{Ashton Reunion 2010}

Several years ago Cody's family decided that every two years they would have a summer family reunion, and the siblings would take turns being in charge of it. We've gone to Yellowstone, Bear Lake, and Disneyland....and this year Dustin and April were in charge. They arranged with Cody's cousin Brian to use his beautiful (and very large) cabin located near Brian Head in Utah. It was a nice central location for most of us and the best part is everyone was able to come.

On our way there we stopped at The Hoover Dam. It was exciting for the boys to see up close even though we felt like we were melting in the 100+ degree weather. We let the boys look around in the the gift shop. Although they looked so great in these sunglasses we stuck to our $1 budget and they each just picked out a postcard :o)



We were VERY excited to make a stop in Logandale, Nevada where our dear friends the Turners just moved too. Shelby has embraced the small town feel and has vowed only to have southwestern decor in her new home.



We arrived at the cabin safe and sound and it was so fun to see everyone! The weekend was filled with fishing, lizard hunting, hiking, friendship bracelets with help from Aunt Lesli, games, and lots of reminiscing.







The kids loved sleeping together at night, and looking at how many kids we have between us it is amazing that any of us got sleep at all!



One day Cody and Danny took us on The Narrow's hike. It was beyond beautiful although it was a bit of a challenge for the little ones as most of the trail is going upstream in the river. Everyone was up for the challenge though and had a great time.









Monica brought her nice camera and her sweet photography skills and took some family pictures for us. They turned out so nice, I'll put them in a separate post.



We had such a wonderful time....it was so fun to be around Cody's sweet parents, his siblings and all the in-laws, and my fabulous little nephews and nieces. It's a wonderful family to be a part of and I love how everyone gets along so well. It's hard to live so far apart from most of them, but I love how when we do get together things flow so smoothly and the kids just love playing with their cousins.

{Flagstaff}

Each summer Cody's work has a weekend retreat and this year we went to Flagstaff. We had such a great time and the weather could not have been nicer! It was hard to go back to the heat when we were spoiled by cool nights and mornings!

The boys love a good hotel bed...the only time they get to perform tricks and jump from bed to bed. My favorite part about hotels is cranking the AC on so the room gets cold and shutting the blinds so it's nice and dark and tricks my kids into sleeping in :o)



The kids had fun swimming in the pool, eating from the yummy buffets...and most of all being outside! Cody had some meetings so we went on some little hikes and had fun exploring in the forest.



We toured The Riordan Mansion, built over 100 years ago and is 13,000 square feet with 40 bedrooms. There was a map with clues that led you to neat features of the home and they loved decoding it. They were impressed with Louie the Lumberjack, he's pretty big :o)



Cody took Rhett and Ethan up on a ski-lift ride to the top of a mountain and they found some snow to play in.



One of the nights there was an awards dinner and it was fun to dress up and have a nice dinner with all the adults.

On our last day we headed back into the forest to find a lava tube cave Cody had heard was really neat.



We were prepared with jackets (we heard there was ice and it was pretty cold) and flashlights since it's completely dark in the cave. It was pretty steep and icy when you first descend into the cave.



The mile-long lava tube cave was formed over 700,000 years ago from a volcano eruption. It was really cold inside and I didn't realize until we had gone a mile to the end that we wouldn't just come out of the ground, but had to turn around and go a mile back! The boys LOVED it though, what boy doesn't love a chance to use a flashlight?? It was a really neat experience and we will definitely go back soon.

{Swim Lessons}

I am way behind on my blog and it is stressing me out!! I am going to try to catch up...so let's go back to June!

Every summer my boys look forward to swim lessons, they learn a lot and have so much fun!

Kade became a fish this summer, shedding the life jacket and becoming a good swimmer like his brothers! He also was very excited when at the end of the summer (just tonight actually) he was finally tall enough to go on the big slides and for a solid hour and a half just went on the slides over and over again.





Ethan and Rhett were very excited to learn that Jerry was their swim teacher (same as last year) and these pictures show why. He is fun!! On the last day of class he bounced on the diving board while holding the boys, and then when he jumped off he threw them up. Very safe I'm sure....but oh so fun!

{Flashback Friday}

Cruising around the neighborhood with my cat Chocolate.....

{Nasty}

Don't you love it when you try to take short cuts in cooking and you RUIN the meal? I made a pasta dish which came with a balsamic glaze that you were supposed to drizzle over each individual plate of pasta when serving. I thought I'd just skip a step and mix the glaze with the rest of the pasta. Bad idea! As I started mixing it up and the pasta turned darker and darker purple I knew it was going to be way too strong tasting. SAD!! I tried to save it with some cheese on top but even that didn't help!!

If you are wanting some delicious recipes.....try these I've made recently from my good friend's blog....they are all winners!

Summer Garden Pasta
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-garden-pasta.html

BBQ Chicken Chop Salad
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/04/bbq-chicken-chop-salad.html

Cornucopia Salad
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/04/cornucopia-salad-1-head-green-leaf.html

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Sandwich
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/03/tomato-basil-and-mozzarella-sandwich.html

Spanish Rice
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/03/spanish-rice.html

Fruit and Feta Green Salas
http://thecooknextdoor.blogspot.com/2010/02/fruit-and-feta-green-salad.html

My Aunt Suzy and Uncle Kevin have a beautiful home in Mesa with a backyard that kids dream of! They were so kind to let us use their home over Memorial Day Weekend even though they were out of town. My aunt Laraine's family was there, my parents and Ally, and also my Aunt Kaija with her cute kids. The kids played for hours, never getting tired of going on the fun slide over and over. The adults had a good time eating yummy food and talking. Afterward we went to Mark and Laraine's house and you guessed it...ate some more (even homemade ice cream, yum!). I love my family and feel so happy when I am surrounded by them!

{End of School}

The end of school is always filled with lots of fun parties, events, programs, etc. This year it also included an ambulance ride and lots more fun medical bills! (can you sense my sarcasm??)

Two days before school was out I was on the other line when someone from the school called. When I returned the call it took several minutes for the secretary to figure out that "Nurse Andy" had been trying to reach me. By the time I spoke to him, he had already called Cody at work, and informed me that he had called 911 and an ambulance was on its way to the school for Ethan. He had fainted in the cafeteria line at lunchtime and the nurse said he was very pale and not acting normal. He really seemed concerned and had me very worried as I rushed to the school.

When I got to his office the paramedics were already there, along with firefighters and they were doing their medical assessments while everyone was asking me a million questions. They all felt that he needed to go to the ER and while my intuition told me he was fine, I didn't have the guts to act like the uncaring mother who just takes her child home and doesn't give them the medical care everyone feels he needs! Flashback to last summer, Ethan fainted twice, both times in when out in the sun playing sports. I fainted several times as a child, I think I would lock my knees. Anyways...back to the drama.

They loaded him up on the stretcher and he was put in the ambulance. The funny part was watching all his fellow 1st grade friends who were out at recess watching at the gate while Ethan was being put in the ambulance. They were all impressed/worried. Ethan was brave as he got an IV, blood drawn, as well as a CAT scan and EKG. After his CAT scan the tech was so thoughtful and brought Ethan into the backroom to view images of his brain. He thought that was very cool. Everything came back normal and we were on our way a few hours later.

Kade was in a cute preschool group this year with just 3 year olds. Mrs. Tracey was so fun and he really looked forward to Tuesday and Thursdays. The picture below is at a "Teddy Bear Picnic" they went on this spring.



At his little graduation ceremony they first sang songs. He cracked us up with his sweet dance moves, it was pretty funny to watch. Then she read from little books they had made, and we learned that when he grows up he would like to be a Tiger.





Ethan had an amazing Kindergarten teacher this year, Mrs. Rideau. She moved to California a few weeks before school ended, and luckily her sub for the rest of the year Mrs. Knaggs, was just as sweet. The kids were so excited when Mrs. Rideau made a surprise visit on the last day of school.







Rhett also had a fabulous teacher, Mrs. Malasnik. She loved to tease the class and he would always come home telling me stories of how she had made him laugh. He is especially lucky because she is moving up to 3rd grade next year and taking her whole class with her! We are thrilled!!