Lagoon

We spent a day at Lagoon in Early August, it was a fun day. Landon won a huge dog and snake playing a water gun game and Jackson and Ayden won Jazz bears shooting hoops!! I think the games were the highlight of the day *LOL* Landon had fun riding all the kiddie rides over and over while Ryan took Jackson and Ayden on all the big rides! It was a fun summer day :)

out our window...

a boy and his bike

Landon got a new bike and has been practicing riding it without training wheels! He is a little timid about tipping over but I think he'll be riding it on his own before summers over :) Way to go Landon!!

Our new lawn boy!!

Jackson started mowing the lawn a couple of weeks ago to earn some extra money. He does a really good job and says he'll mow twice a week til the snow flies!!

Snowbird

King of the World!!
Priceless SMILE!!

Head over Heels!!

The end of July we spent the day up at Snowbird. We rode the tram up to Kings Peak and hiked down, it was awesome. At the top you could see the valley and it was so high up that it made me sick. I was constantly nervous telling the boys to stay away from the edge, I hate being afraid of heights :( We also went on the alpine slide, did the bungee trampoline (which everyone loved), the mechanical bull and the ropes course. Ryan and Jackson did the zip line, it was so much fun. Ryan and Jackson want to go back and ride the digger dirt scooters down the mountain but I think they'll have to wait until Jackson's a little older ;) It was a perfect day and we are so lucky to live so close to the beautiful Wasatch Mountains.

Skate Park

The boys have had so much fun taking their bikes and scooters to the skate park this summer! They have gotten really comfortable with the jumps and skating the bowl :) It quickly became one of their favorite things to do!! Way to go boys!!

Sunflowers

We have had so much fun watching our beautiful sunflowers grow from tiny seeds this summer! Some of them are over 9 feet tall and there are so many different colors!! We love watching all the butterflies, bumblebees and humming birds visit them each day. It's always brings a smile to your face when you see them :) we love sunflowers!!

Gaffigan, Sonic & Swimmy

Meet the newest members of our family.... Gaffigan, Sonic and Swimmy. Bet you can tell who's who *lol* Jackson named his fish Gaffigan because he LOVES Jim Gaffigan and his fish is a white pale albino goldfish, we all laughed when he named him :) Ayden's black fin tipped gold fish is named Swimmy and Landon's is Sonic. The night we got the fish I made salmon for dinner and guess what.... none of the boys would eat. They said that now that they have fish for pet's they didn't want to eat fish *LOL* I guess going fishing's out now too!

‎'cause the pain that you've been feeling... it's just the hurt before the healing

before & after

Ayden has been growing out his hair this summer but yesterday he said "it was just to sweaty" so he went and got a haircut! I especially like the blue gel but is it just me or does he look older now?? What a handsome boy!!

Ayden's birdhouse

Ayden had to build something of use for a project in Scouts towards earning his Wolf. He choose to build a birdhouse. He called his grandpa one afternoon and asked him if he would help him. Ayden spent an afternoon at his grandpa's and they came up with the design and built it together. Over the next few days Ayden sanded it and very carefully painted it. It turned out so cute that I couldn't wait to hang it in my tree. Ayden did such a good job and we were all so very proud of him. Thanks grandpa Russ for all your help and Way to go Ayden!!

finally a letter!!!

Dearest nay nay, ryan, jackson, ayden, landon.

I was very touched by your letter and that story about Cory and Quinn. Amazing. I love you so much. I am so glad to be here on my mission and to be able to know about God's plan for all of us. A lot of people have been dying lately. In the earthquake some people that I knew died. But I am glad that I know that death isn't the end. All I have to do is remember who I am and help others remember too.

Hey, when you told me you had pneumonia I think I caught it from you. I have been pretty sick lately. But I am getting better. Today it ¡s pretty warm but we are in the dead of winter here.

My mission has been the best best best experience of my life. I still have trials but I am so happy to be able to have a different perspective about them. I wish you could know me today. I am like the old Christopher but better! Woo! haha. I love it here because it's like God takes away everyone and everything I know so that I can finally get to know Him. I don't know everything about Him yet but I sure do know that He loves me. Sometimes it can be hard when everything falls apart with "golden" investigators or when the members don't like missionaries or or even when its just really cold. But have remembered that I have a father that loves me a lot. I don't want to be fake and say that the mission isn't hard, cause it is. But I have help. I have a goal to life my life in such a way so that every day when I wake up, Satan says " oh, no he's awake."

Hey Jackson, happy birthday. I can't believe that you are 11 already! crazy. I miss you sooooo much. I am going to some home in no time and play b ball with you. This morning I played and I was terrible. I need to practice haha. I got the mission curse!

I hope all is well over there. I love you Renee, Ryan, Jackson, Ayden and Landon!!!!

11

Where does the time go? I can't believe Jackson is 11!! For a month I have been counting down the days wishing time would slow or stop but today is here and Jackson is 11. I am truly blessed that Jackson is my son. Jackson is always surprising us with his 's big heart, caring and compassion for others. His laugh is so very contagious... if he starts laughing you can't help but smile! To know Jackson is to love him, his is one of a kind.

HAPPY BITHDAY JACKSON!!!

1. Jackson got his first stitches this year when he tripped and fell on a broken pickle jar!

2. Jackson loves to draw

3. Jackson loves Dill pickles

4. Jackson favorite color is PINK you can often find him in hot pink lax socks!

5. Bedtime is a dirty word to Jackson

6. He loves to be in the water

7. Jackson loves Orange Fanta

8. Jackson loves sausage with maple syrup

9. He loves fishing

10. He loves to watch Jim Gaffigan and Brian Regan

11. Jackson loves to play and watch sports

cub country

I had the opportunity to go to Cub Country with Ayden's Wolf pack Wednesday and it was so much fun! The boys did a lot of fun activities to pass of requirements towards earning their wolf but I think their favorite thing was shooting BB guns! I think they could have shoot them all dayand been very content :) We got wet during a flash rain and hail storm and we all go so dirty but it was a very fun day at camp!!

camping, mornings and BACON!!

These are my boys favorite pancakes, I think they could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You will LOVE them!!

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
5 Tbsp unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 slices bacon cooked crispy and crumbled

Cook bacon in skillet until crispy and drain. Crumble into small pieces, set aside to cool

Separate the eggs so that the yolks go into a large bowl and the whites go into the bowl of a stand mixer or a bowl large enough to fit a hand held electric mixer.

Add the buttermilk and melted butter to the yolks in the bowl and beat together. In another bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

With a stand mixer or electric mixer, whip the egg whites to hold soft peaks about 2 minutes.

Now pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir lightly until just combined. Some lumps are OK. Fold in the egg whites until just combined. It's OK if some of the whites aren't fully incorporated. Gently fold bacon into batter.

Rub a non-stick frying pan with a bit of butter and heat over medium heat. Add batter to pan to make whatever size pancake you want (I like small ones made with a heaping tablespoon of batter - my pan fits about 5 of these at a time). Pancakes are ready to flip once a few bubbles appear on the surface and and the tops are starting to go dull. Flip and cook another minute or two.

If you wish you can keep the pancakes warm in a very low oven while you cook the remaining batter.

Serve with Maple Butter!!

a perfect summer salad time :)

2 medium head broccoli, cut into individual florets
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup raisins
20 pieces thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

mix together:

1 cup mayo
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar

toss everything together and chill for 1 hour, enjoy!!

lessons learned...