My Baby is 6!!

I can't believe that I already have a first grader. The weirdest part about this is that I remember my own first grade, I remember lots of things about it, and now my son is going into 1st grade. These could possibly be memories that stay with him for life. Crazy. Anyway, we have a birthday party rule in our house: you can invite as many friends as you are old. I don't want to throw this massive party for every birthday so this rule helps to keep it simple. Now for the big birthdays (5, 8, 12,16) they can have a bigger party. So last Friday we had Carson's party and he just wanted to have a swim party, which works for me. Pizza: easy, pool: easy, cupcakes: easy, 6 boys: easy. He had a great time.

I got a slip 'n slide for them to play on too, and Greg came home in the middle of the party to say hi to Carson, and the first thing he said was, "We have this huge pool with a slide, cliff jumping and rope swing, you seriously thought they needed a slip'n slide too? Those ruin the grass." I just laughed at him, but of course at the end of the party we moved the slip'n slide and the grass was totally burned underneath. In a perfectly straight strip right across the main part of the lawn. Ok, Greg, you were right (for once) but the kids loved it.

Summer Hiking

Beautiful isn't it? Here are some pics of our adventures in Sundance. We enjoyed spending time with our friends the Derricks. This is the hike to Stewart Falls. Beautiful.

Here are some pics of our adventures in Sundance. We enjoyed spending time with our friends the Derricks. This is the hike to Stewart Falls. Beautiful.

Riggs' triplets

many of you knew the Riggs when they lived here in vegas. i am often asked how they are doing and what they are up to, so i will tell you and give you some pictures of the triplets. we spent the last couple of days at a cabin in sundance and the riggs joined us one day. kim and i were close friends and it was hard to see them go, but they seem to be happy. for all of you who miss her too she did tell me that she really misses living here and has tried to think of ways that they could have stayed or could come back. she said that they had a real hard time adjusting to life in utah.

anyway, the triplets (as most of you know) were born very premature and the two boys, Cole and Brock, are deaf. they are almost 1 now and they are getting their implants at the end of august. insurance covers it once they are 1. they are the cutest little things and kim and clayton seemed very together. when the time came to feed them it was like tag-team feeding frenzy. clayton took one, kim took one and our friend courteney took another one. it was actually quite under control until courteney's 6-week old baby started crying and she had to stop feeding one of the triplets. not to mention the other 8 kids we had in the cabin running around us and yelling and playing. it was actually a great time and not as chaotic as it could have been. kim said that she may start a blog soon, then we can keep in better contact with them.

i promise i did help once i took a couple of pictures.

Cabin Fever

we spent last weekend at a cabin with some friends. we were up in Duck Creek and it was beautiful. the weather is great and the whole cabin atmosphere is so wonderful. my kids loved 4-wheeling. cole would just sit on the 4-wheeler while it was parked, just waiting for somebody to take him on a ride. then the helmet was too heavy for his little neck so his head would flop around and he still wanted to go!

we also went hiking, and my kids love to hike. we have done so much hiking this summer and the kids never complain. i don't know if i am just more brave or the kids are better, but i would have never even considered hiking with all of them a year ago. now we have a blast and even cole walks for most of it.

Denver

Busy, busy, busy. we love to get away from the vegas heat during the summer so we have been busy. last week we spent some time in Denver with my sister and her family. the weather was perfect. we were there for my nephews baptism. he is the first grandchild to be baptized and it was a great experience. i don't see my sister very often so when we get together we just want to do nothing and hang out and talk. so greg kept the baby in vegas a couple of days so i could hang out with my sister without him. one year olds are too high maintenance. greg and cole joined us in denver a few days later. both of my parents are from denver so we still have a lot of family there so it was great to see everybody.

now we will stay home for a week and then off to utah. it's just too hot here. here are some pics of the week in denver.



the pictures:


- the cousins
- everyone watching fireworks
- my sister and her family
- my parents