Summer Reading List

Hopefully I will have lots of time to read over the summer-here is my stack of books I'm hoping to get through. 

 

16th Birthday

 Chloe turned 16 on June 9. Seriously we couldn't ask for a better daughter. She brings us a lot of joy and laughter and hours and hours of entertainment (as we travel to her sporting events). We had some of the local family over for donuts (her new birthday tradition). Hopefully this year is a great one for her-love you lots Chloe Girl.

A look back of some of our favorite memories over the past 16 years

She has always had a sense of adventure and been an athlete from the get go.

Light it Up

The 4th of July is one of our families favorite holidays. We set plan a big get together and set money aside to buy fireworks every year. I couldn't resist buying this wreath even though it was a month away...it fits us perfectly. 

 

Above Ground Pool

We decided to put up an above ground pool this year, with all the craziness and uncertainty we thought it might be a good thing to have because at least it would give Bryce something to do and a place to play if things were shut down. The one we were originally going to get was quite a bit smaller, but our order was cancelled because they couldn't fulfill it and we couldn't find another one anywhere-apparently a lot of people had the same idea. We finally found this one on Ebay and were actually glad we ended up getting the bigger one. The instructions said not to put it up if it was windy, but we didn't really have another day to do it, so we ended up just going for it. It was a bit of a struggle battling it in the wind, and it took us almost a whole day, but with everyone's help we finally got it set up. It took another day and a half to fill it up with water.

Looks like it's time for a pool party~!

 Bryce practically lives in the pool now and never passes up a chance to have someone come over and swim with him. I'm so glad we ended up getting it.

Tournament Time

With COVID shutting down the normal school softball season we weren't sure when we were going to be able to watch a softball game again. Luckily for us it happened a lot sooner than most places, in fact as I write this there are still many towns and states where they haven't opened back up for sports, and we were able to start going to softball tournaments again the end of May. It was so good to see the girls back out on the diamond. I don't think any parent was complaining about much even the bad calls by the umpires, just because everyone was so happy to be able to watch and play again and try to have some sort of normalcy in our lives. Grandma Marshall was happy that this tournament and most of them throughout the summer were held in Cedar City. 

Bryce will ride his scooter and play with some of the other kids during the tournaments. I also have started buying him a lego set that he can work on while we are sitting at the fields for hours on end. 

Happy Fans!

Happy Girls!

 

Doodle Gram

A few pictures from your favorite Dood. Hope they put a smile on your face.

#mookiethedood #doodlegram

Library Time

Summertime means that our weekly trips to the library begin. Literally one of my favorite parts of the summer. So glad Bryce loves to read so much. I'm so grateful with everything going on that the libraries are open--they did close down for a bit, but luckily it didn't last long.

New Floors

We have been working on updating the flooring in our house. Earlier this year we put new carpet in the downstairs and on the stairs. Then we decided to take out the laminate downstairs and put in tile. It looks like hardwood, but it is actually tile. We were super happy with how it turned out. So happy that we ended up doing the master bathroom as well. Hopefully one day we will be able to do the rest of the top floor. 

Put Down the Book

Mommy please put your book away and pay attention to me ;)

#mookiethedood

Otter Creek

We went to Otter Creek for our annual camping trip. A lot of the family was able to make it. My sister Tiffanie wasn't, but we took her two boys with us. 

Mookie was excited he was invited to go.

The boys thought it was cool to sleep on the bunk beds.

We spent a lot of time fishing. We caught tons of fish right off the bank. We went out on the boat a little bit too, but we actually caught more from the shore. The kids all had a blast reeling them in. 

I was super excited that the newest book in the Hunger Games series came out just in time for me to spend lots of time reading while on this little trip. 

We had a little birthday party for Hanxton.

The kids spent lots of time in our trailer playing card games and watching tv. One night we locked them in it to play games and all the adults went in one of the other trailer to play games we told them don't open the door no matter what. They didn't have much choice though when it was the park ranger knocking, because we were a few minutes late getting over there to get the generator shut off for quiet hours. OOPS. They were a little scared-ha! 

Even Grandma made it out and enjoyed being able to watch everyone fish from the shore. 

We love buying them matching shirts-even if the older kids barely tolerate it. 

Of course what's a camp out without s'mores. Definitely one of my favorite parts. 

Otter Creek is one of our favorite lakes, so glad we were able to go and catch up with this crazy crew. Nothing better than spending time with family-even if the weather is a little bit cold.

Can't wait for next year.