Grandpa and Grandma

We love having my parents close enough by (Prescott, AZ) that they can come for visits here and there. Plus it's always a good excuse to go to Barro's Pizza with them! Love you guys!

Swim Team

I've always known other moms who bear the summer heat while their kids do swim team every morning....but I never could get my self to commit to it. This summer I decided it was worth a try. Surprisingly, it was a good time and the kids did an amazing job learning all four strokes. Each Thursday they competed in a swim meet which was the best part. Funny how excited they can get over a ribbon! We are impressed with our little athletes and will for sure add swim team to the list next summer when Ella gets to race too. Great job Kylie and Ryan!

Kylie getting ready for the buzzer to go off for her freestyle swim.

Ryan is off for backstroke. He's pretty fast on this one and his arms look like windmills.So happy with his ribbon!

Way to go girl!

Ryan ended up competing in the finals in three strokes (breast, back, and butterfly) and also on a relay team. They got first place and were happy to have upgraded to a medal. Kylie also competed in the finals for breaststroke.

Huntington Beach

Memorial Day weekend we took off and went to Huntington Beach for a little vacation....We went straight to the beach...

...Dave taught Ryan and Kylie how to surf and boogey board...

...then did a lot of surfing himself. Waves weren't that great he said.

The kids buried themselves in the sand....

...built sand castles...

...and looked for shells.

More boogey boarding....

... and playing in the sand.

And just RELAXING!

The funnest thing was cruising the boardwalk on these bikes. Ryan loved riding a purple bike with a banana seat, especially because it had a bell on it he could ring.

We had a great time and will for sure do this again soon!

Derby Girl

This year, Kylie's pine wood derby car was more successful than last year AND "Dad" spent less time making it. I think Kylie's "surf board" car ended up getting 5th place overall. It was pretty fun to watch her face when it came in 1st on the first race down the ramp. Much improved from last year by far. Plus she was awarded "Most Colorful" car.

Dave is getting some good practice in so that when Ryan is in scouts he will really know what's goin' on. Watch out Dads...(because hey, what kid really makes the car all by themselves? We know this is serious competition!)

Most Crafty

At the end of the school year, Ella's preschool class had awards that they had voted on. Her classmates voted her the "most crafty" of the bunch. This girl always wants to cut, color, or glue something! There is a constant mess on the kitchen table of scraps left behind by this budding artist. She is taking after her big sister Kylie!

Santa Claus???

Whenever Ella gets in the bubble bath she has to put the bubbles on her face so she looks like Santa. She gets the biggest kick out of it. She insists upon me getting my camera to take pictures. I'm sure your kids have done this before too because who doesn't LOVE Santa?

When we were in Zions at my family reunion we went to a little rodeo at the ranch where we stayed. This white haired man was all dressed up sitting on his horse, watching the rodeo, and smoking a cigarette. Ella looked at me perplexed and said, "Mom... Santa smokes!!"
It was so funny the way she said it. I had to quickly explain that it wasn't Santa. (But it could have been one of his "little helpers" from the mall.)

Lake Saguro Swim

In order to prepare ourselves for "open water swimming" Dave and I have been trying to do some long lake swims. We did this 2000 meter race at Lake Saguro to get use to our wetsuits and swimming with other people around. I've done one other lake swim before but this one was super scary. The lake was very choppy and everytime I took a breath...I got water in my face. There was a little panicking going on for each of us that day, but we managed to get through it and learned a little more for the next one.

No...I didn't float on my back until it was over!