Hot and Fun

We always spend time in St George in the summer, I don't know why we go there the worst time of the year but we always do. Note to self, go to St George September through early June.
We have learned that if you can get to the splash pad or water park by 10 am you can get a few hours of fun in before it gets too hot. We love the water park downtown St George, wish they had it when I was young.

If you can get to the park before 10 am you might be able to run around the hills and actually play on the slides and things for a little bit, but not too long.

Grandma's house is always stocked with plenty of Popsicles. She gets the sugar free ones so we don't have a lot of sticky hands! The kids are all watching me perform a little musical that is super educational, they are not watching movies- that wouldn't be educational.

Nate has a cousin, Taylor, who is exactly his age. They play so cute together. Taylor is the king of boy dress-ups and when Nate plays with him he will do the dress-up thing a little bit.
One of our summer traditions is to go to Tuachan. We have done it for the past 5 years with the kids. This year it was amazing again.

I loved the Tarzan costumes. Doesn't this guy look like a real gorilla?! We went with my aunt, cousin, her boys, my mom, my nephew, and my girls.

This year we did something we haven't done before in St George. We took swim lessons. It was wonderful! Everyone improved so much. I am a huge fan of semi-private lessons now.

Zachy spent every morning watching and waiting until he could throw the pool toys in for the kids at the end of the lesson.

We spend everyday with my brothers cute kids, Austin and Taylor. The kids get along so well and have so much fun together!

Other highlights not pictured- Eclipse movie premier, Eclipse movie, Pizza Factory, home decor shopping, Cafe Rio, swimming, and Mortal instrument book series read.

What a fun 2 weeks!!

The drive and The Brenchley's

I'm on a roll so I better keep going and update through my trips. My beautiful, talented, wonderful, amazing, etc., etc., sister-in-law, Mandy, flew to my aid and helped me drive out from Iowa through Wyoming to Utah. We had a great time pelting my children with snacks from the front of the van. Everyone did really good on the drive to Cheyenne. We were all excited to see our new house.

Everyone checked out their new rooms and ran around and around looking in every corner. It was fun for me to see the house again after 3 months of only looking at pictures.

I was a little overwhelmed with everything since we were only going to be staying for 36 hours before we headed out for Utah. Mandy suggested we paint something so we ran to Home Depot that night and got our supplies to paint the girls room. We picked a bright canary yellow. It turned out really cute with the white trims on their three windows. I also unpacked the kitchen and decided that would have to do until we came back in a month.

We headed out to Utah to the Brenchley family reunion. We had a blast with everyone. Almost everyone in Phil's family was able to be there for a little while. We stayed the whole 5 nights and it was so fun for the kids to play with cousins, catch up with everyone, play games, and eat yummy food. Thanks Dean and Marsha!

Zach loved throwing the balls and rings in the pool to the girls, he did it over and over again. Sometimes he got a little close for our comfort but he never went in.

McKell had a blast playing tennis. Zach loved his bottle time with Grandpa and Grandma before bed. Nate doesn't have any cousins his age but he always is able to find someone to play with. Here he is with the oldest cousin, Ryan. The kids also found bugs and snakes. They were holding them and wanting to take them home. Disgusting!

After the family reunion we went to Centerville and spent 2 more nights. One of the nights we were able to attend the temple together. Everyone was there except Phil (finishing residency)and Julie (new baby and watched all our kids). It was fun to be with everyone. Phil's parents got there mission call that day and opened it before we left for the temple. They are headed to Pennsylvania for a 12 month mission. So exciting!

Our last days in Iowa

All of the kids played soccer this spring. We were going to soccer 4 nights a week. Nate did good if you were calling his name and cheering for him. He loves his girl friend Avy.
I have loved the program McKell has done the past 3 years, we will miss it. McKell is doing so great and she really loves it, it is really fun to watch her. Alyssa went to a few of McKells practices and had fun. Alyssa is so fast and runs around taking the ball from people every once in a while the other part of the time she sits back and day dreams. She has opted out for soccer this coming year.

School trips. This is McKells 2nd grade class.

Our moving truck came and took all of our things to Wyoming.

Phil had surgery on his elbow. We closed on our house in Cheyenne.
Phil went to Des Moines to work and flew to Wyoming for his state license interview and to get the keys to our new home. Our boxes were delivered and beds set up. The kids and I stayed and cleaned out our house in Iowa and had one last party. The last splash!
Nate got a few good shots in. He holds his own with the older kids!

Alyssa graduated from preschool. Here she is with her friends she calls Lawson 'lovebird' . She cracks us up!

We said goodbye to friends.

We had such a good time in Iowa. The 4 years went by so fast. We met so many wonderful people and made many friends we will have for life. We are excited for our new adventures in Wyoming.