Back to School Swim Party

All of the girls in Activity Days came over for a Back to School Swim Party.  We pulled out the shaved ice machine, the leaders brought cookies, and everybody had a great time.

 Ashlun

 Ruby

 Savannah

 Jordyn

 Katelyn and Taliah

 Jennifer Brown, Stephanie Heaton, Lacee Carr

 Elisabeth, Sara

 Savannah, Audrey

 Lauren

 Taliah

 Emme

School Shopping in St. George

We went up to St. George for a little getaway while Joe was in Zion's National Park for his High Adventure with the Young Men.  He wasn't getting home until Saturday so we decided to go up there to hang out with my sis and finish up some school shopping for the kids.  We got lucky in shopping at Christensen's on Friday, had dinner at Steph's, and then went to visit Darin and Jen Allred's new house.  Katelyn slept over with Aspen and we made plans to meet up for lunch the next day.

Saturday morning, Steph and I ran some errands and shopped in the morning with Madi and Carlee while Jim took the boys bowling and then we all met for lunch at Paradise Bakery.  Jen and her kids joined us while Darin stayed at their new house to work on his "man cave" in the garage.  After lunch we introduced Jen and her kids to the Main Street park and splashpad.  The kids always have so much fun at this park, getting wet and splashing through the river.

 

Steph started getting sick (pregnancy) so she, Jim, and their kids headed home.  Joe was on his way home to Vegas with the scouts but we weren't quite ready to head back yet and knew that he needed to unpack and clean up so Jen and I took our kids to Judd's (recommended by our friend, Whitney) across the street for some old-fashioned candy and ice cream.

After checking out that cute store, we said our goodbyes to the Allreds and went back to Steph's house to change and clean up for the drive home.  We started on our way just before 6:00 and after going about 20 miles in 90 minutes decided to flip a u-turn and go back to St. George until the traffic cleared.  The freeway was closing down to one-lane and with the construction, the traffic was terrible.  We all showered at Steph's and watched Harry Potter for a while until the traffic lanes were finally green on our GPS maps.  We were all anxious to see Joe so it was decided that we would just drive back that night.  All was clear on the freeway and we arrived home just after 11:00 p.m.  He had a great time at High Adventure and we had a great quick weekend in one of my favorite little cities.  And with the Allreds there, we now have 5 more special reasons to visit St. George!

Summer Divas

This summer we organized a summer camp for our girls ages 10-12 and called it "Summer Divas".  It lasted 2 weeks and each mom came up with a fun activity for the girls each day.  We had a nicely organized schedule so that everybody knew what was going on and when.  That way, anyone could come and go as needed with doctor's appointments and vacation schedules.

Katelyn had such a good time and really enjoyed hanging with her friends and getting to know new ones that have moved in.  We are so blessed to have really good friends for our children and I love that I don't have to worry about them and their choices when they are together.  They all influence each other for good and do the right thing.  They get along wonderfully and have a blast together.  There is always a lot of squealing, giggling, game-playing, and creative ideas put to good use.  We also started a book club for these sweet girls so Katelyn has been a busy girl this summer!

Here are the activities that our Divas enjoyed:
*Pool and Pizza Party
*Afternoon at the Spa
*Card Making and Magnet Boards
*Party Games
*Journal Crafts
*Ice Skating and Homemade Ice Cream
*Friendship Bracelets and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"
*Creative Cooking and Muffin Madness
*Hairstyling and Pool Party

We hosted card-making and magnet boards.  I bought cookie sheets for the girls to paint and then we made magnets for them.  While they were drying, we made cards and exchanged them so each girl took home 7 cards.  We also had a yummy salad bar lunch.  It was a lot of fun.

 Mia

 Savannah

 Emma

 Lexi

 Kelly and Madi

 

The Summer Divas