Tubing!

The Quayle's invited us to go tubing down the Weber River.  Me, Emilee, Kade, Quincy, Brinley and Halle went.  It was a blast!  I thought Halle was going to die from fear, but she made it through and was quite proud of herself by the end of the expreience.  It was a little crazy and even a tad bit scary at times, but so fun!  We had a great time.  I learned today the Quincy is more of a dare devil than I had ever imagined.  We better watch that girl!!

"Fun with my sis and couz"

This post is written by Quincy...

"One day I asked my Dad if I could ride the 4 wheeler.  My cousin Halle was here and my Dad said yes. I got my helmet and they key.  I went outside and started it up.  Brinley and Halle got on their helmets during this time.  They got on the back and I drove all around the house.  Halle and Brinley loved it.  I went between trees. over piles of dirt, and around the swing set.  Everyday for about the next three days I rode on the 4 wheeler with Brinley, KateLeigh, and Mayslee.  It was so much fun!  I can't wait until I can do it again."

Beautiful!

We live in a beautiful place!  I am so grateful we get to call Perry home.  It's been so good to our family.  We have amazing neighbors whom we love and a wonderful ward.  We have beautiful mountains in the backyard and breathtaking sunsets in the front.  And now we even have a temple that we can see from our back yard in the winter when the trees have lost their leaves!  We are very blessed to have such a great home!!

Kade's visit to Rexburg!

Kade had a great experience this summer.  He was able to go to Rexburg and help Grandpa Southwick on his farm for 2 weeks.  We drove up on a Sunday and dropped him off and then returned 2 weeks later on a Sunday to pick him up.  Grandpa was so excited to have his help.  He had a days worth of projects for each day that he was there.  He built fence, chopped and moved wood, helped take care of goats and chickens and even had the opportunity to help Grandpa slaughter and de-feather chickens! 

 While he was there it happened to be during the time that Karl came home from his Mission and gave his report in Sacrament Meeting.  They lived in Arizona at the time, and Grandpa and Grandma were nice enough to fly Kade to Arizona with them so that he could meet Karl at the airport and hear him speak in church that Sunday.  What a great experience for him.  He got in plenty of swimming in their pool with Alex while he was there too. 

We are so grateful that he could go and spend the time with his Grandparents.  Grandma told us at the end of the 2 weeks that she had come to know Kade much better and was impressed at the great young man he is becoming.  He is a good boy!  As a bonus, Grandpa even paid Kade $300 dollars for the work that he had done.  I think he earned every dollar!!  Love that he could have the experience to get some farm work in him! 

4th of July

4th of July Celebration.  Watching the Perry parade.  Notice the festive hairdo's on Quincy and Brinley!!  Love this silly small town celebration!

Living the good life!!

I came home one afternoon in the Summer to find these 3 sillies enjoying the pool in the backyard!  How awesome is it that my 19 and 16 year old daughters still love to do the same thing that the 8 year old loves!  I love my family!  They were hungry so I made them lunch and served them in the pool.  They were pretty impressed.  They don't always get such good treatment!

Lazy days of Summer are the best!!

Hawaii

BEST FAMILY VACATION EVER!!

How could Hawaii be anything else?  We booked our tickets for this trip back in September!  For 3 months we kept it a secret from the kids, then finally got to tell them about it on Christmas morning.  Then, we got to excitedly wait 6 months until June before we went.  We were ready!!

Oh my goodness, it was so so so much fun!  We loved every minute of it.  The house we stayed in was absolutely amazing.  We tried so many new things together and had the time of our lives.  We snorkeled, kayaked, went stand up paddle boarding, when horseback riding, attended the Polynesian Culture Center, attended the beautiful Laie Temple, swam out under a waterfall, swam with turtles and ate some of the best treats and food ever!! I can honestly say that this was the trip of a lifetime.  

There is something so magical about this island.  I loved it when Chris and I came alone and it was such a wonderful experience to be able go back and share it with our children.  I can't believe how blessed we have been in being able to go on amazing family vacations.  I will be forever grateful!

Hawaii...we hope one day to miraculously return!!!

What a beautiful, magical island!!

Baby Jane!

We have a new baby cousin!  Yay!  Dan and Jan had little baby Jane and we got to go and be part of her baby blessing.  I know a few kids who were just a little bit excited that Aunt Jan was willing to let them hold her!  She is a cutie!!