Family Photos

Last Saturday Christie the Photographer (this is what Nathan calls her so she is not confused with Christy the haircutter, aka Aunt Christy!) did a family photo shoot of us. I was so stressed about what we should wear and whether or not the kids were going to cooperate, etc., but I seriously could not be happier with the results. Christie is such an amazing, talented photographer and we are so grateful that she shared her talents with us! Here is a little sneak preview of the photo shoot!

You can check out more of Christie's work at http://christiehobson.blogspot.com/

Summer Fun

Don't get me wrong, the majority of our summer has been spent at home doing the waterslide and just hanging out. It's hard having all three kids home all day long and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I am excited for school to start in two weeks! That being said, we have been able to do some fun things around here this summer some of which include:

Camping...

We invited a bunch of our friends to go on an over night campout with us up Ortega Canyon a few weeks ago. The families included the Tennisons, the Deans, the Russells and the Browns. We had such a fun time!

Thanks, Josie, for bringing the glow sticks- they were a huge hit with the kids!

Max was obsessed with Roxie and kept walking up to her and giving her hugs! She was a good sport about it, the only problem is that Nathan and Roxie have already decided to get married and now Max is trying to come inbetween them. Don't worry Max, they'll be someone else for you!

We roasted hot dogs for dinner and then made S'mores and dutch oven peach cobbler for dessert. Jon made the cobbler and it was so good!

I forgot to bring a can opener so Jon improvised by cutting the cans open with his knife! After dessert we put the kids to bed and then all sat around the campfire until almost 1:00 in the morning talking. It was so nice to just be outside under the stars relaxing with friends.

The next morning we ate breakfast and then the kids had fun just running around and playing.

Can't you just see this picture in their wedding video?!!!

This was the best attempt I got at getting the kids (many of which are missing in this picture) to all look and smile! We definitely need to go camping more often- it is one of Jake's favorite things. He asks everyday when we can go again!

Angel Game...

Jon and I took Nathan to an Angels game after we got home from camping. Jake refuses to go after our fiasco last year with taking him and the fireworks freaking him out, so we left him and Max home with a babysitter and just took Nathan. It's fun to spend time with the kids one on one every now and then. I think Nathan had a lot of fun as well!

Toby Keith Concert...

For Mother's Day this year Jon got me tickets to a Toby Keith concert. He is one of my favorite country singers and he did not disappoint. Trace Adkins opened for him and he was really good as well.

I didn't bring my camera lens with the good zoom, so this was the best picture I could get of the Tobster!

Fiddler on the Roof...

Every year for my parents' birthdays Jon and I buy them tickets to go see a show with us. I was so excited when I heard that Fiddler on the Roof was playing at the Performing Arts Center since this is one of my dad's all time favorite movies. This year Carli and Justin and Rob and Bethany tagged along which made it all the more fun!

We ate at Gulliver's before the play and it was really good. The whole restaurant is set up like an upside down ship/English tavern. It was a fun atmosphere and delicious food.

We then headed over to the play.

Topol has been doing this play for around 40 years and he was so good- he definitely stole the show!

Boomers...

We took the kids down to Boomers for Family Home Evening and rode a bunch of rides and went to the batting cages. After the first pitch, Jake wanted nothing to do with it, but Nathan and Jon had fun hitting balls for a while.

We rode the fast race cars with the kids and then they each wanted to ride on the kid track by themselves. I was a little worried about how they would do pushing the pedal down and steering without help, but after a rocky start they both got the hang of it! Jake was the first car and as soon as the worker helped him with his seatbelt he was off, dragging the orange cone with him. The worker was yelling at him to stop, but I think he was in shock and just kept driving. After that they both did pretty well the rest of the time until the end. The worker stood in the track with his flag telling them to stop, but they didn't get how to stop so they just kept going causing the worker to have to jump out of the way to avoid being hit! When we finally got them to stop the worker was less than amused. Jon and I felt bad, but we were laughing so hard I'm sure he didn't think our apology was very sincere!



The kids also spent a week at Jon's parents house in Utah (stay tuned- that one deserves it's own blog post!), they have gone to a little Summer Camp at their cousin's house and we've been to the beach a few times. Next up is one last waterski trip and then we will be ready for school!

Wishing they lived closer

After we left the cabin we drove across the state to Boise to visit our friends, the Paynes. We were really good friends all through dental school and continue to be close, despite the hundreds of miles between us! It's fun that even though we haven't seen them for a year, we just pick up like nothing has changed. The first night we went out to dinner and then we all (minus the kids) stayed up until 6:00 in the morning talking- it was so fun- just like old times. Needless to say we were really tired the next day, but it was well worth it!

Friday Andrea and I spent the afternoon doing what we do best- shopping!

We left the kids home with the guys and they had fun playing games outside and just hanging out. Bailey and Ellie are such good kids. They were so nice to Jake and Nate the whole time we were there.

After shopping we took all of the kids swimming. Jake and Nathan are starting to swim without life jackets this summer (thanks to Aunt Bethany) which makes me so stressed the whole time we are swimming. I am constantly scanning making sure I know where they are and that their heads are above water!

Nathan and Ellie got along really well!

Logan and Max chilled in the wagon until we were ready to go. They are about a month apart, yet Max is twice his size!

When we got back from swimming the kids ate popsicles outside and just played until we could get them to go to bed.

Andrea and Ryan made the best dinner for us that night. Jon seriously still talks about how good everything was! We then stayed up playing games (but only until midnight since we had to drive home the next day)! Saturday Andrea and I went running and then we packed up and got ready to leave. On our way out of town we ate at Five Guys which is sort of like Inn 'n Out. Their fries and fry sauce were so good. After lunch they took us to Ryan's new dental office which is so nice. Andrea has done a great job decorating it! Finally the time came to say goodbye and head home. We love the Paynes and look forward to the times that we get to hang out. Thanks for being such great friends and for making our stay so fun!

On our way home we stopped by Jon's Grandpa Ernie's house to visit. We love visiting with him and wish that we could have stayed longer. The kids loved running around his big backyard and getting some of their energy out before we put them back in the car for the next leg of our trip. We hope that we get to see him again soon!

More Cabin Fun

Wednesday morning Jon and I went golfing with his sisters, Annie and Heidi. Neither of them have ever really golfed before so Jon, being the nice brother that he is, gave them free gold lessons!

I had to put this next picture of Heidi on here since she hit the "shot of the day!" It was a par 3 that you had to hit over a big lake. She hit the ball over the water and right onto the green. It was very exciting! I on the other hand, hit 2 balls into the lake before I just decided to drop on the other side! So sad for me.

Everyone took turns being in charge of a meal while we were there. It was fun to try everyone's food and to get some new recipes.

Wednesday afternoon we went down to Mesa Falls and let the kids see the waterfall. They were pretty excited about this.

Another attept at a family shot.

There was a little visitor's center where the kids could feel different animal skins, claws and antelors. Nathan had a good time playing in there with his cousins.

Wednesday night we went to the rodeo and dinner that has become a tradition in my family and hopefully a new tradition in Jon's. Nathan tried to pull the ribbon off of the calf's tail, but wasn't quite quick enough!

He did get to pet it afterwards which was a highlight for him. Jake wanted nothing to do with the the rodeo- I think the bulls freaked him out.

Jon and the boys watched as they let all of the horses out into the field. Jake loved watching the horses run free.

Jake also loved throwing this lasso over the metal bull. He was actually pretty good at it!

Another attempt at a family picture (we will get a good one someday- I just know it!).

I seriously love this man!

Aunt Heidi and Max

Max loved having Uncle Marc throw him into the air!

When did he get so big and grown up? Crazy!

Later that evening Jon and I danced with the boys. It was so much fun!

Grandma wanted in on the action!

Jake and Nate both wanted me to spin them around. I was getting pretty dizzy by the end of the night!

We all danced the night away!

Even Max joined in!

The rodeo and dinner were the perfect ending to a great vacation. A thanks goes out to Ron and Lorelei for helping to organize all of the activities and for paying for EVERYTHING we did the entire week. We had such a great time and can't wait until we can all get together again!