Splash Park

My sister-in-law and I decided to take our kids to the splash park yesterday! I know my last post was a water post...but it is summer and we are living in it!!:) Rhett and Laiklie were a little hesitant because they hate getting their heads wet, but they found these little fountains that were just their size.:)
Laiklie is filling the cotton candy bag from the Carousel Ride that we also went on - two times. I think they liked that maybe more than the splash park.
Oakley is the one coming down the slide on the right. She loved it!
Dallin was funny because he would go play and then come dry off and then go play and then come dry off...over and over again. The water wasn't very warm so I don't blame him. We had a great time - thanks Aunt Katie for inviting us!

Swimming Lessons

Each summer my kids take swimming lessons from the time they turn 3 until...well, we haven't gotten old enough for that yet. They LOVE it!! On the last day of the two weeks they take the kids to do the BIG SLIDE and the DIVING BOARD. It is always a fun bonus for the kids.

Dallin wouldn't go down the slide but did jump off the diving board multipule times this year.:) He also got to where he could swim the entire way across the little pool at Heise ALL BY HIMSELF. He is pretty proud that he taught himself to do a somersault under the water. He is quite the little fish. Oakley did go down the slide, but every picture I took of it ended up just being feet sticking out of the water.:) She is a good swimmer and her teacher took her over to the deep pool everyday to work on her swimming skills!! She had a great teacher and learned SO much.

Rhett FINALLY on the last day of lessons actually went all the way under the water!! Yeah! He is getting there. He is a pro at chicken - airplane - soldier too! He braved the slide one time and jumped off the diving board quite a few times...as long as his teacher was there to catch him that is!
They all did great and learned so much! Swimming lessons is one of our favorite parts of summer and we are a little sad that it is over.

No...I did not forget how to blog!

YARD SALE, YARD SALE, YARD SALE!! I have been working all week on the upcoming annual yard sale that my sister and sister-in-law and I have. It is alot of work to go through everything in the house and price all the junk. Because we have now had...8...yard sales (I think that is right) we are to the point that we just collect all the junk all year long and store it so we have a weeks worth of pricing when yard sale time rolls around. It is all worth it though. We usually make pretty good money and I plan all year as to what I am going to put the money towards. Last year it was food storage...this year it is the dining room table that is already sitting in my dining room - I know I did it backwards, but when you get a great deal you just have to take it!!
We are also up to our chins in swim lessons.:) We started last week and have just 2 more days. My kids LOVE swim lessons and I LOVE that they get to stay in the pool free with a paying adult. So I pay for Laiklie and I and we stay and swim afterwards. It has been great to spend so much time in the pool and my kids all have such pretty brown skin from it. I always take pictures on the last day when they do the diving board and slide - so...wait for it...

Jacobson Family Vacation

We just had our "Jacobson Family Vacation" over the 4th of July weekend and had a BLAST!! We had my parents, my 5 siblings and spouses and all 24 grandchildren there. My husband and my sister's husband are farmers and didn't make it for the full vacation - which...I guess after 10 years of this I am getting use to that.:( We did some picnicing, fishing, rafting, scrapbooking, BBQing, parading and fireworking and lots of late night chatting.

It is times like these that remind me to continually pray that we can all be together forever. My parents have always had a family motto of: NO EMPTY CHAIRS! Meaning that we want everyone of us there in the celestial kingdom. There are SO MANY of us now that we completely fill my parents house to over flowing, and it is usually as loud as a stadium, but I look around and can't imagine our family being the same if we weren't all there. I am SO BLESSED to have amazing parents, and brothers and sisters that are the very best example to me, and these nieces and nephews that I could just eat up.

THIS IS WHAT LIFE...AND ETERNITY ARE ALL ABOUT!

Annual 4th of July BBQ

When I was a little girl my very favorite part of the 4th of July was the BBQ and fireworks at my grandma Jacobson's house with all my cousins. We stopped that tradition once they sold the dairy, but I have always loved the memories. So, when Oakley was little I decided I wanted a similar party for her to remember, so I started the Annual BBQ Family Home Evening with the Hawkins Family. For the past 5 or 6 years we have had Ryan's family over the Monday before the 4th for BBQ and "store bought" fireworks and have always had a blast!! The kids just can't get enough of the fireworks and it is always fun to sit and visit.

These are a few of the different reactions from the night. Oakley was ALL SMILES ALL NIGHT!
Laiklie slept through the first 1/2 of the party so when she woke-up she was a little "Crusty," and wasn't quite sure about the fireworks...but seemed to have a good time once she got use to it all.

Rhett had his ears plugged the ENTIRE party. He HATES loud noises and always has. He has never liked fireworks, guns, or even balloons popping. This was definitely a step-up from last year when he watched them out the porch window. I did notice though that he kept them plugged even as he walked into the house when the party was over - just incase!:)

And this is my FAVORITE PICTURE and kind of sums up the night!!

Dallin's WAHOO!!

He is all boy and absolutely LOVED the fireworks.

Family History Scrapbooks

We are having our family reunion (my bro.'s & sis's & parents) this weekend and I have been working on these Family History Scrapbooks the past few days. They are brown paper sack scrapbooks and they are SO easy. I printed the kids pictures in Sepia and put their picture and their first initial on the front cover. I have done 25 and they are all different and all turned out so stinking cute.
(This is Laiklie's - it is hard to see!)


For the inside each page has a picture of grandparents or great-grandparents - that I also printed in Sepia and then a sticky label that has their full name, birthdate, occupation or how many children they raised and just one thing that they loved. (I took pictures but decided not to post them because of full names and birthdates - that scares me on the internet.) Anyway - I finished Laiklie's completely so that my sisters and sisters-in-law can have it as an example to finish their childrens. It should make for a
fun family reunion activity.:)
Thanks Hollie for the idea!

Proud to be an American Photo Shoot

My sweet cousin Nanette sent my kids all "4th of July" t-shirts (which they LOVE - thank you Nanette) so I decided to FINALLY update their pictures on the side bar on my blog. I took them out this evening for the "Family Photo Shoot." These are a few we took just for fun. I sure love my sweet kids and love capturing everything I possible can...I am not good at it...but I still love it.
This was the "hay bale playing" afterwards. I loved that Oakley thought she could help Laiklie jump to the big bale. I am glad she figured out that she couldn't before we had an accident though. And I am sure you all noticed Laiklie's pull-up. I was lucky to get her out of her swimsuit to get the shirt on - she wasn't about to put on pants and I wasn't going to push my luck. What a funny stubborn little thing she is.

This is seriously how life is here. Where ever Dallin goes Rhett is right on his heels. He can't get enough of his big bro.

My Girls

My Boys

You will have to check out their individual pictures on the side bar.:)