Swimteam 2011

Grandpa Dave

Saturday morning we headed out to Grandpa Dave's house. It was non-stop fun. We ate the most delicious pancakes I've ever had (they were covered in lots of butter and powdered sugar...yum). There were 4 kittens that the kids could play with. 2 dogs to play fetch with. A surfboard/longboard for the kids to play on. A motorized scooter that Todd took everyone for rides on. We went and picked raspberries with some of the kids and then came home to them shooting a bb gun. The kids had so much fun!

Todd on the scooter

We got some great pictures with all the grandkids too

Idaho - The Party

Even though grandpa isn't with us anymore that didn't stop us all from going to Twin Falls the last Saturday in July for a party. We left straight from the swim meet and got there late Friday night. The kids were great in the car and we made great time. Amy came up with a great idea to beat the heat and the kids boredom at the same time and the kids all made homemade ice cream in a bag. The kids were way excited until they had to shake it - they made it about 5 of the 20 minutes then the adults had to do a lot of help.

The annual game of croquet - the kids live for it!

Mel helping Sophie play (she lasted for about 10 minutes)

Owen didn't want to sit and watch

During the croquet game the girls were inside playing and Sophie decided to poop her pants and track it all over the back bedroom. It was AWFUL!!! Todd, Amy and I scrubbed and cleaned and fabreezed the best we could. Thank goodness it was all family there.

Swim Team

This year Tayson did swim team - and he LOVED it. His final meet was the Bronze Invitational. It was an outside meet in the afternoon and it managed to get rained out. He did get to swim his relay race though. He and Ryan were both in the relay and they told us that Tayson would be swimming the breaststroke and Ryan the butterfly....Steve and I weren't sure why they would be swimming those and then found out they were in the freestyle relay and their coach joked with them and told them since it was freestyle they could swim any stroke they wanted and gave them examples of "Tayson you could do the breaststroke & Ryan you could do the butterfly" which they took as that is what they had to do. Thank goodness we figured it out before they swam. Right after the first rain delay Tayson's relay was first up so I went over to take pictures and saw Claire wandering a bit. As soon as the race was finished I was going to look for her and I heard over the loud speaker "Kathy Johnson we have a lost girl looking for you". How embarrassing! She wasn't scared at all though just standing there waiting for me.

Ryan and Tayson waiting for their turn to swim

Ryan, Jaxon and Tayson before their race

Ryan finishing his leg of the relay

Tayson getting ready to finish the relay

The meet was completely cancelled after a few more races then we went back to finish it on Friday. It was fun because then Todd got to be there. Tayson swam the freestyle and the breaststroke.

Ryan swimming his backstroke

He was first in his heat - and kicked butt!

Tayson after the breaststroke - doesn't he look happy?

I am so proud of how hard Tayson worked this year, how much he improved and especially how much fun he had. Not one morning at 7:10 am when he had to get out of bed did he complain or go back to sleep. He worked hard and improved a ton. I can't wait until next year!!

Battle Creek Hike

This summer we are mixing hiking in with our running and biking. Today we went and did the Battle creek hike in Lindon. It was beautiful. There was a waterfall about half way up. We had to walk through the creek at one point in the hike because the bridge was underwater. The water was high and moving fast. The sound of it was so peaceful. It was an amazing way to start the day. Hiking in beautiful mountains with some BEAutiful girls.

Me, Laurie and Traci

Traci, Suzette and I

self-portrait time

(maybe next time I'll comb my hair before leaving the house or at least put on a hat!)

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Claire's dance studio does a daddy daughter dance night every summer. They were supposed to dress up like Barbie and Ken but we opted for Rapunzel and Flynn Rider instead. Claire was so excited to get dressed up (I even let her put on makeup) and go have a special night with Todd. Todd flew home a day early this week so he wouldn't miss it. Best first date ever!!

The Hotel Pool

My kids swam and swam and swam some more at the hotel pool. We were there until it closed at 10 both nights. Luke and Claire can both swim without help now and Soph wore her life jacket so it wasn't stressful at all for the first time since we've had kids. I have some serious fish for kids.

Not many things cuter than kids in goggles!!

Todd racing Tayson across the pool.

Southfork

Me, Rachel, Traci, Sara

I absolutely LOVE Southfork canyon. It is my favorite! I ran down and up it last week then rode it today. It is so beautiful and a great workout. The ride this morning was 35 miles round trip (don't worry when I ran I drove and only ran 4 down and 4 up). Such a great morning and I burned a full days worth of calories before 9:00 am!

Caught in the act

Do I embarrass you?

Jokingly at work today I suggested that for our convention uniforms we wear sweat bands so we would stand out. Of course I made the snarky remark - I look good in a sweat band, just sayin'

Because of that I had to prove it and post this picture to facebook. I don't mind being a dork - crazy comes natural to me. But, when I posted the picture Tayson said "that's not funny mom, it's embarrassing." How sad that I already embarrass him - I thought it would take a few more years until we hit that point. He said the sweat band wasn't crazy but the way I was looking away from the camera. HA!

So Sleepy

Meggan sent me this picture. I love it. My sweet little fairy sound asleep while playing computer.

My Homeless Child

Today while uploading pictures to Flikr (since once again I lost everything off my hard drive and I will learn from my mistakes this time and get a good backup) I found this picture. This girl cracks me up. Seriously. This was how she looked Christmas 2009 when we were cleaning up. She obviously dressed herself - but hey she is in underwear not a diaper at under 2 years old. I love this little girl so much. She is often described by those who love her as "looking homeless". I hope she never changes and has crazy hair, sticky fingers & cheeks and wears crazy outfits forever - at least until she graduates from high school so the boys don't realize just how beautiful and fun she is.

Sweet!

Bowling for FHE

I thought it would be fun to do an activity this week for family night since Emma and Bruce are still here so we went bowling. We had a nice big group: my parents, Emma, Bruce, David, Kami, Glen, Dean, Timmy and the kids. My kids love bowling and after almost 12 years of being married to Todd I finally don't hate it either.

Emma

Bruce

Luke

I love Luke's face as he watches Sophie's ball knock down the pins. She could care less.

David & Glen

Dean taking off down the lane

Dad

Claire