Jonathan's Birthday

Jonny is 7!!!!

He wanted to go to Peter Piper Pizza--again!--this year.  This year he invited family and one friend to go to his party.  It was crazy busy, but we got some good tables and everyone had a great time!

 

 

 

Jonny won this all by himself!

 

Tsum Tsums!!! 

We even got in some baby time with Sara!

 

 

The whole gang

Happy Birthday, Jonny!

First Day of School

The first day of school was July 25.  They all seem to be enjoying their new teachers and they are off to a great start!

Nathaniel, 11th grade (!)

Emily, 8th grade

Andrew, 5th grade

Daniel, 4th grade

Jonathan, 2nd grade

Nathaniel is up and gone before most of these guys get up. :-)

Summer 2016

Each child chose a Mommy/Kid date this summer. 

 

Emily chose Cheesecake Factory and shopping

 

Nathaniel wanted Costa Vida and watching Star Trek Beyond

 

I didn't get pictures for the three younger boys, but

Andrew wanted Peter Piper Pizza for lunch and games

and Jonathan wanted to play with his cousins and go to Cold Stone.

The concept of Mommy/Kid time was lost on him, but I'm glad he

loves his cousins!

 

Daniel wanted lunch at Old Country Buffet and to see The Secret Life of Pets

 The boys had a great time at their swimming lessons.  Daniel and Andrew passed Level 3!

 

Free food at Chick-Fil-A!  We just wear white shirts with black spots to dress up.

Michael was out of town and I had a coupon, so we went to Olive Garden

 I can't believe the kids are already back in school!  The year is off to a good start!

Sara Joy

We are so happy that my sweet baby niece is here!  Sara Joy Aker is adorable!!!  We had fun visiting her and Betsy in the hospital.  Mom and baby are home and doing well!

Camping!!!

Our camping trip was a success!  We left on Tuesday morning and drove to the East Fork of the Black River.  Michael used to camp in the West Fork when he was growing up, but that area has been burned.  We snagged a great campsite.  It was right near the bathrooms and water, and it was nice and level and next to the river.  Wednesday was nice, but Thursday afternoon it started raining into the evening.  It even rained on Friday as we were packing to leave.  It created a lot of work for us on Saturday because we had to dry everything out.  We all (mostly Michael) worked together and got it done, though.  The kids especially loved fishing with their Daddy.  The trip home was good.  We were glad we chose to go when we did because there were miles of traffic coming our way for July 4th weekend.  I'm so glad to be home, but also glad that Michael and the kids had such a good time.  The rain made it stressful and I don't like sleeping in a tent, but there were parts of the trip that were wonderful and I'm so glad I got to spend that time with my family.  The kids were so good!

The river is right beyond the trees

 

We all fit in the tent, along with our air mattresses.

 

Daniel had so much fun fishing.  He fell in the river many times, and kept saying he was "having an adventure!"

 

The people at the campsite next to us are in our stake!  They live in a neighborhood right near us.  What a coincidence!  We were about a five-hour drive from home!  The other girl saw Emily with her Young Women's camp shirt on (she had just been to camp two weeks before) and came over to say hello.

 

 We brought a croquet set along and I taught the kids how to play.  It was a huge hit!

 

 

School's Out for Summer!

We finally got a trampoline and put it up!  Here are the kids with their cousins having a great time!

We had some leftover cake from Seminary Graduation, so we thought we would give it to the Seminary students in Nathaniel's class.  Here he is with his teacher.

Daniel had two projects in May--his animal habitat for a puffin, and his bottle buddy of Neil Armstrong

Andrew had perfect attendance for the year!  It was a surprise to me, because we never try for those awards! 

Jonathan's award says "Super Scientist."  Actually, his real talent is math. :-)

Somehow Maggie sensed that this was the kids' last day and she'd finally have the kids around instead of spending every day with boring old Mom.

Last day!

We watched my nephews so Betsy and Geoff could have an anniversary getaway.  Aaron seemed to like napping on our couches.

Trains!

Cub Scout Day Camp
I don't know how I survived that day without melting, but I did.  The boys had a great time!  It was a three-day event, and I went on Wednesday.  Andrew was in the Webelos group, but I stayed with the Wolves and Bears.

 

Daniel, making his electromagnet

We're doing our best to enjoy our very short summer.  The kids start back on July 25th.

Daniel's 9th Birthday

Daniel is 9 already!  For his birthday, he wanted to go to dinner at Old Country Buffet and then to the movies with his friend Luke.  On Tuesday we had cake and presents, and then on Thursday we went to dinner and the movie.  He really wanted to see the movie Ratchet and Clank, but apparently it was so bad that it wasn't playing in any theaters near us.  So I gave him the choice of driving to Tempe or Phoenix to see it, or seeing Angry Birds instead.  He was a good sport about it, and chose to see Angry Birds.  Emily and Nathaniel both had plans after dinner, but the rest of us went with him to see it.  Daniel is so much fun.  He loves his family and always has a hug for everyone.  I am so proud of him!!!