I love SUMMER!

Not only do I get to spend the whole day with my kids... we all (except for poor Daddy) get to slow down, sleep in a little, throw out the schedule, and love life. Honestly I look forward to the summer months with all the kids home. Even though it does have its challenges and some days are a little tense, we end up having such a great time.  Now that they are all back to school I really miss how much the kids do around the house when they are here. I have to really pick up the slack now and clean everything myself. Hmmmph.

So since I am way behind on this blog...AGAIN... I will just throw out some highlights to our summer and then end with the BANG of an ending we had this year!

For Joey's Birthday this year I sent him to play golf along with four of his golfing buddies. Little did he know they were all in on the fact that I was at home preparing for his surprise Birthday Party!



Just after he left this very ugly looking cloud rolled in... thankfully it left as quickly as it had come but not before it soaked the tables outside and forced the guys to take cover at the golf course.



Joey was very surprised to pull up to a house full of people. He had NO idea!



Joey's totally fake smile and my...OH YEAH! I PULLED IT OFF!

There were so many kids there and they played a full game of kickball. I think they had it going for over an hour and a half. I was so happy the weather was good! Joey threw a suprise party for me when I turned 29... I have finally retuned the favor :)~

Joey's parents and grandparents came to visit for Fourth of July.

Bruce and Patty are sitting. They are Mike's parents. Mike and Lisa (in red) are Joeys' parent. Ethan (10) and Nolan (2) on far left, Emma (8) in front, Lily (7) and Jayci (5).

Fort Walla Walla gives a great History of our town. We take most of our visitor there!

Bruce is a history buff and I think really enjoyed this!

Dr Scrivens... playing the part.



The girls love to "pamper" Joey and I especially if it means they get to stay up late. All our guests get the royal treatment... cucumber on your eyes, moist towel (or sometimes very wet one), massage and lotion on hands and feet, and a back rub. It is so nice and way worth letting them stay up late.



Fourth of July BBQ!
Scrivens Men at work.

 We had a great picnic dinner outside with very delicious food. Our neighbor Bill came to enjoy with us and then we had an awesome fire work display put on by Joey and the kids. Thanks to Lisa we had a huge array of fireworks and I juts love that we live out here and have very little limits on what we can set on fire!  It was an exciting night and even little Nolan just loved it.

 Once all our fire works were gone we sat around the fire and just enjoyed being together.

We always go for donuts when Grandpa Scrivens comes to visit. We grabbed a box and headed to the bike track (another spot we take visitors).



All the kids love the bike track but Nolan I think has the most fun. He doesn't have to do any of the work and he just begs to go again and again. Soon enough he will be riding down on his own bike!
It is always sad when the Grandparents leave but we were so glad they could come for a visit!



In July we went on a bi-ward campout. When we first moved to Walla Walla we were in the 3rd ward and then we moved and are now in the 1st ward. Both wards are not very big and when our old Bishop invited us to their ward campout I was so glad because I still have some close friends in that ward. The 1st ward is pretty small and was not doing a ward campout so being the pushy planner that I am, I convinced 3rd ward counsel members to invite 1st warders. It was quite the ordeal but in the end was so great. So many people know eachother form both wards that we all had such a great time. I think we squeezed about 8 families in one small site just becasue we all enjoy each other so much! That is another thing I just love about here... there is not ward exclusion like I have seen in some other areas. 1st ward is like a family and 3rd ward our cousins! Love it!

The girls and their friends got together and built a "swimming pool" in the creek.

Nolan and his best buddy Trey... these two are inseperable.

The zipline was the highlight for the kids... and the men!

Bubble gum blowing contest. I laughed really hard.

Maya (Lily's twin) won!

Then it was the adults turn and the competitive nature really came out! These two are really good friends of ours and we didn't want to break up the marriage so we called them both winners!  Haha

Jayci makes a great bubble but it just happened after the contest was over... She's still a winner!

Pie eating contest brought out the crowds.

My good friend Lisa was the only women willing to do it. She didn't realize that till after but it
was so funny to see her go after that pie.

Spencer, very excited he won! And while most everyone else was still only half way through.

Grandma and Grandpa Bunn come for a weekend visit.

My parents sold their house this summer and moved to the Seattle area. SO great for us because now they are a short(er) four hours away. I would love to live even closer and hopefully one day we will, but for now we can enjoy weekend visits!

Of course we took them to the bike track (there is not a whole lot to do in this town ok)

Grandma helps Emma cool off.

And can you guess where we are in this picture?  Yep you got it... Fort Walla Walla!

My brothers would be so proud of you Dad! This game is called corn hole and my Dad's first time playing
he was amazing. Joey didn't take it so well ;)
So great to have them visit... even if it was a short stay.

And the rest of the summer we just played in the backyard, went to the pool or lake with friends, played an absurd amount of monopoly, enjoyed swimming in the river with friends, vegging in front of the T.V. , library events, summer reading, picnics, and backyard bonfires!

And out last week of summer will be for another post!