons we headed home and watched shows and hung out in the house where it was nice and cool. We went to our good friends the Johnson's for a bbq and it was so good! We visited and the girls played until it was time for fireworks. We headed over to the church where we had a perfect view of the fireworks, we were a bit further away then I would have liked and the girls weren't as interested as they were last year. It was a great show though and we all had a good time.

Then today Prescott held their annual 4th of July parade, its the second largest in the state and they weren't lying. It started at 9 and went till 12! We left at 11 because both the girls were done and Jacob and I were so hot! It was actually perfect because we missed all the traffic and we got lunch before a huge rain storm came through, I love monsoon season. We didn't tell the girls we were going to the parade till we got their and the smile on Savanna's face was priceless! Both the girls love going to things like this which I love because I always love going to parades and fairs. Jacob is less thrilled but he's a very good sport and will come along with us. Their were quite a few fire departments that came to the parade to remember the 19 firefighters that just died last week in a fire about an hour from Prescott. It was so sweet to see all the tributes that were being made to them and their families. The girls LOVED all the horses and all the candy and other fun stuff people were handing out.

(Getting ready for the parade to start.)

(Doesn't Jacob look so excited?! LOL!)

(Olivia kept hugging Jacob and rubbing his back, so tender.)

Thank you Prescott for putting on such a great parade and helping us feel such pride for our amazing country. See you again next year.