Salt Lake & More

We started our

 weekend off by heading to Salt Lake for a mini vacation.  Chris had a meeting Saturday morning that came with a free hotel room

so we loaded up the family for a small adventure.  As you can see the swimming pool was the highlight of the trip!  Chris and I often say it would be easier to go on a mini vacation to Richfield (10 minutes away) to stay in a hotel. The kids would not know the difference. 

 We secretly planned on taking the kids to the Zoo but the weather did not permit that kind of activity.  Sorry kids! 

As you can see we have 3 swimmers now!  

Before I had kids I planned on them being graceful swimmers by the time they hit the ripe old age of four.

I didn't follow through with that one!

Hopefully I have taught them other useful things.

Some of the plants in our garden 

have finally started to emerge.  

HOORAY!

This is the beginning of a beautiful summer!

(This summer I will

 actually be able to bend over!)

DOUBLE HOORAY!

Hopefully I can get the potatoes and onions in the ground in the next couple of days.

Monday morning as we sat around the kitchen table eating our pancakes I explained to the kids that I would not be home when

 they got off the bus because I was going to see their newest cousin in Cedar City.

As you can see from the photos this did not go over very well.  I ended up

 picking up the kids from school

 early so they could go with

 me.  I could not believe

 they wanted to go

 

because they take 

their attendance so seriously.

I am so glad they all rode with me.

We had so much fun!

We spent time 

cuddling with Kaven, playing with Emery and even had time to play at the coolest park ever!

Thanks Dallas!

When we arrived home Dad had been working very hard in the yard in our absence.  I couldn't believe all he had accomplished!

I thought for sure he would take it easy with such a quiet house.  Maybe I should leave town more often!

I had to add this photo of Whit sleeping because it is probably my favorite part of the day.  

I mean

 this in a good way. 

 I think he is the cutest thing ever when he 

is sleeping!  I am hoping I am not the only mother who feels this way!

Last of all our kitties are getting close to finding their new homes.  I think Whit will be the saddest.  He loves those little things!

Busy!

We have had a busy week.  

We 

started 

off with 

the Pine Wood Derby contest.

I grew up with mostly sisters so all this scout stuff  has been an interesting learning experience for me.  I think I am finally starting to enjoy it.  It is a good thing because Levi thinks it is the greatest thing in the world.

He ended up winning first place for the Wolves.  He was SOOO excited.  Now we 

have to (I mean get to) spend a whole Saturday in Richfield for the bigger competition.  Hooray! 

THIS IS KIND OF A FUNNY PHOTO OF WHIT BUT WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF HIM.  HE IS NOT CRAWLING YET BUT THIS IS A VIEW OF HIS NEW TRICK.  CASEY THINKS HE IS PRACTICING GYMNASTICS.

This week we also had 11 new arrivals.  Zoey had 6 healthy puppies and Annie had 5 healthy puppies.  The kids have been in heaven.  

This is my personal favorite part of this post.  It is time to start our garden.  I am going to try and take a weekly photo.  This is the first.  On Saturday we planted peas, radishes, lettuce, broccoli, and beets.  I am sure it is going to take a while before it starts looking like much.  You can see the kids in the background racing and ramping their trucks.  I don't know what it is with ramping things around here but it happens a lot.    I think we may need to be careful when they get their drivers licenses. 

This is a video of what the other section of our garden looks like.  It has turned into a race track.  The kids have spent hours out there already.  They are going to be disappointed when the time comes to plant the rest of the garden.  

As you can see the bruises and cuts have begun at our house for the summer months.

Easter Weekend

We spent Easter Weekend in Logandale visiting Grandpa, Grandma and Cousins. 

 We had a blast!

We spent Thursday at the Fair and Rodeo.

Both Casey and Levi were lucky enough to get picked to help in the magic show.  

Whit fell asleep and had the chance to work on his bubble blowing skills.

All the kids loved the small animal building.

We spent Friday coloring hard boiled eggs.  Since we were having so much fun the Easter Bunny decided to come a little early so we had our big hunt Friday afternoon.  The kids had a blast! 

Sunday came around faster than we wanted so it was time to pack up and come home to real life.  Chris always jokes that we are the red-necks of the world because it takes us a pick up truck and a horse trailer to go on vacation.  

Once we were loaded we took inventory to make sure we had everything.

One horse

One goat

One lamb

Six baby chicks (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa)

Two pregnant dogs ready to give birth at any moment

One Boy dog

Four kids

and

the back of the truck loaded with so much stuff that we needed straps to hold the bikes on top.  I wish I would have taken a photo.

We made it home safely with only 2 short stops and two dogs that were thankfully still pregnant.

Although we did come home to some other cute surprises.  Five of them.  They are going to be very tame and friendly so anyone who is interested in about a month we will be giving them away.

Conference Weekend

These are some photos from our weekend.  It was nice to relax a little.

Casey got bored with all the sitting around listening to conference so she played with our new kitty and Whit's hair.  She was trying to make him look like a rock star.  She even put on a dance show for us while Dad was at the priesthood session.

Sunday was Dad's birthday.  I tried a new recipe for his special lunch that everyone seemed to really like.  Everyone was so full afterward that we had to wait two hours for cheese cake and ice cream.