Miller Fun

We were so lucky to have a very last minute visit from my sister Stacey, her hubby Daryn and their two precious boys. The trip consisted of a double date night (FAVORITE PART FOR ME), games, horses, curriculum help, girsl night out, rescue missions, daddy/uncle waterfall adventures, cupcakes, BBQ, swimming, great talks and more. THANK YOU SO MUCH for coming guys! We love you and had a great time! But, since I am short on time I will just show the picture we took as they were getting ready to walk out the door.

Avery, Gavin, Kenyon, Adison, Adia, Kaden and DJ!

Now, off we go to see more cousins we haven't seen in a while and we even get to meet a new one today. Yay for baby Roman our newest & hugest cousin (born weighing 11lbs 8oz!). Pictures with the Middleton cousins coming soon...

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Summer Camp Cooks

Our church high school summer camp was this past weekend and somehow Kyle and I got invited (I mean suckered into) to come cook for all 70 of the people there. At first i was really looking forward to the cooking part but soon after realized it was at a camp ground and I don't do well at camp grounds. I fretted and stressed so much about this darn trip. Adia and Avery were out of town so all the shopping was done with just my 2,3 and 5 year olds with me. Yes, that means filling 2 flats at Costco or Sams per trip the few days leading up to the trip all on my own with the little monsters I call kids.



Anyway... the whole point of this post is that it actually turned out to be fun! I'm so happy to see that God is truly changing me and helping me become more of the person He made me to be. Our family made a great team, the food turned out good and we even squeezed in a bit of time for some fun! Plus, we got to know a lot of our church family that we had never met and we gained some respect for our crazy friend the Bri-guy for his super tough job!


Durning the cooking times I was usually too busy to pull out my camera so the pictures make this look like a vacation... let me assure you there was much more cooking and cleaning than playing. But here are a few of the pictures I got.

Here is where we did our cooking... this was our site.

Each meal we would set up a buffet line on the groups site and the OTS (opportunity to serve) team would serve the food, return the dishes and help us clean.

We ate as a family usually at our own site.

A couple times we got to sneak out on a boat with the kids while the students were doing devotions or early in the morning. Princess Adison showed her true princess colors the whole trip. The wind in her face "bothers my hair", "i don't like being so dirty all day and not being clean", "next time can you call Aunt Stacey and she can watch me"... Avery on the other hand LOVED it!

Although Adia hasn't been on a wakeboard in over a year she picked up right where she left off and by the end of the trip was catching some great air!

Kaden never went on the boats but he LOVED hanging out on the beach. Each morning he would get very upset if I din't put his swim shorts on right away.

And here is the Princess the morning after her fall on the fire pit... it was so scary! She was literally walking right next to me, triped over nothing and fell. It was really late and I saw a black line on her face so I wiped it but she was only crying about her finger so we were icing that. When she woke up we saw the damage on her face and felt so bad.

Two days after the fall it seems to be healing. ANd now it looks a lot better but I'm afraid there will for sure be a scar.

And that is it! I think I might be growing up!

Summer Fun

Summer is always so full of fun! This post shows just a bit of what's gone on the past few weeks. We have enjoyed time at...

HOME

This is what happens when you are spending all day in your swimsuit... you come in, take it off, don't have the energy to go upstairs and change, so you lay on the school table to watch a movie (netflix on the comp) and then... you just can't keep your eyes open any longer... I love it!

Folsom Aquatic Center

The place is awesome! It has huge pools, little kids areas, high dives, water slides and so much... plus it only cost our entire family $24 to go there! Plus it was an extra treat to have Kristen, Baby Mike and Taylor there with us. Everything is more fun with friends and we are so glad they came with us. Especially since Kristen went in the water with the little ones and I got to hold the baby. :)

If you knew how terrified Kenyon used to be of the water you would realize this is a huge deal
And this is even huger!

Grandpa & Grandma's House

We always have fun at Grandmas house but holidays are even more fun than regular visits. You get to see more family, have more fun and sometimes we even get to spend the night. We had a great 4th of July weekend there and I wish I had more pictures but my flash is broken so I can't take pictures inside (unless it is super well lit) or in the evening.

Notice my son has a 6 pack...

Daddy Adventures

Recentely our family went on an outing to the great outdoors with mom and we were reminded how important it is for us to keep the adventures to dad. So while mom was away with her sister for a weekend Dad took the kids on a much needed Daddy Adventure! I have no idea how Kyle finds these random places and why it is worth it to go them with 5 kids in tow but I am so glad he does. They all had a blast and only 3 people came home with poison oak.

Kyle searched online for cool waterfalls close by and heard about a really cool one... but would he make it with all the kids and return home with all of them as well....

The adventure begins...

And not too long after they took off hiking they found this...

And yes, they all made it home safe and sound and I even came home to a mostly clean home! Way to go dad... you are the best!

And summer, please don't end too soon... we love you!

"Uncle Brad"

Some things never change - and I am so glad! Growing up Kyle had a best friend named Brad. They spent tons of time together (behaving like idiots) and it was my pleasure getting to know and love Brad as I got to know and love Kyle (different kinds of love for sure). As long as I have known Kyle, I have known Brad but sadly life has taken us on different roads and for the past 9 years we have seen him only a handful of times. The good news though is that when you have a dear friend it doesn't matter how much time or distance is between you - you are always like family and always loved and enjoyed hugely when the chance to reconnect appears!


Brad was married recently and Kyle and I so enjoyed seeing him but were bummed to not be able to get to know his beautiful bride - considering a wedding is not the best place to really get to know someone (especially the bride). But we were lucky enough that she too wished she could have had some more time with us and planned a trip out here in early June so we could catch up on a long life of not knowing eachother. We had a blast. Kyle and Brad didn't understand how Lindsey and I had so much to talk about while they could barely hold a serious conversation. Lindsey, you are welcome back anytime... even though your non dairy, non cayanne ways are so difficult to deal with!

Oh and the kids have always called him Uncle Brad even though only Adia had ever really met him. But when she was little and he was around more that is what Kyle referred to him as and somehow after all this time it stuck. The kids were so excited to meet the goofy uncle they had heard so much about and from the moment he walked in our door they wouldn't leave him alone. In fact we had to apologize on several occasions because one kid got her name wrong and one kid said "thank you God that Uncle Brad is here and ummm, whats her name mom, Oh yeah, Lindsey" during prayer. Good thing she is a sweetie and has a great sense of humor.


Okay enough babbling... here are some pictures...

here the kids are crowding them asking "what do you want to see next"

Volleyball is a must...

Uncle Brad doing a talent show...

Kenyon's performance for the show

Before our quick trip down the river...

Adia practicing being a guide.

teaching us to skip a rock

And here are a few from the old days...

Brad's amazing toast/speech he gave at our wedding.

Kyle and Brad doing tricky dance moves at our reception

Here is how he showed up to our rehersal

And thats it... THANK YOU SO MUCH Brad and Lindsey for such a fun weekend. We really enjoyed our time together and hope it isn't too long before we can all be together again. Although it would be good if you had a kid in tow too so we weren't the only ones slowing everything down!

Happy Father's Day!

Although Kyle was in Brazil over Father's Day we couldn't just skip it all together... He is way to good of a dad not to get a bit of attention for it! Here are just a few highlights from our late Father's Day celebration.

When daddy got home he was handed 8 tickets. Each ticket had one of the following words/phrases on it: family movie, movie with mom, dinner, dessert , devotions, tuck in time, bath time and presentation for you! He was told to put them in the order he would like the evening to go in, sit on the couch and be prepared to do nothing.

Here are some pictures of the fun...

He picked bath time first, followed by a family movie.

Next was dinner.

Presentation:

(which was Adison singing You belong with me and the big 3 doing a little Father's Day rap)

Dessert:

They are capable of being so much cuter but I feel like a bad mom if I don't let the kids help.

Adia made this plate for him about 5 years ago and we still put it to good use.

Next was devotions, tuck in time and then we fell asleep nice and cozy on the couch during the redemption of his movie with mom ticket.

It was a fun night for an awesome dad who our family is beyond blessed to be led by!

For discussion box that night the question was tell us your top 3 things you love about your dad... to end this I think I will list as many of them as I can remember.

Adia - He takes good care of us, He taught me to snow board and he is a very kind person.

Avery - He works hard, he loves me and he plays with me.

Kenyon - He fights me, he is funny and he loves me.

Adison - I am a princess, daddy is a prince and I love daddy!

Kaden - Daddy's truck

Mom - He is truly a good person and such a great example to our children.

He loves Jesus and follows him well.

He is very patient which serves the children and I well!