Aunt Diana's Wedding

On July 27th, Laron's youngest sister Diana got married in the Logan Temple to her sweetheart, Chase Bigham.  It was such a perfect wedding day... Morning wedding, radiant bride, gorgeous dress, slightly overcast, fabulous luncheon, surrounded by family.  And it was the first time that ALL of Laron's siblings were together in the temple, so that was kinda special too.  Don't Diana & Chase make such a cute couple?!

The kids loved seeing Aunt Diana (or "Nana" as they call her) all dressed up in her pretty wedding dress, but Kimberly just couldn't understand why Diana couldn't hold her the whole time & play with her.  That's the only bad thing about weddings... You have to share the bride with everyone else!  All-in-all, the kids did pretty good for a full day of fun.  We were a little worried because Bailey ended up waking up sick the night before, but she did really great despite not feeling well & going extra long between naps.

 Congrats again Diana & Chase!

We're SO excited for you guys to start your new life together!

Snowbird

Every summer my Grandpa Erickson is kind enough to invite up our family to his condo at Snowbird.  And lucky for us, Laron happened to have the week off of work, so we decided to make a vacation out of it!  Unfortunately though, our week had a few OTHER plans, so we had to come & go a few times to feel like we'd vacationed enough...

My parents only came up the first day we were there, but we had a fun time going hiking up to Secret Lake with them anyway.  But being over the July 24th weekend, we were surprised how many OTHER people were hiking the trail as well!  We've been hiking there many other times before, but never has it been that packed... I guess the Secret is out.  I took SO many amazing shots, that I just had to post them all...

Once we reached the lake & started pulling out snacks, the kids had a fun time feeding this little chipmunk.  He definitely picked a good spot to go begging for food!  So cute!

That night we left early to go spend the night back at home before making an early trip up to Logan for Laron's sister Diana to go through the temple for the first time... It was worth a slight delay of our vacation though to see her in the temple!  That night we headed BACK to Snowbird, but this time with Laron's brother McKay & his family sharing our condo with us.  It was a tight fit with 4 adults & 4 kids all in the same room, but it made it all the more exciting to have extra company!

The moms & kids enjoyed some fun time at the park together, while the dads played tennis a lot.  Then of course, after building up a sweat playing & hiking around, we all had to go swimming.

There is something about beautiful mountains in the background while you're swimming with your family that makes the experience even more enjoyable!

It didn't take long for Bailey to fall asleep, so she missed out on most of the fun, but Kimberly re-discovered that she LOVES jumping into the water into Daddy's arms!  Or being thrown up into the air... Anything with an extreme THRILL attached to it!  Skyler on the other hand was totally content to hold onto the side most of the time... We're still working on him!

After one more night at Snowbird, then we headed back home only to wake up early the next morning, this time to go to Diana's Wedding!  And then two days later was Laron's youngest brother Preston's Mission Farewell.  He's going to Lansing, Michigan next week, so we're excited for him!  So even though our week was full of WAY too many BIG events, we were sure glad to have a mini-vacation amongst it all.  Skyler's already counting down to NEXT year's Snowbird trip!

Clinton 5K

Well, I ran my first 5K this summer! Something I never thought would be an accomplishment of mine... But I started exercising with some friends in the morning that were going to run one, so they talked me into it.  Most of the other ladies were much faster than me, so I mainly ran with my friend Rachelle Lawerence.  At about the halfway point, when I was starting to wonder if I even wanted to finish this race, I noticed Laron & the kids parked off to the side of the road, waiting to cheer me on!  What a sight of encouragement that was!  After running over & giving them a quick hug & kiss & smiling at their sleepy little faces all bundled up to come see their Mommy, I ran back into the race with a little ore bounce to my step.  It was still a really challenging last half of the race, but it was very encouraging to have a friend to run beside me & a family waiting for me at the end.  What an amazing feeling to finish a goal like that!  We made it in 34 minutes, 40 seconds, which felt pretty darn good to me!  I felt like I was going to throw-up afterwards, but I did it!

Skyler asked me afterwards if I won 1st place & I had to explain to him that sometimes just FINISHING something means that you won. Skyler noticed at the race that there were several little kids running in it too, so he's been talking about running the next one with me ever since. So this morning, after going running with my running buddies, I woke Skyler up & we went on our own little run. He was SO excited, but he's definitely more of a sprinter than a long-distance racer for now... But way to go buddy. I'm impressed that you even wanted to try!

Skyler's 5th Birthday Party!

Skyler had his first Birthday Party this year & he loved it!  We can't believe he's 5-years-old already... Almost ready to start school!  We started out by only inviting the four main friends in the ward that he mainly plays with, but ended up inviting most of their siblings as well (since he plays with them quite often too & then they wouldn't feel bad being left behind at home), which made for a much more exciting party!  Skyler was a little jealous that his Dad was playing with all these other kids besides him, but other than that he loved it!

Having his birthday in the heart of the summer, it was easy to decide to do a water party.  We borrowed a bunch of fun sprinkler's from my parents & a slip 'n slide from a neighbor.  The night before the party, Laron was trying desperately to come up with a way to PULL the kids down the water slide, since we didn't have a HILL for them to go down it on.  I told him that the kids would just have to run a little more to slide down it, but he woke up early the next morning & drove around from store to store looking for the perfect thing to pull the kids on down the water slide... What did he end up with?  A $40 doggie bed!  Apparently he tested it down an aisle at the store & it definitely worked the best.  When he showed up with it at home though, only MINUTES before the Birthday Party, we definitely didn't see eye-to-eye on the matter... I wanted him to take it back because it was an unnecessary frill that we didn't have in the budget & he was certain that it would be the highlight of the party!  And I have to admit that Laron was right.  The party definitely would have been a little less exciting without Skyler's Daddy pulling kid after kid down the water slide!  I guess that's what happens when DAD'S get involved in the planning!

After the kids got tired of the water slide, we started playing some water-balloon games.  After a few trial & errors, we ended up having them race across the yard with water-balloons under their chins, throwing balloons at a face on our tree, having a water-balloon fight (Laron was a GREAT target!), playing with a tarp-parachute, hitting a Water-Balloon Pinata & going Bowling for sea creatures on water bottles.  All in all, I think the kids had a great time!

And then of course we had to end with presents & ice-cream cones!  Skyler got spoiled by all his friends, but I think he felt a little subconscious opening up presents in front of everyone... I suppose it was probably worth it though! :)

It was SO cute to see them all hanging out eating ice-cream cones in the shade together... They were all tuckered out after playing hard in the sun all morning!  Thanks for coming everyone!  And "Happy Birthday" once again to our big 5-year old!  We love you Skyler!

Skyler's 5th Birthday!

Skyler woke up on his birthday to what might be becoming our birthday tradition... Mickey Mouse pancakes with candles in it (because what kid doesn't want to blow out candles TWICE on their birthday?!).

 A few hours later me & the kids headed over to Arctic Circle for an early lunch, and to of course, play on the toys :)  When we first showed up they were pretty slow & we mentioned to the lady taking our order that it was Skyler's Birthday today, so after she brought us our food, she told us that the Manager had given her permission to give him a free Ice-Cream Sundae for his Birthday!  Skyler seemed excited, but after she left he said, "What's a Sundae?"  I guess we're usually ice-cream cone people :)

Last year we kinda overdid it on Skyler's Birthday by making TOO many plans, so this year it was nice to keep things a little simpler and to just enjoy the moment.  After lunch Grandma & Papa came over & gave Skyler some presents... His favorite thing were the flip-flops, although it took him a couple days to figure out how to wear them :)

Then, after Daddy got home he opened OUR presents... His favorite things were a new backpack for his first year at school & a SCOOTER!  He's been trying to start saving up money for one (because ALL his friends have one!), but he was getting no where fast, so he was SO excited!  He just kept hugging us over & over again & saying "Thanks Mom!", "Thanks Dad!"  It's always fun to see their big reactions to things!

 I attempted to make a homemade cake this year for him, but that's certainly NOT my expertise, so he ended up with a FISH Birthday Cake.  It kind-of ended up looking like a Goldfish Cracker or something, but he liked it, so that's all that matters.  I figure it was a step up from my traditional boring cupcakes!

When we asked him a couple days beforehand what he wanted for his Birthday Dinner, he immediantly responded with, "A Barbecue in the Garden!"  Ever since last year when we dug a hole in the garden & roasted hot-dogs & marshmallows one time, he's been begging us to do it again.  So I guess his Birthday was as good a time as any to do it!  What a perfect ending to such a nice day... All of our little dear ones gathered around in the backyard around a fire together.  So Happy Birthday Buddy!  You add a boyish-charm to our family that just couldn't be replaced!

Happy Birthday to all our Grandmas!

Well, we've had a busy summer full of all of our Grandma's Birthdays... My Mom, Grandma Pace, Grandma Liz, Grandma Vicky & Nana (my Grandma).  Our lives are definitely sweeter because of you all!  Thanks for all the love & support you all always are to us!  Oh, and "Happy Birthday!"