Workin', Slip n' Slides and Bravery!

I mentioned before that we bought a snow shack for the KIDS to run--well, 3 of the 5 went to Virginia for a week so I did my best to hold down the fort while they were away!

Aiden and I made a pretty good team!  

Aiden shaved the ice and I poured the syrup--I got MOST of it in the cups! ;) My hands were multi colored for a few days! Proof of my hard work! ;)

I was ever so thankful when the Hathaway kiddos were home!  They took over the sno shack and the kids and I took a day off and relaxed in the sun with some of our favorite North Dakotans! 

We spent the day slip n' sliding, eating and just hanging out!

Aiden was the only boy--which didn't bother him!  These are his favorite girls! !

Tana, Violet and Tegan! 

I am so greatful for the people we have made friends with here! I love them all and I am extremely blessed to call them all friends!

Lagoon, Rocket Ships and A Visit with Grandma!

This weekend we had a little family get together in Utah! Davids brother Kyle and his family wanted to meet in Lagoon for a few days--so away we went!!

We haven't seen these kiddos in a little over a year so it was so good to catch up! 

We met up at Lagoon Thursday morning and played the day away!!

Adylin and Kylie became fast little friends!  Wherever Kylie was, Ady wasn't too far behind!!

We rode the carousel and even played at Lagoon-a-beach!

It just so happens that Thursday was also Uncle Kyles birthday!  We celebrated with PIZZA!! 

The next morning we were at it again!  Another full day at Lagoon! 

The kiddos were all over racing from ride to ride!  They must have ridden every kiddy ride at least 5 times!!

The men are real ride sports!! They went on every scary ride they could think of and made it look so easy! 

Then they talked Me and Ashleigh into The Rocket! We were less than excited, but thought that since the boys did it and said it wasn't bad--we could handle it!

We screamed like little girls and Ashleigh even lost her voice!  We screamed so much that people applauded us when we got off--yeah,  we are pansies! 

It only seemed fitting after riding The Rocket that we visit a place that has them on display--right? 

We spent Saturday at Hill Air Museum. Davids other brother and his family met us in the morning for the day. (Note--Davids sister had just had a baby, so she was excused from the family day at the air museum)

They had a fun activity for the kids, they got to build AND launch their very own rockets! 

Even the girlies loved it!

After a long hot day of rockets--we made our way to Grammy Ormes!  She used to be our next door neighbor in Idaho and we miss having her close! The kids told her all about Lagoon and their rocket ships and then it was time again to say goodbye!

The hardest part of visiting home is saying goodbye !

A Girl's Day, A Party Barge and Independence Day!

Last week I made an afternoon trade!! I traded one boyish boy for two girly girls!  I had some errands to run and Aiden did NOT want to go!! He isn't the best shopping buddy anyway, so we swapped!! He stayed and hung out with Codee and these girls ran errands with me!  

We ate lunch at the mall and then may or may not have shopped for a bit!

We managed to get all of the errands done--with NO meltdowns from the Sas!! I will swap for these girlies more often! 

When we made the move to North Dakota,  we promised that we would MAKE time for family things! And we do!  The day before the 4th we went pontoon boating!! Pontoon boats are a big thing in North Dakota and we couldn't not try it out!  Just so happens, we love it!

Sas and I enjoyed the chilling and eating part of the pontoon experience,  while the big kids enjoyed the diving off the boat and swimming part!

Adylin tested out her driving skills--while we were anchored! 

And then the tubing fun began!  

All the kids and even Rindee took a ride!!

Needless to say, we had a fantastic time and we will see many "party barge" trips in our future! 

We may have to make it a pre Independence Day tradition!

4th of July has ALWAYS been my favorite holiday!!  It is my Dad's birthday and we always had big family get togethers as kids. I love summer, yummy BBQ/picnic food and red white and blue outfits--so it's obvious why it's my favorite! :)

We drove to Stanley for a picnic lunch with the family and then we played at the park! 

We stopped and bought fireworks to put on  what appears to have become our annual fireworks show at the Makoti baseball diamond, put on by non other than the Davids! 

They couldn't wait for it to get dark--and showed their intelligence by holding fireworks while they went off--and we trust them?!?

They finally consented to save the rest for the show and they put on a great one!! 

The kiddos did sparklers until their hearts content and we enjoyed our 4th!!