Court of Honor

Last night was Avery's troops Court of Honor. He earned a few  merit badges. He is still enjoying scouts and likes going to all the various activities  Below is a picture of his troop.

First Day of School

Avery started 7th Grade and Aurora is now a 4th grader. 

Copper Cup 2014 Ice Skating Competition

Above is a picture of  Aurora and her coach. Aurora did awesome at this competition, her coach was so happy with her performance. They worked all summer on improving her routine. Her coach was frustrated with the officials because they changed the order of her group to accommodate for a skater who had forgotten her dress but ended up getting it in time anyways. The top three skaters were super close and her coach felt that if she had gone second to last (like she was suppose to) that it would have benefited Aurora's score. Going last and skating well in a competition benefits the skater because they are the last competitor in the judges mind. Anyhow, she is now in freeskate 1 and taking two lessons a week. She is looking forward to her next competition in November and still loves the sport. She is currently breaking in new skates that have a good jumping blade on them and is practicing several new jumps.

Scores

Lagoon

A couple Sundays ago we took the kids to Lagoon. There are mostly pictures of Logan because he was with me most of the time and I had the camera. Logan loves rides, he really likes roller coasters and went on everyone that he could. Avery and Aurora enjoy going on some of the big rides but I think Logan will be the one going on all the big rides with Joseph next year. Rattle Snake Rapids is my favorite ride there.

Visit with Jenny

Me and Naomi.
Below is Amelia.

Even though we saw each other in California Jenny and her family were able to stop by and stay a night with us on their way back to Nebraska. I love the time that we are able to spend together even though it is always too short. My dream is to live closer one day. She and I have been the best of friends for 22 plus years and I am grateful to have her still in my life. She has been there through all the ups and downs. I am also so happy that our husbands get along so well. These friends have been such a great support through our disaffection with the LDS church and even made a special trip out last year to offer support. She has two darling girls and 3 terrific step-children who we missed seeing this trip. 

Part 2 St George

E helping me make a cake for dad/grandpa so we can celebrate his birthday.

All but two grandkids. 

E and Logan.

My dad and me. I fear that I don't have much time with him so I treasure every moment we have together.

P and Aurora.

P and E. Such cuties. 

We spent a couple of days in St. George with my Grandmother, parents, sisters family, and brothers family. We enjoyed visiting with all of them. I adore all my nieces and love being able to play with them. They are all so cute and smart. I enjoyed listening to my dad sing and tell stories from his childhood as well. We spent a couple hours at the children's museum on Friday. Friday evening we had a BBQ at my grandmother's/parent's home. We also had fun swimming in the hotel pool a couple of times. 

Part 1 California

Logan was not afraid of the water one bit. He kept wanting to go farther out into the ocean. When he did go under a wave, he would come up saying, "Salty! Let's do that again."

Mark with the kids.

Enjoying ice cream.

Some of the Hutchinsons.

It was fun watching my friend's kids playing with our kids.

We had our grandma over for dinner one night.

Anjalee

Mark and me.
Below are two of my cousins Dave and Melissa.

We spent the first few days of our trip in California visiting my brother Mark. We were able to meet his girlfriend Courtney, who is a sweetheart, and her daughter Kyri and my newest niece Anjalee. I am so proud of Mark because he has come so far in the past few years. He is a great dad to Kyri and their newest daughter. It was neat to watch him with the girls and how he cared for them.
It was really nice visiting with my grandma and some of my aunts/uncles and cousins. I miss them all dearly and wish we all lived a little closer. My cousin Donna's little girl was so cute. She ran up to all of us the moment we got out of the car and gave us each a huge hug. I am glad I got to see so many of my relatives and hope it won't be so long till the next time.
We also got to spend a couple days at the beach. We went to Avila Beach on Monday with Mark, Courtney and their girls. We enjoyed sometime on the beach and then all got ice cream. We finished walking along the Pier. The water was super warm that day and it was great being back in the ocean.
Lastly, we were able to visit with some of the Hutchinson family. Their oldest daughter  Jenny has been my dear friend for the past 22 years and we both happened to be in California at the same time. It was great visiting with her sister, mom, and dad. They are my adopted family. I spent a ton of time at there house, it was my home when things weren't great at my house.  I will forever love them. We also spent a day at Cayucos Beach it was colder but still tons of fun. 
The saddest part about my visit was that I didn't get to visit with my oldest brother, 12 years is to long. I hope we can visit the next time I'm out that way.

Pioneer Day

We decided to let the kids do sparklers and lite a few fireworks for Pioneer Day, since we didn't do any on the 4th. Avery was at scout camp.