A Splashing Good Time

The kids earned free tickets to the local swimming pool this summer through the library's summer reading program. Soooo, we took off for the afternoon to have a bit of summer fun in the sun.

Taking a break......fueling up for more pool playing- fun in the sun!

Daddy's Boy

Barry missed Liam's birth by a few hours, he missed his first year of life, but that hasn't stopped him from having a wonderful 'father and son' relationship with his little son.

Liam loves his daddy. Period. Barry often has a shadow following him and when Barry can't let this shadow tag along I have to deal with a heaving mountain of tears.

Liam ~20 months old

A year later, Daddy's shadow is still there.... whenever Liam hears the lawn mower rumble Liam runs through the house screaming with delight "Where's my mower!?! I go help Daddy, -K?"

Time with an angel and the devil --at times :)

Liam's dealt with a bit, (sometimes alot), of sibling jealousy yet, he's a sweetheart with his sister too. He loves to play with her, he just doesn't realize that rough house play isn't quite appropriate at this time in her life.

This boy loves cars, truck, trains and rescue heros. He also likes dolls, hairbows, fingernail polish and makeup. Right now he claims pink as his favorite color....poor dear, being surrounded by sisters can be confussing for a little boy sometimes ;)

Time has flown again.....now he's three. I love his zeal for life, his crazy moments, sweet kind moments and when he wants to cuddle and sing ' Child of God, Temple, and The bird song.'

(I am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple, and Heavenly Father Loves Me. all from LDS Childrens Song book)

This is the face of pure delight.

Halo = Quality Family Time?

....in our home it sure does!

The kids love to play videos games with Dad--and it's usually Halo as the game of choice! (Although Mario Cart or other racing games are a close second)

It's especially spirited around here when the teams are Ryan vs. Dad, Cailin and Connor......and Ryan beats them soundly hands down!

8 Months Old

What a beautiful smile.

(We finally got it caught on film....or rather memory card.)

The traditions continue.....

Many traditions revolve around holidays. Some are daily or weekly rituals, such as FHE or family prayer and scripture study.

Connor and Cailin, along with Grandpa and Grandma, have developed some traditions of their own......

Every time Grandpa comes we know a knock down battle will rage between the men of the family in the form of a Risk game. Connor loves (!!!!) this game and is tenacious about making sure time is carved out for this tradition to continue.
Cailin and Grandma have a grand tradition of making cinnamon rolls. Not, any cinnamon roll, mind you--but the best, most scrumptious cinnamon roll ever!!

Cinnamon Rolls III from All Recipes.com

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 c. butter melted

1/2 box (3.4 oz) pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

1 cup warm milk

1 egg --room temperature

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon yeast

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Frosting--

4 0z of softened cream cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. milk

Directions: 1. Combine the water, butter, vanilla, pudding, milk, egg, 1 tbsp sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups of flour. Mix. Add 2 more cups of flour with the bread hook knead dough for about 5 minutes.

2. Let dough rest a minute or two then turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle this over dough.

3. Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together ingredients for frosting. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

(This is how they make them, the original recipe uses a bread machine, which we don't have.)

Ahhhh, the many happy faces of spending time with Grandma.

We Did It!!...we memorized all 13!

Grandpa challenged all his grand kids to a night out if they memorized the 13 Articles of Faith.

Ryan, Connor and Cailin passed off all 13, (Delaney passed off the first 4)
For their effort the family was treated to a dinner at Macado's.
Another challenge ensued.....and the reward was a blizzard at Dairy Queen.
All the kids had to do was be good--no grumbling, helpful and obedient--for 3 days.

It was fun to watch Cailin in particular, I asked her to unload the dishwasher. She replied, "Sure Mom," I got busy and kind of forgot the task I gave her--and she went off finishing something else, but she came back later and said "look Mom, I came back to do what you asked me to do. I usually don't do what you ask because I know you'll forget. But I've come back this time because I'm trying to be good."
She's an honest one, that for sure.

Okay, they weren't perfect for those 3 days, but less grumbling noises and more cheerful "Okay Mom's" sure were nice.

Out and about with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandpa and Grandma Stumm came for a visit. Much of the time they were here was spent with Grandpa working hard to fix a car that has been sitting in our garage for the past few months. Liam loved this, he spent countless hours "helping Grannpa". I'm sure Grandpa could have used a little less help---but loved it at the same time.



We did get to steal away for an afternoon
While driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway we stopped for a picnic lunch.
I had fun getting some group photo's of the kids and they .....well they didn't enjoy it, but the humored me well.

My girls sure are cute!

We stopped at Mabry Mill for a bit of sight seeing.

Not far from Mabry Mill, in the town called Meadows of Dan, there is a wonderful candy shop--Nancy's Candy Shop--we couldn't go past without a stop to taste some yummy goodies.

Liam's drooling......Mmmmmmm, look at all these choices.

I think he found a winner!!

Many of the candy's and fudge had nuts in them....a no-no for a person with braces. Poor poor, Ryan, now that he's got braces on it limited choices, yet he did find one he liked--creamy peanut butter fudge! (He's showing me his angry face at not being able to eat fudge with nuts or caramel.)

Before and After

Our journey with an orthodontist begins.....

It took Ryan about a year to get use to the idea of braces, but he finally accepted the fact that they were in his future.

He's not fond of them, but he's doing well with the change.....except for the limitations on his favorite candy, no licorice for a few years, how sad!