Happy Birthday Ruthie!

Ah... isn't she SO CUTE!

We love Cousin Ruthie. It was so much fun to celebrate year 2!

Kayla is getting so animated as well. She is such a silly girl. I can never get her to smile for the camera, but I got her to make "crazy face" on video. Too funny!

The Green River

We went on a Green River adventure!

Our first stop was Aunt Marilyn's cabin up at Dutch John!

We love Aunt Marilyn!

... and Mighty too

Our second stop.... The Green River.

Look how green the water really looks?

Stocky worked hard all summer to earn this fabulous trip. He even got to bring his very best friend, Tanner! Those two are almost like the same person. It was such a fun time for me to hang out with them both... and Niel of course. They had us both just laughing!

It was both their first times out fishing on a drift boat in the Green River. Stockton had a blast and told me, "I wish this day would never end!"

Guess who is back in Town?

I have missed these little faces!

We are so glad the Jaramillo Family has moved back!

We sure have missed you!!!

Bad Dog!

You are probably thinking...

"Oh cute! What a cute little dog! And what a cute Stockton!"

Well.... you would be part right. Stockton is cute.... and Rocky might be too. But Rocky has been a bad dog.

He doesn't like fireworks. As a matter of fact, they scare the living daylights out of him. I do feel bad for him, but I have no idea what to do with him when the firework holidays roll around.

This was the end results of the 24th of July holiday and us not being home.

YICKS!!!

Does anyone know of a good stucco repair man?

Car Trouble!

We have two - great - reliable - newer vehicles!

But for some reason they both decided to have issues at the same time.

First the truck just died. Niel went to pick up corn at the local market place. He turned off the car, purchased the corn, came back to the car and it wouldn't start.

Weird.

He figured that it was the battery so he purchased a new battery for the truck and used his fabulous mechanical skills and we were back in business.

But...

On the same day the Sequoia got a flat tire. No big deal.... right?

Wrong!

Our spare we had wasn't the correct one. The Sequoia sat on the side of our house like this for a couple of days while we figured out how to get a tire back on it. The hard part was that we didn't have another vehicle to purchase a tire because the truck was out of order.

It took a couple of days for us to get up and running but we did finally get both vehicles up and running!

Lacrosse 2011

The boys are really getting into Lacrosse. The games are so much fun to watch!

Stockton was an animal out on the field! He scored plenty of points for his team...

... and he was a GREAT goalie!

Conner had a great time too! His team dominated this season!

Conner and Cannon play lots of sports together. They are in track, Lacrosse, and Football!!

It was a fabulous season!

Steele Days Parade!

Grandma Dean got to drive the Bus in the Steele Days Parade!!

Garrett, Stockton, & Alayna all got to participate. They had a ton of fun throwing out candy and waving to the crowd!

I Heart Faces - Water

Can't pass up an opportunity to post one of my most favorite pictures!

Boogie Boarding has become an all time favorite in our family. It's too bad we don't live by a beach!

Stockton definitely fits the mold as a "surfer dude" .... I can imagine Stockton growing up and finding a place to live near a beach. We could ride the waves ALL DAY!

Everyone has a picture of "water." Go to I Heart Faces and enter this weeks photo challenge!

I am a picture Freak

I think I might actually need professional help. I thought it would be interesting to see how many pictures I took for the 4th of July holiday. I counted them all up.... over 3 days....

134 pictures!

I don't know what to say... our lives are well documented!

Raging Waters

We have a favorite water park we love to go to.... Raging Waters!!

There are some really great ways to get wet!

There are some crazy big slides. Conner, Garrett, and Niel all decided to go on them.

Here goes Conner.... down, back up, and over.... he made it!

G was next. Down he went.... but up he didn't quit make it.

Then it was Niel's turn. Down. Up... almost up... oh.... not quite... then back down.

The day was super fun though! Stockton loves going on the tube runs, rope swing, and he is always up for some fun entertainment for me and the camera!

Zander loves the tube slides too. We tried to hard to get people to take him on them!!

Gar was quit daring this year. We went on both big slides and more adventures.

Conner was a good sport. He took his little brothers on things and even hung out with me for a while. It was a fantastic day!

Our BIG 4th Celebration

Wow... we really celebrated our Nations Freedom this year!

We started the morning with a nice Freedom Run. Niel did the 10K. Conner did the 5K. Garrett, Me, Zander, and Stockton all did the mile. Below are our awesome times:

Niel - 51:16.45

Conner - 23:54.22

Garrett - 07:42.10

Amy - 09:57.49

Zander - 09:58.96

Stockton - 10:21.48

We are just all SO excited to run with ALL these people!

Right after the race we headed to the Provo Parade. I think everyone in the city of Provo was there. We all settled in to various seats to see the parade and enjoyed a cool morning.

After a short nap we got ready for a family BBQ. YUMMY!

Gosh... I just had to add this one. Isn't Alayna so pretty? I love it that they are so close now!

And everything is more fun with cousins around to have some fun with!!

Zander says that girls are silly. Garrett just jumps right in with his cousins and enjoys every minute of it!

It's time to get wet!

Boys will be boys!!

We dried off and put on some hiking attire. We met Grandma and Grandpa J for a nice hike up to the G on the mountain!!

Talk about an amazing firework show. We could see everything in Utah county. It was an incredible view.

We celebrated a fantastic Fourth of July!

Stadium of Fire

Stadium of Fire was fantastic this year.... but of course it was!!

There were SO many people out for the event.... like the entire city of Provo!!

It's always so much fun when Grandma's and Grandpa's come!

This was the program for the night...

My favorite part was Archuleta. Who knew that he sang at Stadium of Fire Years ago??

He has an incredible voice!

Our Grandparents

Our family is very blessed!

We are so lucky to have wonderful

Grandparent

in our lives!!

Grandma and Grandpa Dean took some of the boys down to Vegas for a week of fun and adventure!

They went to several different spots. The Red Rocks, M&M Factory, Tuacahn, and several other fun activities. No other adults were around.... just Grandma and Grandpa and all these little munchkins.

Everything is always more fun with cousins!

Then Grandma and Grandpa J took the boys for an evening of fishing... and more cousins joined in on the fun too!

They each learned patience and calmness (something we don't get a lot in this crazy household of boys).

The patience was worth it.... they each caught at least one fish!

We love Grandma and Grandpa's. I know I do! I am so grateful they are around to love the boys and take time out of their lives to be a part of ours!