Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July was on a Sunday this year so we celebrated it on Saturday July 3rd. We went to Colonial Days in Provo, and then we went home and had a barbeque with our friends, and then we lit fireworks in front of our house. We had a great time together as a family and with our friends. On Monday, July 5th, Mike made us pancakes that looked like an American Flag - Wow how patriotic he is! :)

Happy Birthday David!

David had a Great Birthday! On June 30th he turned 7 years old and was very excited to have a Water Party! He invited a few friends, and only 3 could come, but it was very fun! David wanted to have a pinata, so we got him a spiderman one and they loved hitting it until the head came off of the body! :) David had a blast playing in the water and squirting his friends and dad with water guns etc. They went on the slip-n-slide and got in our little pool we have. It was a very fun day!








After David's water party we had muffins for dinner, David opened his presents, and then we went to his last T-ball game this season. David's favorite part of the game was passing out the treat to his team mates! David loved playing T-ball this summer. He played on the White Socks and did a great job! We are so proud of him and hope he had a Happy Birthday!


David is very into Star Wars Legos and so that is what he got for his birthday! Happy Birthday David! We Love You!

Happy Birthday Mike!

Mike came back from Uganda 2 days before his birthday. We had a fun time on his birthday. He was pretty tired from his long flight etc. so that is why he is in his pajamas! :) We gave him a few presents and had ice cream sandwiches and root beer floats for his treat.

Father's Day!

Well, June has come and gone, but we had a good month. Father's Day is always a favorite day in the month of June...along with so many birthdays to remember.


We celebrated Father's Day a little bit early. Mike had to leave for Uganda and was going to Scout camp before that. So we celebrated Father's Day on June 5th with Mike. On June 20th when it was really Father's Day we went to my parent's house to see my Dad and Grandpa. Mike was in Uganda at that time. So we went to Sandy and had dinner with my family. We had a good time and the kids loved playing with their cousins.

Our Trip to Sweden...

Mike and I enjoyed our Trip to Sweden! We had such a wonderful time together! Thanks to our parent's who watched our kids while we were gone. So let me back up just a little bit...so Mike left for Sweden on May 9th the day after we got back from Disneyland. I stayed home with the kids for about 9 days until I left - the day of Andrea's 3rd Grade program. Yes - I left practically the minute her program was over to go to the airport! Oh and on the way to the airport I was in Mike's car and one of the windshield wipers literally blew off of the car while I was on the freeway! Yes that was the highlight of my trip...J/K :)


Anyway, so onto bigger and better things...yes I did make it to Sweden about 18 hours later, or however long it takes, and Mike met me as soon as I got out of customs. I was very happy to see Mike after not seeing him for about 10 days! We stayed in Upsala, Sweden. That was the name of the city. We traveled to Stockholm quite a bit and were able to see some beautiful buildings and a lot of historical museums. It was so much fun to walk around the city and see things together. One of the buildings we were able to tour was the Royal Palace! It was quite the elaborate building, but very interesting to see how they lived back then.


The Royal Palace...

We were also able to take a boat called the Cinderella 1 out to the Archipelago we actually were able to go out to the end of the Archipelago and see all the different islands there on the tip of Sweden. It was a nice relaxing boat ride!


One of our last nights in Stockholm we were able to go and see the Romeo and Juliet Ballet. It was so much fun to see a real ballet in a foreign country. We loved going to see the ballet in the Opera house. It was pretty exciting. Oh and this was the first time I really actually have gotten a stamp in my passport. So that was pretty exciting! :) I have never really been to a "foreign" country like Sweden before.

The Opera House...

We also road on the train to Stockholm each time we would go and that was my first time ever riding on a real train. :) Another thing I did for the first time there in Sweden was I got my first pedicure! That was pretty fun...and my feet loved it! I was able to do that while Mike was working there in Sweden. Mike went to Sweden to do research and present some ideas he has been researching. He did a wonderful job and we were able to have a good time together all at the same time! :)

This is one of the trains we rode on...

And this is me getting my pedicure.:) It lasted for 1 hour and I practically fell asleep it was so nice!


We saw many wonderful, beautiful buildings, but our last day we traveled to see the temple (which was about 30 minutes away from Stockholm by train). That was probably one of my favorite buildings to see. It was so neat to see that a temple was built in Sweden for the saints to go to. We were also able to go to church and that was an amazing experience!


Anyway, we had a wonderful trip, but we were so excited to see our kids when we got home on May 29th. We brought home a few souvenirs for them from Sweden. It was a great trip and one I will never forget - especially being able to spend time with my wonderful husband! :)

Andrea's 3rd Grade Program!

On May 18, 2010 - the day that I left to go to Sweden to meet Mike - Andrea had her 3rd Grade End of the Year Program! I was so happy that I was able to make it to her program before I had to leave! Grandma Marilyn, Hailey, Whitney, and Grandma and Grandpa Findley all came to see Andrea in her program. She was so excited that they all came to see her! The third grade sang some fun songs and Andrea said a part at the beginning of the program.


After they sang some songs we went to Andrea's classroom and Andrea read a few of her poems that she wrote. This is a poem Andrea wrote about herself! I love it. Andrea did a great job in 3rd grade and we are so proud of all the hard work she did.


This is Andrea with her 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Penrod. She was a good teacher and Andrea did well in her class! :)

David's First Grade Program!

On May 13, 2010 David had his end of the year First Grade Program! It was called Oceans of Fun. The First Graders did a great job and David was so excited to be in the program and be a shark!!! He danced the Shark Dance and did a great job! He also had a part that he said in the program. Grandma Marilyn, Hailey, and Whitney came to see David in the program and it was even on Hailey's Birthday! David was happy to see them there!


After the program we got to go to David's classroom and see all the work he has done in First Grade and of course we saw Miss Haskell David's First Grade teacher! She was such a good teacher and also a very nice teacher. Daivd loved having her as his First Grade Teacher!!! Way to Go David - you had a great year in First Grade - Good Job!

David and Miss Haskell ~

Mother's Day!

After we got back from Disneyland on Saturday, May 8, 2010 Mike unpacked and then packed again to go to Sweden. He left for Sweden after church on Mother's Day. Yes he was gone on Mother's Day. We went to take him to the airport and then on our way home we stopped by my parent's house and had dinner. It was good to see my Mom, Lisa and Heather on Mother's Day.

Our Last Night at Disneyland!

Friday night May 7, 2010 was our last night at Disneyland! We were able to see the Fireworks there that night! We all had so much fun at Disneyland especially being in the "Happiest Place on Earth!" :) On Saturday, May 8th we headed home. We had such a fun time being together. That was one fun vacation we will never forget!!!

Pixie Hollow!!!

After the kids were trained to be Jedi's we went over to Pixie Hollow where we got to see the Silver Mist Fairy, Tinkerbelle and Tarence. It was fun to walk through Pixie Hollow and see the Fairy's.

Jedi Training Academy!!!

One of the highlights on our vacation was that Andrea, David and Joshua all got to be a part of the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland! The Jedi's trained them how to use there light sabers and then Andrea and Joshua got to fight Darth Vadre and David got to fight Darth Mahl. :) They were so excited that they got to do that with light sabers and all! They all got Jedi Training Certificates too! What a Day!!!

Relaxing at the Pool and Laguna Beach!

On Wednesday and part of Thursday we relaxed at Laguna Beach in California and also swam at the pool at our condo. Our kids have never been to the ocean before so we had to take them to see the beach! They had a blast playing in the sand and running into the waves! It was a fun and relaxing after two long, very fun days at Disneyland! :)

Favorite Rides!

Some of our favorite rides at Disneyland were: It's a Small World, Pirates of the Carribean, Peter Pan, The Disneyland Train, Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror - Andrea's favorite, the Buzz Lightyear Ride - David's favorite, and the Winnie the Pooh Ride - Josh's favorite! We all had a blast on so many of the rides! Here are a few we loved!

It's a Small World ~ all of us loved!


The Winnie the Pooh Ride ~ Josh's favorite!



Buzz Lightyear ~ David's favorite!


And Tower of Terror ~ Andrea's favorite!



The last night my mom and dad were there with us we went to eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. It was fun to see the (fake) animals there that make noise! We had a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa at Disneyland! Thanks for taking the time to come and spend some time with us on our vacation!

Ariel's Grotto...

On Monday night my dad took us out to the restaurant called Ariel's Grotto. When you eat there they serve you fancy food and let you meet Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Cinderella. All of those princesses come around to your table while you are eating and they sign your autograph books and let you take their pictures with you. It was a great night ~ Andrea especially liked seeing the princesses. David was enjoying being the handsome prince, Josh was sound asleep when the princesses came around, and Spencer just loved eating the food! :)