#6 Run a race together as a family

I put this down because I love the thought of our family being in the habit of doing active things together. Matt on the other hand does not like the thought of paying money to run. And he really didn't want to pay for the kids to run. So I was excited when our Stake did a 5K Fun run. It was free, and very low key. Matt and I both pushed strollers. Chase ran the whole time and finished in 34 minutes which is pretty awesome for a little guy!

Aspen hopped in my jogging stroller a couple of times for a break, but I would say she ran at least 2 miles of it... It was really Fun! I am looking forward to doing it again next year!

P.S. Chase thinks now that he has completed a 5K maybe him and I should train for an Iron Man together... Yeah Right! Baby Steps Bud!

#19 Go to Sand Hollow

We came here 2 years ago and my kids have been DYING to go back ever since. It is so much fun. Kind of like a Mini Lake Powell. We spent the entire time we were there (other than when we were sleeping or eating) in the water. It is so Hot outside. The water feels PERFECT!! It is not cold at all, but still refreshing enough to cool you off.It was really fun to have my family there with us. The kids loved playing together. We brought this raft, and Matt was taking the kids all over the place in it. And also playing some monster game where he would swim around it and pop up some where and growl at them. Every one loved this game except Lola, she thought it was kind of freaky.Zoe and Aspen made a little pool for Lola. Lola played in it for a long time. She would rub the sand all over herself and then splash in the water until it came off, and then do it all over again.
Aspen kept playing this game with Scott where she would say "save me!" and then she would fall down in the water and Scott would run over and try to lift her up. It was so funny to see him trying to lift her out of the water.Poor Lola picked up a hot coal while we were there and burnt her hand. My Dad had made a yummy dutch oven dinner,and he had put all the coals in a fire pit that had a little metal wall around it to keep the kiddies safe. It was really windy though and one of the coals must have blown off while he was carrying them because she found a random hot coal out in the middle of the dirt. It was far away from the fire pit and far away from where my Dad had cooked the dinner. She was so sad, but she cheered up pretty quick. We happened to be really close to a Walmart, thankfully, so we got her all fixed up and then she was good to go for the rest of the time. I thought she was so cute with her little tiny hand wrapped up though.Lola was pretending her sandwich was a phone. She kept putting it to her ear and saying "Hello". My Mom started laughing and then answered by saying hello back and so Lola thought my Mom needed a turn talking on the sandwich. She went back and forth from my Moms ear to her ear. It was so cute.A couple people in my family did a dive while we were there. After they got back my dad was excited to take Chase out and let him practice breathing under water. Chase was game at first, but as they were making their way out there he had second thoughts. I don't blame him, because I can't bring myself to try it either. But it broke my Dad's tender little heart, and shattered his hopes and dreams of taking all his grandsons on a dive trip to Tahiti. Tahiti is pretty tempting Dad! You might even get me to get certified for a trip like that, who knows... It could happen.Zoe seriously loves to play house with Lola. It is just fun to have a real live baby to play with. Now add to that the fact that she also has a mini boat that she can push and pull, and a shallow lake that she can swim in, and you've got one HAPPY girl on your hands. She was in heaven. I was close by to supervise so Lola was very seldom in grave danger.We got there about 6:00 Friday night and it was still SO HOT! I took my kids down to the lake to splash around a bit, not thinking they would end up getting totally drenched but they did. Chase just jumped in wearing all his clothes. Aspen took her pants off and swam in a t-shirt and undies. I was ready to strip down and hop in too but I controlled myself. We let them swim until it was too dark for us to see them anymore. They had a blast.There were a ton of bugs down there so Zeke got all lathered up with bug spray before he was let loose to crawl as he pleased. The red sand just clung right to him, at one point he was sporting a two-face look.

#28 Go to a Real Game.

This is one of the first things we checked off our list of things to do this year, I just forgot to bring my camera and take a picture. So I have been holding off posting it because I decided we would just go to another one. But we didn't get around to it, so this will have to do.

These games are so much fun! The game we went to nobody scored. At the end of the game it was still 0-0. Only in soccer can you sit there for an hour and a half without seeing anyone make a single goal! It was intense though, so we still had a good time!

#27 Start the BYU MBA program

Matt is officially a Zoobie! He started school the first week of August. It has already been a lot of work, so wish us luck! He is excited though!

#26 Finish the Pond

This has been on Matt's list of things to do since we moved here. He bought everything he needed for the pond the first summer we lived here and then it sat in our garage for a couple of years before he finally got around to putting it in. Part of the reason for that is because I kept trying to talk him OUT of putting a pond in the back yard. I was really, really nervous about having a pond. He assured me he would do whatever I needed him to, in order for me to feel comfortable with it. So we got a vinyl fence around it, with a pad lock on the gate, and we have convinced our children there is a Lochness Monster in there.It turned out good though. Matt did a great Job! One of the kids favorite things to do at night is throw the fish their food (from over the fence FYI) and watch them come up to eat it.

#4 Teach Lola to say Daddy...

Guess what she can say? She says it so cute too!

#12 What? Eat it? As you wish...

Well you can't just kill fish for no good reason. The kids really wanted to go fishing, so I told them if we caught anything we would have to eat it. Quinn was nice enough to cook it up for us. It was TASTY!

#11 Go Fishing

Our friend Quinn offered up his fly fishing skills at the ward auction. We were super excited because we wanted to support our wards Youth programs, and we also really wanted to learn how to fly fish... Mission Accomplished! This trip was SO much fun!Before we went Quinn came over to teach us how to cast. We did a little FHE, and watched the Mormon Message about the fly fisherman. Chase thought this was pretty funny because in the video it likens the fisherman to Satan, and after the video was over we all went outside to learn how to cast. Chase was making comments like " Wow, this FHE is different... Fly fisherman are like Satan... Come on kids let's all be fly fisherman..." *Side note... We have yet to have a BBQ this summer where it hasn't started raining, and this night was no exception. So we learned how to cast in the rain. It was actually really fun!Camping was a blast! Except for the sleeping part. The kids slept great but Matt and I FROZE!! In the end even that was memorable though because we kept laughing as we would try and warm our freezing feet on each other. I don't think either of us drifted off for more than a couple hours at the most. Other than that though it was great. Matt, Chase, and Quinn took off first thing in the morning to do some fishing. Matt caught 2 pretty big ones.Chase caught 2 but one of them was SO BIG, it got away (That's his story anyway, and he's sticking to it!) But he made it back with this one, which he was also very proud of.While the boys were gone the kids were happy as could be playing at the campsite. There was a little stream that went through that the kids could play in. When the boys got back Scott wanted a turn to go. I was trying to explain to him that this fishing would be a little hard for him and maybe he could fish with Chase in the stream. But he wanted to use a pole just like Dad and Chase. Quinn heard him asking so he told Scott to come with him and he would teach him to fish. Scott was so excited, he told Quinn " If I catch a fish I will be Happy, but if I don't I will be Sad" Quinn was funny he said "You won't be sad on my watch" and away they went. In the end they didn't catch a fish, but Scott loved trying!After lunch it was my turn. Sara was nice enough to watch ALL the kids so I could at least give it a shot. While we were out Quinn caught like 6 more fish, and Matt and I didn't catch a thing. But it was fun, and by the end my casting was getting much better so maybe I'll have better luck next time. Thanks Quinn and Sara!

#22 Pierce the girls ears...

I would have been fine piercing the girls ears when they were babies. I think little baby girls with their ears pierced are really cute! But Matt wanted to wait until it was their idea. He didn't have a certain age in mind, he just wanted them to be the ones asking for it. So it took a few years for me to plant the idea in their heads, but they finally started asking... We waited so we could do it on Aspen's 7th birthday, and Zoe's 5th birthday, as a little present. Aspen was excited, but Zoe had the jitters. She kept asking how it was going to feel, and I kept telling her it would just be a pinch. So her and Aspen practiced pinching each other all morning to make sure they were up for it.When we got their Zoe really wanted Aspen to go first, (which I knew was a BAD IDEA!) One little yelp from Aspen would be all Zoe needed to call the whole thing off. But Zoe was insistent. So I prepped Aspen, I told her how BRAVE she needed to be so that Zoe wouldn't get scared off. And she was, SO BRAVE! Not a yelp was heard, not a tear was shed. She looked at Zoe right after and with the cutest little grin said "See Zoe, just a pinch" But Zoe could see the SHOCK in her eyes. Aspens cute little grin resembled that of a dear in headlights. Zoe was not fooled, and she was NOT getting her ears pierced today. We tried bribing and begging but she was NOT BUDGING. So we returned her earrings and went home. When we got home I asked her if she would dare get her ears pierced if she had her blanket with her. She said she would. I know it's crazy but she still gets so much comfort from her big red blanket. So Matt and Aspen Hopped out, Zoe ran in and grabbed her blanket, and we went right back to the store. Round 2 was a different story. She sat right down, stuck her two middle fingers in her mouth, rubbed her little nose with her blanket, and let them pierce her ears. The lady was shocked, she kept asking Zoe "Wow! are you sure your the same girl that was just here." Zoe didn't even cry. It was the craziest thing. And here they are, with their new earrings... So cute!