Happy 4th of July!

Oh man it was a fun day yesterday. We woke up a little early and drove to West Point to watch their parade with Token and Corey. It was FREEZING. (And by freezing I mean that it was about 60 degrees. Chance called me a wus a few times.) While we were waiting a golf cart showed up full of KRISPIE KREME'S! They were giving them away. Cha. Ching. We ate doughnuts, and watched a pretty fun parade. My kids LOVED it.

After the parade we went to West Point Days ~ basically a lot of food, booths that try to sell you stuff you don't really need, and a rock-climbing wall. We let the kids play at the park for awhile, freaked out for about 10 minutes when we couldn't find Crede anywhere and then when we DID find him (over by the bounce-houses butting in line) we drove home and he spent some time in "time out".

Chance then spent the afternoon replacing our faucet in our upstairs bathroom. We ate some pizza and then left to go to the fireworks with Token and Corey again. We even caught up with some old friends ~ Chad and Cara. Our kids slid down the hill next to us all. night. long. The grass was totally dead, so they didn't have any problems sliding down on their behinds. We snacked, and my kids loved the fireworks (as you can see from their faces).

We drove home, plopped them into bed and then cringed when 7:15am rolled around. Needless to say our kids are now all taking a nap. We had so much fun, and I'm so happy to live in a free country. Happy 4th of July!


Our kids and their cousins...

Our cute little family...

Gager...

Grace waiting for the parade to begin...

Crede making the most of his waiting time...

So before we left for the fireworks we told the kids to all use the potty. Grace came running out of the house to leave....um Grace? Do you feel a bit of a draft?

Aaaaah......

Poor Gage, this is what he did most of the night. He was pooped.

You can't tell, but it was a BEAUTIFUL sunset. Here I am....striking a pose? Hmm..I'm not sure.

During the fireworks...

ooooh........aaaaaahhhh....

Crede's fascination....

Can you tell Morgan ate a lot of licorice? Naa....neither can I.

Grace ended up lying down to watch the show. Cute little girl.

Gage FINALLY went to sleep. JUST as the firework show began. Little goofball!

Our Patriotic Tribute

We spent the morning at our church house. Our ward put on a breakfast/patriotic tribute. It was a lot of fun! I had no idea how many people living in our area either serve in the military NOW or have served in the past. It was neat. Those individuals brought pictures, medals, and some even wore their uniforms. (I made the embarrassing mistake of saying, "Oh, you look good in your OUTFIT." to one of the military men that came. I quickly recovered, and said, "Wait. It's not an outfit. I meant your uniform." Geez, what a geek I am. They had a bike station where all the kids could decorate their ride with fun streamers, etc. As you can see from the pictures, our kids loved that part.

We ate breakfast (consisting of all kinds of artery clogging foods), Chance ate seconds, and then we sat through a little presentation. At the end we all stood and sang, "I'm proud to be an American" and I am, again, such a geek but I was happy to be wearing sunglasses so that no one could see the tears running down my face. I know, I know... pull it together!

I am so happy to have been born in this free country. I, pretty much, have taken that for granted up until this year. I am so blessed to live in an area of peace. I know that this country was founded under God and I know that we are living in a chosen land and that, especially now, our freedoms need to be protected.

Sorry...soapbox there for a sec.
Here are the fun pictures of the kids after the whole thing was over parading their new rides.


Here's Grace after she realized that her tire was completely flat. She wouldn't stop pedaling though.

Just....a little.....farther...............

Now...that's more like it. This was after we got Grace's scooter out of the truck.


Here are all the kids in all their glory. Ta da!!


Morgan's bike...she was pretty proud of it.

Crede...the only thing he had on his was a string of stars hanging off the back handle thingy. Yes, we also realize it's a PINK big-wheel, but I have to admit, it's his favorite.

The Ice Cream Truck

Every so often we have an ice cream "Van" that comes around the neighborhood. I don't know, but for some reason, I don't quite like the idea of a strange "van" filled with ice cream roaming the neighborhood looking for kids. Call me over-protective...

Anyway ~
Tonight we splurged. We let the kids get out of bed (I know it looks all bright and sunny outside, but it was really about 8pm...I know that's early for some of you folk out there, but I likes my alone time in the evenings.) and we hunted down the ice cream van.

Can you believe one Popsicle was $1.50? We opted for the less-expensive Creamie totalling in at .75 each. MUCH better. Mmmmmm.....Creamies. Our kids had a good ol' time, and the ice cream "van" hasn't really been around since.

I love this picture. Grace is such a cuddle-bug.


The final result: CHOCOLATE!

First Grade Awards

Morgan's school teacher called me the day before this awards ceremony and told me that I MIGHT want to be there. Of course I showed, equipped with camera. Morgan received the "Best in Math" award for her 1st grade class! (When asked, "Morgan, do you like math?" She told me, "No, I hate it!") She also got an award for reading so much during the school year.

Her school was holding a contest for a new bike. They put everyone's name in a drawing (who read and tested on AR books through the year) and then picked the name during this assembly. Morgan had her fingers and toes crossed in hopes that her name would be drawn.

Alas...it wasn't. The girl who was drawn went up, put her hand on the bike and said, "I didn't even WANT a bike!" Morgan was a little bummed out, but was quickly reminded that she had a perfectly good bike at home. She came home with 2 awards and 4 new books. Yay Morgan.

I'm so proud of my biggest 7 year old.


Morgan and her friend, Mallory...

Dump Truck Ride

One afternoon, while I was sitting at home, Chance called me. He was driving by in the dump truck and wondered if any of our kids would like a ride. Morgan was at school, Crede was taking a nap, Gage wouldn't have known any difference, so Grace was our chosen one. She was super excited...as you can see from our pictures.

She had a fun time hanging out with Dad, and Chance said that would probably be the last time she would be allowed at work for a very long time. (Apparently she tried to drive a back-hoe all by herself.)

Morgan spent all morning outside with her little brother and sister. She made them lay down and she traced their entire body. Grace also traced Morgans.

Morgan then drew their outfits in amazing detail! I found it funny. Morgan wasn't around during the picture-taking process, but I guarantee, her outfit matched her drawing just perfectly.

Morgan's picture wearing her "cereal shirt"...
Grace's likeness of herself...

Morgan's picture of Grace...

The real thing...

Morgan's picture of Crede...

The real thing...

Spring Rain Bike Rides

Once again I will say how lucky I am to have a husband like mine. It was POURING rain out, Chance came home from work, the kids were in bed, and he asked, "Can the kids come out to play in the rain?" I protested at first, but then caved (as I usually do). The kids had SO MUCH FUN out there. Our gutter was completely overflowing so, of course, the kids started riding their bikes through it. They even had some gutter trash races to see whose piece of trash or stick or whatever won.

Such a fun memory.

Crede riding through the gutter...

Grace...







Morgan...






Yes, we're aware his bike is pink. He loves that thing.