June 23

Summer haircuts. This is not my favorite look for Carter but once I year I relent and let him buzz his hair off for the hot summer months. He was so happy to be free from his longer hair for a few months.

June 22

Another night of roasting marshmallows means another night of Addie sitting at the table shoving them in her mouth as fast as she can before we step in and stop her.

June 21

Today is the first day of the long planned for and anticipated Havasupai trip for the young men. Allen has been SO excited for this trip for months. This is him with his 43 lb. pack just a few minutes before leaving on the 5 day trip!

June 20

Happy Father's Day! We are all so thankful for the wonderful father that leads our family. The kids had a fun day showering him with gifts, cards and extra attention. Dads are the best!

June 19

Today was Carter's first swim meet. We are so proud of how well he did. He was swimming against a very competitive team that practices year round. He did not place as high as he wanted in his events but he tried HARD and did an awesome job. He swam the breast, back and freestyle strokes and had a lot of fun.

June 18

Today Makenna played with her friend Makenna. Yes, they have the same name and even the same spelling. They love playing together and spent a long time in the hose on the trampoline before coming in and drying off together. Such cute girlies!

June 17

I love Costco for many reasons but my number 1 reason is for their produce. They have the best produce I've found. And I stock up every time I go. This was my haul today and I make a similar purchase there about every 10 days. It's worth every penny!

June 16

Addie was my helper making cookies this afternoon. She definitely did more eating than helping but who can blame her? Even the dough is yummy!

June 15

Today Addie snuck the lipgloss out of my bag and before I noticed this is what she looked like. She is another LOVER of makeup and she often begs for "yips" (her word for lipgloss).

June 14

Tonight Carter prepared and taught our Family Home Evening lesson all by himself. I was so proud of how hard he worked at it today to be ready. He taught about the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's burying their weapons of war and then we each buried our own "weapons" or things we struggle with in the backyard. I love seeing my kids grow in the gospel and take on new responsibilities.

June 13

This picture completely cracks me up and captures well the chaos that is our bed on weekend mornings. Allen trying to sleep through it all and all three kids piled in with their junk and messing around. I especially love that Addie is already wearing her swimming suit for the day.

June 12

This picture sums up Addie so well right now. She LOVES being in a swimsuit - especially this particular suit, though she has others. She also loves to help clean and can often be found cleaning the back glass window several times a day. 2 is such a fun age when personalities really begin to emerge.

June 11

Today was Carter's last day of Camp Invention at his school. It was an all day camp that the kids came to to learn different scientific themes and laws. Carter loved his week in camp and showed us some really fun things that he worked on during the week at the parent show today. In this picture he is showing us the carnival ride he built for the amusement park the kids invented.

June 10

Today Makenna had an afternoon playdate and Carter and Addie played outside together for a long time. I really appreciate what a good big brother he is to his sisters! After playing for awhile they laid on the trampoline together and had a popsicle. I love summer!

June 9

The kids are loving swimteam and I love it for the exercise they are getting and the way they are improving in their strokes. Makenna really likes swimming back stroke and is getting really good at it.

June 8

After lunch I gave the kids popsicles and sent them outside. After I few minutes I looked out and saw them all laying on the patio eating their popsicles. It was such a funny and cute sight!

June 7

We decided to buy a fire pit this summer so we could roast marshmallows with the kids. To say it has been a big hit would be an understatement. The kids beg to make s'mores every night!

June 6

This is one of mine and Allen's very favorite lunches. We hollow out some tomatoes and fill them with artichoke jalapeno dip and then broil them for a few minutes. Seriously delicious!

June 5

We spent the morning playing again at the water park. It was the perfect amount of time and we headed home just as everyone was feeling tired and hungry. Addie really loved this big hot tub and would have stayed in here the entire time if we had let her.

June 4

This afternoon we checked into the new Raddison hotel waterpark for the day. We played all afternoon in their fun park - including a big kids area, 2 waterslides, indoor surf ride, hot tub, water obstacle course and lazy river. We wore ourselves out since the crowds were low and well controlled and we could ride everything a lot. After dinner out and another quick dip in the pool we headed to our room to sleep for the night and get ready for another fun day tomorrow.

June 3

We spent a couple hours today at Explora with the Worthen's. We had a great time and as always, spent lots of time playing at the bubble table. We enjoyed our lunch outside and stopped for icecream on the way home. Fun!

June 2

We are officially into summer and I felt like we needed some structure and organization around here. I came up with these checklists for the big kids of their daily chores and responsibilities. So far it is working like a charm. Sometimes the easiest solutions are the best solutions.

June 1

This is the pile of junk that I fished out from our bed when I was making it this morning. Aaaahhh.. the life of a parent with lots of little kids! I wouldn't have it any other way though! And I really find it strange that almost everything is yellow in the picture.

May 31

Tonight for our date we went to dinner and then hit the local mall. Allen wanted to go to the Apple store and I was ready to hit MAC for some new makeup. It has been years since I have had my makeup professionally done and I've been wanting new makeup for months. We both had a good time indulging our interests and this is what I ended up coming home with!

May 30

My friend Darbie recently gave me the recipe for these chocolate chocolate chip cookies. They are SO good. We call them crack cookies because they are stinking addicting. They have quickly become our new favorite.

May 29

I have nothing to say about this POTD except that Carter begged for this pile of grapes that he was eating at lunch to be the picture today. I went with it.

May 28

Today was Carter's last day of school! He had a great year and we all really loved his teacher, Mrs. Piccininno. We also loved that his class size was so small since the school he attends is brand new. There were only 17 kids in his class this year which allowed for lots of individual attention. Now on to 2nd grade!

May 27

Today the girls were painting away while I was doing some cleaning. I looked over and saw Addie literally painting her fingernails. It was SO cute. She meticulously painted each and

every nail and then started in on her toenails before I stopped her. I love it!