Peach Days...

Yummy Peach Days!  I love our little town festivities!  This year at Peach Days, we played in these hamster balls on water.  HiLaRiOuS!  Best of all, it was really quiet to watch because all the noise is trapped inside.

Maxine was also in a play about our city's history called, "Come See Our Valley."  I learned quite a lot about Hurricane.  

She was a pioneer girl named Naomi.  We made the bonnet and apron and the dress was supplied.  It turned out really cute.  And then I looked at displays of quilting and they were amazing!!  I feel like quilting could be a passion when I'm older.

A 2nd chance at Mark's baby photos...

At the hospital, a photography company offered to take some pictures of Mark.  I agreed, thinking it was a great idea.  After getting home from the hospital and checking out their website, they wanted $150 for the digital copies of the jpgs.  Holy SMOKES!  Not happening.  I didn't end up ordering any but decided to shoot some myself.  I was satisfied, end of story.

Fast forward 11 months: I received an email from the company saying they were going to give me another chance at the digital jpgs for $50 before they deleted them forever.  I was excited and decided to do it!  After downloading them, I noticed the resolution on them was not great.  I could print 5x7s but anything bigger and I was going to start losing quality.  A little disappointed, I emailed the company regarding the resolution.  They responded and explained that for some reason, my gallery of images weren't high resolution and said unfortunately there was nothing they could do and they'd refund the $50 bucks.  So I was able to get all the photos for FREE.  And even though the resolution isn't as high as I'd like, I'm pleased that I was able to get them at all to remember his sweet little body just a few hours old.  Here's sweet baby Mark, 11 months late!

Splash pads are fun...

 Now that the kids are in school, my neighbor Dana and I decided to go to the splash pad with our 2 little kids.  Mark thought the splash pad was sooooo much fun!

He laughed and splashed and giggled.

Best place on Earth for him.

Mikayla had a good time too but I had a hard time chasing her and getting a picture.  

She sat down after a while to dry off and it was easier to catch a smile.

First Day of School 2014...Yay!

"So I love you all but get out of my house so I can get some stuff done."  That sums up my feelings on the first day of school.  I love summer, I really do, but by the last 2 weeks, I'm ready for my routine back.  Julie woke up at 5 a.m.  The rest of them were up pretty early as well.  Maxine is out of elementary school and over to the intermediate school for 6th and 7th grades.  It starts so early: 7:45 a.m!  She has to be down to the bus by 7:05 a.m.  That's going to be an adjustment, especially for her because she tends to sleep in.  But she made it the first day!

Juliet's hair looks messy because it was done so early, it already had time to mess up.  And she wasn't in the mood to pose.  She's in 2nd grade this year.

Jack was all smiles though.  He's in 3rd.

We put the elementary kids on the bus and drove to the school to make sure they got to class okay.  Mikayla was playing on a rock and declared she was "the queen."

The kids were honestly excited to go back to school.  

Julie gave me one smile before the bell.

Mikayla is still just little and won't even be in preschool for another year.  So I have my big kids in school and the little ones still at home for a few more years.

Zion Jeep Tour...

Merril entered a contest for a free jeep tour in Zion and won!  They let us take our whole family, which would've cost over $500.  We felt very lucky!  Our tour guide drove around on some back roads by Zion and we even stopped by the old ghost town of Grafton, UT.  I had no idea we lived so close to a ghost town.  The kids thought the open air Jeep was fun.

It was a fun little adventure to end our summer!  School starts in a week and a half!!