Where Did July Go? (Longest Post of all Time)

Where did this month go? I can not believe that tomorrow will be August. This month has been SO busy, crazy, stressful, and fun all at the same time. I will let the million pictures tell the stories. First of all my mom went home and we were on our own, we had help with the kids for a week (thanks Elizabeth, Barbara, and Lisa) but it was a stressful week for sure. I had a crazy week at work and i was preparing for an even crazier week the following week for work. So after trying to figure out what we could do with the boys for another week we decided to have them go to St George for a week and spend the week with my mom and dad. The boys were in and I must say it was a life saver. But first Bennett invited a few friends for the first of many birthday celebrations. He kept asking when his "friend" birthday party was because he knew we were going to be in Utah for his real birthday, so we invited a few friends to go to the movies the day before he went to Utah.

Brownies and juice before the show.
7 kids in a movie...daring, but it ended up being fine. The kids had fun.

Popcorn and treats, what else can a kid ask for?

The whole crew: Owen, Cash, Bennett, Thomas, Haven, Taylor, and Kate

A fun day with friends and fun presents to end the day!

The next day the boys and Wade got in the car and headed to St George. Where was I you ask? Well let me tell you, that was a much needed weekend for me before the week i would have at work. Tara and I went down to the harbor for a paddle board ride, my first one, then we went to a shop in Laguna and grabbed lunch. Then i was off to the mall (where i hadn't been in months) and I spent 5 hours walking around. Can you even imagine? It was so nice, then i went home and watched a movie. That week at work was a sales meeting that i had been planning for months, it was a lot of work with late nights and lots of events, which was why it was so nice for the boys to be having fun in St George the whole week. They had a blast, check it out:

They went for rides on my dads ATV.

Played with their cousins for the one day they were in town.

Went swimming a lot since it was so hot. Bennett said, "mom, we are doing a lot of stuff in water!!!" The kid grew to love swimming in the two weeks he was in Utah. Finally!

They found a couple of new fun parks with water features.

They swam in the back yard.

They ate lots of ice's!

And made crafts, cute necklaces! The boys had a blast and didn't want the week to end. It was such a relief to have them their and safe during such a crazy week at work. I think that will need to become a tradition every summer!

On the last night of my crazy week Volcom held a fashion show so I took Wade and Elizabeth along to see the girls in their bikinis. It was a fun way to end my week.

Sexy ladies!

Then, one week after the boys had been dropped off in St George, Wade and I drove up to join them. We spent one last day in St George with my parents and celebrated Bennett's birthday one day early. We all went out to dinner at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant and then went home for cake and ice cream and presents. It was a very mellow and fun day, and it was so great to see the boys.

Birthday boy opening one present at dinner.

They came over to sing to Bennett and made him sit on a saddle, he was so nervous.

Back home to open presents.

And eat ice cream.

And eat spongebob cake!

The next day was the start of our week vacation with Wade's entire family. We headed up to Mapleton on Sunday morning. We met the family right away in the mountains for family pictures. It was the first time we have all been together in a long time.

cousins: Grayson, Bennett, Joshua, Lena, Angel, and Joey (missing Stryder)

Then it was off to Wade's parents to celebrate Bennett's real 5th birthday with cousins and grandparents. We started off with a scavenger hunt for all of the kids.

Then the kids jumped on the trampoline and got soaked from Grandpa Decker. This is when i knew that my kids were going to have a fun week!

Monday we spent the day in the mountains riding ATV's and playing at a campsite. Talk about the perfect day for my boys. They got to drive ATV's, play in a river, run around a campsite and get dirty and then have smores to top it all off. This was a super fun day for us all.

Grayson taking the bike for a spin before we loaded it up.

Grayson was a little nervous at first, but he eventually got used to it, he even fell asleep on the ride back to the cars at the end of the day.

The river was fun for the kids to play in while everyone went on ATV rides.

Grayson throwing rocks as usual.

Grandma Decker let all of the kids drive the go-cart, they thought they were so cool!

Aunt Jenisse and Grayson chillin

Buddies for the week, Joey and Bennett were inseperable.
At the end of the day we cooked foil dinners that were yummy and made smores and banana boats (bananas with choclate chips and marshmallows in tin foil!)

Do I have anything on my face?

Tuesday morning we had to take Wade to the airport so he could go back home to work, but the boys and I didn't want to miss out on any of the fun so we stayed. We went to a temple open house on Tuesday and then to a fun waterpark in Payson.

This is how my kids spent a lot of the week, tired and asleep in the car!

Grayson got daring at the end of the day at the water park!

Wednesday was another fun and adventurous day. We spent the day at a Lake (forgot the name) up near Park City. We spent time on Seadoos, rafts, on the sand....Bennett was in heaven, he even got pulled on a tube and wanted to go super fast!

Grayson didn't love the lake, he wanted to stay on the sand.

Thursday morning the boys and I headed up to Layton briefly to spend a few hours with my grandma and cousins. Two of my cousins Ashly and Alisa and their boys (we all have 2 boys) played with us for the morning. The boys played in the back yard and had a water balloon fight, then we ate lunch and headed back down to raft down the provo river!

We met back up with Wades family to take two trips down the Provo river in rafts. I wasn't sure how Bennett would feel about it. On his first ride down with Wade's parents Bennett said, "this is the most fun i have ever had in my life!" So i guess that answers that!

Joshua and Grayson played at the park and passed on the river rides!

I was a little nervous for some reason, but ended up having a blast.

Friday we ended the week with going out to lunch to celebrate Wade's grandma Newman. We had yummy food and good company, it was about that time when my week went down hill. My air conditioning went out in my car and it was 100 degrees outside and i was supposed to be driving to St George the next day and then home the rest of the way. So i had to hurry and get packed up to leave early to beat the heat. Luckily i was able to get the car fixed in St George and we made it home safe and sound on Sunday. It has taken me almost a week to get this post done, and i won't even tell you how my house looks............

Hope August is as fun and exciting as July was!