Summatime!

In full swing. Loving every minute of it. Definitely going too fast though, feels like school just let out, yet we are already half way through. June was full of T-ball. Of all the sports this is probably my boy's favorite. Non-confrontational and not aggressive. Fits my mild boy to a T.

He's cute and I love him so. So fun to watch him experience new things. With him being my oldest I feel like the two of us are learning as we go. Every new experience for him is also a new experience for me as a mom. Its a whole new world he is entering lately. And I am doing my best to keep up with it all.

Always so proud of his go get em attitude. No matter what he is doing, he gives it his all. He never gets intimidated or nervous, he just goes for it. No biggie. Love that about him. He was such fun to watch this season. Getting better and better.

And then there's my baby. Who I am begging to stop growing. Baby...please stay a baby.

Come June we get a whole patch of bright, red berries....

what's a girl to do with all those berries?

she's lets her darling little helper sneak a few. That baby loves strawberries!

and then she turns the rest of them into 24 containers of homemade freezer jam. Yummy! You should see my Carson and his strawberry jam. The kid practically drinks it out of the container. Loves his jam.

Grandpa Cherry also turned 85 this month. We had a little shindig. Or a big shindig. Almost 75 of us. It was a big party. His real name is Grandpa Woodyatt, but we have called him Grandpa Cherry for as long as I remember. He's a cherry farmer, so to us he's Grandpa Cherry.

Me and all my cousins that were there that night. My mom has 5 siblings, and then come all of us grandkids, then all the great grands. There's alot of us!

Love this crazy Grandpa. Never in your life will you meet a funnier, more down to earth, more happy, go lucky man than this one. He's quite the charachter and keeps us all laughing!

Drake spent the entire evening with a soda can in his hand. I was too busy socializing to care. His lucky night!

We gathered at my Aunt's big beautiful home in Logan. She is near the mountains on this huge, beautiful piece of property. With her horses as a backdrop. Piteresque!

Made for some beautiful pictures!

I was working the actual day of Carson's birthday. Bummer. Remember we had already had his party the week before, but felt like we should do some fun birthday type activity. So the day before we gathered up the cousins for our first swim day!

I made these little beauties to take along.

We had been having perfect summer time weather, up in nineties for days. Then of course the day we go swimming it drops to the seventies with a breeze. Too cold for me and my wimpy kids. We like the sun beating down on us. So we decided to head to the indoor aquatic center. Much more us. Much warmer. We were happy.

The next day, after work I stopped and grabbed some doughnuts. Headed home, had some quick dinner then loaded up those doughnuts on a plate. Added 8 candles and sang "happy birthday" again to our boy. You can never be sang to too much! More times the better. Happy 8 years of life little love. Sure am grateful to be your mama.

He thought it was pretty dang cool!

And to end out June, we piled up the car one night with blankets and treats and headed to the drive-in. Monsters University. Kids loved it.

Met up with the Phongsavath's and the Kofoed's. We had a blast.

So far we our soaking up all summer has to offer. I pride myself on creating these lasting memories for my kids. Childhood is something you never get back. The only time in your life where everything is as simple as it appears. Kids have the right to a good one. Bound and determined that my kids will look back on theirs and it will fill them with warmth and comfort. They have the rest of their lives to learn that things aren't always fair and that sometimes bad things happen, but not right now. Right now I want their lives to be filled with sunshine, cotton candy, sprinklers, potato bugs and bike rides. Crazy how much I love these little monkeys, their smiles fill me with a love and contentment I never knew possible. They make my world a more beautiful place, hope I am doing the same to theirs.

Happy Summer friends!

8 Years Old!

Big birthday this year. 8 years old. His baptism is right around the corner. Can't believe that. In the meantime though, we had a party. A week early so his grandma could be there. Lucky kid. Got to celebrate for a whole long week.

We sure do love this boy. Something about that firstborn. Takes you back to where it all started. A super young boy and girl becoming parents for the first time. Being given this super cute baby with tons of black hair and wondering if we knew what the heck we were doing. Which at often times was no, heck its still a no. But we are learning as we go, and he is one heck of a good kid so we must be do something right.

Anybody met Drake lately. I'm sorry if so. Such a pleasant soul these days, the kid ruins every family picture we try and get lately. He is always so happy and agreeable. Um, no he's not. Not at all.

Ninjgo themed this year. Did you know that don't make anything "Ninjago". Cause they don't. I learned that after wasting an entire morning driving to different party stores trying to find something. So we improvised, got balloons and pasted the Ninjago eyes on them, made Ninjago cupcakes (which Carson said the color of red was all wrong, too pink, he was very opionated about these cupcakes ) and bought solid plates and napkins the color of Ninjagos. It worked. He was happy.

Ummm, yummy food. Hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, macaroni salad, chips and fresh fruit...oh and fresh limes.

Lots of family. I keep waiting for Cars to ask me about a friend birthday party, but so far that hasn't happened. He still just loves his big family parties. Probably cause his cousins are his best friends and they come no matter what. Works out great for me. I don't want the headache of a friend party. No thanks.

It was most defintely the birthday of Ninjago's/Lego's. Kid collected 9 new sets. NINE! Seriously didn't open one gift that wasn't Lego related. Can you say obsessed. All these new sets brought on a massive Lego cleanout/organization. Carson and I spent 3 hours the following week going through all his legos and reorganizing the closet they are kept in. Quite the project. 29 sets he has. Insane.

Make a wish my darling boy.

Love this boy with all my heart. He's reaching that age. That dorky little age. Teeth that are too big for his tiny mouth, wobbly, skinny little legs, hair that is fuzzy and often too long. He is seriously such a little nerd, but he's my little nerd. All mine. From the moment I first met him, 8 years ago, he blew me away. I never knew it could feel like this, the power of that kind of love. It blows my mind and hurts my heart, so much so that I know my heart will never be the same again. To love that deep. Its an absolute joy being his mom, I know they say I am the one teaching him, but in reality he teaches me. Every day. The example that little boy sets on love, humility, kindness, selflessness and pure goodness. He's as good as gold. Love him to the moon and back again. Happy birthday baby.