We finally got our family pictures and individual pictures of our kids. Its been a few years sad to say. They turned out great and I just had to show off how gorgeous they all are.

AHH THE EXCITEMENT AND INNOCENCE OF YOUTH!!

If your family has never been "Booed" it is quite the fun experience for the kids, but I didn't realize how much fun they actually had. Hunter was babysitting Graham and Gavin while Darren was at Bishopric meetings and Cort and I were at YM's when we got Booed this year. When Darren got home the boys were soooo excited to share with him what they got to do. They were so proud of themselves because they followed the directions and made copies of the papers and delivered their "Goodies" to not only 2 families but to 3. The part that I think is the cutest is what they gave as a treat. Family 1 got 5 cinnamon bears in a little plastic baggie, family 2 got a handful of peanut M&M's and family 3 got 3 fruit snacks! They were quite determined too. They told us how they would ring the doorbell and then hide but they wouldn't come to the door so they kept doing it until they came! They caught a couple of times too in their attempts to be sneaky. They even scared one family (whose husband was out of town) who called another neighbor to send out their older boys to see who kept ringing and leaving. Those boys scared our boys who were hiding in the bushes. Don't you just remember how fun it was to be so excited over little things like this and really sharing from the heart with others? I hope to remember this and be excited over the little things. FYI we did redeem ourselves and took homemade cookies (enough for the whole family) the next night and they again loved hiding and giggling in the dark as they waited for our neighbors to answer the door and find another surprise!

THE UNVEILING OF OUR BLOG!

I am officially starting our family blog. I started it several months ago but was so busy I never got beyond my 1st post which was probably not very interesting to most but I was grateful for the big nudge my sister Shannon gave me in doing so. She has helped me a lot and though I am quite the novice I hope to expand my knowledge. Mostly I want to do this for a record/journal for my family so that if I ever do get around to scrap booking I might be able to remember something. Plus I think my kids are so cute that I can't help but want to show their pictures off. So hopefully you will enjoy my updates from time to time. I actually hope to update at least once a week until I have caught up with the things we did this summer but I will try to send an email when I do. (I love it that Kayla does this for me.)

I Did It!

Though these pictures don't look like much I just had to make a note of their significance. It turned out that Cort, Graham, and I made it to St. Louis 1 1/2 hours before Darren and the other two boys made it. We weren't about to sit around at the airport for that long so- Drum roll please; I got the car from the rental and drove to the St. Louis Art Museum all by myself and then back to the airport to pick up Darren and the boys. (This was the fun part because I had Cortlynd navigating for me without turn by turn directions!) We had to figure out the directions turning in the opposite direction. Not so hard you think to yourself ahh we beg to differ. It actually wasn't so bad after we figured out where we took the wrong turns (yes plural) but in a big city that I had never been before I was pretty proud of myself. We really enjoyed the art museum too.

St. Louis Arch

On our way up to the top of the St. Louis Arch we were crammed in a tiny little 5 seater elevator that would go up as high as it would allow and then the elevator would turn and kink as we would go along the arch.

Poor Cortlynd is so scared of heights she was quite terrified and kept her eyes closed the whole time. She didn't even want to go but we forced to go.

Carthage Jail

The bullet hole that shot Joseph's brother Hyam in the face

Following in Their Footsteps

Carthage Jail was a wonderful experience. A testimony builder of the sacrifice and love of the Lord that Joseph and Hyram have and their wonderful examples of Hope and Joy.

Some Fun Activities In Nauvoo

Sunday's Drive

Adam-ondi-amhem
Far West

On Sunday we went to church in Independence and visited the LDS Visitor's Center there. Then we drove to Liberty Jail, Far West, Adam-ondi-Ahmen, Jamesport (which is an Amish town) and then finally to Quincy, Illinos. It was a long day of driving but we enjoyed the time together and the spirit that we felt at each site. What is so wonderful were the missionaries both the sister and couple missionaries who were assigned to each site, each had a message to share of their testimonies and knowledge of the church history. We are truely blessed.

Nauvoo Temple

The one thing we wished we had time to do was a session in the Nauvoo Temple. It was beautiful on the outside and I wanted Darren to see how magnificent it was on the inside too.

Just the Girls

We got to have some girl bonding time in St. George this summer. It was so nice to just relax by the pool and spend time together. We missed Kayla and Monica! Hopefully next year they can join us and make this a yearly tradition. We had the best time making up a spoof synchronized swimming routine. We stayed up late getting a real kick laughing at ourselves, if you're real special maybe we'll give you a performance you'll never forget!

Hunter's 3v3 4th of July Tournament

Watch Hunter at his summer swimmeets

The CUTE Phrase of the Day

Don't you think that kids say the cutest things? Or sometimes the strangest? I thought I would start writing them down so I don't forget. My kids are growing up so fast and I am having a hard time with this. I hope that by doing this I will be able to jar my memory, when my memory, or mind for that matter is gone. (It seems to be going quick)

"Pliblige"- Graham
As in- "Can I have a pliblige (privilege) since I've been sooo good?" He says, with his huge smile that makes his eyes disappear! (How can you say no to that?)

"I want to be black" -Hunter
"What are you going to be for Halloween" I asked one night. "I want to be black"
"You want to be a black guy?"Darren says!!! "Why do you want to be a black person?" Cortlynd says, "You're being racist"
"What's racist?" Hunter says. Poor innocent boy just wanted to dress up in black clothes.

"What the Freakin' Heck? -Gavin
Used in a sentence: "What the freakin heck was that?" he said when I dropped the broom on the ground. Or "You scared the freakin heck out of me!"