Have you fallen off the blog wagon?

So, what's your excuse?

a) You're so behind that it's too overwhelming to catch up.
b) Your computer is so slow, you've started planning activities during page loads.

c) You're fresh out of cleverness and wit and there's none to be had on eBay.
d) You don't have 37 comments on every post so you've given up on winning the most popular blog contest.

e) Your life is so exciting you simply don't have a moment to tell anyone else about it.

If your reason for falling off the blog wagon is one or more of the above answers, then you shouldn't feel guilty about letting your blog slide. Come to terms with the fact that mediocrity in the blogging world is completely acceptable.

All that aside, it's the end of June, which means 2009 is half over, which means I have a major catch-up post coming. These are most of the pictures I wanted to, but have not posted so far this year.

NOTE: Scanning quickly through the following pictures and paragraphs is permitted and recommended.


March 27


Emma had her last day of preschool at the Liberty Lake Children's Academy. She wanted to bring the snack so we brought dirt cake in a pail. The kids loved it! All of the preschool kids sang a few songs as part of a planned mini-concert. After they sang, each of the kids came up and gave Emma a flower. Some of them even brought gifts- it was so nice and WAYY beyond what was necessary. Her teachers, Miss Teri and Miss Shakra, were crying their eyes out. Don't you love people that love your kids?

March 28-

Before we left Liberty Lake, we had to check out the new foals at the Lawrences. When we arrived, McKenzie and her Dad were all saddled up for a ride. They were very, very nice and delayed their ride a few minutes to take Emma and Aidan around their indoor barn for a ride. Emma loves horses- she was laughing and so excited while she was on the horse.

April 11-

Easter! We had three Easter Egg Hunts and by the 3rd one, Joseph figured out a much easier way to get the most eggs.

April 30- May 4-

Shaun had to deliver a boat to Modesto, CA so we decided to make it a family trip. On Thursday, we drove 12 hours to Turlock, CA to stay with Shaun's Uncle Scott and Aunt Becky and their two kids, Nicole and Nikolai. The kids had so much fun playing together- mostly collecting slugs!

We stayed in Turlock until Saturday morning then drove 6 hours to Anaheim. We had a blast at Disneyland on Saturday and we also visited with Shaun's other aunt and uncle (Pat & Dick) and some of his cousins in Laguna Hills on Sunday. Monday we went back for another round of Disneyland and CA Adventures. Emma's favorites were the Playhouse Disney Show and Splash Mountain. On the second day, it was nothin' but rides likes Small World and Nemo because we started off with Tower of Terror and traumatized Emma. She still asks about why the people turned into ghosts and fell down the elevator. Aren't we good parents?

Shaun's Dad- lover of all things Disney- even flew in to spend the day at the park with us on Monday. We made the 12 hour drive back home Tuesday. It was a lot of driving, but the kids were awesome in the car (thank you DVD players!) Both of the kids came down with mega colds so they were out of it most of the time, but we found giving them 72 oz drinks from our fav burger joint made things better.

May 29-May 30-

Shaun's 30th birthday extravaganza! We rented a 3 bedroom condo at the Zermatt Resort in Midway, UT and had all the family (my Dad even came out to join in the fun) stay for a fun weekend. It was two days of swimming, playing tennis, mini-golfing, carouselling, racing on the Alpine Slide and having fun! Thanks to Shaun's brother Jordan for the best bday present!

While staying at the Zermatt, Papa showed us the new trick he taught Joseph:

June 5- 19-
My Mom and sister Adrienne came for a very fun visit! We took my sister to BYU-I in Rexburg. While there, we also stopped at the Westover Ranch (my Grandpa's family ranch) and the temple. I just don't have the words to describe the wonders of Rexburg.




In case you're wondering what to do with small children on the way home from Rexburg, stop at BEAR WORLD! It's a drive through park and bears were right next to our car! The kids loved it. There's also a petting zoo and amusement rides. I loved the adorable bear cubs and my adorable cubs looking at the adorable bear cubs!







While my mom and sister were in town, we also visited "This Is the Place" Heritage Park. They've added a train ride, petting zoo (a popular venue with this crowd) and pony rides. Of course, we can't get anywhere near Emigration Canyon without stopping for a bite at one of our favorite Utah classics- Ruth's Diner.






Some of our other activities included touring the new Oquirrh Mountain temple,





working on fun projects like this growth chart, touring BYU Provo campus and eating the local "J-Dawgs" (sooooo good!), and stopping at a million -okay, more like twenty- quilt shops (Wasatch Shop HOP).

June 21- Father's Day
We celebrated with Shaun's family. I made one of Shaun's few and favorite desserts- PEACH TART! I'm so lucky to have such a great father to my own children and an incredible Dad and Father-in-law.





Other than that, we've been doing lots of swimming at Papa & Suzy's pool:



Emma got her first black-eye playing with the neighborhood children:




And we've been looking at LOTS of houses. The kids are trained to shout "SALE!" every time they see a house with a sign. My sister was looking at a map with Emma and she asked, "Emma where is your house? Emma said, "I don't know where it is, we've been looking EVERYWHERE!"


And that about sums up our summer so far. You might not hear about the rest until September.