Wednesday, July 28, 2010

End of Summer Report

Can I just say how much I hate blogger.
All of my pictures are in reverse order. Augh!
And I am sure there will a million spaces between each of the pictures too. Someone at google needs to address this problem.

Okay then... on to the pictures. My niece Kaylee introduced my kids to "Club Penguin" about a year ago and for some reason they are always wanting me to take pictures of these little guys.
On to the reverse order pictures. Last week we went to Greer and rented a cabin. Each of Paul's sisters, their families and his mom got cabins too. We had so much fun and the weather was awesome!

Here is Joel playing with our traveling version of Connect 4.





Jessica out by the ponds where we were all fishing - look at that view!



Trying....and failing...to get a nice family picture.



We look pretty cute though - although all this traveling has made me gain a few pounds.






Here's all the cousins.






Jessica is really getting serious about fishing.













Technically we were not supposed to use bait, but the fly fishing poles were not working and we wanted the kids to experience catching some fish. So we baited some hooks and when the fish would grab on Paul would quickly cut it free and toss it back in.










Paul helping Jessica













Lacey caught a fish and Paul was unhooking it in this picture. She was getting a little queasy watching him as you can see by the expression on her face.












Catching another one!
















Jessica getting impatient while waiting for her turn.














All the kids gathering around to see who caught a fish.















We also did some bike riding - man it is so beautiful up there.














Joel playing a solo version of candyland.
















This is my sad attempt to take a picture of myself and Joel while I held the camera.















Jessica and Joel playing around with a new Jenga game.













More crankiness from Jessica about not catching any fish. (These pictures are so out of order - sorry)














This is all Joel did the whole trip...run. It took all of us adults to chase after him from fear he would get lost in the woods. Infact we thought we lost him once only to discover he had fallen asleep on Grandma's bed.











Paul was trying not to go out of his mind with boredom while listening to the fly fishing instructor.














Now he's climbing...
















I did grab him for a picture.















Jarom and Colton trying to snag a fish in the net.
















Taking a walk around - Jessica, Lacey and the backside of Joel.















Paul trying out the fly fishing with his sister Jill next to him and Colton.














Joel doing a cool trick.
















Making faces.

















Posing in front of the cabin. This is what happens when its my turn to chase him around- he ends up in all the pictures. Ha.ha..












Our first morning in the cabin by the fireplace.















We had another bed for the boys to use, but they all wanted to sleep together in this king size bed. So cute!














Okay, now we are at the Evans family reunion that was held about 2 weeks before the trip we took to Greer. It was so awesome because my sister in law Becky (who is married to my brother Nathaniel who is currently doing his OB/Gyn residency in Ohio) came with their kids and my sister Allison who lives in Texas came with her family and I haven't seen either of them in like 4 years, so this was a wonderful occasion. (left-right: Andrea, Erika, Mom, Becky, Allison, & Emily (who is pregnant!))

So the whole black tarp thing on the window looks my parents are remodeling, but they're not. My mom was trying to block out the early morning sun that comes through these windows for the kids sleeping in the livingroom. We teased her about her new "white trash" curtains. Anyway it was her birthday and my brother in law Kory's birthday so we celebrated a bit. This is Kory reading his new book about "Poop - everything you need to know."




My brother used a bit too much zoom on this picture of me and Allison.
















More opening of presents in the "demolition zone"...















All of us ladies went to look at Emily's new house and while we were gone we got caught in a major monsoon storm and had to wait it out a bit until the road was visible again. When we got back I discovered Joel passed out on the couch.










Joel making faces at me.


















More smiles.














Allison in the resident eyebrow plucker and was helping Becky out.














Lacey messing around with a pair of 3-D glasses.
















Joel and Darren playing trains.














Andrea, Erika & Mom chatting around the island in the kitchen.
















Jessica, Sophee, & Lacey.


















Playing computer games. Andrew, Jarom & Austin.













Clearly Josh outweighs Joel, but they still had fun.













Over the 4th of July we went to Bullhead City to visit Andrea and her family. Here is picture of Joel sitting at Uncle Kory's computer and using his headphones.












Lacey was showing off her dressed up self.















Joel decided using the doggy door was far easier than using the sliding glass one.















My sister has a huge playroom in which she has an air hockey table and a pool table. Do either of them get used properly? Not very often. Mostly the kids just build little villages on top of them and play. As long as they aren't fighting, it's so worth it in my opinion.








And here are the kids on the pool table. Jessica, Joel & Sophee.














Now we are back to our house in late June and the kids were out back jumping on the trapoline and spraying the hose.














I am not sure where Jarom is but here are the rest of kids.














In Early June, my brother Stephen finished his mission to Ogden Utah. Because my hubby rocks, he offered to stay with the kids all day so I could drive to Tucson and see my family-alone. I never had such a peaceful drive in my life. I almost forgot that silence can exist in a minivan. The kids just can't be in it!
Mom, Stephen, Dad.








Stephen, Candace(my sister in law), and Hannah.

















Erika and Stephen















Elder Evans just getting off the plane.







Alright so that is about it for our summer. It actually went by surprisingly fast. And now that I will have so much more free time, I should be able to keep up on this blog a little better. But don't hold your breath!