Summer Time!!

Hello there!  Now that it's twenty twelve, I'm planning on hitting the ground running!  I'm going to catch up on my memories, so I'm overviewing the wonderful Summer we had.

In July,

-We had a blast at Hogle Zoo with Grandma and the Gittins (that sounds like it should be some sort of crazy rock band name, doesn't it? "Grandma and the Gittins" has a nice ring to it!)

-We attended our cousin Emily's baby blessing

-We celebrated Independence Day in Oakley with the Rodeo, Parade, Food, and Family!

I love, love, love this picture!

-We had to leave the Oakley festivities early to head down to San Diego for the Bar Convention (we watched the fireworks from the freeway). We went with friends from the firm and had a great time in Sunny CA!

-We played at the beach

-We went to Lego Land.  Disneyland it ain't, but we still had fun.  The best part was the mini cities they built.

-We had a blast at SeaWorld



  -Our last day in San Diego was spent touring the USS Midway. It was really neat!

-Jen went to Park City for the weekend for a Girls Only Trip with Denise, Jill, and MomNancy. We had a blast zip lining, alpine sledding, hiking, shopping, and eating!

-We went to a Bees Game with the whole family

-We celebrated Jason's birthday at the Spaghetti Factory (surprise, surprise!)

-We went to Lagoon for Harper's birthday

-We said goodbye to the Gittins family. We miss them so much!

-Ryan and I hiked up to Adam's Canyon's waterfall with Amanda and Jay

-We celebrated Grandpa Blair's birthday up in the canyon and roasted hot dogs and S'Mores

-We enjoyed our annual neighbor/friends fireworks night in our front yard

-Braiden enjoyed basketball camp at the SportsPlex

-Ryan and I saw Idina Menzel in concert up at Deer Valley!

In August,

-Had a great backyard BBQ at our house with friends from the firm

-Katie and Lauren had a blast at Girls Camp

-We took the girls to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Hale Center.  It was awesome!

-We did lots of school shopping (two teenage girls, one picky sports loving boy, and one kid who outgrows everything in a matter of weeks....you do the math!)

-We saw the "UP" house at the Parade of Homes with Amanda and Jay.  It was so cute!

-Soccer started back up again for the boys

-The kids got all dressed up for the first day of ninth, seventh, third, and first grades!!



-Ryan completely surprised me with a trip for our 16th wedding anniversary.  He has tried to surprise me many times before, but always unsuccessfully. This time he pulled it off!  We went to Disneyland for a few days and had a wonderful time just being together

-We had a fun-filled FHE with the Dawson family!

Whew!!  What a fun summer we had!  We made a lot of great memories. What a great family I have!  I am so grateful for all of the wonderful people I share my life with!

End of School Wrap-Up

Well, look at me blogging three times in one week!! Are you as amazed as I am?

I'm slowly getting caught up on this little blog of mine, but I just thought I would catch you up on what we are doing in the Fall before we review Spring. We enjoyed our annual Jackson trip, celebrated Braiden's 9th birthday, loved General Conference, and I am finally getting over having pneumonia and a sinus infection for close to a month!  I'm glad that October is here and the holidays are approaching!! And now, back to the past...

In May,

-We discovered beautiful blooms at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  We had never been and we loved the gorgeous explosion of Spring!

-We saw Carl Bloch's beautiful works of Christian art at the BYU Museum of Art.  Wonderful experience!

-Ethan graduated from Kindergarten!  AAAHHH! My baby is growing up!

- We celebrated the trio of birthdays (mine, Denise, and my mom).  Another year older!

-Ryan and I went to Milwaukee to celebrate Uncle John's Dental Graduation and Haisley's blessing

- I took a photography class! So fun!

- We FINALLY had a basketball hoop installed in our backyard! (The BBall court was poured before Ethan was born...we are so pathetic!) The kids LOVE it!!  We now have the entire neighborhood at our house after school to shoot hoops!

-I went on several field trips with the kids

-The Gittins came to visit for most of the Summer!!

-We watched a beautiful robin build a nest on our front porch and lay 3 gorgeous eggs!

-We enjoyed a fun, but very cold and snowy Memorial Day at Grandma Janis' house

In June,

-Lauren celebrated her last day of Elementary School!!

-We partied on the last day of school for everyone!  Bring on the Summer!

-We enjoyed another wonderful piano recital and Katie was asked to be the final number!

- Katie performed in her ShowStopper performance and sang a wonderful solo.  She did a spectacular job!

-Grandpa Blair, Grandma Geneal, Ry, Katie and I went to NYC!

-We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, saw the Statue of Liberty, WTC, Chinatown, Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, Central Park, and shopped!  A separate trip post to come.

-We saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway!

-We watched the robin eggs hatch, grow, and fly away!  We loved having these neat roommates for a little while!

-We played at Lagoon for Ryan's work party.  We love our friends from the firm and had a blast hanging out with them

-Braiden participated in Basketball camp and loved it

- We hung out at the Dinosaur Park with Grandma and the Gittins



-The boys had fun at Arts in the Park with Harper and Holland

-We rejoiced because we finally got our Expedition back from the mechanic!!!  Hallelujah!

-We had our ward swim party....twice because it was way too cold and wet to swim the first time!  What a crazy Spring we had!