Forever Young: All Caught Up!

Sam finished his season of Baseball. He did really well his first season of Coach Pitch.

Mid-July we went to a dance party that my friend invited our family to. It was supposed to be in her backyard but the weather turned bad so we did it at her church building. There was a DJ, music, dancing, face painting and brownies and ice cream. She threw this party to celebrate life and to focus on the joy it brings. It was a blast and the kidsespecially had a lot of fun dancing with their friends. Morgan got in there of course and danced some as well:) Noel had a unicorn painted on her face.

Evelyn wanted a unicorn on her face too:)

Evelyn dancing with her friend Ella.

We sometimes feel like we live with a hamster. On this particular day, she built a nest in the linen closet:)

Off to the Watkins Family Reunion in Heber City, UT. We even were able to fit our kayaks...barely!

And our fishing gear:)

The reunion was a blast. The kids loved swimming in the pool. Here Noel is jumping in!

Sam jumping in. He even got to the point where he could jump in without his life jacket. He has improved a lot with his swimming skills.

Evelyn jumping in.

Sunning with cousin Ruthie.

Lots of spa time with cousins!

Fun on the slide.

Bedtime hugs.

We played at the nearby Jordanelle Reservoir. The kids played in the sand, we swam, kayaked, played spike ball and had lunch.

Grandpa and Simon on the trampoline.

Mikey brought his pole and showed us his amazing acrobatic skills on the pole. He is AMAZING!

We celebrated my mom's birthday!

The kids had so much fun with their cousins.

We had the traditional talent show. Noel and her cousins Maddy and Henry performed a fun rendition of the Macarena.

Noel played a few different songs on the piano.

Evelyn danced in her leotard and tutu for everyone.

We performed a skit with a machine we built that increases things in size if you drop them into the machine. We call the machine "The Young's Size-o-matic".

The men and some of the boys went fishing at Jordanelle reservoir.

Hanging out before church on Sunday.

More swimming and slide fun.

Evelyn loves being thrown in the air by Uncle Ben:)

Getting ready to go to the "Watkins Family Theater" with their tickets.

Evelyn was running next to the pool at the reunion and slipped and fell into the pool, scraping and bruising the back of her leg. Poor thing was in quite a bit of pain.

We love family and are grateful for the time we spent this summer at the reunions we had.

Evelyn had an allergic reaction to oats. It's been a while since her last reactions. What's crazy is she didn't eat much of the English Muffin that the oats were in before I remembered to look at the ingredients and saw that they were in there. I didn't think too much about it because she had only one or two bites before I took it away. Later on while running errands with the kids, she pulled her shirt up to itch her tummy and I saw these hives that looked like they recently started up. I assumed it was from the oats and took her to the doctor who told me what allergy medicines to give her and said she probably would have had a more serious reaction by the time he saw her if she was going to have one. Poor thing had hives that would come and go for 2 weeks after this!

Pioneer Day Fireworks and dancing by Evelyn.

Our sweet Evelyn.

Evelyn loves to dress herself. You gotta love the floral board shorts, with a polka dot shirt, a beanie and black boots.

Snuggling buddies.

Evelyn turned 3! Here are her birthday cake pancakes!

Birthday snuggles.

I made a chocolate butterfly cake per her request.

Opening up presents.

Happy Birthday to our cute, fun, silly, sweet and squishy 3 year old:)

Trying out her new tricycle!

We went for a drive as a family one evening. We sure live in a beautiful area.

I didn't have to meal plan on this particular week. Morgan planned "LOVE" everyday for dinner and of course "MEAT" on sunday:) Who needs more than that;)

Evelyn playing in her pool.

Noel relearned how to ride a bike. It's been a couple years or so since she has ridden. She had quite a nasty fall a couple years ago and finally got the courage to try again. So proud of her.

Meanwhile, this picture says it all. Evelyn the threenager. Walking away pouting because pedaling her tricycle is hard sometimes;) Haha.

The kids love to ride their bikes/scooters. Sam has improved a lot on his scooter too.

Playing in the sprinklers with friends.

Soaking wet and loving life.

I love my little buddy.

We went to Heber and went to a popular burger, fries and shakes joint called Dairy Keen. It was so busy, but sooo good!

Noel and Evelyn playing in Evelyn's bed.

Soaking up the last days of Summer Break at the Spanish Fork Water Park...

...as well as the reservoir.

Her curls!!

Best buddies.

Summer flew!! It was full of fun though. The kids were kind of dreading starting school but they were excited once they met their teachers at Back to School Night and visited their classrooms.

Sam - 2nd Grade.

Noel - 4th Grade.

There was a fire on West Mountain. On my way to Volleyball one night you could see the flames glowing.

Evelyn and I tried out the reservoir while the kids were in school. There was no one else there! It was so nice!

Evelyn exercising with me in our basement.

Eating apples.

Sam was supposed to choose someone to write a note to at school and decided to write to Noel.

A couple weeks ago the kids wanted to have a sleepover in Sam's room. It actually worked out!! We were pleasantly surprised!

Playing on Daddy the Jungle Gym:)

Evelyn and I go on walks/jogs here and there in the mornings. We stop off at our park and play, on our way back home.

In the past I've posted about a fun time when a man at the park brought out his macaw and Evelyn and I got to hold it. While we were at the park the other day, we didn't notice the bird until we heard him say, "Hello" in a very parrot like way. He was just hanging out on his owners fence. We rushed over to him and he kept saying "hello" and literally was waving one of his claws at us! It was so fun:)

I had a birthday and Morgan brought me home a bunch of random balloons. Evelyn looped her legs through the strings and said, "Mommy, help me fly!"

The many faces of Evelyn lately;)

Noel started Fall Soccer a few weeks ago. I had to take this picture from last week heading to her game.

Sam lost another tooth!

Noel (in gray) getting the ball away from the other team. She is playing so well this season. It has really clicked with her and she is playing way more aggressive and is getting more coordinated with her foot work!