Happy 16th Birthday Connor boy!

16 years old!  

Here's to a kid who brings COOL to our family, laughter to our hoMe and reminds us all how to keep the kid in us alive and well!  

Love him SOOOO MUCH!  

My kids are growing up way too fast, STOP ALREADY!!  

Turning 16 was a VERY BIG DEAL for Connor.  He is one of the youngest in his grade, so everyone else was driving and dating.  

This birthday couldn't come soon enough!  

We decided to plan a huge surprise party for this kid.

The Saturday before his birthday we invited 30 of his closest friends to come and have a big ice cream bar and PARTY!  

I put butcher paper on the tables with a bucket of markers, and his friends all wrote nice things...and even drew pictures! :)

You can't see everyone, but we had a huge turnout!

He got his license ON HIS BIRTHDAY!  This was a present for me too!!  Oh so nice to have another driver in the family!  He is such an awesome driver too!!

Opening presents...

A PILL!  This is a really, really nice speaker that he can hook up his phone to and bring the tunes anywhere he goes!  

Taylor bought Connor this huge, cuddly bear!!

As part of his birthday celebrations, Connor wanted to hike Timpanogos mountain again this year.  Karl went with them last year, so I went this year.   We started at 1:15am!  Yup, it was an awesome night hike, and we were able to see the sunrise in the morning from the top of Timp.

Can I just say, AMAZING group of teenagers!  They were so fun to hang out with, and were so nice about having me as their "chaperone".

The views were spectacular!!

Hard to believe we were at the top of that mountain!!

Such a great hike, hard but fun!  

(about a 9 hour hike!)

Cali, surfing and great friends!

Who doesn't love California?  

I mean seriously!  The weather is awesome, there is always a scent of flowers in the air, and the beaches are gorgeous!  We usually go to Disneyland in the winter so we don't ever just play at the ocean.  This summer we decided to have a beach vacation as a family.  Probably one of our last vacations all together!  Oh, my heart is breaking at that thought!  I have to say, we lived it up and truly had a fantastic week together!  

The Davis family graciously hosted us.  We arrived around 9:30pm and after 12 hours of driving in a van, packed like sardines, they knew just what we needed...

SNOWCONES!

and a refreshing dip in their pool!  We were in HEAVEN!

The next day we headed straight for the San Diego Temple.  

So great to all be in the temple together!

(Karl took Taylor and Lauren and hung out with them at the beach since they were too young.)

My wonderful Ashlyn!

Future sister missionary in Mongolia!!

Of course we fit in a hike!  

POTATO CHIP ROCK!  

How this boy stops my heart!  

(holy cow, check out that upper body strength!)

We went on a whale watching cruise...

but only saw dolphins:)  

They were spectacular!!

The people I love most in this world!!

We went to the beach every day and practiced surfing.

Taylor was instantly up and a total natural!!

So was Ashlyn!  How did I get such coordinated kids?

Love this boy!

A brother cheering for his sister...I might frame this one!

On our last night, we had a big bon fire/bbq at the beach with a bunch of Karl's friends and family.

Fantastic kids! 

(not to mention the stunning sunset!!)

Steele Days Parade

I can honestly say that the Steele Days Parade is one of the highlights of my summer!  My heart skips a beat when I see that amazing, championship HS marching band pass by, always in full uniform, playing some awesome music!  I love all of the local floats and cute families lining the streets.  

This year my cute Connor was in the parade as part of the HS student council!  They painted their faces, arms and anything else they could find, grabbed their long boards and scooters and entertained the crowd! 

 

Each year the marching band puts on a fundraiser breakfast before the parade.

Cute Alyssa!

STUCO handing out fliers:)

Ashlyn was pulled out of the audience to participate in a western shootout.  

4th of July

Our annual family 4th of July sleepover was only 3 days after we returned from Italy, so it was pretty low key and simple.  You know, sometimes simple is totally the way to go!

Simple badminton game!

Simple relaxing on the grass playing with adorable babies!

Simple eating half a watermelon...by yourself!

Simple waffles with whip cream!  

Yum!!

Camping, Hiking and Hangin' with cousins!

Much of our summer is spent in the mountains.  We love camping, boating, hiking and just playing at the lake for a day trip.  Living so close to a gorgeous mountain range makes it easy to get away!!  

 

Grandma and baby Hadley at Tibble Fork.

Ashlyn found her match in Adam!  

We took a little hike along the lake and up the river.  

Stunning!

Our awesome Oregon cousins!   You guys live too far away!!

(thanks for visiting us!!!)

My mom and I set out to hike behind Squaw Peak and found ourselves in a downpour!  The mud caked our boots and we slid all over.  We ended up turning back, and tackling the trail later...

in better weather:)

Oh Payson Lake, how we love you!!!

More cousin time!!  

I think this was a truce handshake after a water fight!

Hiking loafer mountain. 

We sat around the campfire and sang as Uncle Nathan led us in singing wacky scout songs!  

The kids loved it!!

One of my favorite things to do at Payson Lake is to take an early morning walk with my mom around the lake.  Everything is so peaceful and still.

Then the kiddos wake up!!!  

Another great trip to Payson Lake!!