Summer trip to Utah

This is just a few pictures of our trip to Utah this summer. As I was looking through all of the pictures I don't think there was much we didn't do. We stayed in SLC for the first few days @ the Plummer's which included lots of cousin time, a visit to the Children's Museum, a day at Lagoon, tennis, golf, and some great food. While we were at Lagoon our good friends the Carlsons were nice enough to meet us there and then came onto Bear Lake for a day. It was great to see them and their cute boys! So like I said then it was off to Bear Lake for a few days, which included beach time, more golf, more great food and more fun times with family. Then we went to Logan for another 5 days and the boys got to do a Tennis Camp at the sports Acadamey with their cousins. We had a great time and appreciate the generosity of all the family letting us stay with them. We can't wait to do it again!!!!!!!

The Hawkins came to visit!!!!

My sister Jessica and her little boy Carter came to live with us this summer for 6 weeks. Her husband Michael had a law internship in Romania so instead of staying in Utah by themselves they stayed with us!!! We were so excited and the boys couldn't wait to spend some quality time with their cousin Carter. We had so much fun. Jessica and I called it "The Summer of Emily & Jessica." we joke that it will be the closest we will probably ever come to being next door neighbors. We did so many fun things, from watching the first series of Felicity every night after the kiddies were in bed to spending a girls weekend in Boston. You will see some of the highlights in the next few pics. We went to the Jersey Shore which for some reason I have no pics of. We went to Princeton, NJ, the TODAY show, the Madison pool, historic farms and the zoo. We did a lot and I would love to do it all over again. It was so much fun having her and Carter here we miss being by family so it was nice. In the first pictures this is when Mike had just gotten home from Romania and we went into the city to hit the "Shake Shack" a famous little shake and burger joint that is in the middle of a park in the city that has great burgers and shakes. We got there shortly after it opened in the middle of the week and we still had to wait 45 min. But I think we were all in agreeance that it was well worth the wait. There was a playground right next to it so we let the kids play. As you will see it had a water feature that we didn't know about and it was a hot humid day so the kids fully enjoyed it! Oh I almost forgot the last picture is of Hudson crafting away, at this park they also had some craft day for kids going on, so Hudson could not get enough of it.










While Jessica and Carter were staying with us we had a really big storm and a power outage. It was about 9:00pm so when the power went out not only did it get really dark but it got really hot and humid in our house really quick. So we set up a bunch of beds in the basement where it was the coolest with candles and flashlights. The kids thought it was pretty fun and exciting, they especially loved that we had to eat all of the ice cream out of the freezer so that it wouldn't go to waste. The last couple of pictures at the bottom are a couple of the only pics I have of cute little Carter.







Jessica and I took the boys one day and headed to Princeton, New Jersey. It is about 45min away and it is the coolest college town. It has neat shops, parks, and Princeton University is beautiful so we thought for Jessica it was a must see. We had fun walking on campus, seeing some spots were the movie "A Beautiful Mind" was filmed, took a bunch of pics, and had a picnic lunch. The kids were good and we all had a great time.





Mike was nice enough to take a day off of work and watch all they boys while Jessica and I went to the TODAY show to see one of their Summer Concerts and it was COLD PLAY!!!! We had so much fun. We got up at 3:50 AM to catch the 4:20 AM train into the city. We got there and actually got pretty good seats we were 2nd row on the backside of the stage. Coldplay was awesome and seeing they TODAY show was fun too. The only downer was that Matt Lauer wasn't there that day he was on assignment, maybe next time right Jess!

The Great Braxtini & Portini!

Back in June our ward had a "Ward Talent Night". They sent the sign-up sheet around in the primary for the kids. When I looked at it at the end, I saw that Braxton had signed up and his talent was MAGIC. I found this interesting just because I had never seen him do a magic trick before in his life. When I asked him about it after church he showed me a couple little tricks that I guess he had made up, they were cute but not quite big enough for the stage. So about a week before the Talent show I gave him an early b-day present that was a Magic Kit. It was the cutest thing to watch him do. He worked so hard on it that whole week up in his room. The cutest thing was when he asked Porter to be his assistant. Porter was so excited and they really had a good time and ended up doing a great job! I have a few video clips that I will add a little later.

B's 9th Birthday!

Yes I know it has been FOREVER since I have touched my blog and I could go on and on about why but it doesn't really matter. I am back and I am going too catch up and then keep up! This is from June 8th B's 9th birthday. He had a Yankees themed party with pizza, cake, and bowling. We had a great time, it was extra special because he had his Aunt Jessica, Carter, and his Uncle Chad there too. What a great family! Anyway I am going to try and update a little every day for the next couple of weeks until I am caught up, so keep checking!

Hudson Bloopers - Take 1

This is about the 5th take of H trying to tell us about how his arm came out of its socket. Needless to say, we never quite got the whole story.

H turned 3!!!!!

This past Memorial Day, H had his 3rd birthday! We can't believe our baby is 3 already. He wanted to have a "Beach Cake" with a beach party, so that is what we did. We had my best attempt at a "Beach Cake", balloons, Leigh's, a trip to the local pool, and a barbecue with his friends. It was a fun day and I think H had a good time, so mission accomplished!

H was pretty pleased with his new cash register and microwave.

P showing H how to use the gift that he picked out for him at the Crayola Factory Store.

All the boys!

Central Avenue School Carnival!

The kids school had its annual carnival. I was informed by the boys that it was a requirement to attend so what else could I say. We had a great time. The boys played the games, rode rides, and H tried cotton candy for the first time. It was a big day for everyone. B and P also loved the dunk tank. They used a majority of their tickets on this. They loved seeing the teachers and the principal get dunked. It was hilarious. Our little T-ball player P got up and threw it two times in a row, hitting the bulls eye both times to dunk the teacher. He could not have been more pleased with himself. Everyone was shocked and cheering him on because he was so little!