WAY back in July...

I am SO bugged about this post! I had it almost done about 2 weeks ago, and then it all disappeared! It made me SOO mad! Anyway - This is the rest of our July. We did a few things in between the holiday celebrations and family trips. (I am still working on our Disney trip posts and might be for awhile!) I realize it was a FEW months ago, but it makes me happy to see the sun in these pictures! And, I am REALLY THAT far behind!
July 7th - We made a trip to Willow Park Zoo with our ward play group. There was a few girls who put together fun little weekly field trips and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to very many with all the crazy stuff going on in summer, but this one was lots of fun! Avery had so much fun on her first trip to our little zoo! I can't believe it took us so long to get her there! She especially loved the monkeys and the ducks.

The kids checking out some animals

Cute little stroller baby

Sisters!

Rylee wanted to pet the big tortoise. Silly girl!

All 3 kiddos - Avery is too busy with her snacks to smile! I do love her foot sticking out the bottom.

Cute girls - Allie, Allie's cousin, Rylee and Madi - We love this ward! The kids have so many cute friends to play with! These girls are so cute together!

The boys and Nora! James, Logan, Morgan and Nora (Logan's soccer crush!)

This is just a small portion of the BIG group we had that day, but we were the only ones who lasted until the end for pictures. Isn't that a cute bunch of kids? Sarah, Allie's cousin, Olivia, Rylee, Madi, James, Logan, Allie, Morgan, Nora, Avery and Miles

The mommys - Jenn, Jen and I

Avery watching the monkeys - She LOVED them!!!

My monkeys!

July 7th - Swinging in the backyard. We loved having the swingset all summer. Especially Avery! I don't think she was happier anywhere than in her swing!

Love that happy face and those cute toes!

Logan learning how to pump

Everyone loves to swing!

All 3 swinging

Ry loves to swing, too!

July 8th - This is totally gross, but it had me and Ry laughing so hard, we had to get a quick picture. Poor Avery and her gross bubble burgers!

July 8th - The grass is in and we got to try out the sprinklers for the VERY first time! The kids loved it! Logan was a little cautious at first, but soon he was loving it!

Avery wasn't feeling great, so I didn't want to get her in her suit and stuff. She loved watching the kids though and wanted to play, too. She is so funny when you put her in the grass though. She really isn't sure about it and doesn't really move because she hates the feel of the grass. That didn't last too long, but it was kind of nice to have her stay put for a little bit.

Ry running

This is an awful picture, but I love Logan's face! He looks like he is having so much fun!

July 9th - We were so excited to have our friend's from Vegas, the White's, come for a visit in July. We love hanging out with them and we were so happy we could return the favor and let them stay at our house since we stay at their's whenever we are in Vegas. The kids had a ball with their kids and we got to go out for a nice adult dinner, the girls did some shopping and the boys golfed. I did an awful job taking pictures while they were here, because we were having so much fun! We did go to Aggie Ice Cream one night, so they could see where the REALLY good Utah ice cream comes from. I think they liked it, but they probably wouldn't admit it. Rylee loved her PINK cone!

Logan covered in chocolate

Daddy and Ry - I love her excited face! She loves her Aggie Ice Cream!

Natalie and Logan - such cute little buddies! He asks when he can see her again all the time!

I think this might have been Avery's first real taste of ice cream and she was LOVING it!!! She couldn't get enough and wanted it to keep coming faster!

Some of our group - Spencer, Jen, Natalie, Rylee and Darren

July 10 - We got out the kiddie pool and the kids had a blast! We REALLY enjoyed having a yard this summer! It was our first time since being married that we had our VERY own grass and it was exciting for us. The kids loved it even more, I think. The slide into the pool was a big hit!

I think the water was a little cold!

When they were done, I found the kids like this.... I think they were being turtles and they were trying to warm up. They are so funny sometimes!

Emerging from their shells...

July 10 - You can't spend a summer here without a trip to the Demolition Derby! It is the best! The people watching there can't be beat! The kids really enjoyed it, too, although Rylee wasn't too sure about the loud noises. She looks good in her shades though.

Logan checking out the action! He was really into it and all the numbers on the cars and everything.

Avery was there, too and SO stinkin' cute!

I love my little diva!

I am so lucky to have such a happy baby who just goes with the flow and lets us do fun things! I love it! She loves to be out and about!

Logan is one cool dude!

Closeup!

Logan still loves his thumb.... and loves rubbing someone else's thumb even more! I'm still not sure when this ever started...or if it will ever stop.

July 11 - Avery at 41 weeks

July 13 - Little Miss A looking cute in Piggys! And starting to crawl EVERYWHERE!!!

July 12 - We took a trip to California in July and ordered the girls some new car seats. Rylee was so excited about her new PINK big girl car seat! She couldn't wait to try it out.

July 13 - Darren mowing the lawn for the FIRST time!!! Yeah!!! It feels so great to have grass!!! I don't know if we will still be so excited to mow the lawn next summer, but this summer it was a great thing.

July 25 - On our way back from California, we stopped at my parent's house for dinner. My cute little brother Kyle saved Logan and Rylee each a sparkler since we missed all the festitives for the 24th of July (Pioneer day). They loved it! What a cute uncle!

July 28 - Another little field trip day with the ward, this time to the Aquatic Center. The kids had a blast and I got sunburned from being in the sun way too long! We had a great time! Here is Logan with his buddy, Morgan. They spent most of the time playing Orca and trainer, I think since we had just got back from Sea World. Funny boys! It was a little scary at one point because Logan was trying to ride on Morgan's back and I think he almost drowned him! They had a great time though.

Rylee and her best buddy, Madi.

Avery hanging out poolside and showing off her very first tooth!!! She cut it while we were in California.

FIVE

Back in June, my Logan turned FIVE and since then, I have been compiling a list of things in my head to include in a post about him at 5 years old. The problem is, I hadn't taken the time to type it, so hopefully I can remember them! I figured I should get it posted since he will be five and a half in a few weeks and due for another post! I did do a little post on his birthday, but I wanted to add a few more things.

These are also the five year pictures I had done of him. The first two were done by my favorite family photographer in June and I love them! The others were ones I won a photography sitting at an auction and were in August and they aren't my favorites, but some of them were pretty cute.

Here are a few of Logan's favorites at FIVE:

Favorite Color: Blue (Aggie Blue, of course!)

Favorite TV Show: Dinosaur Train, Wipeout and Minute to Win It - He gets SO excited for Wipeout and Minute to Win It that I think he jumps the ENTIRE time he watches it! It is hilarious! He has also started turning our house into an obstacle course for the game. When Dad deleted an episode, he was in trouble and when he found out it wasn't coming on anymore (for the fall) he had a complete meltdown!!!

Favorite Movie: He loves ANY movie and gets super excited when we watch a show. We went to Toy Story 3 just before his birthday and I think it is safe to say that is NOT his favorite. I would say his favorite at 5 is probably still Cars, but it could change depending on the day.

Favorite Food: Pizza, Corn Dogs, Chicken Nuggets, anything Chicken, going anywhere out to eat (sounds healthy, huh???) I think his favorite restaurants right now are Firehouse Pizza and Chili's but he loves to go anywhere.

Favorite Teams: Real Salt Lake, the Aggies and the Jazz - He is a Sports nut and knows lots of stats, all the players names and numbers and he frequently breaks into an announcer voice and does commentary for the little games he plays up in his room. He is pretty good actually and may have a future in it. He will announce the starting line-up, sing the national anthem and everything! He also uses his little easel and magnetic numbers to keep score. It is very entertaining! He switches back and forth from sport to sport quite frequently so it is hard to keep up with him! We love it!!!

Favorite Toys: Logan LOVES his Star Wars action figures right now and is always playing something with them. He also loves to play anyone else's Wii (since we don't have one) and would play it ALL day if he could. He loves to play people's cell phones too or games on the computer. He is an electronics nut! He also LOVES his Buffalo that he got from Grandpa Bill when he was really little and sleeps with it every night. He had it forever and never really noticed it until recently and then Buzz, Beckham and Seal-y got the boot and now he sleeps with Buffalo. kind of funny how that works.

Favorite Book: This is a hard one! He loves all books and can read so great! He is really excited for school, too. I think one of his favorites at five is probably Dino-Soccer. He loves that one! He also loves his Cars look and find book.

Best Friend: Probably Morgan Jackman. He loves all his little soccer buddies and loves to go play at anyone's house or have a friend over all the time!

Favorite Place to Go: He loves to go just about anywhere - He loves going to the park, he loves visiting Grandma's, he loves the beach and anything in the water, he LOVES Disneyland and he really liked Sea World! He loves to travel and try new things. He also loves to go to any kind of sporting event.

Favorite Sport: Probably soccer. He also really likes basketball. He really likes any sport though. He is into baseball, football and even hockey!

What he wants to be when he grows up: a Paleontologist - He is pretty certain about this and LOVES all things Dinosaurs! He knows so much about them and even how to correctly pronounce all their names! He is constantly correcting me and Darren.

Logan's five year old stats:

Dang! I can't find the paper! I will have to add this later - I think he was right around 42 inches and 38 pounds....
Logan is so excited to go to school! He has been asking when he can go since his birthday and he realized that once he was five, he was going to school. He didn't realize he had to wait a couple of months. He is a great reader and can even do some math and is very curious about everything and asks lots of questions and tells me he loves science stuff. I love that he loves learning so much! He LOVED going to preschool this last year and loved his teacher Mrs Nicole. He was really sad when it was over.

Logan still sucks his thumb - mostly when he is tired or when he is just sitting watching TV or something. He also still likes to rub other people's thumbs and fingers. I keep thinking he will grow out of it, but he hasn't yet. He has started to wipe off Mom and Dad's kisses and we DON'T like that! He is very sweet though and loves to cuddle, when he is not too busy running around!

Logan loves to tell jokes! Sometimes they are real jokes and sometimes he makes up his own. He thinks they are hilarious though and when he does his laugh, it makes everyone else laugh, too.
Logan is such a sweet boy and the best big brother to his sisters! We are so lucky to have him in our family! He is such a blessing and I can't believe how quickly he is growing into a little man!!!

Moments

Today, Logan totally made my day! I sent him out the door to catch the carpool. He rarely even looks back once he is out the door. I went back inside to get Avery ready for a nap and Rylee some lunch and I hear him come running back in. He was saying he forgot something. Then, he ran up to me and gave me a big hug and kiss! He totally made my whole day! Oh, how I needed that at that moment! Of course, it gave me a little guilt because I had been yelling at him a few minutes before so he would be ready on time (something we struggle with every day), but I love that he did that! I love that he is such a sweet boy and I love that he still loves his mom and isn't embarassed to give me a hug and kiss! (He does wipe them off sometimes, but not today!) I have days where I really struggle with him being gone everyday to kindergarten and I wonder how he got so big so fast! That hug made me feel loved and needed! I love that sweet boy!!!

Downata Hot Springs

I am SO far behind on the blog, I don't even know where to start, so I just picked a random post that I had uploaded pictures for but never finished... Back in July, (July 29) we made a quick day trip up to Downata Hot Springs. It is about a 45 minute drive or so for us in Idaho. We had so much fun! We left in the early afternoon and made the drive and had a little picnic. We wanted it to be a family trip, but it is hard to get everyone in my family somewhere at the same time. So, we had our little family, Grandma and Grandpa and Jeff, Brad and Kyle, and Vanessa and her then boyfriend (now fiance) Brian. We missed Uncle Dean and Aunt Laura and Aunt Heather, Uncle Jay and Ethan!
Two of the cutest girls you will ever see in their adorable swim coverups!

All 3 kiddos! With their uncles there and all the fun, they weren't too interested in the food! They just wanted to get swimming!

Avery modeling my sunglasses! Isn't she cute? So, the weather looked great when we got there, but there were a few clouds in the distance. They moved in pretty quick though and by the time we finished our lunch, it looked like it would probably start raining soon. We paid for us to go, and as soon as we got our wristbands on and started to change, they announced the pool was closed due to lightning in the area! Great! They had big signs everywhere that said "NonRefundable" and we hadn't even got in the water yet... well, I think my brothers did, but not the rest of us! We were pretty bummed. We had to hang out in the little building and hope the storm passed over. Luckily for us, about a half hour later, they let us back out! Yeah!!!

Logan had a blast swimming! They had a water slide that he loved! They wouldn't let him go down with a life jacket though, so Grandpa was a good sport and always at the bottom to catch him. Logan got really good though and by the end of the day, he was swimming to the side all on his own. I guess those swim lessons paid off!

Logan ready for another turn on the slide

Logan with Grandpa

Rylee chilling in the kiddie pool - We all loved this place because the water was SO warm! Me and the girls hate swimming in cold pools!

Rylee and Grandma

They also had this way cute splash pad that the kids loved! Logan was running all over from place to place and having so much fun!

I think these little fountains were everyone's favorites.

Rylee really liked conducting the fountains and telling them when to go up and down. It was hilarious - She is a little bossy!

Cute Ry

Logan spraying Uncle Kyle - He thought he was so funny!

Daddy playing, too.

Aren't they so cute?

Avery and Papa

After awhile I put Avery in the fountains to see what she would do. I thought she would be a little nervous about it, but she LOVED it!

I love those chunky thighs!

Logan with his partner in crime - Uncle Kyle. They are so cute together!

I love that big smile!

My girls playing together - They were having so much fun!

Me and Logan

Daddy and Avery

Darren drove up after work and met us there right about the time that they reopened the place up. We stayed for about 2 or 3 hours and had so much fun! They had lots of fun slides (we could never get Logan to go down the big ones) and the water was awesome! It was a fun day! When we were ready to go, another big storm hit and they cleared the pool again and wouldn't let us shower or anything so it was kind of crazy to get out of there, but we finally got all our stuff and got on the road. It was a fun family day! I think we will go back again soon!