Lauren is 8, first hair cut, broken arm

Lauren's birthday party was pizza at the park with her friend Emery and my brothers' family.  We let off sky lanterns, like in the Tangled movie, it was so much fun.  We didn't get ANY pictures of the sky lanterns, but the kids each got to decorate their own and let one off.  They are several feet tall with a fire ball inside, so we scared the park security officers and only got 3 successfully flying out of 10... but they were pretty to watch.

 This is Caleb's "before" picture, I know it is super dark, sorry.  We had only done minimal ear and neck trims up until this point.  I was anxious to try my hand at cutting boys hair.

 This is the "after." 

Bryn and Madelyn spend most of their days outside jumping on, off, and around things in the backyard.  This water barrel has been a recent obstacle course toy, but more recently, the cause for a broken arm. 

 Bryn and Madelyn tried to jump off the barrel onto the mini trampoline holding hands together, and somehow Bryn managed to break both of the bones in her forearm.  We went through a pink cast, had it dripping wet from the elbow down thanks to her hand washing. It slid off while we tried to blow/towel dry it.  Then she had a red cast that she was so excited about.  That just came off this week and she is good as new.  5 kids, and this is our first ER visit and broken bone.

Katlyn has been very busy practicing her dance routines every day and participating in every extra club, fundraiser, etc. at school.  I only have video clips of her dancing, no pics-sorry.  Caleb is no longer drooling everywhere, but until he starts walking he is just a big dust mop.  He has 8 teeth now and loves to say easy words and put the basketball in the hoop (over-the-door one).  He is a happy baby and very cuddly.  Madelyn can't wait for her 5th birthday in a few weeks.  I hope it lives up to her expectations...  Lauren gets baptized this weekend and is so excited to have that special day with family coming in to be there for her.


 Here is the troop:

Note to blogger: find a new uploader, if there is more than one picture at a time it FREEZES.  Very discouraging.

A quick pic of us all

This is Calebs "wait a minute, why are you backing away from me?" face
                                      
 "oh, okay, you just want to take a cute picture of me :)"

 Bryn is now officially 2.  She loves monkeys.

 Darrick and I have been going to see a lot of fun shows.  Great dates.

 Aviation Nation at the air force base.  Great show every year.

 Kids were less than enthusiastic about my attempt for a photo opportunity.

 It's been awhile, I know.  I hate loading pictures on here...

Summer vacations begin

We spent a long weekend in CA, no pictures except this one.  We also went to the waterpark and then took wave runners to the lake with my Uncle John and most of his family.  It was a lot of fun.

Very shortly afterward Darrick found out his current rotation was essentially cancelled, so he jumped on the opportunity to spend almost 2 weeks in Idaho.  The girls were able to take a week of swimming lessons each and we got to enjoy some fabulous weather and fun activities with his family.

We took a drive and hike out to see some beautiful waterfalls, but were bombarded by mosquitoes.  After back tracking to the closest convenient store for some bug spray we went back at it.  Got a flat tire along the way on the dirt road.  Darrick was able to knock out a dent in the inner rim back at his dad's shop and then the tire held air just fine. 

Gma & Gpa Neibaur

We went to the lake over the weekend with lots of family and Gpa's boat.  By the time we made it to the lake with everyone and all the gear, most boaters were already pulling out.  Caleb found this cozy little spot out of the sun to take a nap (in his life jacket).

Darick's brother owns a couple of horses that are kept at Gpa's house, so we had the opportunity to ride on them a couple of times.  The girls really enjoyed all their time with the horses.  I love to see them connect with the great outdoors and animals when we visit. 

Waiting for their turn with the horses, they drove around the campgrounds in the Cushman. 

Aunt Janae pulled out some of her hats.  Madelyn got really into character :)  She was also posing some gangsta moves. Very funny.

One night we all drove to Jackson to watch a show/dinner performance at Bar J.  Again, we were running a little behind and got the VERY last row, but it was great entertainment and food.

We also went to the Lagoon amusement/waterpark for the 4th of July, spent the night camping, and returned again the next day for a few hours before heading back to Vegas.  This was Bryn's favorite ride, and unfortunately the only picture I have because we lost the battery charger.

So, on the way home straight from the Lagoon (keep in mind it was waterpark/camping/straight home) we got a blown out tire on the freeway just an hour or so into the drive.  It was almost 9 before we rolled into a Walmart in hopes of a new tire- they had just closed at 8:30.  In the end we decided to get a hotel and repair it the next day.  The hotel had a full hot breakfast spread so I can't complain too much- however we had left our overnight/camping bag in Idaho so had had no toothbrushes, deodorant, showers, brushes, etc. for the last 3 days.  We were a sight to behold coming down to breakfast at the hotel, especially waiting at Costco for 3 hours for the repair.  Glad the camera had died at this point.

I vaguely remember hearing the girls talk about having a funeral for their (1 day) pet lizard that they accidentally smashed with a rock.  Apparently this is a picture they decided to take on their own of their funeral services.  I never saw what they had done.  It made me laugh a little.  His name is written on the rock "black spots."

Soccer has ended (thank goodness!).  The multiple practices and games were a bit of a challenge every week, but Katlyn and Lauren had fun.  We will let them pick something new in the fall when it cools back off.

 

 

We spend Memorial Day hiking around the Valley of Fire.  Truth be told, it is a lot like Red Rock, just a whole lot more of it.  There were some indian hieroglyphics that were neat too.  The kids just love crawling all over the cubby holes and hills of rock.

Madelyn was a little put off when we went on an actual trail.  Too hot.  Too tired. Too hungry (even though we had just had a picnic).  Too thirsty.  The list goes on.

Looking down on their hard work.

Bryn thought we were at the beach.

My dad also made a visit for Caleb's blessing.

However, my grandfather passed away, so while we were in Arizona for the funeral we were able to take some time to gather with lots of family to bless him.  The only picture I have right now is me with my sibs.  It was so nice to gather together with our family and remember my grandpa.  We will miss him.

We had some time to ourselves one day in Arizona and were able to have some wet fun.  We found a perfect mini waterpark that had a regular pool with diving boards, a lazy river, swirly toilet bowl corner, a couple big slides, and a nice big tike area.  It was perfect for our family.

PJ's

 Looking through the pictures I need to update, there was enough in pajamas for its own little post.  Here's Bryn thinking she has the best seat in the house.

Katlyn & Lauren happily posing in their pajamas made from our friend Kelly.

Catching them all- mid dance

Game time

I thought it was about time to capture a picture of Caleb's smile.  It's not easy to take a good picture from your own lap, so even though he DOES have huge cheeks and an ample extra chin... the very close camera didn't help slim him down any :)

Trying to stretch the start of the day a bit too long, they just kept coming.