Happy Birthday Dad

My dad turned 53 this year and we had his party while Tobey, Silene, their kids and their friends were here. It was one of our basic family birthday parties with cake, homemade ice-cream, presents and M&M's. We ended his birthday with one last gift from my mom....A SCOOTER!!! All the big boys get together to ride their scooters and my dad always joins in and borrows one of theirs for a ride. Now he has his own.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

Birthday Dinner

My dad's birthday was Sunday July 20th. We went out to dinner a couple nights earlier to celebrate. My dad loves going out to eat. All 16 of us decided on Red Robin. This is one of the boys' favorite restaurants. They have yummy food and sometimes they have the "balloon guy" there. This time a magician was there going from table to table performing magic tricks. Spencer LOVED and was AMAZED at all the tricks he did. The boys each got a couple turns to participate in different tricks that were done. So fun. Afterward we walked over to Cold Stone for some ice-cream because.....who doesn't love ice-cream?

Swimming at the Park

We absolutely love going to this park. There's fun toys, a few little trails for the boys to ride their bikes and scooters, and a little creek to swim in. We went a couple weeks ago with my parents, my sisters and their families for a BBQ. We had dinner, the boys played and then we went down to watch them swim. The boys LOVE to play in the water. There's a rope ladder to climb up and an area to jump from. Spencer did it one time before I got down there to take a picture. I'll have to get it on camera another time. Kyle is fearless in the water (which is a little scary). He hasn't been to swim lessons yet so we put his arm floaties on and throw him in. He has so much fun being independent in the water. He swam around with uncle Chuck a little (who also loves swimming anywhere) and he let him throw him up in the air a couple times. There's also a shallow area in the creek where all the boys can walk across to the "island". So fun! I'm sure we'll go back a few more times before the summer ends.

FUN ON THE FOURTH

Our 4th of July Celebrations are always a blast. We have lots of fun traditions (old and new) that we continue to do each year. In my family, there are 14 little kids (in Oregon) between my sisters, my cousins and I. The oldest is 8 and the youngest just recently turned 1. We start the festivities in the afternoon. I've been in charge of the games for the past few years and this year was the first time we were able to do them at our house. I planned 4 games for the kids to play and I split them up into 2 teams. The first game was an egg relay. They had to go a certain distance with their egg on a spoon without dropping it. They all did really well at this one, even the little ones. A couple eggs were dropped which they actually all thought was pretty funny. The other games were a balloon popping relay, water balloon toss and fill the milk carton. It's fun to watch the kids improve at the games each year. Even the little guys participated this year. After the games we all headed over to Jenny and Joel's where Stephanie and Chris put together our annual 4th of July Obstacle Course. All my cousins and sisters and I remember doing this every year growing up and our kids look forward to it every year. This makes for some pretty wet fun. Afterward we head to Marvin and Nancee's(my aunt and uncle)for swimming and BBQ. Most of the kids prepare a some kind of talent to perform at our annual "Talent Show"(also a tradition from my younger days). Spencer put on a Magic Show this year. After each talent my mom throws candy to the performer(s). This has been carried on from my sweet grandma "Deedee". She loved rewarding her grand kids when we would perform. Then it's time to get ready for fireworks! We've started doing this up in the colde sac in front of Marcee and Tim's. There's lots of space for the kids. Over the last couple years we've been having the kids decorate their bikes, scooters, etc. during the week before. They ride these around as a parade while waiting for it to get dark enough for sparklers. Sparklers are always so fun and can be a little dangerous. Kyle got a little burn on his finger but after we got him some ice he did alright. We ended the night with a great fireworks show. My grandpa "Baaba" has always gotten the fireworks as long as I can remember and he still does. He's awesome!! We hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day. Here's a special treat for all of you to watch. Stephanie, Chris, Tyler and Joel competing in the talent show against each other. Their talent..."Fluffy Bunny". Stuffing as many marshmallows in your mouth and saying "fluffy bunny" after each one. Steph won with 12 marshmallows!! Go Girl!

Catching Some Z's....Again

If this child is tired I guess he can sleep any where. In the first 2 pics, Kyle is asleep on our table. I was wrapping a birthday gift and he layed back and a few minutes later(maybe even seconds) he was out. I actually left him there for about 15 minutes while I gathered our stuff together before we left for the birthday party. He stayed asleep in the car but woke up when we arrived at the party. He was actually in an okay mood too...thank goodness.

The last 2 pics are a result of what Kyle was doing to get out of eating his dinner. I can't remember what we ate that night, but he wanted no part of it. Kyle is an extremely picky eater. He probably wouldn't be if he'd give more food a chance. This child does not want to try much of anything. I told him he had to eat a couple bites of each item and then he could go outside and play with Spencer and daddy. He held out for a little while and eventually layed down and was gone. I took a few pics, then took him upstairs to change him into his PJ's. He woke up and I was able to talk him into eating some of his dinner. He then got to play outside and even have a popsicle. LUCKY BOY!!

Air Show

A couple days after we returned home from Utah, I took my boys to the Klamath Falls Air Show...along with my parents, my older sister Marcee and her boys, and my nephew Dylan(my younger sister's son). My mom and dad had been to an Air Show before, but this was a first for the rest of us. All the boys were so excited. They all love airplanes along with my dad who has recently received his pilot's license. There were all kinds of old and new planes to look at. Some we were even able to go inside. The boys got to meet and talk with a few of the pilots, and go inside the cockpit where they were able to ask some questions. This was very exciting for them. The boys were so amazed watching all the different tricks the jets did in the air at the end, which was also very loud, but they didn't mind(except maybe Landon a little). Afterward, we took the boys out for pizza then left for home. It was a long, cold and windy day, but we all enjoyed it.

Lagoon

On our last day in Utah, we went to Lagoon. The boys had a blast on all the different rides there. It was a very hot day. Tobey and Silene met us there that afternoon to spend a few hours with us. It was a fun day and a great way to end our trip.

Utah's Hogle Zoo

While staying with Tobey and Silene, we took the kids to Hogle Zoo. We saw all kinds of animals and the kids had a blast. This video of Spencer, Taya and Camden was next to the elephants. This was a fun way for them to cool off.

Our Utah Motel

While we were in Utah we were very fortunate to have a nice place to stay. My cousin Tobey and his wife Silene let us bunk at their house for the week. The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins(Taya, Camden and Bella). They are fun kids and since we've been home, both Spencer and Kyle have asked to go back to their house. We went out to dinner, Bar B Qued, went on a few different outings, saw a dinosaur movie, and probably my boys favorite...played on their water slide. We loved spending time with them and are very grateful they welcomed us in for a whole week!!(That's quite a long time) Thanx a bunch!! WE LOVE YOU!

Reunion Day

The morning of the reunion the family gathered at Tyler's aunt and uncle's house for breakfast and games. Spencer really got into the games and had a lot of fun. Above is the first relay he participated in. He's such a cute competitor.

Kyle taking a break from the hot sun to get himself a drink.

Kyle sweetly succored Tyler's cousin Shane into pushing him on the swings.

G-pa Stutz giving Kyle a quick toss in the air.

Tyler and his dad dragging Spencer off the bounce house. He thought this was pretty funny.

Kyle played on the bounce house during most of the festivities. He was a little too young to participate in all the games. He didn't seem to have problem with that though. Here he is playing with one of his cousins he had just met for the first time.

Later that night, everyone gathered for dinner outside their Stake Center building. We were not only ending the reunion, but also celebrating Tyler's sweet grandma's 90th birthday. We watched a slide show of her life and each family took part in a talent show for her and everyone else's enjoyment. Before everyone left, all who grabbed a balloon gathered on the hill outside and let go of their balloons together and shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA"!! It was a great way to end the night.