Camping in Pine Valley

 My mom was so nice to reserve a camp site in the mountains for a night.  It was so much fun!!

 Wyatt really liked crawling around in the tent.

 We slept in the tent, and then my parents had the RV right next to us.  It was the perfect way to tent.

 We had all the amenities of the RV, like a fridge and a stove, but we still got to sleep in a tent...which is the best part of camping. 

 The kids brought bikes to explore the camp area with.  And there were great trails to explore as well.

 It was in the high 90's/100's in St. George, and about 20 degrees cooler where we camped.  Heaven!

 And a good ol' game of Battleship.

Thanks mom and dad, it made me want to camp again soon.

Can't Believe He's ONE!!!

 We made it to Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert's in time for Wyatt's birthday.

 This is the difference between a first child and a sixth child...

Hurry and blow out the candle in your jammies before we rush you to bed.  

We are so happy you are in our family Rhino.  You bring so much joy and love into our home.  Our family is finally complete with you in it!

Every Year it Sucks

 Poor Mark, every year, gets gipped! It seems like summer is always crazy, and the craziest times seem to fall by his birthday and Father's day. This year was no exception and it was Father's Day right in the middle of our move.  We were knee deep in boxes and sleeping on the floor...so...

 Mark received an orange julius smoothie and mangos (his favorites) for breakfast in bed.  

 The kids made cards and coupons to give him.

 And Kas documented the whole thing on her tablet.

Lame, but it was the best I could do.  We really do love you Mark, more than we could ever say or show.  You are an amazing dad, and our kids idolize you.  Thanks for being our sanity!  Love you!

Dance Recital

 These cute girls had their dance recital last Saturday. They did so good, I was so proud of them!

 I was a little worried, ok a lot worried, that Reilynn wouldn't go out on stage.  Maybe because we had a major melt down at the dress rehearsal.  We are talking, take off the dress and tights, pull hair out of the bun, cry in the hallway melt down.  It was awful!  No amount of bribing or threatening was getting her on that stage.  Thank goodness she went out and had a good time the night of the performance!

 And this cheeseball is getting so old!  I can't believe she has graduated to nude colored tights!  She is no longer a little girl in pink!  I can't believe how old and confident she is.  She amazes me with her maturity.

 Bailey and Natalie were in the same dance class, and Reilynn and Laci were in a class together.  Those Nielsens just can't get rid of us! :)

Birthday Mania Continues

 Welcome to Studio 11.  For Kasidee's birthday we had a pamper day with pedicures, up-do's and makeup.

 She was so excited that a friend that had moved away, a friend from her old school, friends from church, and a friend from her new school were all able to come.  She felt really special. 

 Kasidee is growing into a sweet, kind, sensitive girl.  We are so blessed to have her as a part of our family.  

 Can you believe we have 2 eleven year olds?!?!?  Because I can't!  It is insane!

 We overlapped Kasidee and Parker's birthday by a half hour so we could do cake together.  It worked out great.  They both got to have their seperate parties, but I only had to get one cake.

 After they ate cake and opened presents, Parker and his friends took off to go bowling with Mark.  Sadly he didn't think to take pictures...I don't know why, when he had 4 crazy hyper boys that were hopped up on sugar!:)

 There haven't been many boys Parker's age at church, and he hasn't connected with very many at school...but these 4 (Robby had to leave and didn't get in the picture) have been life-saving for Parker.

 Connor, Alexander, and Garrett have been Parker's best buddies since we moved here 8 years ago.  We are so sad to leave them!

Reilynn's Preschool Graduation

Reilynn still has one year of preschool before kindergarten, but she survived this year of preschool.

 Ms. Charlene is the best teacher ever!  She does really fun things with the kids and they learn so much in the year she has them.

 Reilynn has grown leaps and bounds since she started.

Addison is 8...oh wait, not yet.

 Because we are moving, and we won't be here for Addison's birthday, we had an early birthday party.

 She decided on a slumber party with her closest friends and sisters.

 We ate breakfast for dinner, homeade bread french toast with buttermilk syrup...my mouth is watering just thinking about it! YUMMY!

 Then we painted fingernails, decorated pillowcases, got in our jammies, watched Penelope, ate tons of sugar and kettlecorn, and then crashed!

 It was a really fun night.