Swimming at the Hoisington's Pool

We borrowed Ethan and Elliot Hoisington and took all the kids swimming in their community pool. 

The lineup:  Bex, Matthew, Elliot, Ethan and Emily 

 Emily jumping in! 

Katie spent the day relaxing on the edge of the pool in the deep end

 Matthew and Elliot jumping in!

 It was so funny because after only 5 minutes of watching the kids swim, the lifeguard yelled for the kids to clear out of the pool for 10 minutes of adult swim only (which happens every hour).  The kids were so grumpy and I was so overjoyed to jump into the pool and have it all to myself while they sat on the edge watching!  Yes, I did rub it in their faces quite a bit with my playful banter and as soon as the lifeguard took his post again, the kids attacked me!  I deserved it, but it was well worth the 10 minutes of peace and freedom from anyone hanging on me in the pool!

 Rebecca is fearless and jumps right into the water!  This has its benefits and downsides too - like when she walks all the way to the deep end with no one there to keep up with her and she jumps right in!  She doesn't think twice about it!

 Everyone had fun under the water shower in the kiddie area

 We were only planning on being at the pool for 1-1/2 hours and it was actually 3.  So I did get sunburned that afternoon on my shoulders/back.  I am great at getting the kids covered, but never want to take time out for myself!  After an itchy week, I think I have learned my lesson!

We had a great time with our friends at the pool!  Hopefully we can do this often this summer!

Happy Father's Day!

We had a great time celebrating Father's Day this year!  Our first official Father's Day with Sam in our family and we wanted it to be amazing!  Each of the kids took time throughout the week to make him a card.  Then Emily and mom went shopping on Saturday for a new purple tie, tie clip and new jammies.  And last but not least, I ordered a 60 minute massage for him since he has been working so hard at his new job!  He loved all his gifts! 

 I barbecued burgers, hot dogs, sausage and corn on the cob for dinner that night and it was a huge hit!  Emily and mom made a Cocoa-Cola cake for dessert with yummy vanilla ice cream.  We were stuffed!

 Our family is so blessed to have Sam with us!  He brings so much laughter and fun!  He also brings love and comfort, knowledge and understanding, different ideas, spontaneous adventures, positive energy and priesthood power!  He completes our home in so many ways and we are so glad he is here!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY SAM!!!

WE LOVE YOU!  

Corpus Christi - South Padre Island

While in Corpus Christi, the weather was not great the morning we wanted to hit the beach, so with some quick planning, we ended up at the Texas State Aquarium.  Unfortunately we forgot the battery to our camera, so these pictures are not great from the disposable one we used, but it's the best we can do!

The aquarium was mostly indoors and the kids loved looking at all the fish under water.  They even got to jump into a booth for an 80 MPH hurricane wind sample and loved getting blown away!

 Outdoor part of the aquarium which was right next door to the USS Lexington

 We watched their 30 minute animal show and had fun watching for alligators and sharks!

 The lineup:  Bex, Matt, Emily and finally Katie

 We got to pet a turtle named Walker (which we quickly deemed "Walker, Texas Ranger)

 Loving the dolphins! 

 Petting the sting rays

 In the afternoon, the sun came out and we were all ready to hit the beach!  We drove about an hour out to South Padre Island and found the perfect spot!

 We built a sandcastle

 Took turns burying eachother in the sand

 Went out as far as we could in the big waves!

Sam, Bex and Matt way out there!

 Played

 and played
(I love Sam posing in this pic which he thought I was taking of him and not Bex)

 AND played!!!

 Katie ready to run out in the waves again!

 Emily digging and scooping with our beach toys

 Matthew and Bex heading back in

 Katie would go so far out in the waves and when she would come back in, she would end up so far down the beach from us!

Matthew loved running and chasing the gulls!

 Bex had fun filling buckets with water, sand, anything she could find!

 We had so much fun in Corpus Christi!  We got to see some of our favorite friends in the whole wide world, swim in the hotel pool, tour the aquarium and spent hours at the beach!  Driving home Sunday night, we were beat!  It was a long trip but well worth the fun memories we made there!  We will definitely have to plan another trip down there! 

Delancey's Wedding Reception

We had such a fun weekend celebrating Delancey and Phillip's wedding down in Corpus Christi, Texas.  When I received their wedding invitation and saw that they were having a reception here in Texas, I was so thrilled!  After a nice 5 hour drive, we stopped at our hotel and everyone changed into their Sunday best, then headed down the road to the church.

It was such a great blessing to see so many familiar faces!!!

Delancey, Moira, me, Avery and Chandler

 Rebecca and I took a spin out on the dance floor

 The beautiful bride!

It has been so long since visiting with our BF Shell - Rebecca did not even recognize her!  So funny to remember Shell being the only person in the hospital room when Baby Bex was born.  We call her Bex's 2nd mother since she is the one who cut the cord! 

 It did not take Bex long to warm up to her 2nd mommy at all!

 Moira, Shell and I

It was so much fun catching up with our friends and all that is going on in their lives and all that we have missed these past 2 years!  It was amazing to feel right at home with them immediately, like we had not missed a beat and still only live 10 minutes away from eachother!  I was so proud to meet Delancey's husband and see how perfect they are together!  It was also fun to introduce them to my husband for the first time and see how happy they were for us too!  They loved Sam and had such a great time talking with him and completely trust him to be perfect for our family!  It was such a happy reunion for our families and after the initial tears at the beginning and final tears at the end, we could not have had more fun with our eternal friends! 

We love y'all!



5th Grade Graduation

Katie did an amazing job in elementary school and is prepared to move on to middle school this year!  We are so proud of her and her accomplishments!  What a super awesome student!

They had a graduation ceremony that lasted from 9:00am- 12:30pm on Friday morning.  The theme was the academy awards and everyone had a fun time walking down the red carpet!  Sam even donated his strobe light and it looked awesome flashing as the kids walked in!

This is Mrs. Widmer's 5th grade class - Katie is 2nd one over from the right in the 2nd row up from the bottom.  Everyone is proud to hold their diploma high!

 Katie at the front of the line to walk to her teacher and receive her diploma

 Everybody was pretty quiet during the ceremony with the 6 different 5th grade classes to read through, but of course I could not help but let out a few "Yips!"  and "Woot! Woot's!" to help embarrass her.  Each of the 5th graders wrote a future prediction of their lives and it was so cute to hear their predictions as they walked to the stage!  Katie wants to attend BYU college to become a teacher or actress.

 

 Following the diploma part of the ceremony, everyone headed out to the courtyard for a little drink, snack and mingling.

 Proud Mommy moment!  My first child to head on to middle school!

 We had Katie pose on the red carpet

 The last hour of the ceremony was spent watching the talent show.  Katie had her little buddy sit with her for the show.

 And of course Bex cannot just sit still while there is fun music going on!  She got up and bogeyed - everyone thought she was adorable so she continued for awhile!

 Katie and her friend Hailey went to all the talent show practices and were able to sing the song Trouble by Taylor Swift - they originally wanted to sing and dance to Shake it for me by Josh Turner, but the staff vetoed that song so they had to start all over and finally settled on Trouble. 

 This girl loves being on stage and looked way too comfortable with that microphone in her hand!  Sang her little heart out and did a fabulous job!

 Sam, Bex and I had a great time honoring Katie and her fellow 5th grade classmates!  She is SO ready for middle school and we can't wait for her to experience this next part of life!  We are so blessed to have this girl in our lives and love to watch her learn and grow!

Way to go Super Grad!