Good Friends ..Good Dinner!

(L to R Rachelle, Patty, Me, Amy)

Two of my good friends from high school were in town for Spanish Fork Fiesta Days. Amy flew in from San Diego with her husband Sunil, whom we were excited to meet, and Patty flew in from San Francisco (her boyfriend Matt couldn't make this trip). We celebrated by having a tasty mexican dinner at La Casita...it was de-lish! It was fun to visit and catch up...Amy is expecting her first baby in January! I wish we could see each other more often. :)

Speedy Spaniard 10K Race

(After the race ...L to R Lesa, Me, Susie, Kris, and Kerri)

Well, the big race was yesterday and it was so much fun!! I ran it with some of my good friends from high school. The day was perfect...it was an early start at 6:30am and was a little overcast so that the sun wasn't blinding us as we ran our 6.2 miles!! I finished in 54 minutes , which I believe is faster than I did it in years past so that was exciting! I can't believe how many people show up to run this race....it was fun to see old classmates there too. Gotta love Spanish Fork Fiesta Days!

Taking Flight!!

Our flight to and from Albuquerque was at the crack of dawn!!! Grampa likes to get an early start! Syd was so good and woke up w/ no complaint or crying. She was just so excited to get in the plane. Here we are on the runway departing Albuquerque and the sun is rising over the mountain.

To Albuquerque We Go

Lauren is turning *3* YAH.. so Syd, Gramee, Papa and I am headed to Albuerque in the morning!! Papa (or Grampee as my kids say) is flying the plane and we have an early departure at 6:30am!! We are excited to go in Papa's plane but we are sad the Carter, Alex and Kennedy can't come. I am sure they will have their own little party at home!! :)

Party Of Five

Here are my FIVE beautiful kids! All decked out in their patriotic duds!

(Please note....Alex & Mykee are wearing fake eyelashes not makeup...see post below. ;)

CHOC-O-SYD

This is an oldie but a goodie!! This is what happened when Carter watched the girls one night. :) At least he took pics, right?? YUMMY!

Fake Eyelash Fun!

My cute girls sporting some fake sparkly eyelashes for the 4th of July. Spectacular!

Belly Floppin Bryton

Bryton took 1st place at the Belly Flop contest this morning at Riverton Pool!! Look at his perfect form......what grace!! Simply Awesome!! All the people were cheering for him! He won a new towel! :) Go Bryton!

I WON!

I ran the Herriman Step Rock 5K Run at 7am on Saturday morning. I was way tired from staying up until 1 AM and being at Lagoon the night before but I managed to take 1st place in my age group and 4th place overall the women!!! I was awarded a gold medal. Now please note... I wasn't in it to win it....I was doing it just for fun and to run w/ my friends Heidi and Lori...so winning was an added bonus!! I used to run alot of 5/10K races in my early 20's and the last one I did was in 2002. So it has been fun to get back into it! Only 4 more weeks until the Speedy Spainard 10K Race....I will be running w/ some of my friends from high school so it should be fun!

There's Only One Lagoon

Bryton & Mykee are here for their summer visit and we are sooo excited to have them! We do lots of fun things while they are here. One of which is LAGOON!! We took Alexandra, Mykee, and Bryton there on Friday. Twelve hours of fun baby!

Before the Rattlesnake Rapids......And after......totally soaked!!

After 30 minutes of coaxing and a promise of a new Build*A*Bear, Alex decided to ride the new roller coaster WICKED and the FIRE DRAGON COLLOSSUS...I thought she was going to die!! But once through the upside down "loop *D* loop" she was yelling "I DID IT! I DID IT!!". We were all so proud and excited that she did it!! Each one of the kids as they get tall enough to ride it get their picture taken w/ dad in front of it. So we now have Alex's to add to the collection!

Our Daddy's Day

I am grateful for such a wonderful husband and father! He is creative, thoughtful, and kind. I have the best time with him and appreciate him and all the hard work he does to provide for our family. So thanks for being such fun husband and great dad Carter... I love ya!

The girls love to give him kisses!!!

And of course, presents!!

A funny story..Kennedy had made a gift for Carter at preschool. She didn't tell me that a candy bar was part of the present. It sat in the gift bag in the car for 3 days in the hot sun. So here Carter & Kenny are laughing at the melted candy!

This Makes Me Happy

It's back... my favorite summer TV show!

Hawaiian Day for Kenny

Okay, Kennedy was all excited Hawaiian Day at preschool....wouldn't you know when the day arrived the weather dropped down in the 50's (in June) and was raining. Oh well, she looked adorable anyway and said they had a great time indoors!! Crazy weather!

Hip Hip Hooray.. No More First Grade!!

After 8 LONG weeks of driving back and forth to Herriman, Alexandra completed 1st grade!! She earned the Highest Flying Hawk award for setting 20 goals at the start of the school year and completing them by the end. Her teacher said that she always goes above and beyond what she is assigned and was so happy we decided to let her finish the school year there. Alexandra, you are a dream come true...dad and I love you so much! Congratulations!!

Alex's Lightbulb Moment

Last week the girls had their dance rehearsal/recital in Salt Lake City. While driving there Kennedy asked "Mom, where is Salt Lake City?" I then took the opportunity to teach them about Salt Lake City and explain how it is the capital city of Utah. Without hesitation, Alex said "Oh, I get it ... Salt Lake is the capital so our city is the lowercase city!" LOL! I love those moments!!

(i was looking through old pics and found this of Alex when she just turned 3..where did her blonde hair go??)

Dancin' Feet

Kennedy and Alexandra had their dance recital last night at the Marriot Center for Dance at the University of Utah. They did such a great job and we were so proud of them!!

Alexandra did two dances the first was....Going to the Chapel (hence, the veil) and the other Heaven Hop (she had wings and a halo). cute!

Kennedy performed "Playhouse" in her California polka -dots!! Adorable!

The theater did not allow us to photgraph or video the performance so I have no *action* shots but here they are after enjoying their beautiful flowers!!

A good time was had by all!!! YEAH for Alex! YEAH for Kennedy!

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

We took our little ladies on a get away to St. George to stay at Grandma & Grandpa Reed's condo and to do some swimming.

We also had a night out on the town and went to see Shrek the Third!!

It was fun to spend time as a family...here we are playing the girls favorite game!

And of course swimming, swimming, and more swimming .....

Two Peas In A Pod

Thanks Lauren for coming to stay w/ us and being here for Sydney's birthday!!! We miss you already!!

Happy Birthday Sydney!!

Today is Sydney's birthday I can hardly believe she is 3 years old!! We celebrated by going to Kangaroo Zoo...(get the bouncy's out, she is our own lil tigger) and having a polka dot party!!

I asked her where she wanted to go for lunch for her special day and she shouted "CAFE RIO", surprise, surprise.....


Cafe Rio Splendor

JUMPITY, JUMP, JUMP!!

Hip, Hip Hooray for presents and cake!!

A little Lovin from the Brick Oven...Syd's birthday celebration started a little early this year. Papa suggested we go to Brick Oven last Sat night for her birthday. So here we are once again at our favorite place to celebrate birthdays!!

Mommy & Sydney

Hezzie, Joe and Sydney (love the cheeeeeze)!

Anne, Gramee, and Alexandra

Dad and Papa enjoying some good food!

The waitress had Syd stand on her chair to sing her "happy birthday"...we happened to be in the banquet room and it was filled w/teenagers. As you can imagine once the rendition of "happy birthday" began the whole room was singing and yelling....it was sooooo loud!! but fun. We love you Syd, you are a delight to have in our family!!