Happy Sweet 16 Kenzie

This cute, fun, adorable turned 16!!  Boy am I in trouble now.  I sure love her and am so proud of the person she is becoming.  16 things I love about my Kenz:

~she's kind

~she's smart

~she's a good worker

~she has a testimony

~she sends me cute text messages

~she always kisses me goodnight

~she's a great dancer

~she has a lot of friends

~she has a great sense of humor

~she dresses cute

~she's well loved

~she's friendly

~she is dedicated

~she has a good heart

~she reads her scriptures

~she's my beautiful daughter

My 2 Oldest

M is turning 16 and T asked her out on her first date.  Someone had asked her and then ended up bailing, so he felt bad for her.  He put together a cute puzzle for her to do.  She was thrilled!  

T relaxin' and trying to keep cool when we were camping.

M at her first job!

John Wesley Powell River Museum

In hopes of escaping the heat for a little bit, we drove into the thriving town of Green River and went to the museum.  I'm sure they didn't know what to do with themselves when all 25 of us came in at once. It was a wonderful break from the heat.  We stayed in that tiny museum for much longer than we probably would have on any other day.  

The kids were all thrilled that I wanted to snap some photos!

A little family selfie.

Spencer and a man in a boat.

Happy girls with Grandma:)

Love these boys!

We are looking oh so lovely!

They also had a small dinosaur exhibit.

Green River State Park

Ry and I were in charge of the family reunion this year.  We went camping at Green River State Park.  It was so flippin' hot!  Like 104-105 degrees hot.  Too hot really to do much.  We had some games planned, but really everyone just wanted to sit and try to keep cool.  We had spray bottles, lots and lots of cold water, and soaked our bandanas in cold water to try to keep cool.  We still enjoyed ourselves and hope the others did as well.  

The kids didn't mind the yucky, muddy water because it kept them cool.  I got in once and it did feel nice, but it was too yuck for me to get back in.  I prefer water where I can see at least a little bit of what's underneath me.  In this picture the kids are taking the mud, which was kind of clay like, and rubbing it all over their bodies.  Definitely an activity I was ok to skip.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Although my children are much older than the ones depicted in this picture and I'm not as thin as the mother even though I'd like to be, this is how my life feels right now.  I can't believe how busy life has been.  Here's a little of what's been going on in the last month:

~Ry and boys gone to Scout Camp

~yard sale to earn drill $$$

~dentist appointments

~cheer for Jo on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays

~Church callings

~5:15 a.m. wake up time for Kenzie for drill

~a new job for Kenzie

~football every morning for Spencer

~orthodontist appointments

~50th Anniversary celebration for Mom & Dad

~family get togethers

~Father's Day

~graveyard shifts

~a new job for Tanner 

~staff meetings

~Girls Camp

~drill retreat

~surgery follow-up for Tanner (he's released to do activities!)

~family reunion

~shopping, laundry, cleaning house

~Em's baby shower

~Youth Conference planning meetings

What happened to summer slowing down?  It's been super busy around our parts. We are trying to squeeze in the fun stuff too like, swimming, going to the reservoir, family hikes, game nights, and that might be all we can handle for now!

FHE~The Difference One Can Make

We've been listening to a talk on CD for FHE.  It's a really good one that talks about the positive influence we can be in a person's life.  It tells about a kid who was super amazing, kind of unbelievably amazing and what a difference he made to the people he came in contact with.  It's been fun to listen to it together.  We are almost done, hopefully tomorrow we will finish it.  I think it's really made the kids stop and think about the things in their own lives and how they are affecting others.  I hope they can follow the example of them extraordinary boy in the talk!