We Are So Blessed

Look how blessed we are?  I am amazed every day at the beauty of the place we live. We are blessed to have so many family members in our lives.  My kids have 3 sets of grandparents, 2 sets of great-grandparents, and one supergrandma who all love them dearly.  Over Memorial Day weekend we headed up to Ogden for a brief visit.  The older two boys spent some time with Dan's mom and Ron while Landon and I stayed with my parents.  The boys love this time with grandparents and they live in great places for little boys.  Both have creeks running through their yards and have plenty of space for them to explore.  As I wasn't there, I don't have any pictures of the boys in Logan, but here's some I got while at my parents house.  Such a pretty place.

Here is Braden doing what he does.  He loves to find bugs and then show them to me. 

This is my dad working in his yard.  Dalin is in the middle of the picture playing in the creek, although it's hard to see him since he blends into the rocks. 

Braden in the creek.

Do you see what beautiful surroundings we are blessed with?  I love where I live.

More creek time.

Landon is almost lost among the green.  They love being outside and getting dirty and wet.

A couple of yards down the creek Dalin and Braden found a dog that wanted to play.  The owner of the dog came out quickly to make sure all was well.  He was very nice and said if they wanted to throw a stick the dog would be their best friend.  He also said the boys would tire of the game before the dog, but I was skeptical.  Turns out I never found out.  After about an hour, yes an hour, I had to bring the boys in to eat lunch. 

Here's the video of their fun.

My parents also have this little playhouse in their backyard that Landon just loves. He was out there most of the day in and out of that thing.  Perfect for him and just his size.  His favorite part is the real ringing doorbell.

Swimming Pool

At the beginning of summer I splurged and got the kids a swimming pool.  Hahaha.  It's the smallest one I could find, but they have loved it.  The first time we played in it Dalin was still at school, but Braden and Landon had hours of fun.  They sat in it, splashed in it, jumped in it, threw everything they could find into it, and generally got really wet and happy.  It's a great way to cool down on those hot summer days.  The pictures tell the real story.  Just look at the toothy grins plastered on their faces.  Braden is my little water dog and Landon is all too keen to join in the fun.

After playing all morning and Landon went off to take a nap, Braden just sat by the pool and ate his lunch.  He really loves water.

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Notice his plate of food.

What better way to spend a sunny afternoon?

Preschool Graduation

The end of May Braden had is preschool graduation.  He was so stinkin' cute.  Unfortunately, Dan had to work so it was just me and Landon.  They had a western theme, but Braden refused to wear anything but basketball shorts and his Adidas shirt.  He wouldn't even do a handkerchief or scarf.  His teacher finally talked him into a hat.  I had video footage of some of his songs, but for some reason blogger wouldn't download them so for now here's some pics.

They sang a bunch of songs and did a couple of little poems.

They even played some music.

Receiving his diploma from his teacher Miss Dana.

The little stinker wouldn't smile for me.

But once he saw his name he was proud to display it for me.  I am so proud of him.  He loved preschool and learned all kinds of fun things.  I took him to McDonalds for lunch afterwards to celebrate.  The moment he graduated the first thing he said to me was "mom, now I'm in Kindergarten."  He has been waiting and waiting to go to Kindergarten and now he's finally there, almost. 

Green River With Great Friends

Since we've lived in Vernal for about a year now we have made some great friends.  We have game nights and go on picnics and camp, fish, or whatever we feel like.  We went to the Green River on a day camp with some friends of ours the Boyds.  They have two boys ages 6 and 2 so we hang out with them the most because our kids are great friends and have a lot of fun together.  Friends make life great.  I am so grateful that wherever we have lived I have been blessed with great friends.

What a handsome stud!  This kid just melts my heart.

Here are our friends Duane and Jill.

What a beautiful view of the Green River.  Landon is so cute standing there.

Doing what he does best....climbing, sliding, and getting impossibly dirty.

Jill and I.  She lives just a few doors down from me so we spend a lot of time together.

Kings of the mountain.  What funny things men are.

Climbing the mountain some more.  All the boys loved this little hike.  They found rattle snakes and scorpions. Yikes!  I've had to teach my kids about rattle snake safety because they are quite prevalent here in the Basin.  I've learned that rattlers don't bite unless you actually step on them or are about to step on them.  I've also had to learn what to do if one should get bitten.  So far the boys are very cautious and we don't let them stray ahead of us.  One adult is in the lead at all times.

Now it wouldn't be a fun trip to a river unless you can throw rocks.  Down by the Green at this particular spot there were tons of very little gravel rocks and the boys loved to pick up handfuls and throw them all at once.  The sound it makes as they all plop in is great.  Even I took a turn to throw some in.

Braden, Jeremy, and Dalin.

Here is Jill with her cute 2-year-old Jackson.  She is also prego with #3 boy.

I love this picture of Landon with his little chubs full of rocks.  The look on his face is priceless.  He's pretty serious about throwing rocks in the river.

This picture just about sums up everything that was going on.  Dan and Duane are laying back relaxing, while Braden messes in the fire with his marshmallow, and Landon and Jackson are in the background jumping off a rock. 

All the little boys were obsessed with this rock.  Perfect for climbing all over and jumping off.

I like Dalin's sideways mischievous look at his friend.  What trouble could we get into now?

Landon and Jackson getting ready to jump.  Landon was telling me to STOP taking pictures so he could jump.

I love the big old tractor in the background.  The work crews were there fixing the dirt roads and putting more gravel down (yes, the gravel my kids were throwing in the water...oops)

May Day Camp

Still 2 months behind......summer gets a little crazy.

Let's start off with this one.  I love to camp, but since I work weekends we don't often get to stay over  night so we do a lot of day camping.  In other words we go somewhere just for the day and stay until it's dark then we head home.  The kids love to camp too.  All of my kids enjoy getting dirty and we always keep busy building a fire to cook our foil dinners on and then roast marshmallows.  Unfortunately, on this adventure my camera died so I didn't get very many pictures. We are so blessed to have such wonderful places to spend our spare time.  I marvel at the beauty that surrounds us every time we go.