Zion National Park

On our drive up to Utah we stopped at Zion National Park for part of a day.  So glad we did that!  It is AMAZING and just gorgeous!  We need to go back and stay a few days enjoying the park.  Tasia Shupe came along to help me with the kids, as I would be driving over to Durango after our weekend in Utah and Justin would be flying home.  And with having morning sickness I was very grateful to have Tasia's help.  Justin didn't feel like he could get away from the office for more than a couple of days.  Man he sure carries a lot of pressure from work.  It most definitely takes a huge toll on him, our marriage and the kids!  But he also is able to provide greatly for us and we love and appreciate all his hard work!

Thanks Mr.  Grant for hiding for this picture.

The kids loved getting wet.

Such beautiful views!

Even if Justin was only with us a couple of days on this trip it was great to be together as a family!

The kids were so excited to find a water hole that they could jump in!

Tasia was a great help with Grant.  It meant I didn't have to get in the water with him.  He of course thinks he is as big as everyone else and wants to swim all on his own.  He can swim pretty good for being three but yeah not in the moving water.

The boys loved all the caves we found on our hike

We spent the day hiking and enjoying the beauty of the park.  A day was not long enough in the least, to fully enjoy the park.  We'll have to make another trip back!

It was a beautiful day for hiking!

So glad we got to enjoy this time together as a family……plus Tasia!

It made our trip to Utah just great!

We enjoyed climbing the awesome rocks!

I sure love my family!

All the older kids got a turn to be "King of the Mountain"

Aren't those cliff walls just spectacular!

Logan posing like a stud.

The kids loved the tad poles in the water.  So fun that kids are easily entertained.

We had a yummy dinner outside while enjoying the beautiful scenery!

This is at the Upper Emerald Pool.  It was about a 2.5 mile hike and I was so proud of all the kids for hiking the entire way…..including Grant!

The boys loved finding cool hiding places along our hiking trail.

Grant loved when we would talk about the different animals that might hide in these little cracks.

It was just a gorgeous place!  I definitely want to go back and spend more time here.

Before heading to the park we enjoyed some yummy breakfast at the Thunderbird Restaurant.  Had to get a picture with this crazy sign!

What a fun and beautiful day we had at Zion National Park!

End of the Year Dance Recital

Every year I look forward to the end of the year dance recital.

Our kids did another amazing job dancing and performing on stage!

Kiersten is still loving company dance and all the class that are required to be a part of that team.  Her commitment and drive impress me every day!

Logan, Gavin and Hunter

What studs!!!

How we got such little entertainers for kids is beyond me!  But I love it!  We have people tell us all the time……..where did you and Justin get kids that love being on stage so much?  Neither Justin nor myself are the big stage type, but some how we were blessed with 3 kids that can light up a stage!

It was a great day of dancing for sure!

Award Time

Awards Assembly Time

It's so fun to see all the awards and accomplishments our kids had achieved throughout the school year.

We LOVE Mrs. Lines!!!

We will sure miss her as Logan's teacher!  I have loved going in and helping each week in his class.  They are such a fun group of kids!   Logan got many awards for his awesome grades to his excellent behavior!  So nice to hear your kid is exceeding in school!

Pretty sure Logan is in love with Mrs. Hannah.  So excited for her to have her baby boy!

Olivia and Logan

Olivia, Logan, Ryker and Rose

Worlds Best Teacher and Aide

Carter and Logan

Hunter's class

Hunter is a fashionisha!  

He had to wear his purple headphones just to look cool!  He makes me laugh!

Hunter with his BFF, Carsen Davis.  I am so glad these boys are friends!  Carsen is such a great kid and he lives just down the street which is super nice!

Hunter received an award for the most 100% on Accelerated Reading.  We were all shocked because reading isn't his favorite past time.   Plus he has some girls in his class that reading books is their favorite thing to do.  So they are reading at lunch and recess……….so when they called Hunter's name the surprised look on his face was priceless.  Pretty Awesome job for not even trying!

He also got awards for his excellent grades and behavior!  

Hunter took a test on the computer for math and reading just a week or so ago.  The test would keep testing you until you missed too many questions and then it would tell you the level of education you tested correctly at.  Hunter tested up through 8th grade math………..his teacher could not believe it!  He was the top student, no one else came close to testing that high.  Mrs. Jessica Skinner said she has no idea how he knows how to do that high of math because it's never been shown to him.  Hunter really is a math wizard!  He also tested 9th grade for his reading………let's remember he is in the 4th grade when taking this test!  

He is such a smart kid!  I can't wait to see what he becomes when he grows up!

Hunter and Sophia

They tell everyone "they're not small, they are FUN SIZED!!"

We LOVE Mrs. Skinner!!!

She is a phenomenal teacher!

Hunter will surely miss her……..she has made his 4th grade year amazing!  And she has help him to exceed beyond our expectations!

Pool Fun!

End of the school year fun at the Safford Pool!

I am a sucker for boys in goggles!  I just love pictures of kids in swimming goggles!  Grant was very excited to get to be part of the kids school party!

Taylor, Logan, Jace, Ryker

Logan and his BFF, Ryker

Logan and two of his favorite girls………Rose Johnson and Olivia Paull

I loved watching these kids hanging out pool side!  I can already picture them as teenagers and still being friends!

Aren't they all so cute!

I had just bought a water proof camera to take on our up coming trip to Durango.  The kids sure had a good time with it!  Kiersten got out of school early so she could also join us for the fun!

I think the camera is a hit!

Let the fun summer begin!!!  YAY!!!

Neon Splash Dash

My good friend Angela Paull (Goodman) recently moved into our neighborhood.  We sure have loved becoming good friends with their family!  Our kids really like playing together.

Since we were going to Mesa for Kiersten's dance competition anyway I found that there was a 5K Neon Splash Dash Run that same weekend.  So knowing what a runner Angela is, I asked her if she wanted to do it with me and she did! 

We had planned on it being a Girls Weekend……….I signed Kiersten up to run with us but as it turned out she was competing later in the evening than usual so she wouldn't be able to run with us.  I had already paid for her so Hunter quickly agreed to take her place.  He was so excited!

I was pretty sure he would not be running the whole 5K, as he never has been able to run that far before.  But of course I didn't care if we walked some and Angela said she didn't mind either.

Angela is such a fun friend!  She always makes me laugh!

And yes the hair idea was HERS!

Doesn't Hunter look pretty excited?

Through out this 5K run there were stations that would spray you with glow in the dark water of different colors.  It was super fun!  It was also just fun to be running at night I thought!

And Hunter blew us out of the water, as he ran the entire 5K!!!!!

Angela was seriously impressed and so was I!

Way to go Hunter!  You are amazing!

Love this lady!

After the run they had a dance under black lights!  It was a blast!

Thanks to Jenny Rogers, who I left Kiersten with, I didn't have to worry about how Kiersten was doing while we went and did the run.  We made it back to the dance competition for the awards.

It was such a fun weekend!!  And such a fun 5K run!

Dance Competition

Kiersten's Hot Shot group did a Star Bound Competition!

They received High Gold for Afro Circus and High Gold for Lion King.

They were awesome on stage!!!

I really love the time I get to spend with Kiersten on these dance competitions!  It is always a treat to be around her, joke, laugh, tease, act silly, and talk about the seriously things in life as well.

One of their awards they received…….

 As the scheduling for the competition worked out Kiersten was unable to come with Angela and I to the Neon Splash Dash 5K run.  We were super sad she had to miss it!  Maybe next year sista.  I was so grateful that Jenny let Kiersten hang out with her, got her ready for her last dance and kept her safe for me.  Jenny is amazing for sure!!!

Silly Boy

So the other day we had green chili burritos and Spanish rice for lunch.  The green chili burros were hot when I handed them out to the kids..........fire hot.  Next thing I know Grant has gone and put on the oven mitts to eat his with.

He just cracks me up...........he always does the funniest things!