lots to blog about

Where to start? It seems like Summer time happens so fast, that all of a sudden, it's been a couple weeks and we've had all sorts of fun stuff happening. A few weeks ago, one of Scott's clinics was in the Springville parade. We got to go down and help hand out candy and little sunscreen packets. The boys loved it! Will was a great candy-passer-outer, and Eli had a ball riding in the truck and on Dad's shoulders.
They also enjoyed playing around in the back of the truck and watching all the people go by. They were really cute to wave at people, it was a fun morning. After the parade, we went to eat at Joe Bandidos. It was tasty!

Like you saw in my last post, Will has been doing lots of swimming this summer. Here are some shots of him at his lessons. He was so brave to do everything his teachers asked him to do and I was so impressed at his improvement in just two weeks. This lady is amazing and we will for sure be going back for more lessons next summer and probably the next few summers after that.
Me and Eli did a "mommy and me" class and it was a blast. Eli is a crazy man in the water, but we had so much fun. It was great to see him learn to hold his breath and enjoy swimming around with mom!
After dinner last week, my brother Mark (at who's house we currently reside) took Will, two of his kids, and Scott up to some water falls in the canyon behind their house. I love this about Utah. Just footsteps out your door and you're in the mountains! They had a great time, and it was so fun for them to do a little hike and enjoy a nice summer evening. Will has been having a ball his older cousins Zebbie (Rebekah) and Denver. They are so sweet to him and play with and entertain him pretty much all day long. It's awesome. :)
"The Bear Cave" on their hike. Grrrrrrr.
Cool shot of the water fall.
Will looks up to Denver in a lot of ways, but he loves that Denver plays baseball. So, Denver gave him one of his old hats that doesn't fit anymore. Now Will, loves to wear his hat! He looks so cute it in it, I love his ears.

Last week, we headed to my sisters house in Grand Junction. We left after swimming on Thursday. My parents came with us, which was great, since I could ride with them and not have to drive the 4 hours by myself. The boys loved being at Aunt Lisa's. She's always up for fun, snacks, lots of pool time, and her kids are so sweet. When I was younger, I used to take care of all my nieces and nephews all the time. When I got a little older, I used to wonder who would take care of and play with MY kids, since I was the youngest. Well I have soon found out that these older cousins are awesome entertainers and babysitters for my boys! They love them and the boys love their "BIG" cousins. :) Will had a blast at Lisa's and cried when he had to leave. He also cried most of the way home saying "I don't want to visit any more people, I just want to have our own house....." Me too, Will! Me too! Soon.......

Popsicles by the pool.
Yes, Eli is still in PJ's.... we were going swimming, I didn't want to change him twice!

We took a hike on Saturday and it was awesome. Great weather and the kids had a lot of fun, until Will got stung by a fire ant! It was pretty traumatic. In fact, he insisted on being carried the whole rest of the hike.
My sweet little boys. Will is probably the kindest, most watchful big brother I've ever seen. Eli is lucky to have him! He is always willing to take his hand and help him out and show him the way. I love that Will is headed straight up the trail pulling Eli behind him and Eli is not watching where he's going, just checking things out.
Stopped for a rest. This was after the ant incident. We had to re-group and calm a certain 5 year old down a little bit. The hike was cool though, we saw lots of lizards and we saw dinosaur bones and learned about some of the mesa's and the formations from a nice hiker man who showed up and gave us a tour. It was a lot of fun, and especially fun to get nice and hot and then go jump in the pool when we got home!
My little swimmer boys. Gotta love the goggles Will has on! Eli kept wearing a pair too but every time I tried to take a picture he would rip them off. It was pretty hilarious to see him with purple goggles on though! Will loved his googles and LOVED swimming. Eli loved the Cheetos, and I think he stood right there on the pool deck and ate most of the bag while the grown ups were there chatting.
The day after we got home from Grand Junction, we headed up to SLC to This is the Place. THIS time it was open and such a great day to visit the park. It wasn't too hot, not too crowded and everything was OPEN! We met my sister GayLynn + her daughter McKenzie and her baby Carver + her other daughter Callie, my sister in-law Kari + her daughter Jenna (who's birthday it was!), my sister Krista + her four kiddos, and we brought Zebbie with us. It was a group, but we had a lot of fun! Here are the kids: (Will did NOT want to take a picture)
Here we are, my sister GayLynn and I with Will and Eli on the train. Eli LOVES trains, cars, trucks, you name it. The trains were his favorite part. Everytime he heard the "choo choo!" he would stop and point and get really big eyes and say "Whoa. Choo!"

This is a fun replica boat that the kids loved playing on. I love how Will can barely see over the edge in the picture below. Right here by the boat, there is a little stream and two mountain men show the kids how to pan for gold. Once they find a gold nugget, they get to trade it in for candy. The kids had a lot of fun searching for gold, and Eli had fun throwing rocks in the stream.
There is also a smaller train that goes around a little pond and through a tunnel. Eli loved this train even more than the other one. Will was a great "seat belt" for Eli and they went around and around and around. It was cute to see them, and watch them laugh with each other.

They also got to ride horses. It made us really excited to go visit Aunt GayLynn and ride her horses and see her farm! Can't wait!!
See? I told you Will was a great big brother, he was willing to do everything to help Eli all day and he enjoyed riding the horse with Eli too. Eli liked the horse a lot and kept saying "hi" to the horse, it was cute.
A couple days ago, we headed to my sisters house to play in the water. We had a great time. This is our new pool! The kids played outside ALL day long. It was so relaxing, and so fun to just sit and chit chat with my sister while our kids played endlessly. I'm reminded more and more of the wonderful benefits that come with living near family. What a blessing, and how special for my boys to get to know and love their cousins and Aunt and Uncles. They have amazing people to care for them and love and adore them. I'm feeling so blessed.

Whew, caught up! That was just two weeks! I LOVE Summer, so many calm and relaxing nights, and so many fun and busy days. We're still eating popsicles to our hearts content and trying to spend lots of time outside before it gets unbearably hot.

This weekend, Scott is running his half marathon, so more pictures to come! Good luck Scott!