Memory

Ryan's brother Chase and his wife Yvonne moved in to our old house next door and so this sweet little Memory gets to come over usually atleast once a day.  The kids absolutely LOVE her and she is hilarious which makes it even better!

 Her and Oakley have a special bond.  If Oakley is home that is where I can find Memory.  She thinks they are best friends, and truthfully Oakley doesn't mind. :)

 This was a Sunday afternoon when we stopped to visit for a minute and Memory kept asking me to sit on her lap.  The funniest was when she asked Ryan to sit on her lap! HAHAHAHAHA!!! What a funny baby!

And this picture speaks for itself! ;)

Sure love having littles in our life again.  It makes watching my kids get big just a little easier.

Summer = Water Fun

On hot summer days we can't get enough of the water!

 Laiklie

Yvonne set up the slip-n-slide one afternoon when I wasn't home and sent me these pictures.  Looks like they had fun!

 Rhett

 We also tried out the new splash park one afternoon!

 Plus these two cutie pies got to play in the flooded lawn.  Memory loves Laiklie.  She has become her big sis when her sisters aren't around.

 We also made it to the lake one day with a few cousins.  We only took one kayak so these three boys all climbed in it together. ;) Looks like trouble!

Laiklie and Ember

Fishing

We finally got to try our lucky on the new fish in the lake at the ranch.  Each kid caught one, and Oakley even caught two.  Both the girls let theirs go (dads request). Oakley's first one was HUGE and actually got away as Ryan was trying to get the hook out of it.  We could see it floating on the top of the water out in the lake and knew it would die.  So sad.  Hate seeing that happen. The boys both kept theirs for dinner the next night.  Yummy!

 Dallin seriously caught his about 5 minutes into fishing.  He was bummed after he caught it when his dad told him he was done.  Good thing he was a good helper to the others and happy about his catch.

Rhett was the last one to catch one and we were a little worried he wasn't going to get one.  His dad was patient and waited it out with him though and he finally got one.  Happy to have one of his own. :) Such a fun night as a family.  We are so blessed to have a grandpa who has worked his guts out over the years to make it possible for us to have a ranch/lake we can fish at. 

Rodeo

 Took the kids to the Jefferson County Stampede Days Rodeo this year! I LOVE RODEOS!!

Branding Day

This year has been a little different with cows.  Because we calved later, we branded later and infact it is July and we still haven't hauled the cows yet.  Seriously unheard of. We have plenty of hay where hay prices are so low so we haven't been in any hurry this year. Kinda weird!

 Here is the big branding crew.  :)  Jason and JD got suckered into helping this year too. 

 Dallin and JD talk a tough game, but they are no match for Uncle Jason.  Hahahaha! Hilarious!!

 Everybody has a job to do on days like this.  These three were on the turn table and branding iron, Dallin on the chute controls, Chase and JD pushing cows up and Rhett and I getting shots and tags ready.  It is a stinky dirty job, but it is one that has to be done so we all just dig in and do it!

I love that the farm life is our life! My boys are taught at a young age how to work and not just work, but work long hard hours.  They are going to grow up to be amazing men! So proud to be their mom!

Service at the Temple

A couple weeks ago they sent a sign-up sheet around Relief Society for 8 people to go help sand the fence at the temple to get it ready to be painted for when the temple is opened again.  They told us they had to be hard workers and over 12.  I was sure the sign-up sheet would be full by the time it got to me....but it wasn't to my surprise and so I signed up Oakley, Dallin and I (+Lauren since she was staying at our house while her parents were out of town) to go sand the fence.  What a neat (hard) opportunity! We sanded our little section until our arms and shoulders burned.  I was bummed that there were kids under 12 there so I should have taken Rhett and Laiklie and hate that they missed out on it.  :( But what a neat thing for Oakley and Dallin to participate in.  They will remember sanding the temple fence for the rest of their lives.  So grateful for opportunities to serve the Lord.

Lagoon, Second Round

Grandma Hawkins bought us season passes this year to Lagoon so we headed back to UT in June to spend a couple days.  It was our very first time at Lagoona beach.  What a blast!

 We rode rides until we about made ourselves sick.  We played HARD for two days straight.  We are looking forward to a few more trips to Lagoon this summer!!