Shots

I am officially DONE with childhood immunizations!!!! After 13 years of taking one or more of the kids to the doctor's office to get shots, I'm done, it's OVER!  Can you tell, I'm excited?

I had to take Jessica to get her final round of shots the other day.  I threw my camera in my purse because this was something I definitely wanted to document!

Of course, she was terrified and did not want to go!  It was cute to watch the older kids console her.  They decided that they wanted to come with us to the doctor's office to support Jessica.  And that they did!  Sam comforted her in the waiting room while they watched cartoons.  (This was not a posed picture.  He really was trying to help her, it was so cute!)

And then we all headed back for her appt.

When things got a little tense in the room, we tried to distract Jessica by taking pictures of silly faces.

And then the next 30 minutes, as we waited for the nurse to come with the shots, the kids fought.... or were climbing on the table.... or poking each other.... or yelling....  Seriously, this was the longest I have ever had to wait in this office and there were many moments when I wondered, "Why did I bring ALL theses kids???  But then, the moment came.  Tommy took over as the photographer.  Four shots.

And now another phase of my mothering life that is over.  I will have to admit that I'm not sad about that phase being over.  But, that means that my babies are growing up, and yes, that makes me sad, so sad!

Grandma and the Girls

Mark's mom had a girl's day with the granddaughters in town.  They did a little hand stitching project.

The girls loved the time they got to spend with their grandma!

And they LOVED the finished product!

Thanks Lu!  You are the best!

Volleyball Camp

Last week Rachel went to the BYU Volleyball camp with her three cousins.

Here are some of the pictures I found when I downloaded the pictures on my computer.
Socks...
I guess my sister took them to Target before they checked in and they bought matching socks.

The Dorms...
The girls thought they really needed to be renovated!  :)

Cute Cousins!

FHE Bowling

These two boys always have great ideas!

And their idea on Monday was to go bowling for FHE.
So we did.
I was lucky that I had my little camera in my purse.
I don't know what was more fun, bowling....

or taking pictures of us jumping in fake excitement!  :)

I left my camera on the table.  I wasn't the only one having fun taking pictures!

Mark taught some of the kids lessons in bowling...(you can tell Rach was taking it ALL in!)  :)

With my brother around, of course there had to be some competition!  It was Mark and Tommy vs. Ben and Tysen.  It was close...

But Ben and Tysen won!

We were lucky to be bowling next to some nice men.  Even after all the kids walked in their lane and got in their way the whole time, they agreed to take a group photo of us.  I love nice, understanding people!

What I LOVE about Summer!!!

It is NOT the Vegas heat! But This place...

It's what we look forward to all year!  We went to the San Diego area with Mark's brother, Zach and his family.  They have six kids which are about our kids ages, so it was a party for everyone!  The first day we went to the zoo.

The "human" monkeys...

It was fun, but by the end of the day, this is how everyone was feeling!  (OK, at least the teenagers)

and Mark was pushing a 5 person stroller because the little kids were tired of walking (and they thought it was fun to ride in the stroller)...

so we called it a day and headed to our hotel on the beach!  

It was awesome.  We spent the next two days doing this in the morning...

and then when it was lunch time, we would just walk up the stairs to our hotel, swim in the pool and jacuzzi for a little bit,

and then eat lunch on the grass enjoying the ocean view!

after lunch we walked back down the stairs to have more fun.

Mark and Tommy heading out...

and riding in together...

In the evening, the kids watched a movie, while the adults went out to eat.  Then we would come home and play games with the older kids.

The last night, when it was late and dark, Mark challenged the older kids to go down to the ocean with him and dive in.  So they did it.  And then they came back for a dip in the jacuzzi.  This is the brave and strong group with their fearless leader! :)

Man it was a good time!  Too bad it's back to the real world where it is so hot outside I could cook an egg on the sidewalk.  Too bad I have to get up right now and clean this messy house and do laundry.  And too bad that the kids keep telling me they're bored!  But enough about that, let me just think about this again....

Much better!  :)