Once Again.....

As our life continues to make changes, we move yet again. This time we are going to Las Vegas!!We are as happy as can be for more family strengthening experiences! Aaron and I have been down to Vegas about 5 time now to try to find a house. Well, it's not working out so hot! We have found a rental so we have a place to stay but I don't think it is where we will stay for too long, we want to find a place to stay for a while.....We will see if that is in the cards for us. I have a hard time believing that will happen for us anytime soon.

The first time we went down we took Ry and Brayd with us. At about 11 o'clock p.m. we got hungry and realized we didn't have any toothpaste. So, we went to the store...

The kids were all ready for bed so Aaron loaded them up on himself.

With his eyes covered.

I took a picture:)

By the time we got home our babies were so tired.

They slept good!

My Awesome Kids!

Our life seems to be getting crazier by the minute. My incredibly adventurous and spontaneous husband keeps throwing new ideas of vacations and moving happenings at me and it did me in!

Last Tuesday night I got back to St. George from looking around for a place to live in Vegas while Aaron drove to Idaho. I just was not feeling good at all. I was discouraged, disappointed and just tired of not being able to make a decision on a place to live. My throat started hurting on Wednesday night and by Thursday evening I was bedridden with my 4 kids taking care of me.

I had been hanging out with my sisters and just thought I caught the "bug". When Porter asked what was for dinner I told him he needed to make himself some dinner. He made ramen noodles for everyone. He was so excited!! The kids got to watch t.v. ALL NIGHT! At about 10 o'clock the kids got themselves ready for bed. Madi brushed Brayd's teeth and said an article of faith and Porter prayed. Just before the prayer I was assigning out jobs when Porter came and asked me where the 12 FREE Butterfingers go. He said he was going to make the kitchen look "nice". My Porter is such a good boy:)! My dad came over just after that and said the kitchen looked so nice that he felt obligated to put away the mess he had made-that mess was finding me the right medicine.

Somehow I got through the night and was feeling a bit better by morning. I can't remember the last time I spent ALL DAY in bed. This day I did. Bud brought me some ice cream and diagnosed me with Strep Throat. I didn't believe her. Then, I went to the instacare and THEY diagnosed me with Strep Throat. I believed them.

I am now on the mend and feel one hundred gazillion times better! I am very thankful for my health and am happy that I am as healthy as I am. One thing I did realize through this is that my babies are such good helpers and really are compassionate. I found out Porter likes it when I'm sick because he gets to watch shows all day and Madi told me to just not think about it and it won't hurt so bad! Thanks Babies....

Payne Family Reunion

We have gone to our fair share of family reunions this year! This last weekend was the Payne reunion in Liberty. I do have to admit though, it's been great to spend time with family that we don't see very often.

Aaron's mom put on her family reunion this year and we had a great time!

Brayd eating a marshmallow that is WAY too big for his mouth.

Madi and Ashley.

Ry and Porter in grandma's trailer.

Uncle Curt was such a good sport to hang with my boys...

Fixing grandma's generator-they did get it to work.

Hooking it on the Curt's truck and bringing it to the fire pit.

A good portion of the group playing 4-square

Aaron and Madi after playing lots of 4-square.

Ry, Brayd, playing hop-scotch, and Parker staying busy together.

Madi and Aaron's cousin, Emily.

Just being girls:)

Starting the kids off with their art project.

All the kids with their art skills at work.

Madi's artwork.

Porter's creation.

Ry liked mixing all his colors then coloring on the tablecloth.

Brayd just liked to mix his colors on his plate.

Grandpa put on a sawdust find. Complete with candy and money.

The kids had a great time!

Ry, Brayd and Parker. Boys being Boys!

A family game of "ultimate frisbee"

Family Reunions are very fun and I'm happy I could be a part of this one....

Another Day On The Lake!

I'm really starting to wonder if Sand Hollow Reservoir is ever fun to be at. The last couple of times we have gone the water has been awful because of the wind and it is SO crowded! Maybe it's just that after you go to Lake Powell it makes everything else seem crappy. I should stop complaining now:).

One of our friends, whom we met from working with Aaron, came down on a weekend jaunt. It was very fun to have him around and he had VERY good manners. His mom did a great job:).

We headed out to the lake after all the boys-including Ezra-got haircuts. We were all very excited to watch Ezra and all his tricks. However, the weather was awful so we just kinda hung out and messed around.

Ezra and Aaron throwing Porter in the water and doing tricks!

One.....

two.....

three!

Aaron finally got out and decided to surf. We didn't have enough weight in the boat, so while Ezra was "supposed" to be driving he was hanging off the side of the boat trying to get Aaron a better wake.

I wish he would have fallen:)

Actually, that may not have been a good idea because then Porter would have had to turn the boat around.

My baby surfing...

Ezra surfing....

They tried to get Porter up surfing on the knee board. It didn't so much turn out but it was a good thought.

That night we went on a date and of course Ezra came along....We often have a third man on our dates with us.

After our date we realized our freezer wasn't working. It just needed to be cleaned then it started working again. It got warm enough in there that some of the popsicles melted and made a mess. I started helping until Ezra told me that he was Aaron's assistant and he should be helping him. I was completely o.k. with that. Aaron and I never have been known to work GREAT together.

Aaron and Ezra cleaning out our freezer at about 11 o'clock p.m.

Thanks for coming and hanging out Ezra!

We had a great time!

Nuggets and Fries!

Growing up, to hear "nuggets and fries" was the best answer to "Mom, What's for dinner tonight?"

Whenever my mom was not in the mood to cook my dad would either bring home nuggets and fries, or better than that was my mom would just take bags of them out of the freezer-we were always stocked up-and cook them up at our own home! I love the memories of my dad working at McDonald's.

We have been trying to get some frozen bags of them for a while now but everyone says they can't do it anymore. Well, we found a lady that we all worked with that was SO generous to get us some.

So, we went to breakfast at McDonald's.

We ended up being there for over an hour and the kids loved it!!

After picking up our "Goods" we headed home and prepared for or nuggets and fry party. All my sisters and their kids came, along with Moss and Jason. Then Tuff and Russ showed up a little later. Russ is watching his figure so he didn't eat, but Tuffness did!!

We had a good time and the memories it brings back are amazing.

As for Heather.......

She was the cook for us all, then she made hers and mine in the oven-just like the good 'ol days!

"These are the best of times"

They make me smile.....

A Visit With Grandma Nielsen

While my mom was staying with Grandma Nielsen after the passing of Grandpa, we decided to stop in for an overnighter while on our way home from Burley. We did a little shopping and did a little fireworks! It was very fun and I think grandma enjoyed a little excitement!

First the kids did some little poppers which grandma said she'd never seen and had a good time watching them.

Cute kids so excited for fireworks!!

Throwing their "poppers".

Ry showing us how many he is going to throw.

He wanted a loud noise.

Porter running SO SO fast to get more!

After the poppers were all done we moved on to the cool worms. My dad used to do these all the time when we were little and I loved them.

Porter was such a good helper and wanted to light them ALL!!

The worms grew so big!

I still love these.

Ry and Brayd found these Care Bears of grandma's and loved to play with them.

They are such good friends. I'm so glad they can keep each other busy.

My Eye!!

Thanks Ry:)

Grandma Key then made some yummy cookies that had way more chocolate chips in them then I EVER remember growing up!

Grandma Nielsen cut up the walnuts to go in them.

While we waited for the cookies to cook the kids brought in the salt for Grandma Nielsen.

I do love my boys and I love that they are getting more and more capable every day!

It was fun to have a sleep over at Grandma Nielsen's and even better that Ry could sleep through the night and not suffer from the "onion soup" that Grandpa Key made last time:)

Celebration of Independence Day.

We have now made it a tradition to be in Liberty on the 4th of July. Karen puts on a soccer tournament, the fam plays in a volleyball tournament. And, believe it or not you can actually spend ALL day outside in the sun. It's not too hot!

We start out the morning by riding in the parade and eating breakfast....

Tay took care of Ry.

Aaron had Brayd and Madi, while Grandpa took on Porter.

Since Porter was about 3 Porter has wanted to do the Mutton Bustin'.

I've always told him next year, but this year I gave in.

Porter loved ridin' this little sheep.

He hung on for about 3 seconds. After it was over I asked him how it was........

He said, "I kept bashing my head on the sheeps head, good thing I had a helmet on!"

I'm glad he had a good time.

Our annual 4th of July family picture in the park.

Aaron helping his mom set up for the soccer tournament.

Then Porter wanted to do the "Chicken Chase".

The funny thing is, the one he ended up chasing was one of grandma's.

Heading out to the line.....

Waiting for the "go ahead"

Chasing a chicken......

No, this one looks better!

This picture is taken just before he dived!

It was hilarious, but he missed-thankfully!

Ry and Porter joined in on the gunny-sack racing.

Porter won this one.

Porter told us, "someone was getting close to me, so I bumped HER and she fell over".

Yes, we did have a talk about pushing over girls.

Brayd just ate snow cones.

Aaron, Chase, Taylor, Kara, Brianne and Ashley were a soccer team and they did very well.

They took 3rd place against 13 teams.

Wasn't too bad for having an old man on their team:)

Chase in Action.

Aaron working some kids over with his "mad" skills.

Ry and Brayd trying to entertain themselves for the 6 hours that their dad was playing sports and their mom was watching.

Serious!

Aaron was the Ref for the final game.

It was actually pretty cute!

We made it home in time to have some dinner, iron clothes for the holy sabbath and rest for about 30 minutes. Then, it was back to the park for fireworks. Karen and Lin were exhausted so just the kids that were here for soccer went to the park and watched the fireworks together. Kara, Adam and their family sat on the chairs, while the rest of us-Ry, Aaron, Porter, Madi, me, Brayd, Tim, Brianne, Ashley, Chase and his lady, Brianne, were laying on blankets on the floor in a nice little row. I wish I would have gotten a picture, but it was dark and I didn't have my camera.

I am thankful for the country we live in and especially thankful that I have such a great family to celebrate with!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!