Fourth of July in Utah! Part 1....

I'm a little behind on my pictures! We went to Utah for the 4th of July and had a great time with Brent's family!Climbing this amazing tree on the BYU campus. I don't remember what Brent did to Kara here, but obviously she is upset!

I think this may have had something to do with the previous crying picture!

Halle also did some tree climbing!

Kara, Maggie, and Sally! Kara and Sally were born on the same day one hour apart! Maggie is 1 year older than these two girls! They had a great time together.

Frank works at BYU as an English professor, so we invaded his office!

Kara found Frank's juggling balls

Hayden doing a little jigg.

All the cousins! Actually we were missing Brent's older brother's family. He has 3 kids!

The ride!

Happy little campers!

We had a great time just hanging out and swimming.

Happy Birthday Hayden!

Hayden turned the big "11" on June 17th! He loves a party! He really wanted hiking boots! He loves the outdoors. He went to his 1st scout camp accompanied by Brent and had a great time! They did tell a story about a family that went camping. They all went to bed in their tent and in the night a bear came and dragged their son off into the wilderness and killed him. The parents had no idea until the next morning when he was missing. I guess Hayden slept almost on top of Brent that night!

Hayden with Grandma and Grandpa! We're so glad they live close. They help so much we don't know what we would do with out them. My kids have been so blessed to be able to form such a great relationship with them!

Hayden and Kara!

Hayden and Halle. Halle was so excited about Hayden's Birthday. Hayden is a great big brother.

Kelton and Hayden.

Cousin George, Hayden, and cousin Reggie these silly boys can't ever get enough of eachother. You would think they would get tired of eachother there together so much, but they'd move in together if we would let them.

Brendan, Hayden and Riley. These 2 boys live right down the street and are lots of fun too!

Dawson, Hayden and Payton! These guys also live on our street and we love these 2 silly boys too!

Hayden and Payton

Hayden and Zac! Zac lives a little further away, but lives at our house quite a bit(: Hayden has lots of great friends. The Klemme boys were also there, but they had to leave before I got their picture!

Brent took the boys out for a game of ultimate Frisbee and then we had a little Barb-cue

Hayden voted for another Donut cake this year!

The gang!

Candle blowing! Hayden plays with everyone. We realized later that we had invited lots of brothers and friends ranging in age from 6 to 11!

Hayden reminds me of the boy from Toy Story 3! I think his toys will really miss him! I always thought 11 meant you were old, but I'm so glad he's still a little boy and still excited about everything just like when he was 2(:

This bird was in my parents tree. I just had to post it!

Kara asked me if Hayden was done with his chores this morning and I said "I think so! He said he is!" She then said under her breath, "How does he get done so quickly?"...................I'm starting to believe that Hayden keeps sleeping in my bed so he does not have to make his bed in the morning and then he gets done with his chores faster." Actually I think you are probably right Kara, but I also know that Hayden watched ghost catchers with Dad ( which he promised Brent would not scare him, because he is not scared of anything) and has not slept in his own bed for the past week because he has been so scared. Poor boy.

Trip with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma took these pictures for me. This 1st one is one from when Heather,Brody, and Ryder were visiting. I thought it was cute so had to add it! That makes me miss little Ryder! Grandma and Grandpa took Hayden and cousin George on a little expedition up into the mountains!
They had a blast hiking! Hayden decided he needed hiking boots for his Birthday!

After they ate at a little restaurant where they watched this little hummingbird.

Hayden by the river.

George by the river wearing Natalie's favorite shirt(;

The boys hiked way up the mountain. Grandma told me that Hayden said they left a trail of rocks so they would know their way back!

Grandpa with the boys and their hiking swords!

Hidden in the trees.

Hayden and George!

I think there are some duplicates in here, but since they are already downloaded I am not going to go messing things up by deleting things. It seems whenever I do things like that I just make more work for myself and keeping up on this blog is all the extra work I need.

We have been having a nice summer. My camera broke again, well all it will take is pink pictures. I took it back to the place that said they would fix it the 1st time, so hopefully they really will fix it this time!

Kara and Brent sang in church and did a great job. Saturday night Kara had been really excited to sing in church and then she practiced one last time before going to bed and in the middle of the song started to cry because she said she was so nervous. I didn't think she was nervous a bit, but I guess I was wrong. I wish I could have video taped it.

We also took a little day trip to the Natatorium pool. I'm not a big fan of public pools, but it was really clean and not a bit crowded. The kids had a great time too. We've successfully worn Halle out everyday, and she has been found napping in many odd places around the house. She continues to want to look beautiful always. She seems to always be prepared with hats, sunglasses, and all the appropriate attire whenever we go anywhere.

We have really enjoyed living close to grandma and grandpa and appreciate all of their help. The kids love them!

The association is also putting on a play for our neighborhood. The kids all tried out and got parts. Hayden is Smee, Kelton is a pirate, Kara is a mermaid, and Halle is a Fairy! The lady putting the production on is amazing so I am sure it will be amazing. I am in charge of making 10 little mermaid costumes and Brent is in charge of choreographing the pirate fight scenes. Any ideas for mermaid costumes would be greatly appreciated. Kara, Kelton, and Halle are also taking swimming lessons and are so happy that they get to swim everyday for the next two weeks. Kara is begging me right now to put up our little pool in the backyard and make smoothies.

The kids have been doing great at all of their chores and I really have not gotten any complaints. I still feel like I am their personal assistant, but I am enjoying having them take on a little more responsibility. I think it is kind of like the story about the frog slowly boiling and never realizing he was being cooked until it was too late. Soon my kids will not even need me. Saying it like that seems a little sad. Well I think this has gone on long enough. Brent is asking at this very moment "Do we have any food in this house?" We have a fridge so stuffed full of food I can't get anything else in there, but no one can find food but me! No wonder they are all so skinny. Well I've used up my give me 15 more minutes line so I better end before they all starve to death(:

One more thing, Brent has been working from home and now has a famous line he uses all of the time it is "I'm not here!" Oh how annoying those three little words can be sometimes!!

Kindergarten Graduation! Apache Helicopter Lands at the school

Wow does time fly! Kelton is moving on to first grade. I'm gonna miss this little guy. I'm going to miss all the after school philosophizing and those quiet little moments when he decides to teach Halle about life. Kelton was a good little student. He always tries to do his best! He is a real thinker. He thinks about everything. He is getting more confidence every day and is slowly letting others see his fun personality.
The program was short and sweet! Just the way I like them!

My camera broke again so my mom took these pictures for me.

Kelton and his teacher. We loved her!

These were Kelton's little friends at school. All of them are really nice little boys.

Hayden's teacher arranged for this Apache helicopter to land at the school! It was soooo cool! Hayden had been talking about it for weeks. Brent and Hayden could hardly wait. Brent is telling Kelton about the guns in this picture!

Kelton and Brent!

Halle on the Apache!

Kelton on the Apache!

God Bless America!