The MOTHER of ALL Updates!

Well... The title of this post says it all. And what's sad is that it doesn't even cover all that I need to update on! Crazy! We had a lot of fun today doing silly things that I need to tell in a later post. But this post is dedicated to before and after the 4th of July up until... well, a few days ago! I'm warning you now... there are many pictures... and it's long, so if you're in for it... start looking. If not, maybe you can split it up over a few days and then you will think that I'm a great blogger! ;) Ha... NOT!

So we started out our visit to Utah with a stop at one of our favorite places to eat on the 23rd of June... (ya... it's been a while, huh?). We went to Dairy Queen and drug Uncle Eric with us!

And this is what my shirt looked like after Ella had her way with her ice cream cone. Seriously, it only takes one or two seconds of looking away and paying attention to something else for this nonsense to happen! The white shirt never did recover from this and became a painting shirt!

Ella with a french fry... dipped in none other than RANCH. She may very well be the daughter that Damian is looking for when he tests his carbonated ranch drink. J/K

Ella carrying both of Gma Pam's bags down the hall at the hospital! A girl can never have too many purses or pairs of shoes!

My mom decided that the portion of grass in the front/east of her yard that didn't have the sprinkling system run to it was OUT... so she literally had it dug out and had concrete laid in its place. And in between the digging out and the laying of concrete, this is what you have. Very busy kids in very DIRTY dirt! Ick.

Lexi's experiencing some technical difficulties with her make-shift rake/broom... who knows...

And even Ella got seriously dirty. This is NOT a TAN. It is DIRT!!! Lovely.

Just imagine what she is trying to do here...

Get it now? She's trying to get a drink. From the sprinkler. We spent a lot of time with the sprinkler on this trip!

This gives a whole new meaning to "Dirty Dancing"!!

I made them join Ella at the sprinkler before they were even let in the house to have a bath. And they are contemplating just how to get all the dirt off. Impossible... practically!

But fun, nonetheless!

This took care of his rear... for the most part!

And what didn't just turn to mucky mud did actually come off a little after spending a good, solid hour doing this!
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Later that week Caroline, Gail, and new baby Jonathan (who I didn't get any pictures of... drat) came and we had some fun! We went to see Transformers II. And though the kids really liked it, I was very disappointed in the amount of nasty language and sexual innuendos that there were. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Megan Fox was allergic to a bee sting in her lips. They were much bigger this movie. It made me so sad to think that I probably will never buy the second movie. They just ruined it for no good reason. And especially when they know that there are TONS of little kids who were dying to see it. It was good, don't get me wrong, but... stepping off my soap-box now... you get the idea.

Then Caroline came out to Gma Pam's to play for the day.

Who's under all that fabric? (Just a little side note: Lexi LOVES fabric, and collects it. Just what I need, huh? But she does.)

Oh... It's Lexi, Caroline, and all the escapees from the zoo... Stuffed animals are high on the list of needful things for Lexi, too.

See what I'm telling you? We got very close with the sprinkler and had a lasting friendship by the time we left Kanarraville! :)

And they all love the swing set! Ella would stay there a very long time if someone was just willing to push her for hours on end.Now watch what happens when you stand up!

Lexi and Caroline on the glider. (below)

All three of my munchkins on the swing set having a good time! Swings are really so much fun! They even still give me a giggle when I get on.

Silly kids. They really are monkeys... and they really do belong at the zoo. And I don't mean the zoo that I'm running here at my house. I mean the real deal.

Look how much hair Ella has! Yay! You may laugh at that remark, but it's a lot for the girls around here! And look how much hair Braeden has... before his haircut! Yikes. I let it get more than a little longer than it should have been!

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We took the next Monday to head up to Navajo Lake for Family Home Evening. We went with Gail, Caroline, Jonathan, Eric, Momma Linda, Dad, Gma Liebhardt, and my mom. It was a peaceful evening and very enjoyable... until the sun went down and man... it got COLD! But we had warm marshmallows to keep us happy! There are better pictures on Momma Linda's blog, and also on Uncle Eric's if you would like to see those!

Momma Linda got everyone blowing dandelions! You should know that Lexi and Braeden... and probably Ella... love dandelions, and are always trying to convince me not to pull them out of our grass and kill them. They think they are so lovely... and I often have a handful as a bouquet!

Ella's not too sure about blowing the stuff around, though. So Gma Pam helps her out!

Ella is wanting Gma Pam to follow her. She says, "Mon"... meaning "Come on!"

Braeden and Lexi had been practicing their fishing casts here at home in the culdesac. Braeden totally has it down... Lexi... not so much!

Lexi and Caroline found a small dragonfly. And then it landed on Caroline! They loved it!

Look closely. You can see it on the end of her sweatshirt!

The purpose of this picture is to show that Grandpa is really the only one fishing. You probably can't see them, but there is a line of 3 fishing poles beyond him that have been abandoned for better things!

Braeden and Gpa posing in front of Braeden's rock wall that he built!

This is what it looks like from behind. Not too shabby!

Oooohh! Grandpa caught... hmmm... not a fish! Oh, well!

Caroline practicing her cast and reel... over... and over.... and over! Which is what's really the most fun when you're a kid anyway. Right?

This is the closest we got to a fish there. And this one was already dead. Eeewww!

This is probably my favorite picture of the evening! You can see how clear and calm the lake is just by the reflection of the trees and clouds. Plus, my Lexi-lou is in it... waiting patiently for a fish to take a bite!

The scenery was beautiful. And the lake was full on both sides... I haven't seen that in years!

Ella loves shoes (especially if they're not hers), keys, purses, cell phones, and cameras. Lots of things a 1 year old does NOT need! And she doesn't like them if they don't work, aren't on, etc.

Eric built a serious rock castle. It was huge! there was a time when he wanted to be an architect when he grows up... but I'm not sure if that's still the case!

Aunt Gail and Gma Liebhardt waiting at the camp ground site. They weren't there to actually fish.

This is because it got really cold. Poor Aunt Gail. I'm pretty sure this is a cloth tablecloth and one of Ella's receiving blankets! Lovely!

And after Ella had a meltdown because she couldn't keep her blanket on just right she ended up waiting in the van with Gma Pam while we had our FHE lesson.

Lexi got to read the scripture with a little help from Caroline. Jeremiah 16:16. There actually was a purpose for going fishing! And we talked about the kind of fishing that the Savior wants us to do, too. Eric had just turned in his mission papers and so we talked about missionary work and being good examples. (BTW: Eric has since received his call! He off to D.C. at the end of September!)

I'm telling you... I'm pretty sure that people wonder why I have so many blankets in the back of my van ALL the time, but they sure come in handy... ALL the time!

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My mom has lillies all over her yard. And we were out doing some painting and yard work when my kids realized just how many butterflies were out and about. Before I could grab my camera, Lexi had already caught 2! And she doesn't harm them. She just sneaks up and gets them to go on her fingers... without touching their delicate wings! So later in the day when I spied both of them sneaking up on this one, I had my camera in hand in 2.5 seconds FLAT!

And I'm sooooo glad I did because this one just literally flew onto Braeden's shirt and then walked all the way up his cheek! He was so proud!! Amazing! I'm pretty sure that when I was little and we would catch butterflies that we weren't this nice. In fact... I know we weren't. I remember touching the wings, and then putting them in jars, only to let them go in the house... and get in SERIOUS trouble!

Yay for Ella! This is one of her new favorite things to do! And she doesn't always do it consistently by telling us BEFORE it happens, but she's getting it!!!!!!

Here is some of the yard work we did! We planted trees and some new garden stuff! This one below is a Red Flame Maple. It should be totally awesome when Fall comes along!

And this is after the cement was laid! My mom wanted the kids to leave their handprints so that they could measure their growth each year when they come. I'm not sure this is exactly where she wanted them, but it was hard enough just to get Ella to cooperate, so she took what she could get!

And we got in our 2 nights of the Shakespearean Green Show! This year they had Irish (I think... if I can even remember...) and Gypsy. Both were fun.

Here we are waiting for the show to start. I'm not sure what Ella is doing... maybe she smelled something fishy... ;)

Lexi, who is chewing on grass, Eric, Nick and Gma Liebhardt behind Eric.

Eric doing his weird "creeper" thing. But Gma Linda thinks it's funny... and Braeden is now well pleased. He was having a "MOMENT". I can't even remember what he was upset about, but he pouted for a while.

And now it appears that Lexi is the creeper...

Gma Linda made Ella's entire trip when she gave her these! Ella loves salt and pepper shakers and when we noticed her shaking the ones on the table there I mentioned that I needed some like that... with LIDS THAT DO NOT OPEN EASILY! And guess what Gma had??? What wonderful things they turned out to be and it made her happy as a clam!

After the Green Show... which was our next Family Home Evening, we got a few more fireworks and Nick and Eric entertained the kids with them for a while! Gma Linda and Gpa were furiously packing for their vacation/work trip to Georgia!! Ella really likes the sparklers!

And they make such cool designs. Optical illusions almost!

Flowers were my favorite kind of firework when I was a kid. And still are. I don't know why... maybe because they were my grandma's favorite, and the dogs would chase them and try to eat them. I have to admit they were much more entertaining when there were dogs around than they are now. Maybe it's just that I'm old now... Na... it was the dog-factor!

See the look of concern?? You'll understand why in a couple of pictures!

Even Lexi and Braeden aren't sure this is such a good idea.

Because it's NOT! But it was funny! This is Nick holding fireworks that I'm pretty sure weren't meant to be held.

But they do look amazing... especially in a still picture. Don't you agree????

And this is how we have to change Ella's diaper more often that we... or I... would like. I literally have to strap her down with my legs and hold her feet together as hard as I can. She is a strong little stink! And sometimes she just does NOT want to have her diaper changed. But it has to be done. A little fact of life that she needs to learn until she decides to tell me that she needs to go potty BEFORE she does it in her diaper!

And as much as I hate it, she is not afraid of, nor grossed out by feet. And she still loves cleaning things, so she decided that Eric's feet were dirty and was bound and determined to get them clean!

You may not know this, but I HATE, even loath feet. And I often catch her sucking on her toes. Can you say eeeeewwwwww??? Gag city!

The next day we met my friend, Helen, and her son, William at the Canyon Park for some fun!

This is on the playground BEFORE I let them get in the creek! I couldn't believe that Ella could climb this little wall. But she did it!

Aaaahhhhhhh! I'm just now realizing that all the pictures after this are MISSING!!! Uurrhhhhh! It took me FOREVER just to get them on here... and now I have to do it again! I guess that's what I get for not updating often enough. But RUDE... still!