Cousins

Today we got to have the kids cousins come over to grandmas to play. After lunch we played tag tail zoo chase. It was so nice to be able to play outside during the day without instantly suffocating! Oh Utah summers are wonderful. We then made puppets and the kids put on a little puppet show for me. It was quite comical. My kids are loving being able to go barefoot in the soft green grass as opposed to getting poked and burned by the grass back home. We sure miss being able to do play-dates with cousins, so we truly love this time being around them. It is, however, really hard to be away from Daniel. The kids talked to him tonight at bedtime and loved telling him all of their adventures, and as soon as they said goodbye they told me they wanted to give Daddy a hug. Toast is used to having some body-slamming/wrestling time with daddy before bedtime, so he has been trying to compensate by subbing in Grandpa and Uncle Johnny. However, no one can give "hot-foots" quite as good as Daddy.-SO even though we love being in nicer weather and love being around family, we really really really miss our Daniel!

A few pictures

At Bens blessing

Down by the river

My lil Bennie-boy

Us

My sister, mom, and me

Kylie working intently on her flag

Ben with Grandma and Grandpa

Everyone loves Uncle Tom

All the boys

Trav showing Lucy her particular camp sight-(she didnt like the idea hence the hair covering her face)

Hall Fam Reunion

This past weekend we traveled up to UT for the BR Hall family reunion. Oh how I love my family and just love being with everyone. We traveled ALL day and the kids did fairly well besides a few episodes of pukes on Kys part, no naps, and my big toenail being ripped off. Lots of fun! But once we arrived everything was dandy. We went to Heber Valley camp, and it was just great-(besides the frigid temps at night) (we desert rats are not use to the cold, so we were particularly freezing)- we got to go on canoes and paddle boats on the lakes, made several crafts with the kids, did a little hiking, and had just a good ol time hanging out and catching up with everyone. The mountains up there are spectacular, and just so peaceful. However, there was a total of 41 of us- so there was never a dull moment.
On Sunday we blessed Ben. It was very special to me cuz it was fathers day and having Daniel bless our baby was just precious. And it was the first time my brothers got to participate in a blessing of one of my kids, so that was pretty special for me as well. Afterwards we went to a little park for dinner, and concluded another great reunion.

Splashing

Today we headed over to one of Yumas select few splash parks. Its rather small, and it was packed. I was hoping the cold water would give us a little refreshment from the heat, but it was like bath water, which grosses me out when there are a zillion kids running around in the same small area of water. Granted I know its caused from the scorching heat, but I am always worried about standing in someone elses urine. Totally gross. But the kids had a good time, and that's all that matters right?

slip and slide

Today we had a few of the kids friends over, and we got out the slip n slide. I thought it would entertain them for a good hour at least, but it only lasted a mere 10 minutes. They decided filling up cups of water and dumping them into buckets was more fun. After lunch we made cupcakes and I let them decorate them by themselves. The jar of sprinkles ended up all over the entire floor. It was very colorful to say the least. While I was cleaning up the "artwork", they started giving James and Wes magic carpet rides. Neither of them seemed to enjoy it, but once the ride was over, both of them cried to get back in. Overall, we had a good time.I loved listening to their conversations. My favorite one: Jacob told Ty that heaven is buried deep in the ground. Ty looked over at me and asks, "did you already know that mommy?" To which I say, "Nope, I didnt know that." Ty looks at Jacob and says, "My mom knows everything, but you know more than her."

Broken Heart

(I know these are lousy pictures- my camera is on the fritz)

Tys heart is broken. He had his last day of preschool today, and his teacher and his betrothed are moving in a few weeks. Poor Toast. To cheer him up I took him to the Dollar Store. I seriously dont like taking all 4 kids out by myself, but thought we would be fine at the dollar store; any damage they can cause shouldnt cost too much to replace, right?
Well they did just fine, but while we were checking out a "nice" lady behind us was giving me the "you should try birth control look." Then she decided to tell me what she thought i dont already know-"Boy you sure have A LOT of kids." Oh how those kind of comments just make me smile. Wonder what she would say if she knew I actually want one more.

Nursery Q

Whats the trick to getting a 20 month old to be happy about nursery? Today he started crying at the end of sacrament meeting just in anticipation of being taken in there. One would think that after spending 4 years in nursery one should know the trick to getting a kid excited to go, but alas- I am stumped.