Celebrating Pioneer Day at Draper Days Parade

It's hard to believe that it's already Draper Days again this year!  This summer is absolutely flying by and I don't like it.  We've been able to do a ton of fun stuff, but it's just going by too fast.  We love Draper Days and the parade is the highlight of the fun.  We gather first thing in the morning and get our traditional spot for watching the parade.  This year, McKinley and Evan were asked to be in the parade, so we only had Ethan there with us.  That was strange!  But we had lots of other family members there to watch with us and gather up all the candy!

 It's always a good time to catch up and visit while we watch all the different entries go by!

Evan and McKinley were about half way through the parade.  I was worried they wouldn't like being in the parade as much as watching it (not getting candy!) but they both said they loved it and can't wait to do it again!

 

 Ethan and Mayceleen joined Grandad in the shade this year.  I kept throwing candy I gathered back to them, but after Ethan refused to get out of his chair to gather it up I stopped enabling him!  I think they enjoyed talking better than watching the parade. 

After the parade we gathered for a nice BBQ at Nana and Grandads and then Dave and I went to the Real soccer game, while the kids went to fireworks with their cousins.  It was a great celebration!

USMNT vs. Hondoras World Cup Qualifier!!

If that headline didn't mean anything to you then read on...

The US Mens National Soccer Team came to Utah to play a World Cup qualifying game and we were there!  This is the road to the World Cup in Brazil, which is the highest competition in soccer...the whole world competes!

So we got to see the best US soccer players in the world play in Sandy Utah!  It was amazing!  The atmosphere of the game was great, our seats were great for watching the play of the game, and the weather was perfect!  And then there was the perfect goal and the win!  It was definitely a night to remember.

USA 1- Hondoras 0, on our way to Brazil 2014!!

Father's Day

There aren't enough ways to celebrate Dave as a dad, but we tried to do our best and spoil him on Father's Day.  This year was extra special with the kids wanting to use their own hard earned money to buy Dave presents that they thought he would love!  It was a tender moment to see how generous they were and how they understand that they scored big in the Dad department!

 Austin though we celebrated a little early for a Sunday morning, but he made a great seat for Dave as he posed for his traditional Father's Day photo.

Some of the greatest gifts of the day were the kind words and hugs that came in every few minutes during our celebration.  Everyone wanted to give hugs and let Dave know he was special!

 Evan bought David a Duck Dynasty shirt that he just knew Dave would like.  I have to admit that I do think the show is funny now...it just takes a few episodes to see the humor.

Ethan's gift was very creative indeed.  He created a multi-layered box/clue present that lead to a gift certificate for Dave to pick out his very own scuba goggles.  Dave and Austin have been taking the classes to be scuba certified and they plan on going on a little dive trip soon, so those will be very useful! 

We finished the day off with a phone call to my dad and a visit with Dave's dad.  We also had key lime pie at 10:45 at night just to make sure our celebration lasted the entire day! 

All in all we had a great celebration.  Dave is an amazing father...the things I admire most in him are his playfulness with the kids, the patience he shows them, the example of working hard and playing hard, and the spiritual lead that he takes in the family.  He's not perfect, but that's good, because we want him around for year to come as he works on that!  Happy Father's Day!

Grandma...horses, bikes and grizlly bears!

The first week of summer Vicky and I decided that it was the best (and maybe only) time to go on a girls road trip up to Washington to see our Mom (Grandma Libby).  So we packed up Monday morning and headed north to Boise.  We were taking it easy and were going to stop overnight in Boise and swim at the pool and relax.  It was a great trip up and the girls all did really well.  We were only at Grandma's for 3 days, but we had a great time.  We were able to go and visit her horse Goose at his stables. 

We also got to see 2 Grizzly bears take a bath/swim in their pool at the University Grizzly bear habitat.  What amazing animals they are!  We got to be about 3 feet away (and a couple fences) from these awesome animals and watch them cool off from the heat.  The pictures just don't do it justice as we stood there laughing and getting splashed by a huge bear playing in water!

On our last day we rented bikes and decided to ride from Pullman Washington to Moscow Idaho, which is about 8 miles.  The girls all did great and we met Grandpa Irv in Moscow for a delicious pizza lunch (another celebration of McKinley's birthday!  Thanks Grandpa Irv!) before riding the 8 miles back.  My seat bones were not too happy with that activity, but it was a breathtakingly beautiful ride through rural Washington/Idaho and all the farms. 

(Grandma and I were there too, we had already returned our bikes when the girls arrived!)

After our quick visit we took our two days home, stopping again in Boise and getting home Friday afternoon.  It was such a great trip and we have already decided to do it again next year!

McKinley's 9th birthday

McKinley's birthday celebrations tends to last a long time!  We start with bringing treats in to school...and that's usually a few days early because school gets out before her actual birthday.  Then this year we celebrated presents a few days early because she and I were going to see Grandma Libby in Washington and wouldn't be home on her actual birthday.  She also had a little cheerleading camp for her birthday party with a few other girls, which was a blast!  (Thanks Whitney!)  And then, she got cake and a giant balloon at Grandma's on her actual birthday.  Nana brought over a present a few days after we came home, the Primary at church gave her a card and a treat, and just yesterday her Sunday school teachers brought over a card and treats too!  Wow...she really celebrated! 

Of course we celebrated McKinley's birthday....she is an adorable little girl.  She is so witty and funny, she is super smart, and very kind.  She is a thoughtful, gentle soul, with a very good heart.  We are so lucky to have our (not so) little girl in this family.  We love you McKinley!

End of Elementary!!

There were a LOT of activities this last week of school for both my elementary age kiddos.  I made them each pick their top two and I attended those!  Of course, one of the activities was Evan's graduation from 6th grade, and from Elementary school!  The other one was his group play that they had worked on for quite some time.  Evan was the MC of a game show called Nail the Tale.  It was all about books and authors.  He did a great job!

 Graduation was a talent show and memory telling event as well as the traditional walking across the stage.  There were some great performances and some neat essays about elementary school and moving on.  The theme was Dr. Seuss "Oh, The Places You'll Go!".

 Evan enjoyed his time across the stage and singing the school song one more time before releasing his balloon outside, grabbing some treats, and walking out the door "for the last time!".

 He also snapped a picture with his science teacher, Mrs. V...his "favorite" teacher.  All in all it was a great year and we are looking forward to Middle School and the learning, growing, challenges, and FUN that are ahead!  Congratulations Evan, well done!

Academy Award Winner!

And the winner of the Super Student award is....McKinley Smith.  She was presented with the award as an example of a great student in all areas...Kindness, Academics, Helpfulness, Encouraging, Inclusive, Obedient, Hard Working, and Respect.  WOW!  That is an award to be proud of!!

 Receiving her award from her teacher, Mrs. Flores!

Graduating third grade as champions!  They sang their own version of We Are The Champions!

Ready to throw off the hats and enjoy summer.

McKinley's "star" on the walk of fame!

McKinley has had a great third grade year.  She has loved her teacher and her classmates and has learned a ton.  She's excelled in math (of course) and really learned to love reading this year.  She's an all around great student and we couldn't be more proud of her!