School

At Remi and Broden's school each class will take turns doing an assembly. Blake finally got to make it to Broden's. Broden was the orange tree. The other kids were different animals and one little girl had a basket. The "animals" would take fruit out of her basket, then she ran into the orange tree(Broden) and oranges fell into her basket. It was pretty cute and Broden did a good job holding his branches with oranges up for the whole song. He was so excited dad could come see his play!!!

our orange tree

 This year was a big year in England. They celebrated the Diamond Jubilee, the Queen has been queen for 60 years!!! There was a big celebration at the school and they invited all the kids to dress as queens and kings. Then all the families could join them for a picnic and celebration with dancing and singing. We didn't really have kind and queen costumes, so this is what Grandma Jones and I came up with. Not too bad for starting the night before and not spending any money!!! They looked so cute and had so much fun celebrating.

King Broden and Queen Remi

 Remi's teacher Miss Arnold had her last day the day of the Diamond Jubilee celebration. She is having a baby, so she started her maternity leave. Remi loved having her as a teacher and will miss her, but likes her new teacher too.

Remi, Miss Arnold and Avery

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend we really wanted to get away and go go camping by the beach. All the campgrounds were either way expensive or you have to stay multiple nights. Finally on Friday Blake found one that wasn't as much, so as soon as he got home we jumped in our 2 cars and headed for the coast. It was such a hot day, but when we got there it had cooled off and was really windy and cold. We went to the beach anyway just to see it. It was fun for a few minutes, but super windy so I took Alissa and Parker back to the car. On our way I saw a sign that said Wind Farm Visitor Center. There were also tons of windmills out in the water. I guess that should alert us that it would be a very windy beach! Blake is good at making the best of everything though and he made it fun for the kids  to get chased by the waves. We decided to stop that game before we got wet though because I packed for the 80 degree dry weather, not 60 degree, windy wet weather.

After the beach we headed back to the "campground" and explored a little. It was more of a Las Vegas camping experience. They had a big music hall with a band and singer and girls dancing and a big game room with 2p games for the kids. It was fun, but not quite the get away from people to enjoy nature camping trip:)

The next day we woke up and rode our bikes to the play ground. We decided Blake would stay with the older kids and swim while I went back for a baptism. So I showered got ready and Parker and I headed back to our church an hour and a half away. One of the boys in our ward was getting baptized, so I got to do my first baptism as primary president. I was also this boy's teacher last year. When we got to the baptism some of our friends were there cleaning the church. They said they were headed to a beach right by where we were camping. So I told them to call Blake and maybe we would join them.

After the baptism, Parker and I jumped back in the car to head to the beach. It was a nice warm day and the car didn't like that. I had the ac on and all of a sudden when I was on the highway the car wouldn't accelerate or anything. I tried coasting to an exit, but there wasn't one, so I had to pull over on the side of the road. In England, this is scary. There isn't really a shoulder to pull on to. So I pulled over and wondered what to do. I turned off the car. Waited a minute, said a prayer and started it again. Everything worked fine and has ever since. I think I was still shaking when I got back to the campsite. It was scary, more because I didn't know what to do or who to call to help me. I'm grateful prayers are answered, sometimes even immediately!

When I got to the campsite we all piled in the van and joined some families from our ward at the beach. It was a little chilly for me to get in the water, but I enjoyed chatting with the other moms and bumping the volleyball around a bit. The kids had a blast swimming, building sand castles, burying each other and crabbing. The Hatch's dug a big hole with their shovel and Parker played in that pretty much the whole time.

Broden with a 6-pack

Blake and some other dads "enjoying" the water

All the dads and kids crabbing

Some more crabbing

After the beach we hurried home and headed to a birthday party for one of the boys in Remi's class. The birthday parties here are something else! He invited everyone in his class and siblings. When we got there they took our food orders and told us where to change and go. We got on our swimming suits and swam for an hour in the coolest pool. It is used for water aerobics and has an adjustable bottom. It can get deeper or shallower. Alissa could touch flat footed, so it was perfect for everyone. The kids had a blast and I'm pretty sure the adults did too! AFter swimming they fed us dinner then cake and Ice cream. It was pretty funny after blowing out the trick candles they put them in the garbage. After a while Blake noticed a funny smell and realized the garbage was smelling like fire. He hurried and carried it outside and it actually really caught on fire with flames and everything. The people from the kitchen brought out some water and they put out the fire, but it was kinda crazy.




That night we got home and showered and went straight to bed. Everyone was exhausted!!!

School Days

Alissa and Parker have started having so much fun together when Remi and Broden are at school. They are also very good at playing by themselves. Alissa will spend hours "making cakes." She will take random toys, blankets, or whatever she can find and stack them up into a "cake." If we are ever looking for something that was just there a second ago we just have to find her most recent creation and it will most likely have whatever we are looking for in it. Usually they have a pillow, toys, baskets, blankets and little stacking boxes with an animal or some sort of little decoration on top. She even did it at Blake's parents house and my parents house. I think my mom was still finding "birthday cakes" weeks after we left.

Alissa playing with the animals

 Something I forgot to write about with Alissa is how excited she was at the wedding. She saw one of the Brides come out of the temple and started chasing her yelling, "Princess MAREN." I had her come back and when Maren really came out of the temple she was in awe. She just followed her around saying Princess Maren. She still talks about her and even carries around Maren and Tyler's wedding announcement showing everyone her princess Maren. It is so cute. She is so excited now to get married in the Temple and be a princess too.

Alissa pushing Parker

Parker's new stage

 Parker is such an explorer! He loves to find markers and eat them. He also loves "helping" with dishes, climbing on beds and jumping, climbing onto our wide window seals and walking around, or jumping onto the beds or couches underneath, and most of all playing outside. He will spend hours outside digging in the dirt, kicking the soccer ball, going down our slide, or just throwing rocks. He is 100% BOY and we love it!

My herbs

 I have always liked planting seeds and watching them grow into something beautiful, or something I can use. We planted a garden this year, and Blake also bought me some African violets. I even found some cheap herbs at a local store. So I planted them and they started sprouting. I was so excited! They have had their ups and downs, but I think they are finally getting stronger.

Alissa, Livi and Parker

This is just proof that we did have a warm summer day here in England:)

Happy Birthday to us!

The second week in May we celebrated Mother's Day and Blake and I's birthdays. It was pretty low key this year. Neither of us really had any wishes for gifts, so we just spent the days together. The Saturday after Blake's birthday we did invite some friends to play walleyball and come over for cake after. That was fun. We always love doing fun things with friends. 

Blake's Up in the Night Brownie Cake

Our German Chocolate Cake

Wish we would have gotten a picture of our friends who came.  

My Mother's Day/birthday Breakfast in bed

Remi's other birthday party

Before we went to the States I told Remi she could have a birthday party when we got home. I didn't realize she would be having such a grand party in Idaho. We didn't know who to invite in her class, so we just invited all the girls, then our next door neighbor and one of the girls from her church class. It was a pretty simple birthday with a unicorn theme.

Remi  is such a sweet girl. Right now she is into anything with girl colors and sparkly, but she still loves to play in the dirt, play sports and just have fun! She started taking piano lessons last fall and loves it! She is really good. We don't usually have to ask her to practice she will just sit down and learn her new songs, then play them whenever she gets a chance. She is getting really good at reading and math too. We love how much fun our Remi Lou is!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The cake

Alissa helping make the birthday cake. Notice her "birthday cake" in the background.

Decor

Pin the horn on the unicorn

all the girls coloring their own horn to wear and one for the game

Happy Birthday to you!

Opening presents

All the girls.

Idaho, Utah and Wedding

After leaving Las Vegas we drove to Salt Lake and had a fun visit with Blake's Grandma. The kids call her Grandma Great Webb. They love playing with her toys and the decorative geese she had in her yard. They thing those geese are the best toys ever. She enjoys watching them play and of course giving them cookies and treats.

My parents and Eric drove down from Idaho and picked us up in Salt Lake. The plan was to hang out with Tyler and Maren and everyone swim. They had caught some kind of bug though, so my dad was pretty sick. Tyler was also not feeling well and Eric started to get sick by the time we were in Provo too. So, Eric headed home to bed and Tyler and Maren came to the hotel and hung out while my mom and I swam with the kids.

I'm glad my mom had her swimming suit because Parker all of a sudden had NO FEAR of the water. He would just walk off the stairs and jump off the edge, whether someone was there or not. That combined with Alissa's new confidence in the water made for a scary 15 minutes of swimming until my mom got there. After a while Parker got sick of the water and just wandered around so I got to finally chat with Tyler and Maren. It was fun getting to know my future sister in law better. I haven't ever lived close to our family since Tyler and Maren started dating, so I hadn't ever really gotten to know her. She is awesome though and perfect for Tyler. He's a lucky boy, but she is lucky too. Tyler will be an awesome husband. He is so sweet and always cares about how others are feeling.

That night we ate some pizza and chatted until bed time. Tyler and Maren had school work to do too. The next morning we ate breakfast and headed to the dinosaur museum. The director/teacher talked to us for a few minutes and I told him we were visiting from England. He gave us a tour and even let Remi and Broden actually use a real drill and drill away the rock to find dinosaur bones. It was really neat. Grandma and Grandpa hung out with Alissa and Parker and let them run around. Then we headed to Idaho!

In Idaho we had fun hanging out with all our family there. We fed ducks, jumped on trampolines, went to the visitor center at the temple, and I got to go to the temple a few times. It was so nice to be close to a temple and staying with my parents so they could babysit. I went really early while the kids were still asleep a few mornings and it was perfect!

Jenny and Parker swimming at the hotel

Remi, Broden, Jenny, Parker Alissa and a little bit of Grandma

Remi digging for dinosaur bones

Parker "feeding" my parents van cheetos.

feeding the ducks at the greenbelt

Remi at the visitors center

Cindy, Jenny and Remi dressed as twinners

It was entertaining to me that people get Cindy and I confused so often. I was coming out my parents front door one day and there were some little girls walking by. The yelled, "Hi Cindy!" I just smiled and waved back. Then another time I was driving down the road and there was this high school age boy in his driveway. He waved like he knew me, so I just waved back. Everyone jokes that he was probably so excited because Cindy Davis had waved to him!

Ready for Remi's birthday party at Southwick's house

 Kristi and Stan were kind enough to let us have Remi's birthday party at their house. My mom, Julie and Kristi planned the whole thing. All we had to do was show up. Perfect!!! The did such a fun job. My mom took Remi to the store and let her pick out cakes(she was so excited because she hasn't ever had a store bought cake) decorations, party favors and even a pinata! Julie and Kristi planned all the games and food. Remi was so spoiled! There were so many people there. Kristi, Stan and their boys, Grand, Carson, Travis, Bennett and their baby(in my mind she is still a baby:)) Maci, Stan's parents Rodney and Penny, Stan's brother Jeff and his boys, Julie, Nate, Nikosha, Katelyn, Kenzi and Kyler, My parents, Robby and even Tyler and his baby, Garrett and Kaydi and Gibson were there for a while. Chris also brought Tayson, Brecken, and Giryan! It was a housefull, but Remi had so much fun and felt so loved!

One of the cakes

Remi, the birthday girl

playing with the parachute

back: Dallin Grant, Kyler, Brecken, Broden, Alissa, Brecken hiding maybe?
front: Carson, Gibson, Nikosha, Remi, Katelyn, Kenzi, Danny and Travis refusing to be in the picture on the right

Chris, Garrett, Kaydi, Jenny and baby Gibson

 The Southwick's had an army parachute and it is the perfect toy for windy Idaho days. Not very safe, but tons of fun. After the kids were done playing and the wind picked up we got the adults holding on to it. We would all hold on and wait for the wind to pick up and it would drag 5 men and 2-3 women across the grass. It usually pulled me down and either drug me on my belly or I would dig my feet in to the ground and it would pull me like I had water skis on. One time I went out just to take a video. They were trying to get everyone situated with sleds and even a snowboard without the parachute blowing. So I laid on it to keep it from filling with air. It didn't work, it filled with air and flipped me around a few times before I flew out on the other side. It was lots of fun, but I decided to quit before I got a serious injury!

Jumping on Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline

Parker entertaining himself with Grandma's toothbrush and lid to her moose

We went with Christ and Tyler's boys to the Museum of Idaho to see their dinosaur display. I think the kids enjoyed the play area more. There were dress up clothes a cabin and little caves. They had so much fun together.

Chris, Tayson, Brecken, Broden, Giryan, Alissa and Remi

Brecken

Alissa, Giryan and Remi

Giryan and Alissa

The day before Tyler and Maren's wedding we loaded everyone and all our stuff and wedding stuff in the van and truck and headed to Utah. My dad and I met Eric and Tyler and helped move their bed in and get it set up. Then they went and got couches while I stayed at the apartment with Parker and Alissa. They had fun hiding behind all the boxes.

After that we went back to Salt Lake and swam for a while and ate dinner. The girls stayed at the hotel while the boys went out for dinner, then dad and Tyler came back and stayed with the sleeping kiddos while the girls went and set up for the luncheon.

It was really fast to set up! We had fun too chewing bubble gum and blowing bubbles!

Cindy, Jenny and Kristi

Tyler and Maren were married in the Salt Lake temple. I love going to temple weddings. I was sad that Blake couldn't be there, but so glad I got to go. Everyone was so much help with my kiddos too. 

Maren and Tyler, the whole reason we came!

 I had fun following the photographer and pretending be be a photographer. Thanks Ashley MacKay!!!

Remi and Katelyn

Alissa, Kenzi, Bennett, Remi and Katelyb

Maren and Tyler

Back:Broden, Travis, Carson, Katelyn, Grant, Nikosha
Front: Remi, Maci(hiding), Bennett, Kyler,  Alissa and Kenzi
and in front of eveyrone, Parker

Kyler and Nate

Maci and Kyler

Maci, Kenzi and Alissa

Nate and Kyler "helping" clean up. They were getting the balloons off the ceiling

Parker and Tyler

After the luncheon we cleaned up then went to the reception down by Provo. That night we were all exhausted from decorating, cleaning, running, chasing kids and everything else that goes with a wedding. We went to bed and woke up the next day and headed to a party at Eric's work. What a fun place! They have food and games everywhere and they brought in some bouncy castles, snow cone maker and a balloon animal person. The weather was perfect and we had fun eating and just talking while the kids played. Cindy and mom had to head back for Cindy's track meet, but my dad, the kids and I got to go see Eric's apartment. Then we went swimming one last time before packing up and preparing to leave the next day.

When I was packing that night I got a huge scare! I realized that I didn't have all our bags. One of our bags had been behind all the wedding stuff in my mom's van that she took back to Idaho. Throughout our trip I had an envelope in that bag that contained all of our passports! It was 10:30 at night and my mom had just gotten back to Idaho. PANIC!!! I hurried and called Blake's mom to see when she was coming back to Utah. She wasn't going to until the next day, but some of our good family friends were  coming really early in the morning. She called them while I continued looking through all our bags. I had moved the passports to a different bag. Huge relief. But I still needed the other bag, so we had our good friends bring them down to the hotel. It was so nice of them to go out of their way to do that for us. 


The flight home wasn't as smooth as the flight over, but we survived. On the first flight we sat behind some college boys and they weren't very understanding of my restless kiddos who didn't understand they couldn't kick the seat. Parker was so tired, but wouldn't sleep, instead he just screamed, and screamed, and screamed! The Stewardess even held him and walked for a while. It was so nice to get off the plane and be met by Blake. I missed him, so did the kids.

Something that never ceases to amaze me when I take all the kids places alone is how willing people are to help us. Yes there are the people that look at me like I am crazy and some people aren't very nice, but there are still decent people out there. People who will play with Parker when he is sad, or hold him while I take others to the bathroom, there are people willing to carry car seats and bags, or just hold someone's hand. Some people share their snacks, or their games. These people make me happy. They remind me that there are still decent people in the world who like to do nice things for other people. I hope that I am one of these people. I hope I can help others along my way.