Family Pictures - Sneaks

Here are some "sneak previews" of the family pictures we took just over a week or two. This chic is truly talented. I know because I was there and didn't expect very many pictures to turn out. My kids are in a crazy phase where natural smiling is just not happening like it used to. I can't wait to see the rest of them. Check out her blog www.veronicareeve.blogspot.com and from there you can go to her photography site.

If you are interested in the Gap Friends and Family Discount let me know. 25% off Gap, Old Navy, Piperlime, Banana Republic - August 1st - 3rd

Tumbling
We took our cousins with us to tumbling on Friday - so much fun! I took a couple of videos but didn't think to take any still shots until the very end when Brady gave me an opportunity I couldn't pass up. They all had fun tumbling together. The lighting is really bad with all of the windows, but here are a couple of videos of Josh and Abby doing their latest passes. Josh is attempting a pass he has never tried before a round-off - whip - 2 backhandspring - whip which is actually a pretty tough pass for an 8 year old. He came really close. I can't believe they have only tumbled for one year. Abby is doing a round-off backhandspring without stopping all by herself. I wish she had more confidence because I think she could be a real natural tumbler. This is only the second week she dared to do it without stopping and by herself. I am really hoping that it gives her the confidence she needs because she really has a lot of potential.

This is Brady doing his headstand. He doesn't do these in his class back home in Arizona so staying up for almost one minute is AWESOME! He was working really hard. His legs got farther and farther apart as the seconds wore on. I will take some more pictures next week. I think by then Kelsey might be doing something really amazing. She was so cute, she would watch the other kids and think how easy everything looked - she just wanted to go for it too! She has the confidence I wish Abby had. Rock on cousins!

Skate or Die
On Wednesday Krista and I thought with the weather being so overcast it would be a good day to take the kids to the park for lunch. They ate, climbed boulders, played at the park, ran around, and then took off to the skate park. It was truly chaos! The little ones darting every which way on their scooters, the bigger boys on their skateboards trying death defying skills...Tony Hawk makes it look so easy! Then there were the biggest boys twice the size of our kids on their BMX bikes and boards. Let's just say that it was a little dangerous in the bowl! We let them play just long enough to get some action. After a couple near crashes and emergency room aversions, we left. Truly, skate or die!

Brady
Josh
Jantz, Abby, Kelsey
Little dude

Just the Beginning
Ok, so the Stone's have only been here for the weekend, but no matter, we only have three weeks to get everything done. First up.....drumroll please.....family pictures were today. We are so thankful for Brooke, in her "condition" she trumped pictures with the whole group! Thanks Brooke! Next year I might just get pregnant to avoid another "group" shot! (totally kidding)Well, traditions run thick around here, and there was NO WAY mom was letting us get away without pictures of at least the grandkids - which is fine with me. Brooke' friend and photographer Veronica Reeve did the honors. I will send a link to those pictures when we get them. After the photo shoot, we were all a bit hungry, off to Chili's! Can you say QUESO! We are having so much fun...LOTS more to come!

Exciting Moments
They have arrived! The cousins are here! The kids are soooooo excited to have their Arizona cousins here for a couple of weeks. The fun began just hours after the 11 hour drive. Saturday afternoon we met up at Grandma and Grandpa Gibson's for the first time in 7 1/2 months! Whew, has it really been that long? They had some water fun and then we grilled some dogs, and fulfilled a "wish" for grandpa's scones. We really miss them a lot and are looking forward to spending every waking moment with them for the next 3 weeks!

Kelsey, Hailee, Brady, Josh, Abby, Jantzen

ICE CREAM SUNDAE's on SUNDAY

On Sunday we hooked up with Grandma Mac for her birthday. I won't say how old she is, but I will say that next year's birthday will be BIG! Can you say family cruise??

Later on that night we had dinner and a little mudpie for Ty and Brooke's birthdays.

Ty and Brooke look like foster parents when all the cousins are around.

Oakley's BirthdayParty

Jantzen's best little buddy Oakley moved to Tremonton this week. He has been staying with his grandparents next door for the past 2 months. We have LOVED having Oakley around to keep Jantzen entertained all summer. There aren't really any kids his age on this street so Jantzen was always a little bored, we were so excited for him to have a little friend right next door. They have played so well together for the last couple months. Oakley is a very sweet little boy with the biggest, brightest smile. I don't know what I will do with Jantz now that Oakley is gone...I haven't really told him yet that he moved away. Oakley turned five last week and had a little birthday party before he moved. It was so nice of his family to think about inviting my kids. His grandparents Bob and Evelynn are so kind to all my kids. We are truly going to miss them when we move. Here are a couple of pics of the party.

Jantz and Oakley with his little sister Sage
Notice the party hat on the slip and slide...classic!
These guys have the greatest backyard! Dayt and Josh and I were in the sand volleyball pit having a little fun and meanwhile Abby had joined the water fight with Bob and some of Oakley's cousins and friends from his old neighborhood. I was surprised to see Abby going after some of the boys, here she is chasing after Bob.

July 4th 2008- Change is Good

Yes, it is true, we broke a 30 year plus tradition! Every July 4th since I can remember we set up our chairs in front of the red church on 4400 S and watched the Riverdale parade and then went to the park for the carnival. I have LOTS of great memories of the 4th! The last couple of years the Riverdale parade has gone downhill at a rapid pace. Ty is on the planning committee in Clearfield so we decided to check out their parade this year. I have to admit that it was better than we thought. I am not really a fan of parades because they have become so commercialized and noone does floats anymore. It's true! In fact, my kids had NO IDEA what we were talking about when we were saying how much we missed the good ol days when the parades were all about the floats. Now, they have been educated! There were only a handful of floats in this parade, but at least they now know what a float really is.....and I can't really say that "I LOVE a parade" - sing it with me, BUT I enjoyed it a lot better this year. Plus, my family traditionally isn't real big on change, so this was a big step - way to go guys!

This picture reminds me of something you would see in a magazine - with the kids with their hands on their heart as the flag marches by.

One of the first "floats" we saw - Ha ha - get it?

I have to put in this picture just because. These guys painted their old truck brown and they all dressed up like Pirates of the Carribean - head to toe, AND they had huge cannons in the back of the truck that they lit at random - SOOO cool! Totally diggin the PIRATES!

Call me cheesey, but this was kinda funny! Let's see who BLOGS it first!!

My poor husband, rockin his eyepatch like only he can! He had a bad case of Irisitis - or something like that. He was really miserable at the parade because of all the sunlight so he couldn't make it to the park, he stayed at Aunt Bax's and chilled out. The kids ALL found it rather unsettling that their dad had to stay behind (they all bawled) so Josh stayed with him. How sweet! Josh missed the festivities at the park to stay home and play chess and watch baseball with dad. He also found some nachos in the cupboard! Thanks Aunt Bax!

Jantz found a way to stop the popsicle from melting down his arm....pretty smart for a 4yr old.

The kids played the game where you try to hit the middle pink cup in a sea of other blue cups to win a frog. With the first toss of the ping pong ball....we added a new member to the family! Meet Alice, who has since been renamed to be Izzy! Abby just marched right up to the line and tossed her ball right into the cup - we were all laughing! So many other kids tried and tried to win a frog. Jantzen tried twice too, he nicked the pink cup once. What a ringer!

They also enjoyed the inflatables section - with only one leg!

We went back to Ty and Brooke's house later for a BBQ and some swimming. Jantz made up a game with Hailee where he would drag her around and then fall down in the water, Hailee laughed her head off.


Dayt was trying to enjoy some peace and quiet but the ladies just can't stay away!

This picture is so sad! I DO sunblock my children! They are just so skinny that sometimes their pants fall a little low when they get heavy and wet. The other day, Josh got a little bit of sun where the sun don't shine! I couldn't resist takin this shot!

Josh has been waiting and waiting for the "Scales and Tails guy" to come up North. We caught his exhibit at the Clearfield park. Josh is all about reptiles and spiders. He reads countless books from the library. This guy has all sorts of creepy little pets. Josh was in HEAVEN! He brought some tarantulas, scorpions, tortoises, snakes, and lizards. He even put a black king scorpion in his mouth! This guy is CrAZy!!

This is slug - he is HUGE!

This is a huge Albino snake, can't remember the name, I was too busy freaking out.

This is Squish. He is 14 ft long and 130lbs! You can't even begin to imagine how ginormous this snake was! All those kids were holding that snake with all their muscles! He was the grand finale. All my kids went up to pet him, I made Dayt go with them!

I was a little sad because we were making plans to buy some stadium of fire tickets but when Dayt's eye got so bad we decided we better not go. So, we did a little firework show of our own before catching the famous clearfield fireworks.

Busted trying to burn something. We always have to be watchin that one!

What a day!!! Until next year....

BBQ with the D-Hoes!
Dayt's cousins Dusty and Shay were in town last week. We don't see them very often because they live in Texas and Ohio. So when they are in town we all get together for some good times and some KFC (a Dave and Tim staple for get-togethers!) Even though the cousins hardly know each other, it doesn't take but a minute to get reaquainted! It was fun to catch up with Dusty and Shay and their families, thanks for the visit, we miss you guys! I tried to get some pics of everybody, but by the time I got my camera out, some of them had already taken off for bedtime, here's some of the ones I did catch.

Dusty's cute little daughter Ella and his son Kayson

Josh with Maddux, Shay's oldest son

Dayton, Jantz, Shay and her daughter Olivia

Uncle Sam with Sammy T (mini me)

Melanie, Barbara, Tim, Tiffany, and Dave

By the end of the night, they were the best of friends!