An afternoon at the pool

I had been wanting to take the kids to the neighborhood pool and spray park for weeks. The park doesn't open until 1pm, which is generally nap time so we just didn't go. Last week it was so hot that despite being a little anxious about taking 3 kids by myself to play in the water I did it. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be. We started off at the spray features and I let Liv sit as the water pooled up around her and she loved watching Carson and Rosie run through the sprinklers. Then we headed to the pool. Carson swam in the shallow end and the girls and I sat on the edge and splashed our feet. It was fun and even thought it's not as convenient as it used to be I'm glad we went. Summer just goes by so fast that we'll try to go once a week before it's too cold and snowy to even be outside.

Caution, contents under pressure!

Those of you who know me well, know that I love sweets. Yes, I like to spend time in the kitchen, however rather than following my mother's example and making tasty meals you can generally find me whipping up some sort of dessert.
We invited the missionaries over to our house for dinner Friday night. For dessert I decided to mix up a chocolate sheet cake. The recipe called for baking chocolate. As I opened the container of cocoa it popped and shot a brown powder all over my kitchen floor and all over me. All I could do was laugh. I thought, darn it's just too bad this chocolate is unsweetened.

Just Like Dad

So I had to add some pictures of Kevin and Carson today after church. Carson asked his dad what shirt he was planning on changing in to and after Kevin said his red and white baseball t-shirt Carson raced downstairs to his room and put his on too. Then he came up and asked what shorts he was planning on wearing, and Kevin replied that he'd probably wear a pair of white basketball shorts. Carson raced back down into his room and returned wearing an outfit similar to Kevin's. However, Carson was wearing a white pair of socks and Kevin wasn't wearing any, so he got Kevin a pair from the drawer So, here are the results, Kev and Carson wearing red and white shirts and basketball shorts as they lounged on the couch together to watch a movie. Carson just adores his dad and even loves to dress like him.

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Kids Fish Stories

So Pelican Point is a great little fishing spot to take the kids for an easy catch. The guys did not get a chance to fly fish like they would have loved, but all of their nieces and nephews and their own kids absolutely loved the time they spent together. Here are pictures of each of the kids with the fish they caught.

A great 4th of July

We had a great Fourth, hope all of you did too. Because Kevin's two brothers and their wives and kids are here, we stayed in Great Falls and planned some fun activities especially for the kids. I think the last holiday the cousins spent together was July 4th in 2005 when Rosie was 4 weeks old.
After having breakfast together at our house we headed to the parade on Central Ave. It was a hot morning. We brought squirt guns to keep our kids cool and even had some children nearby asking if we would squirt them too. After the parade we went to Eldon and Natalee's house to play on the Banzai slide, play Frisbee, eat and visit. Poor Landon couldn't participate in a lot of the water activities this weekend because he broke his arm, but he had a great attitude and still seemed to have fun with fireworks and being around his cousins. That evening we had planned on going to the car races, but a thunderstorm rolled in and they were canceled, so we watched Nascar on tv and Carson and Landon had a sleepover. Saturday morning we hit the firework stands to pick up a few fireworks for the kids and then joined Eldon and Nat, Brian and Michelle and their kids at Pelican Point for fishing. Each one of the kids caught a fish or two with the help of their uncles. Even Teton, Eldon and Natalee's dog had his share of fish, I was surprised to hear that he regularly eats a few trout when Eldon takes him fishing. It was a great weekend. I was glad to get to spend so much time with my sister-in-laws and their families. It was fun to see Kevin with his brothers playing on the water slide themselves, laughing hysterically as they shared a memorable story of a watermelon eating contest at home, and helping the kids catch fish. What a great place to be, with family on the fourth, in Montana.