the first week of summer

Usually it takes us a week of recovery from 9 months of school before we dive into summer break. But with each passing year I realize how fast summer really goes and I don't want to miss out on this time with these kids! Corbin decorated our summer bucket list and we talked about some ideas of what we want to do this year (unfortunately we still have not finished and hung up that poster to remind us of the fun, soooo we better get to that) But the theme for our summer is ADVENTURE! We are hoping that each day we enjoy some kind of an adventure - big or little. Picnics at the park, blowing bubbles, hikes in the mountains, bike rides, making new foods, swimming, and trying new things.

Every day hasn't necessarily been super magical, I still do some nagging to get chores done, and fighting happens :), but overall it has been a pretty awesome first week.

:: cousin day to celebrate aunt Mandi's birthday!! ::

 :: these two constantly say they are best buddies ::

 :: just bought some summer flip flops and gummy treats::

 :: picnic at the park - we didn't last super long because it was 2:00 and way too hot ::

 :: so we cooled off with some ice cream - favorite cones right now are from chic-fil-a ::

 :: they totally wanted to sleep here one night and we let them ::

 :: swim lessons everyday this week for Taylor and Levi ::

 :: muffin tin lunches in the backyard ::

 :: attempted making cookie ice cream sandwiches...next time I will make them when the cookies aren't still warm :) ::

 :: pizza and treat night with friends ::

 :: Saturday morning movie with grandpa packer and the granddaughters. Adeline was totally reaching for her cousin and I just had to get a picture of it! ::

:: waiting in the church parking lot while daddy and Corbin finalize things for scout camp. almost got Levi in there ::

:: happy Sunday and happy first week of summer!! :: 

memorial day flag rock hike

I love when Pinterest has things like - 10 of the best hikes for families in Utah, or 15 must see hikes with your kids, or hikes to do before you die...I am a sucker for those kinds of pins. The one that stood out the most for me was Flag Rock in Farmington. The hike represents the height of the twin towers. As Memorial Day was approaching I knew that was the right place to go. The information about the hike made it seem like we could be done in about 2-3 hours, plus there was a cool mine along the way.

The hike lasted 5+ hours. Mostly due to not knowing exactly where we were going. It was really hard, the kids were incredibly tired, and it was exhausting and steep in some areas. Justin is really good at hiking with kids. Not only does he carry half of them, but when they start complaining, he comes up with ways to distract them and lift the mood. Today he came up with a winner. We had to find a cool rock, pick it up, and keep walking and as soon as you see an even cooler rock, set the one down, and pick up the new rock. By the time we got to the top, we oohed and aahed over everyone's awesome rock. It worked like a charm!

The sight of seeing that flag was breathtaking. It made the whole trip worth it. I was left in amazement as I thought about this country and about those who give so much of themselves. They have provided a place for me to live such a happy life with some pretty awesome freedoms. I have been thinking about that a lot lately!! My life is simple and the rights that I have are amazing! There are times I know I take that forgranted and don't realize just how lucky we are to live here! My goal is to never forget that and teach our children to never forget.

This hike, as hard as it was, taught all of us some really good things. But most important, we can do hard things and there are amazing people who have done some of the hardest things of all so that we can be free. Pretty awesome!

I would say that 5+ hour hike was worth it. 
(however, the boys would probably disagree)

 :: I loved that Corbin suggested we put our hands on our hearts ::

(Taylor was just so thrilled we made it...and almost, Levi!)

january moments- yes I am going that far back

:: obsessed with Adeline and hanging on dad, that's pretty much how it is everyday ::

:: even though you can't see her, I just love this picture ::

 :: appetizer party at grandma and grandpas ::

 :: I just really love this picture ::

 :: our fhe activity came in the mail, so we spent the evening putting these new kitchen chairs together + a lot of computer work going on ::

 :: reading Peter and the Starcatchers to the boys in their hammock ::

 :: first official dentist appointment and those lights were way too bright ::

 :: Adeline and I decided to relive her blessing day ::

 :: these late afternoon naps have got to stop ::

 :: after we put together our new chairs, we had a chair smashing party with the old ones. those chairs just had to go! Justin glued and glued those things together for so many years (they were literally on their last leg) ::

 :: after Christmas the boys ordered knock off legos from China with their money from grandparents. after several weeks, it finally came in the mail! ::

 :: nightly homework ::

 :: watching a January snow storm ::

 :: sister day + two of the cutest babies! ::

 :: these two!!! ::

 :: Rudger loves to bring his toys to Adeline and pretend she is playing with him ::

 :: dance party in the kitchen ::

 :: cup of noodle time ::

 :: I told myself I was going to make fancy rustic bread all the time. I made it once ::

 :: bedtime stories ::

 :: clean diaper and baby magic smell ::

 :: treat night with our favorite friends! The Worthen's just got back from Florida so we were oohing and ahhing over all their pictures. I really love this picture ::

:: January was a good month ::

our weekend

 :: batman movie night (I didn't realize someone took tons of pictures of the movie until I loaded them on my computer this morning) :) ::

 :: home depot date! deciding on a pathway between our trees, and we finally found something we both agree on ::

 :: yard work saturday, the boys worked in shifts on helping us put the rest of the drip system in the garden ::

 :: rudger really, truly loves to help ::

 :: beautiful saturday afternoon nap outside ::

 :: these boys woke up for a 7 am priesthood meeting ::

 :: sunday morning nap ::

 :: sunday church nap ::

Obviously I love to take pictures of Adeline napping :)

Unfortunately this weekend we didn't get a very good Saturday adventure in because we were working on projects most of the day. We had our garden to finish planting and the new sprinkling system to build. Justin and I also went to the Home Depot to buy all the wood for our picket fence, arbor, and gate that will go on the side of the house in front of our fruit trees. I am so excited about it!! But it also means we have many hours of work ahead of us. It's okay though because we are crossing things off our yard to do list.  Saturday night daddy and the boys spent a couple of hours playing Mario (that was Justin's way of making up for the fact that we worked all day) and I cleaned the whole upstairs. 

Sunday was a good day of rest. We also had treat night with our good friends. Then we came home to try to get to bed early, but we are finding it harder and harder to get to bed at an early hour.

We are down to just a couple of weekends before summer break! It seems like we have been in school for.ev.er... yet I can't quite wrap my brain around the fact that in a couple of weeks these kids will be home all summer!!! I can not wait!