Back to school

Benjamin is a Junior taking UNLV classes, Emma is a Sophomore and class vice president, Noah is starting 6th grade and his first year in middle school, and Navy is in fourth grade with our favorite teacher Mrs. Reid and my last baby in elementary school. 

For first day of school dinner we drove all over to get each kid their pick of dinner. It was definitely an adventure and took way longer than I thought. We hit up Zupas, Starbucks, Blaze, McDonald’s and Cafe rio.

Love all our people that sent pics on the first day!

 

Last of summer

We had a cousin swim and pizza party. All the kids swam all day, ate and rode the zip line. Jeff and Melissa have a giant floating pad that the kids had a blast on all afternoon.  Lots of smiles and laughing. Brantley kept us going with his need for more sunscreen constantly. Benjamin and Umi were the best older cousins playing with all the kiddos all day. 

Charlotte was gone for over a month being an FSY leader- so we celebrated having her home with dinner and swimming. She played and swam with the kids all night. They all missed her so much and I’m sure she missed all of our craziness  hahaha. 

The day before school we headed up to Mr Charleston with my family and had a picnic. It’s always the best place to get some fresh air and get away from the city noise to be together. 

Leading up to school we had all the back to school orientations and lots of school shopping. We swam, slept and played all summer. Noah even got to squeeze in a last minute temple trip and dinner with Cash. 

 

July

July is our anniversary! We celebrated 16 years and had a fun date night. We ate yummy Thai food at Lotus of Siam and then saw the new Superman movie.

We have had lots of pool time, cousins and dogs. Ginger is not having the swimming time yet haha. My mom and Emma kept trying to teach her, she did so well, but did not think it was play time.   

This month Grandma DeeDee’s cousin day was Hawaiian themed. She went all out with the blow ups, food 

, games and goodie bags that had a towel that says cousin time. The kids had so much fun and it’s great seeing them get some good cousin time in!

Jake and Noah went camping with the Young Men in our ward. They went to Cedar City to the temple and Noah said that was his favorite part of the whole trip. They camped at Duck Creek and went and explored all of the different caves and packed in lots of hikes. Stunning photos and a great weekend. 

Getting ready for the new school year, Grandma had the kids over and they made the cutest vision and goal boards 

 

Utah Weekend

 

We have had a busy summer and came up with a free weekend so we surprised the kids and went up to see Taliah and Ben. The kids were so excited because they have begged all summer to go there. Our first night we hit up a new store that is like an outdoor/active Tjmaxx. Taliah and I found the cutest portable coolers, perfect for our mountain trip the next day. Then we went back to their apartment and played games and they spoiled us with yummy homemade pizza and dessert pizza. 

The next morning we went to the Provo farmers market. They had lots of food, treats, produce and so much. The best part was Kelsey and the kids came to meet us and shop. We could not get enough of Oakley’s sweet hugs. My friend that used to live in Vegas also came. It was so great catching up with Shanni. Navy made out shopping with cute new jewelry and the rest of us enjoyed sour dough, Brazilian limeades, cherries and peaches. 

We went and made sandwiches and loaded up to head up Provo Canyon. We all loved the trees and they had great picnic areas with real grass and a little creek by bus. They played spike ball, vollleyball and the littles played in the water. I actually fell asleep on the blanket while they went off and explored a little hike. 

Noah got a skateboard and so they were taking turns going down hill and then running off to prevent crashing with the speed. Ben and Benjamin got in a water fight, I love that they hang out and always have so much fun. 

Next up we tried some school shopping and found some great deals on shoes and uniform pants for the kids. Navy would have bought all the shoes because Taliah found all the best ones. Taliah and I got a quick sister trip to pick up ice cream for a movie night. We stayed up till at least 1 each night playing games and watching movies. We had a great weekend and sure love these two!

On the way back to Vegas we stopped at Gramps house. He had all dinner all ready for us and even made us dessert. The kids picked veggies in his garden too. Navy played games the whole time with his friend Cindy. I laid on the couch a bit of a wreck and sore so it was a grateful and needed break from the drive. We love you Jeff!

Busy June week

Emma and Benjamin got to go to FSY at UNLV together. They both had the best time and had so many friends there. Definitely a difference in pics I get from Emma vs Benjamin haha. Emma even celebrated her birthday there, so we drove down and brought her treats and Ginger to hug.  I love to see the growth they have when they get back from a week of learning about the gospel, making new friends, amazing teachers and classes and more. Benjamin even joined the choir program- may have had some extra push from some new friends to join, but he did it and had a good time. Emma’s favorite part was when all of the youth sang. I still remember from when I went as a teen and that spiritual moment you have with so many youth. 

Taliah and Ben came down for the weekend. We had days and days of swimming, food and fun. We went and had the perfect weather at the drive in. We ended the weekend with Charlotte’s boyfriend’s mission farewell. He will do great things! I basked in the joy of having all my sisters together and family. We had a tough loss with both of my parents dogs, but my dad and grandma shared that the angels we sometimes need in heaven we don’t realize are the family and love we have here. It was really nice being together surrounded by our angels. 

It was a pretty eventful week. We got home late Sunday night from Benjamin’s last club tournament and big win. First thing Monday morning Benjamin and Emma went off to FSY and I went to the hospital. The last few months have been pretty crazy with lots of testing and drs. Final conclusion was to have a hysterectomy- the best way to fix multiple problems with one surgery and to move forward as healthy as possible. I’m so grateful for all of the help I received from taking care of kids, bringing meals, treats, comfy clothes, flowers and more by my incredible friends and family. Huge shout out to Jake taking care of me, love you all!

 

Taking home the hardware

Benjamin’s last club tournament of the season was pretty crazy. They were playing right down the street from where the riots were in downtown LA. We had a curfew imposed so the tournament got rearranged a little. Saturday night we were even put on a soft lockdown because pepper spray was being sprayed outside the tournament. We saw lots of damage to property and small businesses, but we made it out without any incidents. We were really glad no one was hurt and said lots of prayers for all around us and the peaceful protesters. 

With everything going on we were short a few players and then the morning of games two more players weren’t coming. Coach called Benjamin first thing and said he needed him in a new position for the tournament. Man oh man did Benjamin show up. Not only did he play a different position with no practice all season, this kid absolutely showed up! I can not say enough how proud I was. He completely crushed it- not just one match but ALL weekend long. I haven’t seen him play this well and so consistent before. He came in with the serves, kills, aces, blocks and not only that but guiding his team calling plays and balls from back row. He was positive and cheered his team on the whole time. Parents and coaches were complimenting him the entire weekend and coming to watch him play. Put the biggest smile on his sweet face.

 He had no subs so played all, 24 sets, 9 matches, every point. We had multiple sets where we were down by up to 8 and came back to win. As well as Benjamin played this weekend- his whole team absolutely brought it! They only had 7 players and brought home the trophy and bronze medals for Gold bracket! They lost in the third set 15-17 of the semis- I will never say enough how hard this team worked and how amazing they played!! Go Vegas United 16 white boys! 

Happy fourth

 We started off the holiday at our ward breakfast and water balloon fight. The kids loved it and were getting into it with the leaders and kids. It was such a nice morning we enjoyed the breakfast and just hanging out with all of our friends on the grass in the gorgeous weather. 

After we headed to my mom and dad’s for bbq. Jake made delicious steak as always- love that grill master! I loaded up on all the fun American themed candy and snacks while we laid out and kids played games and swam and of course more ping pong challenges. 

I bought some baby fireworks, a ton of neon sparklers and some special snap it’s. The guy said oh no these are super loud. I thought it was a joke with $5 a box for pop it’s! Um no he wasn’t kidding those were crazy loud and intense pop it’s and the kids loved them. We had fun with the sparklers and then did the fireworks- one of them legit blew up instead of going off. Then Kylee had given Charlotte some random fireworks we decided to light. Of course even when she isn’t there Aunt Kylee came in clutch with real fireworks that surprised us all! We drove home and detoured to the gun range where you could see the fireworks from the whole city. So many going off and so pretty on a great night. Grateful for my family and freedom :) 

June

 Jake and I went to the temple during grandma night. We had our summer work pool party, swimming, games and bbq. Love my job! Us girls met up and had a spa day of relaxing and chatting, which was so needed after being so busy- had a great time. Random pics just living through summer. 

The kids have had lots of cousin time, they have gone down to downtown summerlin a few times for free concerts and activities. Grandma Deedee even threw a cousin night that was pirate themed. The kids dressed up and had the best time playing games, eating and crafting. The majority of the cousins were there which is so hard and so it was a great time. 

Navy and Noah jump at any chance to go to Uncle Brent’s and be in the garden. They played with chickens and saw all the fun things he has growing. Then of course Diane and Brent loaded them up with not only fresh produce but candy and popsicles. Fun morning at the City Ranch. 

We had a lot of family in town for Aunt Joyce’s wedding weekend. We swam and danced and ate. Benjamin also decided my mom and dad’s kitchen table is a great ping pong size and likes to convert it over and challenge grandpa. 

Emma was at girls camp at Mt. Charleston. She had a great time and lots of laughs. It was cut a little short so she could make it back for the wedding. I am so glad she got to go and make the memories with fun girls and leaders. 

Jake even got to go to his first girls camp for the walk in faith activity and testimony night. 

The wedding was here and went off spectacularly. I love seeing the joy in Joyce’s eyes. Joyce and Doug are totally a teenage couple in love and just radiate happiness. 

End of school

Navy finished third grade and grew so much with her reading. 

Noah finished elementary school. We had his graduation program and a date after. Can’t believe he will be in middle school next. 

Emma crushed freshman year as Freshman class president and is ready to start again as Sophomore class Vice president. 

Benjamin stayed busy with school and finished his sophomore year. Officially a Jr and now doing college classes with UNLV. 

 

Easter

Our stake helped with a huge program for Walk with Jesus- it was an entire church building set up and decorated to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. A stunning and moving event. Navy even participated in a multi church choir program with our primary kids and sang. 

Our annual Easter egg hunt with Jake’s family. This year I helped Melissa, Tara and Deedee stuff all the eggs and saw even more so how much work goes in to putting this on for all the cousins. We had a store this year where kids could buy snacks and more, and played minute to win it to games which were so fun for all of us. 

We had a beautiful church service where Emma even sung with her friends. Had a delicious lunch with my family as well. A great day celebrating our savior with family. 

 

Birthday/volleyball

Benjamin had a tournament in CA . Since Emma’s birthday was coming up she came and wanted Grandma to come with us. All she wanted was shopping and sun. 

We watched Benjamin play, but got lots of beach time and shopping in. We had yummy food and fun nights laughing.  We did all the shopping we could, spa nights in the room and found our favorite hummus at a beach farmers market. Love my family and these little memories we can make together. Happy birthday Emma!