Wedding, Lagoon, and Pioneer Day!

Well we abandoned Boise for 10 days to head South to visit fam. First stop was Preston, Idaho for Dan and Nicole's wedding. Wedding was in Thane's parents backyard and the kids had a blast being involved in all the festivities.

Not the best pictures but here we are with the happy couple :)

Cute kiddos at the wedding...

After the wedding the kiddos and I headed to Utah to hit Lagoon!! Crazy to say but my kids have NEVER been there! They had a blast! We discovered it was bounceback time so we actually ended up going twice. Alexis was brave and rode ALL the rides. Ethan was brave for Ethan and rode MOST of the ride and only had tears for the ferris wheel (go figure!!) Stephens and Holt cousins came with us....such a fun time!!

Alexis and Rachel

Ethan was the only one not too tall for Bulgy the Whale!!

Bumper cars. Ethan was so cute because he could barely see over the steering wheel!

The front fountains were a great way to cool down!

I love carnival games! The kids played darts, ping pong ball bounce, lucky ducks etc. and walked away with 3 stuffed animals each!! Here they are with cousin Cayden...

Big thanks to gramp and gram Henze for watching Brylee while we played at Lagoon!!

Since we were in Utah we (of course) had to do a big Pioneer Day celebration on the 24th! My parens rented a big old waterslide that the kids had an absolute blast on!! All the grandchildren were WORN OUT by the end of the day! I tried my hand at the slide and walked away with a gigantic bruise and a serious hobble. Note to self: IMMEDIATELY move out of the way when you reach the bottom or other children will ram into you and create a pile-on! Anywho....here are some action shots from the slide.

Ethan with cousin's Brooke and Spencer...

While the big kids played on the waterslide, Brylee played in her own personal pool :)

Final item of the night (before fireworks of course) was rides in Grandpa's Model A!

I didn't get any pics of the fireworks (I think it's cuz of my waterslide wound and that I was completely FRIED) but we did have a good time lighting the skies up!! I think Grandpa Henze might be a bit of a pyro and we enjoyed a good show!!

Fun times! I think my kids are having a great summer!!!

Ethan's 7th birthday party!

I'm quite a bit late posting this....but better late than never!! We had a b-day party for E the weekend following his birthday. It's always hard to have one right on his b-day since it is a holiday. It was a very low key party, but I think everyone had a good time! We had the slip n' slide, tramp with sprinkler, pizza, popsicles....and a lot of sunshine!!

I love this picture of the boys where they are all at different heights on the swings...

Opening gifts...

I'm calling it a success!!!

4th of July fun!

4th of July weekend was CRAZY BUSY for us. Busy - but fun! Not only did we move, but we celebrated E's birthday and had a fun filled holiday weekend with the Holt and Stephen fam's!!

Started off the festivities on Saturday at the FREEZING COLD parade. I mean like in the 50's. Brrrrr!!! First year we didn't get to waterfight with the firemen. Oh well!! At least there was lots of candy!!!

Yummy burger/dog bbq with cousins!! All the sisters had to make a trip to the store since we had NO FOOD (due to the move!!) Burgers and dogs are always a hit though and Thane got to break in his new bbq grill he got for Father's Day!

Thane and my big sis Michele...

Bro-in-law Dave

Bro-in-law Colby

Everyone chowing down. I love Thane in the back holding his corn on the cob up...

Cousins...

Aunt Kristy bought 4th of July cups for all the kiddos.....very fun!

Doing snakes, getting ready for the "late night" fireworks!

Brylee chilling with cousins...

That's good parenting right there...

Sparklers!!

(Another hit of the night was each kid holding roman candles out over the pond. Another bit of good parenting!)

So blessed to live in this free country and celebrate it up every July 4th!!

Ethan is SEVEN!!!!

Well my little firecracker Ethan turned SEVEN on July 4, 2010. He was a surprise being born on the 4th (he was due on the 18th) and shares a holiday birthday with his Grandpa Beckstead and his cousin Spencer. This year he got to celebrate his birthday with his cousin, and the entire Stephens and Holt crews came to visit us!!

Birthday breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. I'm pretty sure that Ethan ate a pound of bacon all by himself :)

Classic E smile, excited about his gifts!! Highlights this year were Star Wars toys, Nerf dart gun, Zhu Zhu pets and a basketball hoop!!

Grandpa and Grandma got a big smile with their gift of Lego Harry Potter! He was a very happy camper!!

Anything Star Wars always gets a smile :)

P and F cake!!

Ethan's birthday is always a party and a half because of his birthday and the 4th of July!! I can't believe my little man is 7 years old!!

Here are 7 things about Ethan!!!

* He (almost) always has a smile on his face
* He is the best big brother and loves to make Brylee laugh
* He is constantly wiggling and "on the go"
* He loves to ride his bike
* He loves anything with wheels, and anything to do with Star Wars
* He would rather play with his Dad than anyone else in the world
* Once he start laughing, everyone else in the room has to laugh along - it's contagious!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN....WE LOVE YOU!!!