Pioneer Day '09

These are some of the pics from the Pioneer Day parade this year. Even though it was crazy humid here we still had a good time. Zoe got to ride on the float that our ward put together and throw candy. She completely snubbed her family as she drove by, which as fairly consistent to how things go around here.

Chuck E Cheese

The other night we decided we were bored and the kids were sick of the house so we decided to go to Chuck E Cheese's. It is a pretty cost effective way for the kids to run off some energy as long as they don't eat! Brielle and Zoe pretty much enjoyed all of the rides except the one with the monster truck shown here. That is genuine terror in their eyes.

Fourth of July!!!!

Zach had to go out of town for a funeral so we were solo on this holiday...but luckily our good friends the McKnights came over with their girls and we had a bbq and our own little fireworks show. After we set off our own we went to watch the big fireworks show at Green Valley Ranch Casino. From where we were parked we could actually see the strip and all the fireworks shows going on across the valley...but my pictures didn't turn out so great. It was lots of fun...Brielle got super dirty and we managed to do sparklers without any burns this year! Hooray! Zoe LOVED the big fireworks show...can't wait to do it next year...if we're still here! :)

Zoe's Dance Recital

AWWW!!! She is getting WAY to big for my comfort zone! Here is Zoe's 2nd dance recital! Less nerves than last year so it went lots better! Brinly, (pictured above) and her did such a GREAT job! They did a Lollipop dance, a sleeping baby dance, a sailor dance and a "silly"dance! It was so cute! Miss Amy ALWAYS does such a good job, way above and beyond what anyone else should have to!!! WE love her!!! Who would have thought that I would have a dancer!!! It figures...it must be karma. (p.s. she is still playing soccer in the fall too though!!!) :)

Last Minute Trip Home!!!!

Ok...so work was REALLY slow and we decided on a crazy whim that we needed a break...Zach especially from studying for the MCAT....to try and drive the 16 hours home. Zach and the kids stayed for a little over a week while I flew back on Sunday for work the next week. We had so much fun and I was SOOOOOO happy to see my sisters! Nachelle was crazy busy with the outage, but i got to see her a little and my beautiful pregnant sister Celeste...ahhh i'm so jealous of how cute she is. Anyways, above are mainly pics of the kids and all the many animals and activities that they did. Unfortuantely I think we have country kids, who LOVE to play outside, and get dirty. Maybe one day we'll be done with Vegas and have our own big green backyard!!!! P.S. My favorite pic is of the one where Brielle feeds Max her cereal and when Zoe and Brielle are feeding Sis. Gayda's Llamas. Such fun!!!

Mama's Big Helper

Ok, so this video isn'tp qe2 terribly exciting, it just makes me feel OLD! Zoe is getting so big...she will be in school next year..many of her friends start this fall. And I know it's a simple thing but she can make her own food....I thought I would forever be making snacks and lunches etc. But in this video she is actually making oatmeal for Brielle. I was busy switching the laundry and Brielle took an instant oatmeal packet to Zoe...and Zach caught most of it on this video.

Balboa Beach California!

After finals...we decided after living here almost 3 years it was time that we finally went to California. I have never been there and we wanted to do something fun with the girls. Tami was there visiting and helping so it worked out PERFECT! We did it in one day...which we learned we won't do again...it's too much. Nevertheless it was lots of fun! We all got very red...even though it almost rained, but we jumped in the waves and built many sandcastles. Zoe LOVES to build sandcastles and look for seashells on the beach. We actually found quite a few still whole, which we promptly glued to a picture frame and put in Zoe's room. Brielle's favorite things to do were to chase the birds, eat the sand and quickly run away from Mom towards the water and scare her to death. Zach's favorite thing to do was look up what med schools are near the beach and see which ones he could get into. :)