Drive-in to see the "purfs"

We like to take the kids to the drive-in every summer.  Usually we sneak in some yummy snacks and drinks and fill the car with blankets and pillows!  This year we also brought camp chairs for mommy and daddy to sit on.  We saw "The Smurfs" and "The Zookeeper" aka the "Purfs" (Olivia). 

Chris was here too but we forgot to take pics...sorry

Time with Auntie Nickie and the girls...

This post is WAY overdue as all of this took place during July!!!!  Chris' sister Nickie and her two girls, Lexi and Chloe came out for a visit and we were able to have lots of fun with them amidst moving into our new home and traveling back and forth to Burley several times!

One of the first things we did was throw a SMASHING Dora birthday party for 2 year old Chloe at Grandpa and Grammie Grafs'!!!!

 

    

Chris got together with his G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S sistahs for a photo op.... (and I must say he looks quite dashing himself!!!)

Then Grammie and Grandpa took a turn practicing their SILLY FACES....

Nickie, Shawnae and the girls came back with us to our house for a few days during which we visited the Rexburg Splash Park at Porter Park!  AWESOME!!!!  It took everyone a little while to "brave" into the water and actually play but once they got the idea they were hooked!  Lexi started a sandwich baggie revolution in which she used an empty sandwich bag to collect water from the spray fountains and then dump it.  Before we knew it almost EVERY kid at the place (and there were a TON) were running around with plastic baggies full of water!  It was pretty hilarious!!!

Do you like Olivia's mismatched bathing suit????  She dressed herself!

Chloe had fun be-bopping around with the big kids

Afterwards we dried off and rode the carousel, which all the kids LOVED and Olivia talked about for the REST of the summer!!!!  I think we'll be making several trips to Rexburg for summer fun next year!!!

What's next after running around like crazy?  SNO CONES of course!!!!  There's this place in Rexburg that has DELICIOUS sno cones and we all treated ourselves to extra cream!!!

Brady and Lexi say "CHEERS" and eat up their pina colada sno cones!!!  (Thanks Nickie for the tip!  No staining!  They're white!)

Back on the homefront we enjoyed some more splash fun naked-style!!!  Olivia and Chloe stripped down to their "birthday suits" and Nickie and I cracked up laughing when we looked out the window!!! 

We headed back down to Burley to bring Auntie Nickie back to Grammie and Grandpa's and had another fun pool party with Auntie Nickie's friends and their kids!  We also chowed down on pizza and leftover birthday cake!  Thanks for including us Nickie!!!



The next week we went down to Provo and enjoyed a blasting hot day at Seven Peaks Water Park!

All the kids showing their muscles!!!

Lazy River float....

Lazy mommy and tired out Livy rest on a tube while everyone finishes the day at the wave pool...

Chloe finally tuckered out!!!!  Grammie puts on Chloe's soaked hat to cool down from the late afternoon heatwave!

After getting cleaned up and checked into our hotel rooms Grammie treated everyone to a yummy dinner at Doc's pizza buffet!!!  All the pizza, salad, noodles, breadsticks, dessert and ice cream a heart could desire!!!

The next day we all headed into Salt Lake to spend the afternoon at the LDS Visitor's Center on Temple Square.  We enjoyed some short videos and the displays, as well as the beautiful temple grounds before heading out for lunch/dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and saying GOOD-BYE to Auntie Nickie and the girls who flew home!!!!  We will miss you until we meet again!!!!

Fun at the Fair with Friends!!!

To kick off the fall season we spent an evening at the Blackfoot fair with our buddies, the Thibodeaus. 

Aside from being hot and very pregnant, over-paying for fair food and rides and missing the (way better in my opinion, Fryeburg Fair in Maine) we had a good time!

Lily and Livy loved riding in the "Nemo" boat

Natalie, Quinn, Alyson and Lily

And sly Natalie snapped this pic of me wolfing down my delicious berry and whipped cream covered funnel cake (aka my dinner!) And yes, I purposefully covered my mouth in berry sauce for the photo op, I am not that disgusting when I eat!!!

While big brother is at school the princess plays....

Olivia has enjoyed alone time with me the past month and I'm glad that we've had this time to share before the baby is born too.  I've been busy canning like a crazy woman so she has spent a lot of time by my side in the kitchen coloring, playing with play-doh and rolling pins/cookie cutters and doing puzzles.  She has gotten really good at even the smaller 100 piece puzzles!

I try to have reading time and outdoor time with her everyday too.  This was a day that she played fairy princess in the backyard!  Precious moments.

Brady's 1st day of 1st Grade!!!

Here's my handsome boy!!!

In the past month he has:

• Learned how to read (almost completely on his own)
• Lost his two front teeth (pictures to come)
• Made some good friends
• Started clogging classes (once a week)

End of summer fun at Rigby Lake

Back in my college days Rigby (or Jefferson) Lake was not a desireable place to swim.  By the end of the summer the water was disgusting, smelly and anything but refreshing.  So I was shocked when out of desperation I took the kids there on one of the last (and hottest) days of the summer!  It was absolutely gorgeous!  A little oasis here in dusty old Idaho!  Over the past couple of years the town put a lot of money into creating a nice retreat for locals and the $5 entry fee (or $50 season pass) is well worth it when you're an ocean girl like me who NEEDS to be in the water during the summertime!

The kids and I had so much fun that the next day we packed up and went again with three of our little friends, Hazel, Lilie and Elsie in tow!  It was literally one of the best days of the summer and I only wish that we had spent more time here.  A season pass is definately in store for us next year!

Hazel

 Olivia and Elsie

These tubes were a hit!  The water is shallow like a lagoon in a certain area so I didn't even need to worry too much about Olivia.  She just swam about in the tube and kept up with all of the others!

 Lilie

The whole gang!

To end the day we got take-out chinese, watched a movie with popcorn and orange julius' and had a sleepover!  Awesome summer fun!!!

Reunion

Each year there is an annual Jones family reunion in Almo, Idaho.  This is Chris' mother's patriarchal side of the family.  We have tried to attend as many of these reunions as we can.   The kids love riding the "train" and ponies every year: