181: baby alice

Is she not the sweetest thing you've ever seen? Those eyes!!!

My neice..the closest thing I'll have to a daughter!

180: pechanga pow wow

I'm a sucker for fireworks..this wasn't the best show, but it was still fun. 

179: wet dog

On the step of the pool is Buddy's new favorite place to be!

178: an early bowling bonanza

 With a summer birthday, it's hard to schedule a party with everyones vacations, so I tend to have Jayden's a little early. I decided to throw this one together in about 4 days. Called everyone up, ordered a cake, and even found cool bowling ball water bottles, that I could overnight from Amazon {I love Amazon}. Took them to the local bowling alley, then to In-n-Out for lunch, and we're done! Another successful party with no stress and no clean-up!

177: kristen's 40

Can't believe this picture was taken 20 years ago, or that I'm old enough to say, this picture was taken 20 years ago! Happy Birthday to a great friend.  So many great memories with Kristen..this was in 1993, when I was at BYU-Hawaii..and yes, those are cornrows and mom jean cut-offs!

176: get air

Get Air Trampoline Park..my kids favorite place!

{Jayden mid-air, on approach to the foam pit}

175: success..

Some may say I need a couch intervention...I think the 3rd times a charm.  This is the 3rd couch in 5 years and this time, I love it! It took a few months {out of stock fabric} to finally get it, but it was worth the wait! Got a new rug too..slowly, but surely, I will get this house decorated.

174: super moon

SUPERMOON..from my balcony

173: parents 50th wedding anniversary party

50 years of marriage..that deserves a party! My sister and I put it together and it turned out to be a perfect night. Only 3 of the 5 children live on the continental U.S., and it was looking like only 2 of us, my sister and I, would be around. My sister was in charge of making all the food {her choice..I said we should have catered, seeing as she had a baby only 5 weeks ago} and I was in charge of invitations, decorations, and the video slideshow. I wasn't sure how I was going to decorate a space I wasn't really familiar with, so I packed my car with just about anything and everything I could {Pasadena is 1 1/2 hrs. away}. Laura was in the kitchen ALL DAY {but the food was to die for..especially her german chocolate cake}!! I was out back from about 1:00 till right before the party started at 6. It was a labor of love! It couldn't have been more perfect. 5 of their dear friends of over 50 years, drove in from Utah to share in the celebration..this was a surprise. I wouldn't have changed anything..except maybe having all the family there..but that just wasn't possible. Those that couldn't come shared video messages, that we watched on the outside screen. It was a quaint, and lovely night..a great success. Jim and I only have 34 more years till ours..let's hope our children marry well, because I can't see my boys pulling something like this together!

172: sacrament talk

I was called, by my bishop, Wednesday night and asked to speak in church on Sunday. Yikes..not a whole lot of time with everything I've got going on, but of course, I said yes. So today, I told the boys I was locking myself in my office until it was finished because I had zero time on Saturday to work on it. 

171: final party details

Put the final touches on my parents 50th wedding anniversary slideshow today (that I've been working on off and on for weeks)..actually, Happy Anniversary..it's their official anniversary today! Was also finishing up all the little details for their party on Saturday..mason jar tea lights to hang in the trees and tissue paper flowers.

170: ucla team party

Tonight was our team party. Flag football is now, officially over! 

169: beach day

1 week and 1 day into summer and finally we get a beach day!

(and a gorgeous one at that!)

168: scripture mastery

I got the first, inevitable  "I'm bored" of the summer today, so I challenged Skyler to start learning his 25 scripture masteries for next year with me. It is no easy feat..at least for me it was tough! He threw out a little deal for himself. He has been begging me for my old iphone (that has just been sitting in the junk drawer for months).  I told him that once he has memorized all of his scriptures, I would activate it for him.  Boy..did I find the right carrot to dangle in front of his face.  He learned them all in 5 days! I love the chart he made up for himself!

167: i love the dads in my life

Drove up to Glendora after church for Father's Day. My nephew Stephen was visiting from Hawaii, so it was fun to visit with him. I'm so grateful for not only the worlds best dad, but for the worlds best husband who is also in the category of worlds best dad!! Two incredible men who love me no matter what!

166: strawberry jam

Strawberries were $3.99 for 4lbs. Time to make jam! I can't bring myself to eat store bought jam anymore. It's got nothing on homemade!

165: shave ice

It's been awhile since we've taken this beauty out! It was the hit of the party. Who doesn't love ice, finely shaved, slathered in sugary syrup?

164: cub camp

Ryder has had cub camp all week! It's been really cramping my style.  He has to be dropped off at church everyday at 2:00, which pretty much made it impossible for us to go anywhere. As you can see from the pictures, he's totally excited! I'm getting the thumbs down..a typical Ryder hand sign.

163: the dog is in the pool

I was in the garage and heard this blood curdling scream, "Mom..come to the pool quick..hurry!" I rushed as quickly as I could, thinking someone was hurt, but no, Buddy decided that today would be the day he got into the pool! The boys have been trying for months to get him to swim with no luck! Now, we can't seem to get him out of it.

162: trying to stick to an exercise schedule

With all the fun activities of summer, it's so hard to stay consistent with exercising...and heaven knows, I'm not getting up early to do it!

161: ryders summer tutoring

I thought it would be beneficial for Ryder to have tutoring once a week, during the summer, just to keep his brain alert and ready for the next school year! I tried doing it myself, but he'd have nothing to do with it. So grateful for my friend Sharon who is awesome with kids!

160: another poster for my sister

Back on my computer again..this time for my sister. She needed a poster for church.

159: tournament of champions

 This, I'm told, was the picture that made them lose their game. Ryder needs to work on his sportsmanship. I got the tongue stuck out every time. I guess I was messing with his concentration.

 Jayden helped the gardeners out and collected all the grass clippings in order to make himself a comfy pillow. This kid is full of funny ideas!

Ryder's flag football team made it to the Tournament of Champions in Orange County. For us, it was an excuse to take a min-vacay and stay in a hotel. Grandma and Grandpa even made it out for the games. The games didn't go so well, but it was a fun experience. It continually amazes me how intense some of these coaches are! Someone needs to remind them these boys are only 7 & 8. The highlight is always the hotel pool. Who knows why..we have a pool at home, but a hotel pool is so much fun!

158: end of the school year annual "boss" fire

Not sure when the tradition began, but every year, at the end of school, a bunch of families get together for the BOSS fire. Not exactly sure how it got the name BOSS..but we're going with it.

Time to burn all your school papers and just hang out and relax, knowing there's no more school for a couple months!

157: first born graduates middle school

 Skyler..Brody..Spencer

Where has the time gone? My little boy is growing up and I don't know if I like it! He's officially a high schooler now. These years are going way too fast.

156: my middle child graduates elementary school

I can't believe Jayden is graduating from elementary school. It seems like only yesterday that he was starting kindergarten at Paloma and now he's going to middle school..yikes! We are so proud of Jayden. We were pleasantly surprised when they called Jayden's name for a Presidential Citizenship award. Unlike his older brother, Jayden is a very quiet and respectful student. He always tries so hard and his teachers recognized that in him. We're down to 1 in elementary school now! This is crazy..time needs to sloooooowwww down!

155: awards ceremony

I was a little surprised when Skyler handed me an invitation to attend the middle school award ceremony. Not because he's not smart enough, but because he's a class clown and I couldn't imagine any teacher awarding him for his less than stellar classroom behavior..{remember me having to sit in his classes a couple times}. We were pleasantly surprised when he got the Presidential Award for academics {it was signed by the president..haha!} for having had a 3.5-3.7 GPA every year in middle school. He also received an award from his P.E. teacher for excellence! We are so proud of the young man he is turning out to be!

154: geocaching

I'm getting my friends hooked on all my silly, random joys in life. Today was geocaching. I have raved on and on about how much fun it is, so my friend decided to have a geocaching birthday party for her soon to be 14 year daughter. Before she could throw the party, she needed me to take her around the neighborhood and show her where some were at. We hopped on our beach cruisers and starting combing the streets for geocaches. It's the simple pleasure in life!! She was so elated when she found her first one! This was a tricky one..it was inside a sprinkler head.

{this is what us moms do when our kids are in school}