Blog Slacker

Okay, so I have been a total blog slacker. I always have the best intentions of writing new posts. I take pictures, I even think of titles and what I want to write. Here is an example I wanted to do a couple of weeks ago:

Out with the Old, In with the new

Good Bye squished cushions,

Frayed edges with the cording coming out,

Gross stains,

torn seem,

old couches, that everyone has, used to have, or knows someone who has had. You have been good to us for 8 and 10 years respectively, but it is time for us to move on.

Hello beautiful, new, "durahide" couches that my kids can wipe their ketchup faces and sticky hands on and it doesn't matter. Welcome to the family.

I was also going to write a post called "Jam Session" about making apricot jam with my neighbor friends, and one called "Scout Widow" about all the things the kids and I did while Randy was away at camp for a week. But I didn't. You have to give me a break, I have had four kids at home all summer. We have been busy:Playing games, this is Nathan's favorite game, Tumbling Tower.

Growing a garden, and making yummy food with our harvest. That zucchini made 4 loves of zucchini bread, 3 dozed double chocolate zucchini muffins, and a pan of zucchini brownies. I have also made lemon poppy seed zucchini bread, lemon zucchini cookies, chocolate zucchini cookies, and zucchini apple crisp. And, of course, we have enjoyed zucchini grilled, baked, and pan fried.

This yummy grilled pizza was made with homemade pesto from basil we grew, tomatoes and zucchini we grew, and onions from our neighbor. Soooo good.

Playing at the park, this was Natalie's first time on a swing, I think she liked it.

Visiting the Gale Center Museum with cousins. The kids had fun playing and I had fun learning about the history of South Jordan.

Visiting the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point and riding the ponies.

Playing with neighbors.

Playing at the splash park with friends every Wednesday morning.

Hiking, the hardest hike we did this summer was the "Y". It was tough with little kids, but we were rewarded with ice cream from the Creamery after, so it was worth it.

Visiting the airplane museum in Roy, UT.

Eating Aggie Ice Cream in Logan, it is pretty good, but I still prefer the BYU Creamery.

Spending a day at Bear Lake with Randy's family.

And generally having a fun summer.

Now that Jacob is back in school we should settle down into more of a routine. Maybe I will actually have some time to post more often.

Ten Years of Wedded Bliss

Ten Years
3 apartments, 1 house
2 college degrees
7 vehicles
8 job changes
4 pregnancies
4 babies
3 boys, 1 girl
1 major illness
1 dream vacation
0 fights
3650 days of happiness

I love you Randy!
Thanks for giving me the life I always wanted,
and making me the happiest girl alive.

Summer Fun

It is finally feeling like summer here in Utah. We skipped spring entirely, but now that the weather is nice we are taking full advantage of it. One of our families favorite summer activities is Herriman Town Days. We love the parade. I love watching the joy on my kids faces as they race for candy thrown from floats. It is like one huge pinata. I forgot my camera this year. We also love going to the park in the afternoon and riding rides and walking around to all the booths. This year Adam got to ride a pony, which he loved.We love to stick around the park and eat dinner (Little Caesars). We spread out our blankets on the grass behind the pavilion and enjoy the free concert. This year it was Jericho Road, a little 8 years ago, but still kind of fun. Someone should probably tell those guys they are in their 30's now and not as cool as they used to be. As soon as the concert is over and it dark the real show begins, fireworks! There is just something so awesome about laying on your back in the park with your family all around you listening to Lee Greenwood's "I am proud to be an American" and having your whole field of vision light up by fireworks. One of my favorite moments of the whole summer.

Adam and me, and Nathan with cousins Eli and Alayna waiting for the show to begin.

We are also having a lot of fun with our neighbors this summer. We always have fun with our next door neighbors in the summer. Jackie and I typically spend a lot of time sitting in our front yards watching our kids play while we chat. This year we have new friends. We got new neighbors across the street who have 4 girls all the same ages as my kids. We are becoming great friends and we love hanging out with them. Here we are playing in the water.

Adam and Morgan

Nathan and Harlie

Jackie and Kasey, being the great neighbors that they are made me this cute tutu for Natalie. They were making 4th of July tutus for their girls and had extra material. Thanks guys, isn't she adorable?

Riverton Town Days is another highlight of summer. This is a Wardle family tradition from when Randy was growing up. It is always on the 4th of July, so it is a great way to celebrate. It started with the parade on Friday night. The parade was crazy, residents of Riverton take their parade seriously. My mother in law put out chairs a week in advance. Then we had to squeeze about 30 Wardles and 10 friends of Wardles into about 20 feet of sidewalk. Good thing we like each other.Hayden, Isaac, Jacob, and Nathan waiting for the parade to start

The parade was long, so long that Nathan said to me, "Mom, I am tired of catching candy." Then then went and sat down to enjoy what he had picked up.

It was long for Natalie too, she fell asleep on daddy's lap.

On Saturday we met cousins at the park. We were hoping to see Air Force jets fly over, but they never came. At least we got to play all decked out in our patriotic attire.

Saturday afternoon we had a party with Randy's family. Natalie loves Grandpa Wardle.

I made the awesomest cake. Seriously, the best I have ever made. It was a plain white coconut cake on the outside, but inside held a surprise.

Ta Da!!

All the Wardle cousins, except Natalie, who was sleeping.

After the party it was off to watch the Riverton fireworks. We found a great spot with a good view of the action.

Since Randy had the day off on Monday we decided to go camping with Randy's brother Jason and his family. We left Sunday afternoon after church and drove up to the Uintas. For some reason we ended up in a campsite with no facilities. No table, no outhouse, no faucet. I don't mind camping when I have these basic things. Without them things are a little rough. There was no where to prepare our meals, no way to wash hands and faces (I think we used an entire package of baby wipes), and I would be happy if I never have to squat in the woods again. About the time the Ketchup exploded all over me was about the time I decided that I will never camp like this again. Natalie was sweet as always, she slept great next to me in my sleeping bag. And Randy and the boys had a great time, even if I didn't.

What boy wouldn't love getting this filthy?

We got back from camping on Monday afternoon. That night we were kicking it in the front yard with our neighbors and we decided to do some fireworks of our own. What a great way to end the weekend.
Whoever thought that lighting a firework and putting in the hand of a child was a good idea was crazy. And yet we do sparklers every year. Adam ended up with a little singed hair, but luckily that was the worst that happened.

Goings on in the Wardle Family

This year both of our older boys participated in Herriman Baseball. It was Nathan's first year in T-Ball, and surprisingly it was Jacob's third year playing. I say surprisingly because you would think that after three years of playing a sport you would have a little better grasp of how to play the game. I just don't think it is his thing. I think this will be his last year of baseball. I am not sure about Nathan yet. Anyway, because they were both playing we has baseball games 4 nights a week. This is our last week and I couldn't be happier about it. Nathan's team was the Sea Dogs, Randy was the assistant coach. He played on a team with his cousins Alyssa and Alayna.

Jacob also played Soccer this year. This is much more his speed, running around chasing a ball instead of standing in one place waiting for one to come your way. He tried so hard all season to make a goal. He has several close ones and lots of assists, but never one on his own. Finally at the last game he made one. You should have seen his face, he was so proud of himself.

Jacob his last day of Kindergarten last Thursday. I can't believe it is already over, didn't it just start. They had a little program that was so cute. I tried to post video, but apparently Blogger's video feature isn't working, sorry mom. This is him with his teacher, Ms. Schmidt, and his best friend, Katelynn (it was a super windy day).
Natalie is getting so big. She turned 6 months old a few days ago. We have just started to feed her solid food, or at least attempt to. She is still not sure what to think about it.
And she can sit up now too, at least for a little while. Look how happy she is.
She is seriously the best baby. I am very blessed that I got such an easy one. She is sweet and happy. She only cries when she needs something. Mostly she just sits and watches what is going on around her.

Nathan's Birthday and Memorial Day Weekend

Nathan's 4th Birthday was on the Wednesday before Memorial Day. That happens to be our craziest day of the week so we had a little family party for him on the Sunday before. We had my brothers over for dinner and then some of Randy's family came over for cake. I made this awesome Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake. I got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen. It was very dark and rich, Randy didn't particularly like it, but he was the only one. I think that I will try to make it again with semisweet and milk chocolate instead of bittersweet. This was also a going away party of sorts for my brother Aaron and his family. Yesterday they moved to New Mexico where my sister-in-law Sophia is going to go to graduate school. I am going to miss them so much. It has been nice having them here in Utah.

On Nathan's Birthday we had a little party for him during the day. We just had a few cousins and neighbors come over. I made Rainbow cupcakes from the blog Mindika Moments. They were so fun. Seriously, some of the awesomest cupcakes I have ever made, they looked so cool. Even the crumbs were pretty. We didn't do anything particularly fun that evening. I had cub scouts, Nathan played in a T-ball game. I did convince Randy to skip out on Boy Scouts to spend a little time with the family.

We had a fun Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday we decided to take a drive down to Provo Canyon, to Bridal Veil Falls. Bridal Veil Falls is special place for me and Randy, as I am sure it is for many BUY couples. We had our first kiss in front of the falls, and then, a mere 2 1/2 months later, he took me back there to propose. And now look at us, just over ten years later, we have all these kids. This picture is me and our kids sitting in the exact place where Randy put a ring on my finger.

And here is Randy and the boys on top of a nearby rock.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we took our yearly trip to Lagoon. We took advantage of my brother-in-law, Steve's, IHC employee discount, it is the only way to go. We had a lot of fun there with Randy's mom and his sister, Kristin, and brother, Ryan, and their families. And, the weather was perfect, finally.

Adam with his cousins, Sunny, Alyssa, and Hayden

Randy on the little roller coaster with Adam, Jacob and Nathan are in front of them.

Jacob said his favorite ride was the Ody Sea. He also loved the Bat. It was the only big ride he was tall enough to go on. Nathan says his favorite ride was the Musik Express, crazy kid! I was excited to ride some roller coasters, but after twice on the Colossus and once on Wicked I was done. It gave me a headache.

This last picture is just because. Isn't Natalie sweet. We love her. The time has gone fast, she is almost 6 months old.