BEING PATRIOTIC!

Nothing like a fun filled 4th of July!  We got up bright and early and road our bikes to the church for a ward breakfast.  They had a dunking booth and I was able to dunk the whole family.  I dunked Ellie on my second try, Addison on my first, and Jeff on my third try.  (And Jeff said it was luck!)  Nice try!  He just can't stand it when I work him.  Jeff and I put together foot races, because we are so dang competitive.  We had all the kids run in age groups.  They keep wanting to race, but we had to kick them off the field so that we could have the fastest man on the field race.  I took a $10.00 dollar bill, and stood at the end of the field holding it up so everyone could see.  We told everyone the first person to the money gets to keep it!  Jeff killed all the guys in the ward by about 10 feet on the first try.  So we had a rematch. (He took off so fast they thought it was a false start) He ended up bringing the $10.00 home.  One day he is going to get his cocky but kicked!

After the breakfast we came home and put together our gazebo, for our back yard!  Thank goodness, it was a overcast day. 

That night we went to the Stadium of Fire for the Miley Cyrus concert.  We had great seats, so we could see everything.  The girls were in heaven!  It was awesome to be so close to the fire works.  We were showered in ash, and loving every minute.

MY LITTLE CHEERLEADERS!

Ellie and Addie went to a Cheer camp, taught by the 9th grade Lehi cheerleaders. They learned a bunch of cheers, and a couple of dances so that they could be in the Lehi Days Parade.  They had so much fun!  They looked so cute, and did such a great job performing.   The 100 deg. weather and 2 mile walk didn't faze them.   Paisley and I were able to sit by Grandma, and Grandpa Grate while we were waiting for Jeff, and the parade to start. 

It was crazy to watch my girls, be in the parade that I had been in for years as I was growing up.  I had a lot more fun watching!

My Baby Is ONE!!!

  Paisley had her first birthday!  We had of course a pool party.  It's so convenient.  Even though it was not so warm of weather, we cranked the heat on the pool to 94 degrees.  It was nice, and toasty.  

  I gave Paisley a little pink tutu that she wore the entire night, and she loved every minute of it!  She didn't want to take it off when it came time to eat.   Since birthday parties are all about the cake,  I went on the search for the perfect cake.  I found a giant cupcake pan at William and Sonoma's, and I knew it was perfect.  It's a tradition in our family that on our kids first birthday, they get their cake all to themselves to do as they please.  Paisley took full advantage of this,  and dug in.  It was so cute!  Everyone loved to see how messy she was getting.  Addison could not stop giggling, with all the rest of the kids.  They were not to worried, because I had dozens of bright cupcakes for everybody else.  We had so much fun! 

  I can't believe that it has been a year.  This little girl has been such a blessing to our family.  She has defiantly helped fill the void we all felt after the loss of Andrew.  Our children are such a blessing, and gift.  They definitely fill our lives with joy!  We love you Paisley.  Happy Birthday!   

ALONE TIME AT LAST!

  Jeff, and I went with some of our friends to mexico for vacation.   (Without the kids!)  It was so nice to get away, and have some quality time with each other, with out any distractions (Jeff's phone).  We had such a great time!  We read, relaxed by the pool, learned to surf, ran on the beach, played tennis, swam in the ocean, sleep, and my favorite ate great food.  I love to vacation with my hubby!  

My New Man

  Jeff was getting summer fever, and decided he wanted to spice things up a little, before we went on our trip to mexico.  WITH OUT THE KIDS!!!  So I got a new man.  He had Jenny come over the night before we left, and shave his head.  I would have to admit I was not to happy with the idea of having a bald husband. (at least not for 20 more years)  But I love it!  Good bye Metro sexual, and hello bad boy.  What a great way to start our trip.  

Our yard is in!

  I am so happy to finally say our pool is full!  We have had so much

 drama with getting it completed.  Our pool guy "Peterson and

 sons," (Never get work done from this guy) was supposed to have

 our pool done last October.  Needless to say 7 months later, we

 hired pebble tec to come in and finish the bottom right.  They

 busted it out in 1 1/2 days, it was amazing.  We had to fill the

 pool A.S.A.P so Jeff got a fire hose from his dad, and we hooked

 it up to the fire hydrant right in front of our house (so convenient).

  It took 3 1/2 hours to fill the pool.  We had to take turns holding the

 hose.  All I can say is fire men our tough, it shot out so much water

 it could knock you on your butt.  My kids were so excited  they ran 

in the house, and put their suits on.  They were in the ice cold water

 playing the whole time.  I must have turned into a wimp since I've

 gotten older, I had a hard time putting my feet in!  We filled the pool

 on Thursday, and we had our sod party on Sat, just enough time to 

heat the pool.  Our friends, and family are awesome! we had so much

 help.  We busted out 12,500 square feet of  grass in just over 1 hour. 

 Thank You! Thank You! to all those that helped.  It was now time to 

party!  We swam, ate, played basket ball, jumped on the tramp, and

 ALL got a sun burn.  I love my yard!  I'm so excited for my kids.  They

 are going to have so much fun this summer!  We are so blessed.

Our Little Princess's Big Day!

        Jeff was so proud of Ellie





                                 I love my girls!

Addison helped make the chocolate cake for Becky.

  So I'm finally giving an update!  I'm terrible at this blogging stuff.  I'm always putting it off because I never have time.  So I'm just throwing this out.  I guess its better to blog poorly than not at all.   I do need to take some time, and make some serious changes to my page.   

  We had such a wonderful day at Ellie's baptism.  It was definitely one of our larger party's!  We had about 80 people come to support Ellie.  Thank you, every one who came.   We had tons of food, and a huge banana split bar with cake for dessert.  It was also Ellie's aunt Becky's Birthday that day, so we made her a chocolate cake, and sang to the both of them as well.  I decorated everything in black, and white polka dots.  It turned out so cute!  I Made a 3 layered cake, and decorated it with black licorice pin wheels.  It was not only cute, but it tasted delicious as well.  (Note the picture of Ellie sticking her face in the cake.  She thought it should not just be your first birthday, that you get to devour your cake.)  It was stinkin'  funny.  I ordered black, and white M&Ms, and any other candy I could get my hands on to fill glass jars for my serving table.  I gave Ellie a black, and white polka dot journal, and I had everyone write a little note to her.  I had white flowers, and you guessed polka dot ribbon everywhere, I also had a black and white 16 by 20 picture blown up and framed on a easel of her.  It was darling.   Needless to say I went a little overboard.  Probably not the first time I have been accused of this.   Well we partied until we dropped, playing basketball, having hula-hoop contests, building sand tunnels, jumping on the tramp and flat out napping.  Lots of fun!