a cute moment...

My kids love when I take them to the creek.  It's shady and cool there and perfect for killing an afternoon.  

I usually find a rock to plop down on and just let the kids wander and play in nature.  Kids need more face to face with nature if you ask me…  

Anyway, while I was sitting there, Miles walked over to me and put this on my leg.  He gave me a quick hug and whispered, "This one is just for you Mom".  When I looked down I saw this.   So sweet.     

Don't let that "I couldn't care less" face he's pulling fool you.  Miles is probably the biggest softy of all our kids.  Although he'd never in a million years want anyone to know that :)  

Just to keep his image after giving me that heart rock, he went over and threw a bunch of rocks at the water right in front of his sister and laughed when it splashed mud all over her face.  Boys.   

Sunday afternoon it rained for about 5 minutes.  Will was so excited that he got himself and Meg all ready to play in the rain.  By the time he bundled them both up, it had stopped.  (Not sure why they bundled up, it was about 90 degrees outside…)  Oh well, they had fun anyway.  SO CUTE! 

Wanna see what else is SO CUTE?  My little garden.  

Look at that baby bell pepper.  I could just die!  

And my tomatoes are growing like crazy.  These baby ones are too cute for words.  

Can't wait for some home-grown salsa!  

Balance is restored.

Finally the Nadauld's are back from New York.  We missed them!  

Some pictures of our fun day back together at last :)    

Baby girl Nadauld to be here within the next 2 weeks!!  Can't wait to meet her!  

AnnDee looking awesome with that baby bump.

The water was super choppy and conditions weren't great for wake boarding, but the dads put on a great show anyway…

Mike….

Taylor...

Not good lighting, but super cute of all 8 of our kids crammed into the back seat :)  

Pool time…  Meg's getting more comfortable with the water.

Miles did his first back flip.    

Dirt bikes and mini 4 wheelers… The kids had a blast riding those around.

Then Taylor threw a little back to school party for Mike.  He gave him a pencil box, glue stick, and some blue glitter.  Because every MBA student needs some blue glitter :)  

Then his back to school cake and ice cream.  Taylor even remembered to make sure the cake wasn't chocolate.  What a thoughtful friend.  So glad they're back.   

One of my friends invited a bunch of neighbor families up to their family vacation home in Logan.  It was a blast…  I really need to come up with a few million dollars so I can have a place like this someday…  The kids spent the day playing with friends, swimming and fishing.  It was heaven.  

Will's getting so comfortable in the water.  He's swimming all over and decided to start using the diving board.  

I would estimate that Will flipped off the diving board somewhere between 30-40 times.  He was in heaven!  

Some pictures of the kids with their friends…  

The moms...

We tried our luck at fishing….  

Since these fish are fed food by the owners, we weren't having any luck with our bait, so we decided to throw some of Miles bread on the hook…  

Worked like a charm!  

It was hilarious watching Miles wrestle with his fish.  He was pretty big and quite strong so Miles had a hard time keeping his hands on him.  

When Miles caught his fish all the kids came running.  The girls were squealing and the boys were wanting to touch it.  It was the best moment of the day!  Us moms can fish with the best of 'em!   

That poor rainbow trout was manhandled by all the boys.  They were squeezing him and dropping him on the concrete for a good 5 minutes before Miles finally took pity on him and threw him back.  Poor fish.  I bet he doesn't eat bread ever again :)  

Miles goes 2 miles :)

Miles has been dying to go for a run with me for a long, long time.  I finally decided to try taking him to see how he'd do.  The kid ran 2 miles without stopping (and wanted to keep going but I made him stop).   My hopes of running with my kids someday are starting to come true…  

My big dream is to run with my kids all through their teenage years and have it be a time to talk and connect…   I just hope they want that as much as I do.

An action shot of us on our inaugural run.

Will, Morgan and Lizzy came along too.  They ran and walked and talked and had a great time.  I'm getting little glimpses of the future and it gives me chills :)  

The 4th...

The 4th was fun…  

I went on a trail run with friends… (That was actually on the 3rd, but…)

One of my favorite moments of the day was catching Miles in a cute moment with Meg.  I was in the other room and heard singing coming from the kitchen.  I peeked through the fireplace and saw Miles and Meg singing songs together.  I just had to sneak a picture, it was so cute :)  

I found some festive flip flops for $5.  Awesome!!  

Then we went to see fireworks.  The kids are so fun as they're getting older.  They played charades for over an hour and had a great time waiting for the show to start.

Daddy and his green eyed girls...

Snuggling under a blanket with my brown eyed boys.

When the fireworks started Meg turned around and said, "Ohhh".  She loved them!  

I love the 4th!  

Oh Will….

Morgan's been taking a cute little art class this summer.  We all admire her work…  In fact, Will admired it so much that he wanted to pass her work off as his own….   

A closer look….

Luckily Morgan's teacher knew how to fix it and was willing to help her sand it down and paint over Will's signature.  Little stinker. 

Really, Morgan should be flattered.