First Day of School!

Demarie is officially a 2nd grader!

Preslyn is officially a pre-schooler!

Broyden is officially a big boy!

Demarie and her teacher, Mr. Barney. Demarie was really excited to have Mr. Barney because he is a good teacher AND he is in our ward AND his daughter and Demarie's friend, Katrina will be in her class.
Dropping Demarie off at school. It was a bright, sunny morning! Good thing, because it helped mask my tears:)

Lining up with her new classmates. It's going to be a good year!

And here is Preslyn on her first day of Mommy's Preschool! Preslyn was so excited all morning to go to "Mommy's Preschool". When it was finally time to sit down to do some preschool activities with her, she looked around and said, "Where are all the kids?" She was a little disappointed to find out it was only her (and Broyden as a sidekick), but then she realized how much fun we will be having and that we will still be getting together once a week with her friends for a preschool playdate. I love teaching my kids and spending time with them, having preschool playdates, and going on little field trips around the community. The time goes by too fast and before I know it, she will be in school full-time!

What a smart little girl!

A Summer of Swimming

We have went swimming a lot this summer! Demarie has become a little fish and will even swim in the deep end now. Broyden loves to jump in from the side and go down the slide. Preslyn isn't quite as big of a daredevil, but she does put her face in the water and enjoys kicking and floating. Maybe next year she will try the slide!

Praise to the Man!

I love this video! Praise to the Man is one of the songs they are learning in Primary.

American Girl Doll Summer Dress

Baby Demarie

Summer dress

Capris

Matching hair clip

I received this baby outfit as a gift from my sister Milisa when Demarie was a baby. I loved it so much that I took Demarie to get her picture taken in it. I altered the outfit to make a summer dress for her American Girl doll and was also able to make a pair of capris and a matching hairclip. I'm really enjoying my new hobby of making doll clothes out of baby clothes. Not only are they free, but they also have some meaning behind them because they were clothes that my daughters wore as babies. Chek out my past postings to see other outfits I have made!

UTAH TRIP: Camping at Camperworld

While we were in Utah, we went to Layton and enjoyed a fun Moon swim party organized by Aunt Milisa and Uncle Lance. Unfortunately, in all the hustle and bustle, we forgot our camera and didn't get any pictures:( It was so fun to see everyone and spend time with my brothers, sisters, and other family members. I was so impressed with how well all the cousins can swim! Demarie loved doing hand stands in the water with her cousins Hallie and Mallory. I wish we could have spent more time with everyone! I can't wait to see them in September!

The next day, we borrowed Grandpa Harris' hick-mobile and went camping at Camperworld in Tremonton, UT. We were excited to have Aunt Milin and Uncle Jake camp with us too. Uncle Bryce and Aunt Rotciv and Uncle Lance and Aunt Milisa also came up on Friday to spend some time with us. Here are a few pics from our trip:

Tean pushing Broyden around in the stroller. Broyden just lounged away eating his hotdog bun as Tean pushed him around the campground. I think Broyden got the better end of the deal! The boys had so much fun throwing rocks together.

Grilling hotdogs and smores!

Yum! yum!

We went golfing one day, hoping to bring the kids with us. They were so excited to ride in the golf cart. When we found out we couldn't bring them, Jake jumped the curb with the golf cart to take them back up to the campground. A man at Camperworld yelled at him, but luckily he was nice enough to give the kids a ride up to the campground in his golf cart.

In the hot afternoon, we decided to cool off by going swimming. Unfortunately, the water was about 100 degrees because it is a hot spring! Needless to say, we didn't last long swimming AND we didn't cool off!

Instead, we lounged in the shade. It was so nice to have Uncle Bryce and Aunt Rotciv come up and spend the afternoon with us too. On our way home from Camperworld we stopped in to see their new home. It is so beautiful!

While we were lounging, the wind started blowing and a funnel cloud formed over the mountains. The wind blew this blow-up dolphin over the the grass and Broyden and Tean started playing on it.

Aunt Milisa, Uncle Lance, and cousin Cayden joined us Friday night for dinner. Aunt Milisa brought some stuff for smores and bought lots and lots of wood. I didn't think we would burn it all, but somehow we did, thanks to Lance!

Tean followed Preslyn around everywhere she went. Each morning he was standing by his trailer asking for Preslyn. Who wouldn't want to follow this cute girl around?

Sleeping in Grandpa's hick-mobile was the best part of all! Aaron set up a small tent outside and on the second night, Preslyn insisted sleeping in the tent with him. I didn't think she would last very long, but she loved it! She lasted the whole night, even through the rain!

Posing in front of the hick-mobile

Thanks for camping with us Milin and Jake! We had a great time!

UTAH TRIP: Willow Park Zoo

Monkeys watching Monkeys!
While we were in Utah, we spent a morning at the Willow Park Zoo with Grandma Harris, Stephanie, and Karen. It was fun to see all the animals...mostly birds. They do a good job keeping the park nice and clean. Afterwards, we went to visit my old co-workers at Up-to-Three Early Intervention Program. I haven't seen them since we moved to Las Vegas so it was fun to catch up with them again!

UTAH TRIP: Play! Play! Play!

The girls were in heaven playing with Stephanie and Vanessa in the playroom at Grandma and Grandpa's house. As soon as we would come back from doing something, they would go straight to the playroom and play for hours and hours and hours! In fact, Demarie was so excited that the first morning we were there, she woke up at 5:45 a.m. and started playing! That means something if Demarie of ALL people is waking up that early! I think they wore Stephanie out!

UTAH TRIP: Bruisin' and Cruisin'

We took several walks on our vacation and every time Preslyn fell down and scraped her knees! We were constantly asking Grandma and Grandpa for band-aids. Needless to say, Preslyn did not want to ride the motorcycle and informed me that she, "hates the little boat!"
On the other hand, Broyden was in heaven! He had the time of his life riding the wave runner and the motorcycle. Every where we go, he gets so excited when he sees a motorcycle. He was thrilled when Daddy finally took him for a ride!

Demarie was a little apprehensive, but she did ride with Daddy. Afterwards, she admitted that it was "kinda fun."

My motorcycle man!

UTAH TRIP: Temple and Blessing Troy

After church we took the kids to see the Logan Temple. We have been talking about temples all month in primary so they were so excited to see where Mommy and Daddy got married. Even Broyden was jumping up and down saying "Temple! Temple!" Unfortunately the grounds were closed due to cleaning and repairs, but it was still nice to look up at that magnificent building and think about what it represents!

We were so excited to be in Utah for the blessing of Uncle Brandon and Aunt Karen's new baby, Troy. He is absolutely adorable and the blessing was very special. Demarie LOVED holding baby Troy!

UTAH TRIP: Visiting Tean!

Tean and Broyden...they were so funny together!
Demarie loved the flowers in Milin's backyard

Preslyn loved their swing!

And Tean and Broyden LOVED being BOYS!!!

On our way back from the Harris Family reunion in Idaho, we stopped at Aunt Milin and Uncle Jake's house for dinner and to visit. They have come to Vegas a few times to see us so it was nice to finally be on their turf! Milin made a delicious dinner and the kids had so much fun exploring and playing outside. I wish Broyden and Tean lived closer to each other. They would have so much fun! While we were there, my friend Tammy Jolley and her family came to Milin's house to visit with us. She is a good friend from Las Vegas and moved to Blackfoot last year with her family. We had a great time catching up!

UTAH TRIP: Finally Seeing the Randalls!

Tyler and Demarie... getting way too big!

Darren and Broyden... what handsome boys!
Jordan and Broyden playing cars...too cute!

Kenzie and Preslyn... such cute girls!

One of the highlights of our trip to Utah this summer was that we finally got to see Uncle Ben (no pun intended! He really is "Uncle Ben"), Aunt Julie, and all their kids. It has been over a year since we have seen them because they moved to Iowa for Ben's residency. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins! Too bad we couldn't have spent more time with them:(

UTAH TRIP: Harris Family Reunion

At the end of July and the beginning of August, we took a trip up to Utah to spend some time with family. While we were in Utah, we went up to Idaho Falls for the Harris family reunion. It was fun to see Aaron's Grandma Harris, aunts, uncles, and cousins. After the reunion, we went to Grandma Harris' beautiful home and enjoyed running around and playing games on her lush, green lawn. She has quite the green thumb!

Some of the "great-grandkids"

Grandpa Harris with his mom and sister, Gaylene

Returning to Sea World

In July, we decided to return to San Diego and go to Sea World and the beach again. We had so much fun the first time, so why not go back? There was plenty of things that we didn't see at Sea World the first time around. In this picture, Demarie is shading herself from the sun as we wait for one of the shows to start.

The Pet Show. Cute if you like dogs, cats, and hairy pigs

Aaron rode one of the rides at Sea World. Yes, it looks like he has his arm around the lady next to him, but he assured me he didn't. He better not considering I waited over an hour for him!:)

We always love Shamu!

Our seats were in the nose-bleed section, but we still enjoyed the show!

Aaron fell asleep with Broyden, so while they napped I took the girls to see the 4-D Elmo movie. Aaron said so many people stopped to take his picture and he heard over and over again, "Que Lindo!"

Riding the Sky-ride over the ocean bay. What a beautiful view!

We always have so much fun in the hotel room, watching movies and playing in the beds!

Beach time! Broyden got a kick out of having his legs buried

Stylin' Daddy and his girls

Posing with the sand castle we built... Demarie did most of it and came up with the idea to put the seaweed in the mote. Aaron took Broyden on a walk down the beach because he kept messing it up. I thought it turned out pretty cool! Do you like my white t-shirt under my swimsuit? I guess I forgot to put sunscreen on at Sea World and got a nice farmers tan:)

And here is cute little Mermaid Preslyn, the prettiest Mermaid around!