July 4th in the US

We had our first 4th of July in the States and loved it.  Of course, we all got gussied up.  I know it is silly, but I loved the fireworks on my.  I  can never get a straight face out of Jared. 

It was wonderful to spend time with my family. Some of the family went out and tossed the ball.  Katie wanted to join in the fun. I love that face on her. This is so typical Katie.

 Dessert was FABULOUS!!!!

 Of course, someone started the mind puzzles (or whatereve they are called).

We wrapped it all up fireworks.  The thought the lighters were the sparklers.  The poor kids were so disappointed.

Accident Prone

I think this little one is going to be the child that gets hurt the most.  Each family has one.

Katie was rocking on a wooden rocking horse, over rocked, fell on the tv stand and the rocking horse rocked back and hit her head. At first we were checking the back of her head becasue we didn't know the horse had hit her.  Then we saw this...but with more blood.

Jared and I rushed into the car, mom stayed with the other kids. We drove her to the hospital, then sat for 45 minutes waiting to see a doctor.

The wound and an unhappy girl.

 While we waited the bleeding stopped and she actually fell asleep.

 Finally they got us into a room and we waited some more, while our girl slept.  They stitched it up with 4 stitches.  So she couldn't move, they wrapped her up like a burrito and then covered her face, so she couldn't see what they were doing. Katie was so brave and didn't even move. They kept saying how good she did.  I was proud of my girl.

Family Togetherness

Guess what!!! I am almost caught up on the pictures that are on my computer. Then it is time to collect them from phones.  The SD Card for our camera broke, so all those pictures are lost.  I bought new cards, but now can't find the camera.  So we have to take pictures from our phones. 

One of my favorite things about living in the US now is being so involved in family event again. I hated missing everything.  We weren't her long before we got together with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and lots of cousins.  I got to meet Nelwyn  and Rub for the first time.  Love them already.  I have the best family and I am grateful for all of them.

The ladies did a lot of giggling.

Last week 3 of my sisters were in town.  It was a full house and there are more pictures to come.  We had a spur of the moment baby shower for Melly, because who knows when everyone will be together again, before baby boy arrives. We sent out emails and had a surprisingly good turnout.  Aunt Linda even flew in from St. George for the day. 

Chris, Melly and baby Jack.  Isn't she an adorable pregnant mommy!!

We all met a local park.  Had some wonderful food and great conversation.

Yes, the oh so ellusive picture of me. Now you know why.

Then we wrapped it up with my favorite part of any event: presents.  She got so many wonderful things, it almost made me want to have another baby now.

Primary Bike Parade

Every summer our the primary in our new ward has a bike parade.  The police department comes and teaches them bike safety and then all the kids ride their bikes to the park, down the street.

My cute mom helped Katie for so long.  Grandpa was there to help also.  I think they loved watching the kids.

This is just a portion of bikes sitting at the park.

At the park the fire engine was waiting for us.  They turned on the hose and sprayed whoever wanted to get wet. I was standing at the edge just getting misted and suddenly the water shifted and I got soaked right along with my girls.

Gpa was sweet and took Hyrum down to get soaked.

They had popcicles for everyone.  I loved the activity and it was great to get to know some more people in our ward.

I accidentally jabbed Hyrum in the eye with his popcicle.

""Great"-Grandparents

Yes, they are our favorite!!!!  Within a couple weeks of our getting here we had time to visit the great-grandparents. We went over to visit my Jensen grandparents after church one Sunday. We had lunch and lots of fun talking. We also got to see their new house.

Grandma set up her feast as usual.

Grandma and Grandpa Walker came to see us one afternoon.

Jared and Grandpa were looking over the plan for us finishing our basement.

They all squeezed onto our new couch to check out the floor plans for mom and dad's new house.

I am so glad my kids are at an age where they can remember these times with their great-grandparents.

Let's Celebrate!!!

We had everyone come over to our place (did I mention that we are going to rent my parents home from them.  They are going to build another home in our neighborhood. And we will eventually buy from them.) for Father's Day.

Hyrum wore this aprom the whole time. Becca made it and I just put it on as a joke.

 I made these cakes I saw on the internet months ago and ws waiting for the right occasion. They were my Father's Day gift to Jared. 

One for the Fathers.

Another because Germany was playing that day in the Euro Cup.

The goal of the cakes was to have the German flag when you cut it. I think it turned out great. I will be doing it again.

That night we all played games.

 A couple weeks ago I went to Cam and Tommy's wedding reception. I loved just hanging with family.

Uncle Eric spent hours at the ice cream table, but I think that is wear he wanted to be most.

I got to hang out with this girl.  She even did a little dance for us.

One of the funnest things was watching the dance floor.

I just love being here and doing so many family things.  It is wonderful to be involved again.

Family is About Time

I was out for the night and the girls were with Gma and Bahnka D. so Jared took Robby and Hyrum to Applebees.

 Again I was somewhere (I promise I am home alot) and Daddy made this slip-n-slide for the kids.

The whole time we lived in Germany I missed going to the library. I remember my mom taking us and we would pick piles of books to take home.  The library is one of my favorite places to spend my time. I have been so excited to do the same things with my kids. My library card was one of the first things I got when we moved here.  Now we try to go to story time once a week. I wasn't sure if they liked it, but we didn't make it this week and they were asking about it.

We decided to go Antelope Island, since we live so close.

We decided to try the buffalo burger. This is us waiting for it.  They were good.

Hyrum wasn't too excited when we waded in the lake. I think the salt was bothering him.  We all got wet, but Katie and Hyrum were soaked.

This buffalo was standing right next to the road, taking care of an itch.