Spring Soccer is over

Action Shot!  Hyrum playing sweeper.  Also, his reaction after scoring his first goal this season!  

Random Faces

Dance Recital

Here is LaurieAnn ready for her dance recital.  She loved going to her dance class and seeing her friends once a week.  She did the whole dance and even finished with a curtsy.  We are so proud!

Canning with Mom

Gabby took this photo of me and my mom.  We spent the afternoon canning chicken for the first time.  It was super easy and fun to have something to add to food storage.  This is the GIANT pressure canner my aunt let us borrow.  It holds 18 quarts!  We did 2 batches and ended up getting 18 quarts and 8 pints.  Nothing beats chicken salad in the summer and this will make it so convenient! 

More Birthday

Good Morning Beautiful

One of our family traditions is to bring breakfast in bed on birthdays.  I love to see each child wake up to the birthday song and feel special right when they open their eyes that day.  

Gabby turned 8 today.  She is growing up before our eyes and becoming such a sweet and helpful girl.  She is so excited to be baptized and start activity days.  She makes me so happy.  Love you baby!

Field Trip

Gabby's class went on a field trip to Crosley Lanes this week.  She was ecstatic to ride the bus.

The kids had a blast bowling and danced all around when the cosmic bowling came on during their second game.  

Growing Chicks

Father Daughter Camp Out

Doug took the girls on a camp out this weekend.  It was organized by some friends and the girls had a ball.  Eloise was a good girl, and Doug was such a trooper for taking a baby still in diapers.  He said they played so hard that he didn't even see them until it was time for bed.

Exploring the creek

An Indian dance?

Spring Soccer

Hyrum and Gabby have loved playing soccer this spring.  Both of them ended up being purple this year.  Gabby's team is purple Thunder and she plays with her two cousins, Bella and Avery.  She is getting to be an aggressive player and her favorite position is forward.  Hyrum is playing for the team Purple Crush and plays with his cousin Chandler.  While he is one of the youngest players, he can run up and down that field and keep up with the big boys.  He loves playing sweeper and sometimes goalie.  

Fishing Lake Marie

The kids enjoyed a hike down to the lake near our campground and an attempt at fishing.

We did see one little fish, but he was too smart and avoided our bait.  Each of the kids felt some "bites" but only ended up with a bit of seaweed.  It was still fun for them to try.

Crabbing

Here we are crabbing on the Oregon Coast near Coos Bay.  The pier was terrifying.  It doesn't look high, but it was, and I was afraid my children would trip and fall over the edge and be eaten by a sea lion.  You may call me crazy, and I was sure acting like it.  

We caught several crabs, but didn't get to keep any for dinner.  They were all too small.  It was a memorable experience for the kids.  They loved watching the crabs crawl along the pier, then throwing them back into the water.  I will say the sea lions were hungry.  Gabby counted seven begging for our crab bait.  One even waved to her.

Sand Dunes in Oregon

I didn't post an exact location because honestly I don't know quite where we were.  Somewhere near Coos

Bay.  Wherever we were, it was fun.  We hiked about 1/2 mile or so along a trail to find the dunes.  Once we arrived, the kids raced to the top.

They were so dizzy from rolling down they could hardly pick themselves up.  It was hilarious.

Eloise was asleep in the car with Grandpa!