summer finally came!!!

after weeks of cold, it finally warmed up! cameron planned a
kick-off night swim party/campfire..........................................


obviously it wasn't quite warm enough for the pool......................

father's day

every family get-together always includes some kind of challenge,
usually made up by one of the boys. cameron challenged everone
to a climbing trick: start on top of the table and climb underneath
it and back on top without touching the ground. go ahead, try it!

christian giving it a good try..............................................

cade arranged the baseball game. kids vs. adults........................

boston was determined to get in on the game, thanks to finn's tee.

home run!

next was kickball..........................................................................

and then skateboarding (cameon taught jake some moves and

then jake helped boston get in on the action)..............................

teenager in training

skylar will be a teenager this year. she is showing signs of it by
wanted to do her chores while listening to an i-pod. problem is,
she has the tiniest earholes in the world! the ear buds won't fit
in her ears.......so she solved that problem by taping them to her
ears!..........................all was fine until she had to take them off!

do you think she has gymnast arms?

brighton's other twin

these two look a lot alike, especially when they wear the same
leotard! brighton found sky's old competition leo and had to
wear it to gymnastics (they're so stretchy, it surprisingly some-
what fit her!) sky has an old teammates leo that she cut the
arms off of so on gymnastics day, brighton insists they be twins!

orem summerfest

the orem parade is such a fun small-town parade, although it's

not quite the same since kimberli moved. her old neighbors

are nice enough to let us use their front yard. the kids gather

way too many pieces of candy and get picked to do a lot of

fun things since we're right at the beginning of the parade

(the people in the parade are always eager to get going).

sailor got chosen to break a board with her bare hand. she did it!

hayden got chosen to throw balls at the dunking machine!

our secret spot to watch fireworks. the twins loved them!

for some reason, i let skylar go to the carnival at night with her

friends. hayden was their chaperone, they were armed with cell

phones! they felt very cool and very big. i guess they are big:(

i was glad to see them so i had to snap a picture of their big night!

summer rain!

poor pictures i know, but i just had to sneak a picture of skylar,
sailor, & friends out dancing in the pouring rain. they made up
an entire routine, including tumbling passes. oh, to be a kid!

never lock your keys in the car while it's running

with shayne & mike out of town, andie was in charge for the
weekend. she called, needing me to bring her some car keys.
she was stuck in the costco parking lot with her keys locked
in her car, with the power turned on. not the motor, just the
power. (how does this happen? she liked the song that was
on when she got there so she had to listen to it but then a
friend called, the song ended and she was busy talking when
she got out of the car without turning it off but still locked
the car!) oh, andie!................................................................

well, after getting some keys to her, the car wouldn't start.
we spent hours trying to jump it, running around town (with
grandpa helping) charging the battery, everything we could
think of. nothing worked.......................................................


after leaving the car in the costco parking lot for the night, andie
got home (11 pm) and found the downstairs door knocked in.
that meant sleepover time! we had a blast having them spend
the night and hoping their house wasn't getting broken into.

-

asher got bit on the ear by something and his ear was swelling

by the minute. it was one adventure after another. and after

all that, costco wouldn't let andie buy what she needed because

she was using her mom's card!.....................................................

on the rocks

i am such an over-protective mom, it's probably best that
i didn't go watch when cameron, alisa, and christian took
hayden and sailor rock climbing. as you can tell from these
pictures, they did awesome! it's a good thing i wasn't there!
-
hayden................................................up way tooooo high!

-
sailor: on her way up and then on her way down!

carnival

we picked the perfect day to go to the carnival and the twins are
the perfect age. they were so much fun and they ask every day
to go again. with shayne & mike out of town, we took their kids
and also emerson. whitney, jared & finn completed the gang!


of course, the merry-go-round......................................................

-

the speeding motorcycles and trucks. (notice the fresh all-star

toilets in the back. yes, we visited those too. thank you, greg!)

these cute girls patiently waited through many toddler rides!

the 4x4 trucks.................................................................so real!

joe was sure he was going to win...................................................

the flying bugs/turtles.................................whatever they are?!!

asher had to reach as far as he could to high-(or low)-five us. yes,

he was on the verge of falling out and yes, he taught boston how

to almost fall out of a carnival ride..............................................

for some reason this ride didn't sit well with hayden.

we had to convince paige & emerson to go. they weren't so sure,

especially after watching hayden ride............................................

possibly the favorite...........................................

they sang choo-choo the big train the entire time.

-

the ring-the-bell is a must. joe won us a nice, giant, blow-up

hammer. perfect for the kids to bug each other with!...........

last on the list for the twins: the roller coaster. they loved it.

i think they enjoyed it! notice cooper & asher in the background.

the scariest ride of the day. joe & hayden, upside down & spinning!

their legs flying!......................................................................

whitney and jared...................................................................

enough said.

funnel cakes! these didn't come to utah until just recently. most

kids had never tried them. they didn't last long...........................

joe was sure he could get the ball through the oval hoop. impossible.

boston was so intrigued by these ducks. asher too. ash kept

grabbing them and getting in trouble. here he is taking his

chances one more time, he couldn't resist. caught! again!

joy and happiness on the way out................................................