Sisters

I love when they are all swinging at the same time. 

Crazy Hair

The girls love when we swing them in a blanket.  

Colt takes one side and I take the other and we swing them like a hammock.

This is quite a bit easier with small kids :)

We sing:

We are clothes in a Washing Machine

We Wiggle and We Giggle Until We are Clean

Then Mama Shakes us out to Dry 

And Hangs us on the Clothes Line High!

Sunday Stroll

So I should know by now - 8 years of marriage and all - that a Sunday Stroll is not a leisurely walk along a clearly defined trail.  It is a up and over and through and around and a cross-country adventure.  Colt makes everything a grand adventure!

My idea of a Sunday Stroll:

Colt's idea of a Sunday Stroll:

Yes, Colt's is definitely hands-down better! 

So as part of our Sunday stroll, we sat down on an overlook to enjoy the grand view before us.  We talked of God creating such a beautiful world.  

SamBo came on our walk with us and ran down to the valley below us.  Silver wanted to go exploring with SamBo.  Silver reminds me of Colt - a quest for high adventure!

We found the neatest canyon and hiked and hiked.  Silver says while climbing up and over a boulder - "I'm an explorer adventure girl!"  Silver's Cheetah pants - they help her run fast!  She also has cheetah shoes - it is a sad day when they are in the wash and she can't wear them.  On this trip River found a Zebra rock (white with black spots)  and a Cheetah rock (Yellow with black spots)  She was so proud of her rocks.

Silver found a ribbon with an old deflated balloon at the end and dragged it around with her.

While walking Silver takes her hand with her palm up - motioning to the hill - "I want to climb this mountain to see the world!"  Oh, what a beautiful world it is!  Enjoy the Journey.

Sand, Water and Sun!

Sand Hollow is SO great!

We had an insurance agency get-together, and spent the night.

As with most of the most precious moments of life, I didn't have a camera to catch the moments.  I usually don't take my camera by water/sand so sandhollow, the beach, splashpads and swimming pools are rarely captured.  But, Oh, We have had fun in the water this summer!!

I'm thankful to those who have cameras and forward pictures to me!!

This was such a beautiful afternoon/evening with the water and the waves and the sand!

Summer had such a fun time in the shallow water digging in the sand.  This is almost better than the beach as it is close to home, warm water, and not salty.

Colt would drag the kids behind him in the tube.

Colt and I got to go tubing with wave runners, what a memory!  River got to go on the wave runner with Holly and Daddy took Silver out for a ride.   Silver would sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and the faster he would go the louder she would sing :)

We played Ultimate Frisbee in the water - you could dive for the Frisbee, it was the funnest time!  At the end of the evening, Colt took the Frisbee and as the sun was going down would dip the Frisbee in the water and flip the water up over his head.  It made the most beautiful rainbow of golden water droplets and then come raining down around him.  

We would splash, run, swim, float, dig, paint on ourselves with mud and then let the water wash it off.  We went fishing in the canoe and played with the cattails and reeds.  

On the way home:

We learned a valuable lesson:  Reapply the sunscreen!!!

I lathered all the girls in the morning.  River would put her shirt and shorts on when she got out of the water, so she was just fine, Summer got a bit of a sunburn, but not bad.  Silver had a sunburn!!  Her shoulders blistered the next day, I felt really bad.  Banana Boat brand makes an after sun lotion with Aloe Vera in it - it was fabulous for their skin.  

I was so busy with the girls sun lotion and getting them ready that when it was time to get into the canoe I just jumped into my swimming suit without putting on sunscreen :(  I always wear shorts and a shirt, so it was less than it could have been.  

My legs got burned SO badly!  Especially the crease behind the knee.  The next day it was a sensation unlike any other trying to stand was VERY painful,and many times it was impossible.  When I was sitting, I was okay, but trying to stand was agony.  By the time church rolled around I was able to hobble around painfully.  

I taught the Sharing Time lesson to the Primary.  This year our theme revolves around choices and consequences.  It turned out as a neat object lesson that I physically could not stand to give the lesson.  We have short term and long term consequences to our choices.  My choice was to not put on sunscreen.  It has short term (PAIN!) and long term consequences.  We talked about respecting our bodies and taking care of this wonderful gift that Heavenly Father has given us.  

I also taught them about church attendance - that when we make the choice to go to church every Sunday (unless we are sick!) to partake of the Sacrament and learn of Christ then we don't have to make the choice every Sunday when we wake up tired or not exactly feeling like it.  What an example the Prophet Joseph Smith was to me when he was tarred and feathered Saturday night and made it to church the next day.  River and I went to church and Daddy with a sore throat and stayed home with Silver and Summer - they all napped for over 3 hours!!   Tired Kiddos!

Above:  Summer and Mommy wearing Crowns at Burger King.  Below:  Daddy and Silver.  We went to Coronado Island just out of San Diego California.  Getting there is an adventure in and of itself.  Enjoy the Journey!

Again, we have no pictures of Colt and I bodyboarding in the ocean or River collecting shells or Silver and Summer digging in the sand.  We swam in the pool, and the hot tub too.  Our cousins were there also and I would hold Summer and have Silver and Daisy (cousin) holding onto my legs.  We would wade out to water that was up to their waists.  They would get such a kick to have the waves splash against them and hold on to my legs for dear life.  Squeals of pure delight.  They would do that over and over again!

The water was COLD and salty - but oh so fun!

We would run out onto the beach and get right to the edge of the water and then see if we could run faster than the coming wave.  We woke up early both mornings to hit the beach looking for shells.  The earlier we got there, the more shells we would find.  There were patches where there were lots of shells and other stretches without any.

Silver found Snails and thoroughly enjoyed playing with them.

I have never seen a snail in our yard.  Ever!  This was her first time playing with snails and touching their antenna to make them go back in the shells.

This was another insurance get-together so we met up with a lot of friends.  One told us that they were on the beach the day before and she applied sunscreen to her kids 4 times and they still burned!!

I was determined not to have burns this time.  We wore our shirts/shorts most of the time.  It was overcast and had a really chilly wind when I went in the ocean with Colt to bodyboard.  The water was COLD and the air was chilly and windy, so it never crossed my mind that I didn't have sunscreen on my back and my shoulders!!  I always wear a shirt over my swimsuit!!    After awhile, the sun came out and it was hot!  Sigh.  ...I burned AGAIN!  At least the kids didn't :)

Bridal Veil Falls

We like to accompany Daddy when he goes to train agents.  The girls and I went on a beautiful hike to Bridal Veil Falls.  While Daddy works with agents we see what there is to explore.  We also found a really fun park on this trip.

Wading in the shallows.

The water is COLD and the rocks are super sharp.

The girls had fun all the same.

Snow Fun

Lots of fun in the snow!

We had couple races where one would snowshoe and the other would cross country ski for the best time.  It turns out that I can ski decently when I can take my time, but when I'm hurrying....I was down more than I was up :)  Colt was Amazing with the snowshoes.