Oh, What do you do in the summmer time? (2012)

Make targets for shooting practice, of course.  Our friend Bret Webster brought over bb guns for the girls to practice shooting.  They LOVED it.  Check out the targets - they painted animals on paper plates.  Then they graduated to empty plastic bottles and soda cans.

 Maya

 Liv

 McKenna and Alexa

 McKenna

 Find craft ideas on Pinterest!

Here's one idea we did:  toothpicks and marshmallows.  Who knew this would entertain for a few hours.  I did have to let them know that we were throwing away the marshmallows when they were done and NOT eat them. 

 Working Hard

 Look at the focus on this girl!

 Why not?  A photo shoot with your stuffed animals.  Love these girls!

 Alexa got her jobs done real quick this day so she could get out and practice some more.

 Have a tea party!

And what's a tea party without a tiara and fancy hair.

 Oh, and a fancy party dress.

 Join the high school summer league.

Alexa wanted to try out for the high school basketball team and found out they were having a summer league the month of June.  She was a nervous wreck that first game but she finally got comfortable and did a great job.  She had to prove herself to those girls since they had been a team through the school year and this was her first time playing with them.  I was a proud Mommy watching her step out of her comfort zone.

 Go to Grandma and Grandpa's for the Prescott Rodeo.

Here's Livie and McKenna after we had gone to the library for a puppet show and look through their book sale they were having.  Grandma offered to buy the girls all a book from the sale but then we found a whole set of Trixie Belden books and we couldn't pass them up so she decided to buy those for them instead.  Thanks grandma!

 At the RODEO!  We love it!

 Check out all these smiles!

 

 

Last but not least, go to the dollar store and find a GIANT fly swatter.

What can be more fun than that for the summer?

Oh yeah, one other thing we did:  MOVE!!!

WOW! Almost one full year behind!

I know, I know.  It's been almost a year since I have posted anything on this blog.  Where have I been you might ask?  Well, we did move 2 summers in a row.  But that's not the only thing that has kept me away.  I have learned a lot in this past year of how to stay away from my blog.  I thought I'd share in case any of you need some excuses to get away from blogging:

1.  Moving within the same ward is harder than moving across the country to a new ward.  We were moving throughout the month.  Any chance I got I was taking boxes up to the house (since we only moved a mile away.)  But when the BIG move day came on a Saturday (and we were so blessed to have so much help.) the following Sunday I still had to be prepared to do my callings.  When you move to a new ward you have at least a week or two where no one knows you and you get that time just to focus on unpacking. 

2.  When you move into a house don't assume that the inspector found every problem with the house.  The night before our BIG move day, we were at the house and we found a leak dripping from the second floor right next to the laundry room.  That was one of many problems that we found.  We spent a lot of TIME, energy and money taking care of these items.

3.  Try to plan your moves aaround any travel that your husband has to do for work.  Our BIG move day was a Saturday and Tim left to go out of town on Monday. So I got to spend the week alone unpacking.  The best part was I got a lot of sympathy from him and a lot of work out of him before he left and when he returned.

4.  This is a BIGGY!  When you are having babies, try to plan it that you have a daughter going into high school and a new Kindergartener going half day.  Especially if your high school is out in the middle of no where and you choose to have your children go to a charter school that doesn't have buses on the complete opposite side of town.  One day I was in the car so long that I decided to calculate just how long I had been in the car that day.  5 HOURS!  Just driving kids back and forth.  But I'm sure I'm not the only one with these joys.

5.  Again, when you are having babies, try to plan their births a week before major holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That helps make the holidays even busier.

6.  When your daughter is in the school play, let the director know that you know how to sew and would love to help with sewing the costumes.  You may get voluntold more than you bargained for. 

7.  If you love to paint and you love to serve make sure to let people know and you may find the opportunity of helping someone paint the inside of their house.  It may take time but well worth the time to help others.

8.  When you find out that your schools are changing their standards throughout the whole country be prepared to spend a lot of time researching what exactly is going to happen to your childs education.  You can spend HOURS and HOURS reading and learning. 

9.  When you decide to finally sit down and post on your blog, make sure to stop and play a game with your sweet little one that keeps running in wanting you to play a game with you. 

But, what have I learned that just brought me back today?  My girls have spent the past few days looking at past posts, laughing and reading and enjoying the history that is on this very blog.  Now, I have to put away the excuses and continue so they don't miss out on any memories.

So, be ready.  There will be posts coming - hopefully soon.

Alexa's Pioneer Trek

One of the things that I love about our church is the history.  If you know anything about the LDS church (or Mormon church) you will know that the early members were driven from their homes for people who were against our religion and who hated mormons.  Members were killed, homes were burned and they were forced to leave and find a new place to settle.  Their faith kept them going which led them on a trek to Utah.  It was a long hard experience.  They had very little food and men, women, and children died along the way.  They pushed handcarts with all their belongings and walked the entire way. 

Our church leaders put together a week long event for the youth to have a small sampling of the experiences of the early saints.  They had to wear pioneer clothes, pull a handcart, and experience things such as Indians and mobs coming along the way.  It was a learning experience for Alexa and she loved every minute of it.  She said it was hard but I could tell in that short time that she grew as a person.  Her sweet spirit had been strengthened and her testimony of the gospel grew. 

Here we are picking her up.  I sure missed her.

 Isn't she beautiful - even without showering for a week?

 The girls wanted to make sure she felt welcome when she came home.  They missed her too.

 

McKenna's 5th Birthday

I can hardly believe that our little baby is 5.  She is getting to be such a big girl and is SO MUCH FUN!  When we got to Grandma's house after driving on Route 66 on McKenna's birthday, Grandpa had bought a cake.  What a fun surprise.   A nice ending after a long day.

 The next day we headed home.  Here they are enjoying a movie.

 Can you say, Tired?

 Of course, we had to decorate her door. 

 Look at this cute face.  I wish she would stop growing.  I wish she could stay little forever. 

McKenna is such a joy to our family.  I couldn't imagine life without her.

Opening presents!

 McKenna picked strawberry shortcake with blueberries.  Yummy!

 

We got our kicks on Route 66!

A few days after school ended Alexa went on a Pioneer Trek for a week and the girls and I went with my mom to CA.  Her friend from Australia that she has known since she was about 12 years old was coming to the States and my mom needed to pick her up and bring her back to Prescott.  So the girls and I came to keep her company on the drive. 

Since Tim's parents were on the way, we dropped the girls off while my mom and I drove into Santa Monica.  They had a great time taking a break from the drive.

 

The drive back, Sue (my mom's friend) wanted to take Route 66 back to AZ.  We decided to give it a try.  Since it goes right through my home town, we got to reminisce a little. 

Upland High School

Lady Madonna - If I remember right, there are only 13 or so statues like this in the US.  I grew up driving by this almost every day.  

This is a picture heading out of Upland.  It has changed a lot.  This used to be a railroad track that went over the street.  It look so much nicer.



We were trying to decide on where to stay for the night.  These tee pee hotel looked like fun.  Unfortunately they didn't work out for us.  Maybe another time.

We then came to this Bottle Tree farm out in the middle of no where. We thought it was great.  There was nothing around for miles.  The gate was open so you could just go in and walk around and look at everything.  Definitely one of the high lights.

We stayed in Bartsow and then the next day we hit the road again.  This little girl got this big pink pin from Grandma Gibb.  It was a special day - Her Birthday!  What screams fun for your 5th birthday than driving across Route 66.  She made the best of it.

 Here's them passing the time.

We stopped at a Route 66 museum.  The girls that this Indian was awesome and had to get a picture with him.

 We got to Amboy and had to stop to see this crater.  It was pretty impressive.  I had to add this picture because it totally looks like my mom is about to hit me.  (She really wasn't though.)

 My mom grew up living all over.  Amazingly enough she lived off of Route 66 a few times.  We stopped at this one where she lived off of Saltus Road.  This is pretty much all that is there now.  Not much was there before either. 

 We had to stop in Needles - another place where my mom lived.  Here is the house they lived in.  It's changed a lot.  It used to only be one story and a different color - but since my mom has such a great memory she new that this was the place.

 We stopped for a little birthday celebration lunch/dinner at this little pizza parlor.  It was actually quite good - we weren't sure what to expect, after all we were in Needles.

 Grandma, Mommy and the Birthday girl

 The highlight of the trip was this place called Snow Cap.  Someone told my mom that we needed to stop there.  It was getting late and we wanted to get home to my parents but we decided to stop anyway.  So glad we did.  We want to go back.  It was a funny place and the people were even funnier.  The girls couldn't get enough of it.

 They had quite a few cars like this with eyes painted on them.  We all thought we were on the set of the movie, Cars.

 And of course, Grandma had to treat them to some ice cream.

It was a fun trip and the girls actually did quite well.  I have to say that I have never had such a great appreciation for freeways. 

8th Grade Promotion

Is it true?  Did Alexa really finish Jr. High and is now in High School?  Time has flown by.  This girl just amazes me.  She is so fun to have around and we just love her quirky sense of humor.  She is a good example to her little sisters and to all who come in contact with her.  Doing what is right seems to come natural to her. 

Alexa has always been a good student.  She has really done well with going to different schools.  She's had to keep up and still make new friends.  This year she went to Legacy Traditional School.  A charter school that actually is K-8.  Her 8th grade class consisted of 25 kids.  It was a small group and they became the best of friends.  She had excellent teachers also who held the bar high for their students but also knew how to enjoy them and let them be 8th graders.  The following are pictures from their promotion.  The only disappointment was that Tim came and had to leave right away after the event and so I didn't make sure to get a picture of all of us.  Oh well.  We can do that in 4 years.  YIKES!  4 years - that seems way too soon.

 

 Alexa and Mrs. Fitzsimmons (the Vice Principal.)

 Alexa's biggest fan - McKenna

 Daddy and daughter

 Mommy and Daughter

 Alexa, Kaylee Wallentine, JuliaWilson, Crystal Padilla

 

 Chad Roberts and Alexa (he played Daddy Warbucks in the school play.)

 Alexa and Jens Peterson

 Mr. Rassmussen and Alexa

Her history teacher.  He was one of her favorites.

 Alexa and Mrs. Spanier (English/Lit teacher)

She was one of my favorites.  She says it like it is and has high expectations of her students. 

No slacking in her class.

It was a great year and it's been a great 9 years.  Can't wait to see what's to come from this intelligent beautiful girl of ours.