Birthdays

Bonnie and Gwen have birthdays four days apart so this year we let them have a friend party together. They invited their friends to a swim party. Thankfully our friends, The Piepers, let us use their neighborhood pool.

All the kids swimming.

Gwen and Bonnie with their birthday cake. They decided that they wanted to share a cake that was strawberry and chocolate. The inside was even strawberry chocolate checkerboard, but I forgot to get a picture of it.

All the kids that were at the party.

We did separate family parties on their individual birthdays and these were some of the presents they received.

Bonnie had been asking for a black skirt for months and was very excited to FINALLY get one.

Gwen is loves dresses and was very excited to get another new dress.

Day Trips

While we were in Idaho we took a couple of day trips. The first was to Yellowstone and the second was to Craters of the Moon. The were both so fun and we loved being able to spend this time with Dan and Anne and their kids. We loved staying with them and having the time together.

Gwen and Sarah were best friends while we were in Idaho. After taking this picture of the two of them together overlooking upper falls Gwen informed me that they were discussing ways to get back to the top if they happened to fall over the edge. These two were so funny to watch together because they are both the babies and both definitely used to having things go their way, but they managed to work things out between the two of them and had a great time.

All of us at the bottom of Lower Falls in the Canyon. We climbed down about a million stairs I think and it's a good thing we got the picture at the bottom because when we got back to the top I know we didn't look nearly as fresh and cheery.

This is one section of the stairs that we had to climb. There were several sections like this. The kids were real troopers.

Our family at the top of Lower Falls. We took a similar picture 5 years ago before we moved to Arizona, this was the last time we were in Yellowstone.

It is amazing to me to look back and see how much my kids have grown and changed in the last 5 years.

The kids all sitting on the fence eating a sandwich for dinner before we headed out of the park for the day.

If you have never been to Craters of the Moon you should go. It was really cool. It is the sight of a volcanic eruption from I don't know how long ago and there are caves and cool trees and flowers and some fun little hikes.

Our family outside one of the caves.

The kids were getting tired of me making them stop for pictures therefore this turned out better than the "look at me and smile" picture inside the cave. All of the kids were so fun to watch on both of these trips.

Hiking through one of the caves. The caves were Lava Tubes that had hardened on the outside while hot lava was still flowing through the middle. This cave had sections of the roof that had come down and were open to the outside.

Gwen and Uncle Dan inside one of the little nooks they found by the exit of one of the caves.

Ben tried to convince me that he should be able to scoot into this little opening and explore a little bit more. I'm probably a pansy but I totally vetoed that option.

The kids climbing on one of the trees. I love the view of the whole landscape in this picture. It really was a cool place to visit. Thanks again Dan and Anne for a great vacation.

Lam Fam

While we were in Idaho we were able to spend time with many members of my family. As always we loved getting together with all of them.

Dinner at Uncle Gumby and Aunt Kristi's house.

Jared doing flips on the trampoline. It really did end better than it looks like it will here.

Gwen and her cousin Lizzy look so much alike that it constantly amazes me. However, you can definitely tell which one lives in Arizona.

Playing in the water with cousins. These girls loved playing together.


Gwen and Sarah playing with one of the gerbils.


My birthday and Father's day fell on the same day this year so we got to celebrate together.

While we were in Idaho my brother Bob and his wife Tasha had their 9th child. They had a little girl who was born on my birthday. Since she was born on my birthday and I am also the 9th child I tried to convince them that this was a sign that she should be named after me, but they didn't go for it. That's okay, she will still have a special place in my heart.

Taycie Grace Lamoreaux was born on June 20th and weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. She is such a cute and sweet little baby.

Even though she had just had a new baby Tasha was a good sport and let us come over and visit a couple of times and even let Nate spend the night with Jace one night. Thanks Bob and Tasha. We loved spending time with your family.

Jace and Nate trying to be tough while holding kittens.

This was part of my children's attempt to convince me that we needed to take home one or more of their cousins' kittens. It did not work.

Courtney pushing Jared on the swing.

Ben checking out Bob's new toy. I think he might have drooled just a little.

I'll post later about our trips to Yellowstone and Craters of the Moon while we were in Idaho. Dan and Anne were so great to let us stay at their house and to travel around with us. Thanks so much everybody for your kindness and hospitality while we were in Idaho. Come and visit soon, we would love to return the favor.

BFFs

The last two weeks our family went to Utah and Idaho to visit with both my family and Ben's family. It will take several postings to put in all the fun things that we did, but to start with I want to share these fun pictures. On our way through Utah on the 19th we were fortunate enough to meet up with some old friends from when we lived in Utah. We have all moved away from the ward that we used to live in. Rebecca moved to Boise, Idaho. Amberlyn moved to Spanish Fork. Melissa moved to Heber. I was the last to move from the neighborhood 5 years ago when we moved to Arizona. Even though we have all gone our separate ways with our families, we have kept in touch through blogs, email, and phone calls. We were able to meet up at the park that was in our old neighborhood and it was so fun to be together again. Between the four of us we have 18 kids and it was great to see the kids all play together just like they used to, even though most of them did not remember each other. I don't know what I would have done without these wonderful friends when we were all living in the Cherry Hill Ward in Orem. I am so grateful for good friends that remain true and help me want to be a better person and a better mom. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to meet us for lunch. I love you all so much.

Amberlyn, me, Rebecca, and Melissa. We all showed up in black shirts. This was not planned, I promise we are not that nerdy.

All 18 of our children. Amberlyn has 6 kids, Rebecca has 5 kids, Melissa has 4 kids, including the brand new baby in front, and then there are my 4 kids.

Summer Fun So Far

This summer so far we have done swim/dive lessons and Kung fu. That's about it. We live at the pool or in the sprinklers because it's just too hot to do anything else. Several times a week we will stay for open swim at the public pool after their lessons are over. The kids have done really well in swimming and diving this year and it has been fun to watch them progress. I also enjoy that they are getting to the point that I can just let them all get in the pool and I can sit on the edge and watch them or get in and play with them, but I don't have to constantly be holding on to them.

Gwen at her swim lesson.

Bonnie in diving lessons.

Nate in diving lessons.

And Jared in diving lessons.

Ben and I got our first stripe on our blue belts in Kung Fu. Next month the kids will be earning their first stripe as well.

Coming up with things to do inside when it is too hot to play outside sometimes yields very crafty ideas. This is what the kids made for Ben and I one day.

End of School Fun

The end of the school year is always full of all sorts of fun activities. Here are a few of the things we did.

Gwen's kindergarten graduation and end of the year concert.

Gwen with her kindergarten teacher.

Bonnie with her caricature of Barack Obama that was in the Peoria Arts Festival.

Nathan performing with the band in the Peoria Arts Festival. Nate and Bonnie both had other concerts at the end of the year, but we forgot to take pictures. They were great though.

And summertime head-shaving. The last week of school Nate's class had a wax museum of inventors that each student drew out of a hat. He got Clarence Birdseye, as in Birdseye frozen vegetables. Clarence Birdseye was bald so in a show of support and male bonding all of the boys stayed up late the night before his report and shaved their heads completely. Ben let the boys and Bonnie use the clippers on his head for the first part.Then they pulled out the Bic. They loved it and Ben has continued to keep his head shaved. We'll see how long he goes. I have to admit, it's kind of growing on me... obviously not on him though.

Brick Wall

Sometimes I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall. Jared and Gwen were both invited to apply to attend another school in our district for gifted services. I think the application has more questions then some of my college applications had. There are questions for Ben and I to answer as well as a page narrative we have to write about our children's lives (They are only 5 and 7 how much can we tell unless we go into detail about potty training and stuff) and why we feel they would benefit from gifted services. There are also four questions that the kids have to answer. I would have a hard time answering these questions for me, but getting a kindergartener and a first grader to answer them is like pulling teeth. My very favorite conversation during the process took place tonight between myself and Jared about this question: Write about a book, movie, song, piece of art, or poem that has made a strong influence on you. This was after several other attempts to get him to understand the point of the question.

Me: Okay, what is your favorite movie?

Jared: Return of the Jedi.

Me: Great! Why do you like that movie?

Jared: Because there's light sabers and guns and things blow up.

Me: Alright... Did you learn a lesson from that movie?

Jared: That if your Dad is evil you should try to kill him.

Good thing Ben's not evil.