Summer School for Ellie

Today was our big day.

We have all been waiting for the first day of summer school for Ellie.

Ellie was excited.

We were not.

Ellie loves school.

We will miss her.

Always the little cheesier.

Waiting for the bus.

We waited

and waited,

and waited, 

and waited.

Until 30 minutes later they finally showed up.

Ellie was so excited to ride the bus.

We were nervous to let her go.

She got in.

Got right in her seat.

And when we all came on to see her we felt better.

We all stood and waved goodbye.

The mom maybe cried...a little.

When it was time for her to come home

we waited

and waited

and waited

and WAITED

for over an hour.

FINALLY she came home.

She loved every minute.

She did take a nap on her way home.

They took a LONG time.

We missed her but she is having fun so we are okay now.

Happy Summer School Miss Ellie

It's my Party

Jeron had very specific plans for his birthday.

1. It was to just be our family.

2.  He would be taking the day off.

3.  He wanted Cheese Cake, not cake.

4.  He wanted steak.

5.  He wanted to do something fun.

We did everything he asked for.

We got him a tennis racket for Father's day

and we took them out for the first time on his b-day.

I wanted to take a pic.

then Jeron took the same pic and his was so much better.  

Looks like he has the eye in the family.

He blew out all 35 candles minus one.  

The Cheese Cake was covered in wax but it still tasted awesome.

He has a great birthday weekend.

He did our family day.

His mom took the two of us to Olive Garden the next night.

My family came over for dinner on Sunday.

His dad watched the kids while we went to dinner.

He had a great birthday.

What Gives???

I'm starting to worry.

This poor little lady gets bloody noses ALL the time.

She is complaining of headaches all the time.

She gets carsick whenever we drive for more than 10 minutes.

She is getting a bloody nose at least once a week.

Is this stuff to worry about or is it normal?

I have had like one blood nose in my life.

Is all of this cause for alarm?

I just feel sorry for the poor girl.

Happy Birthday Mr. Snow

Jeron is officially 35 years old. 

Half way through his thirties. 

Five years to forty.

Half way to seventy.

Happy Birthday Dad.

WOW!  35  Old!

I remember when my parents were 35

I certainly didn't think they were old.

I didn't think they were spring chickens either.

Here is 35 things that I love about Jeron.

1.  He makes me laugh a lot.

2.  He calms me when I need it.

3.  He loves to watch my movies.

4.  He is smart.

5.  He is so proud to have Ellie as a daughter.

6.  He loves sports.

7.  He is a hard worker.

8.  He loves to pull the weeds.

9.  He is not hard on the eyes.

10.  He loves his kids and shows it.

11.  He has a joker smile.

12.  He makes me feel pretty.

13.  He takes his calling in the church seriously.

14.  He worries about us.

15.  He loves war movies, books, anything war.

16.  He is a baseball player and always will be.

17.  He lets me be ME.

18.  He tastes his food like no one I know.

19.  He pinches skin and bites his lip.

20.  He loves his nieces and nephews.

21.  He gets a sunburn and worries about crazy itch.

22.  He loves Niel Diamond and doesn't care who knows it.

23.  He loves Emeniem.

24.  He acts like a teenager a lot.

25.  He loves his mom.

26.  He works really hard for our family.

27. He enjoys his thursday nights.

28.  He likes to fish, and camp.

29.  He does most things that I plan without complaining.

30.  He has the weakest stomach of anyone I know.

31.  He is a good example to others.

32.  He takes longer to get ready than I do.

33.  He loves the colors grey and navy.

34.  He is very physically aware of himself and is good at almost everything he tries.

35.  He is a good person.  Caring, giving, intelligent, entertaining, goofy, loving, attentive, compassionate, annoying, sweet, HOT, sarcastic, fun, athletic, tease, determined, etc, etc, etc.

Jeron, I love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

cAn wE hAvE a sleEpoVeR???

Ever since Maren arrived my kids have been begging to have a sleepover. The night had finally arrived. We made a little trek up to the cabin and had a big family sleepover. It was a lot of fun. The kids love being up at the cabin. We ended up leaving pretty late so by the time we got up there we had just enough time for smores.

Having fun togther.

Poor JJ and Papa were outnumbered.

The girls love getting their picture taken.  

They all just looked so cute in their jammies.

When ever we take pics lately Emma wants a funny face pic.

She has taken my "Pretty Girl" face and perfected it."

Who would have thought when I created "Pretty Girl" 19 years ago (ouch)

that my cute daughter would make it her signature silly face.

If you thought the creek was insane last week look at it this week. 

It is so cool to watch but that thing is a wicked monster.

Just about a hundred yards up the road, the road is caving in.

There really is no better place on earth to be than up at the cabin.

It is so beautiful up there.

I love these pics of the kids and Papa. 

Sweet moments.

We did try to go further up the road in our cars but the road was still blocked with snow,

and the crews were having to work on the road that was falling apart due to the water level of the creek. 

It really is crazy what water can do.

It certainly didn't think it had to follow the path that man had intended. 

It just was creating its own path.

Mini-Golfing at Cherry Hill

Maren and I were racking our brains trying to figure out what to do with the kids. 

We finally decided to go mini-golfing. 

YEAH!  CHEER!  um nope?

We should have known when we showed up and Ellie yelled out 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO" 

that this wasn't a good idea. 

It was blasted hot and the three little girls just weren't having it. 

Plus I was wearing black.

The little lady bugs would run off the whole time. 

I am sure at one point we lost one of them, story of my life.

We had people coming up behind us wanting to pass us...a lot.

JJ and Emma were having fun but Emma's friend was not. 

At one point Shaela had to go and find her cell phone in the car and that is when Maren and I gave up. 

YES!

We quit at Mini golf.

...but not JJ.  He is a champ.

JJ decided he wanted to finish it out. 

He was able to finish before we even loaded in the car. 

UGH!

Heat+kids+mini golf+cranky moms=NO FUN! 

We just aren't having much luck in the mini golf department;)

Here is where Ellie refused to walk anymore.   

Hey at least no more running off  ;-)

At least we got a group shot.

All together Not smiling but all together.

Some parts were fun...I think.

Maybe the Meads family should stay away from Mini-Golf.  That includes you Smitty...SHUT UP!

Happy Daddy's Day

Even though my brother would think that this wasn't very special...We hang up a banner every year for Jeron made out of paper ties. This is one of my kids favorite parts of Father's Day. We wait until he has gone to bed or get up before him on Sunday to do it.

Happy Daddy's Day

Jeron wants to get a mountain bike so we didn't get him anything too special...except

the kids did all their cute crafts and cards

Then they did a little skit for Daddy.

They used candies and goodies so dad could have a real fun treat.

Emma reading her part 

They all took turns reading their part.  It was cute and I think Jeron liked it. 

On a side note, is anyone hating blogger as much as me right now?  I can't load pics easy anymore or edit them.  Ugh!  It is bugging. 

Opening the Cabin...Meads Style

We headed up Millcreek to open the cabin. It is such a late start for the season but the weather has been crazy. There was still 4 feet of snow last week. Driving up, there was still patches of snow. Plus the creek was raging. I have never seen it so ferocious. I LOVED it. We first headed to the G Meads house to get a ping pong table to take up. Then we all caravan-ed up.  With Papa's new shutters it was a breeze to open it up.  Plus, it was almost spotless inside.  WAHOO!  We took all the old mattresses out and replaced them with brand spankin' new ones.  It looks awesome upstairs. 

Look at that water. It was insane. I have never seen it like that in my lifetime. Papa said he hasn't seen it like this in his lifetime either. So at least 100 years (SNAP!) and it hasn't been that crazy...

Look at that monster!

"hOw diD yOu dO thiS?"

Since Maren lives in DC it is a bit tricky to throw her a shower. 

I guess we could webcam one. 

Hmmm, there's a thought.

I was helping throw a shower for my sis-in-law and off the cuff asked Maren is she wanted one. 

She of course said "No, you don't need to do that. 

That got the ball rolling. No, I didn't NEED to do that, but want is a whole other thing;) 

The cousins were already trying to arrange a girls night so...

I asked if a impromptu shower for Maren could work. 

They were more than happy to help me out. 

The best part was MOM was able to keep a secret.

Way to go MOM!

Maren really was surprised. 

Even when she saw Aunt Nancy she played it off like we just ran into them.

You could see the wheels turning.

Then Traci showed up and Maren knew. 

The first thing she said was "How did you do this?"

Easypeasy lemon squeezy...thats how!

It was great to see all who came.  

Maren had a great turn out.

She got great gifts from everyone.

We are just so excited for little Mr. Man and the Vogel Fam

Thanks Ladies for helping me pull such a fun night off.

Love ya!

Maren, thanks for having another bundle:)

Meads Pool Party

My parents have some really great neighbors who have offered to let us use their pool before and so we decided to take them up on it.  We had a blast.  All the kids had a great time . Jeron, Mama, and I couldn't swim but we still enjoyed watching the kiddo's. 

David was trying to teach JJ to do a back flip. They did it the whole time. JJ kept on trying and David was determined. Unfortanatly JJ has my mental fears. I hope someday he can conquer something that has held me back my whole life.

We had to work out who would hold which little kid because there were three that couldn't swim.  Ellie, Lucy, and Elsie were constantly being passed back and forth.  

JJ, Emma, and David were our diving board entertainment. 

And finally Ellie would go in the water without crying. 

All it took was Papa.

She gets so nervous in the Clark's pool.  

It took her awhile to warm up, and then it was all smiles. 

Now all the kids should sleep like rocks...ahhhh

Playing in the Pool Again

We decided to play in the pool again because it was such a hit the first day.  This time the girls stayed in it forever and they were freezing but didn't want to get out.  Silly Monkeys.  They had a lot of fun. I love watching them play together.  Maren and I just sat back and watched them have a blast.  I love the pic of Lucy and Ellie.  Ellie insisted on sharing her towel with Lulu.  Nothing but smiles here. 

Lately have been taking at least one picture to be my photo of the day.  It is hard when I have millions to choose from unless I take a pic like this one.

Love It.

These two adore each other.  There is no one is this world more important to Ellie than Miss Emma. 

pOol pArtY

Maren and I were running out of things to do.  Finally the day warmed up just enough that we were able to play outside in water.  So we headed over to the local wally world and bought a swimming pool for the little lady bugs.  When we got to the house we made some quick phone calls to get an air compressor to blow that thing up.  Could you imagine me blowing it up.  I'd of passed out in a matter of minutes.  Once that was done half the neighborhood was over to enjoy the new pool with us.  We got the balls for the ball pit out, which were a HIT if i do say so myself.  We filled that bad boy up and the girls had a blast.  The didn't want to stop,  It was relaxing of us and the kids loved every minute. 

Maren was introduced to a lot of my neighbors which was nice.  They all know about her and now they finally get to meet her.

Castle Park

We kept trying to go to a park but most parks in Utah are not 17 month-old friendly so when we decided on Castle Park I was thinking it might not be the best decision.  I was way right.  The kids think it is a blast but poor Maren was nervous and rightfully so.  Lucy is a wild woman.  She will go and do anything.  She has NO fear.  We lasted a whole 30 minute before we gave up and changed plans.  The kids had a great time while it lasted.

Who'da thunk DC would have better parks than Utah.  Utah get on it!!

Lip Gloss Ladies

Elsie and Lucy both seem to have a love for make-ups. They let their older cousin give them a makeover. They loved the lip gloss.

I was just happy to see Elsie share her lip gloss.  That is her priced possession.  Lucy seemed to love it just as much.   Well maybe eating it was more her thing;)

Purple People Eaters...

Emma comes running out of the back of the house saying "Mom, Paige and Elsie look like oompalopas." (not sure how to spell that) I go back to Elsie's room to find two purple little ladies. It was hilarious...at first. That was until I saw that Paige had gotten it in her hair. She has that blond almost white hair. I about died. I was a little nervous to take her home.

These two weren't to upset by it all.  In fact they were pretty proud of themselves.  

Double trouble:)

When I took Paige home Jamie laughed as hard as I did.  That made me feel better.  Later Scott Paige's dad said to me "Just how long were those two left alone?"  Hahaha...or was he serious?!?

Ponds Park Fishing Hole

Jeron went fishing the other day with some of his buddies. He caught a huge fish. He had the bug now and wanted to take us all fishing. He was excited for us to enjoy something he enjoys. I hope we don't make him hate it...

Here he is getting things ready.

I have to tell a gross story before we go on.  When we walked up there was some scary looking guys that were just leaving so we waited to take their spot.  As we waited I asked one of them if he knew where a bathroom was.  He looked at me with his toothless grin and said "No, but you can just use the bushes over there."  I looked where he was pointing and was wishing I had not asked.  When I looked back at this toothless wonder...okay he had 3 teeth but oh my.  Anyway when I looked back at him he was handing me something.  It looked like a tampon. I was an idiot and took what it was.  As I examined it closer I realized he placed a partially used toilet paper roll in my hand.  I wanted to vomit.  His gesture was nice but so GROSS!!!  As soon as he walked away I threw it in the bushes that he pointed to and then wanted to boil my hand in water to sterilize it.  YUCK

The girls have their spots and are ready to fish.  They thought it was fun to cast in but that is about all we did.  Emma's friend Shaela came with us.  She was good to help with the girls. 

JJ was fishing with us but he was not listening so him and I kind of got into it.  (My bad...learn patience woman) so he went and found another fishing spot.  It ended up being good because he really enjoyed himself in his new spot. 

I was also able to get some good shots of him because he didn't know I was snapping away.

It was quite the place.  We just went to Ponds Park in K-Town.  We thought it would be a great spot.  It was actually really dirty and we will not be going back. 

Another great part was that while all the kids except Ellie and Elsie went with Jeron to fish on the bridge We had an incident.  I was helping Elsie cast when I hear Ellie start screaming "Ohh, Ohh, Ohh," It took one look for me to PANIC!  Ellie was headed straight for the murky pond.  Her chair had collapsed and it was basically pushing her in.  I made it to her just as she was headed head first into the water.  My heart stopped.  From that point on I couldn't relax so we left very soon after.  NO fish on our trip.  Better luck next time, and life jackets for the littles.