Partying at the Peaks

7 Peaks that is!

I'm sure it'll be obvious who my "buddy" is when we go to 7 Peaks.  I see a little of Marissa - and only see Aaron once or twice the whole day -- especially when we go with friends!  So - enjoy the pictures of my view ...

 

 

 

Man, have we ever loved going to 7-Peaks a ton this Summer!

Cub Scouts Mad Scientist Party

During the month of June - I had the privilege of being BOTH a Wolf Den Leader as well as the 2nd Counselor in the Young Women's Program.  Yep - I was called to serve with the young women (particularly the Beehives) in our ward.  I am really lacking in confidence, but I had been praying so hard for Marissa (whose best friend, Sierra, just announced a move to Bountiful by the end of the Summer), and I am thinking that maybe this calling might be part of an answer to my prayers.  I received an amazing blessing when I was set apart - and have since felt very up to the challenge -  and it certainly helps that my BFF (and Wolf Den Partner!), Carly, was called as the Secretary in the Young Women Program.  :)  We are having a great time - but, more on that when I get more caught up on blogging.

Sooooooo - for a "grand finale" den meeting at the end of June - we put together a Mad Scientist Party.  We. had. so. much. fun!!  How am I going to survive without these sweet cub scouts in my life every Tuesday?!?  Agh!!  It has seriously been the best calling ever!

Here they are watching a cool experiment where Carly lights a teabag on fire - and then it floats up into the air!  We all thought it was awesome.

We spent a good portion of the evening making GAK - it was super messy and super cool!  I am loving these boys in their "mad-scientist" goggles showing their finished products.  :)

Elephant toothpaste - (don'tcha just love the "Whooaaa!" faces?  I sure do!)

How can this not be the best calling ever?  Look at those faces!

And then outside for Exploding Bags (with vinegar and baking soda):

 

For our treat we had Kool-Aid ice cubes of different flavors in Sprite.  It's quite yummy, actually!  And the boys loved it - as you can see!

Soap in the microwave -- very cool!  It puffs up and becomes all squishy.  Weird!

I'm gonna miss Cub Scouts!

Just June

I know I've mentioned it before, but we LOVE going to Grandma Pat and Grandpa Brent's "Hawaii" backyard for last minute bbq's. These two KRAZY Krystal pictures are from one of those spectacular June "get-aways":

 

Here's my pretty Marissa at a fun friend get-together:

We welcomed a new nephew into our lives!  Brandon and Tina had their 4th child -- Luke -- we like him a lot! :)

I caught Aaron outside during Webelos working hard.  The Webelos Award is going to be a lot of work to earn!

Cousin time is one of the best parts of Summer!  (Yep - that's Marissa AND Anaka squished up in the McDonald's playland!)

Good times with Miss's BFF, Sierra,is also a must!  They gave Krystal a make-over, and -believe me- Krystal's "fancy walk" became 10x more fancy (if that's even possible!)

We celebrated Father's Day.  I sure am grateful for these incredible men in my life:

One of the Young Women in our ward offered several mini classes this Summer for very cheap.  We signed Krystal up for ballet classes.  These are the poses she felt best described "ballet":

 

It was a good June.

Birds of a Feather ...

We've been trying to stick together with our family activities as much as possible this Summer.  We are lucky to live close to this beautiful pond/park - and we don't take advantage of it nearly enough.  But, this family home evening we did.  We fed the ducks:

Maybe we haven't taken Krystal to feed ducks enough, because she was cracking me up.  She was SO into it - I couldn't stop taking pictures of her! (Granted, the other two got into it as well - so, maybe it's just quirky genetics. ;))

We raced to the playground [the kids always LOVE to race Tyler - they never ask me to race - maybe because he really hams it up - and they always seem to win .... just maybe :)] -

We all took turns on the swings to see who could get the highest:

And just had a great evening together:

Memorial Day Hike

I have to dedicate this post to the Krystal Girl.  She has always been kind of babied (seeing as she is the baby) - but, she struggles to walk long-ish distances (or even when we're shopping), hike with us, or hold her own at the zoo/carnival/etc. - and we've just always popped her in a stroller/shopping cart or carried her.  Bad Mommy!!

So - after she refused to hike the Y with us - we had a good sit down and talk with her.  She set some goals to be a LOT more independent when we're out and about - and to try her best to participate in our active family events.  Well - I am SO proud of her!!  We biked the trail up to Bridal Veil Falls on Memorial Day - 

- and Krystal did not complain EVEN one time!  She was happy and enthusiastic ...

... and rode her bike on her own nearly the whole time (Hanna's brakes on her bike broke - and so Aaron took Hanna up on his pegs - and Krystal let Hanna have a turn riding her bike for just a little part of the trail, and she rode on the pegs during that time).  She also hiked with us up to the falls!  Check out her happy face:

 

Aaron is such a great brother - and never stopped giving Krystal encouragement and positive feedback.  She's one lucky sista to have him by her side!

Krystal was so VERY proud of herself and kept saying, "I can't wait to tell my Dad-da!  He is going to be so proud of me!"

 

Nice work, guys!

Even though our little immediate family ended up split (Ty and Miss went with the Jenson clan to Peoa to put flowers on the graves -- and me and the littles went with the Miller clan to Bridal Veil Falls), we all had a fabulous time and were able to meet up that evening.

After biking up to the falls and hiking as well - Krystal was super tired!!  But, she was a major trooper and biked herself back to the park with a tired and satisfied smile.

They did it!!  Woot!  Woot!

Some good old tree climbing and relaxing were a sweet reward to a job well done:

 

Some of my extended family that we love to hang out with:

Great day!  An extra big shout out to my Krystaloo!  She knows that she can handle anything now!