Fourth of July, painting the house, and then some...

I keep letting all the pictures and need for blog posts build up so yet again, here is another long post...

Of course we are still having a lot of fun this Summer. We have been swimming with friends and in the yard a lot. Even Daddy got in the pool with the kids.

We went to the Roy pool and the kids LOVED it!

For the 4th of July we did the same thing we do every year... we went to the Riverdale Glory Days Parade, it was sorta lame this year but the kids got a lot of candy so that was nice for them. After the parade we went to the carnival for a minute. The kids love the big blow up slides, at least Peyton loved it this year, Bailey... not so much- see the pictures below. That night we had a BBQ and did fireworks with Dan's family, Peyton really enjoyed choosing out which firework would be lit next and watching them.

Ever since we bought our house a year and a half ago we have wanted to paint the interior walls. Well, we finally decided we were going to do it. It really went pretty quickly, it only took us a week and a half, and that wasn't painting EVERY day, but I spent all of most of the days cleaning, taping, painting baseboards and edges and then Dan would come home from work and roll the paint. He is a master roller so I let him handle most of that part. I am so excited and we love it. The new paint has made a huge difference. We even got new window treatments for the sliding glass door and some new decorations. We aren't completely done decorating yet but I wanted to get these pictures posted since we have been finished with the painting for a few weeks now.

Sharp Tooth...

The other day the kids and Dan were wrestling our bed, as they often do, all of the sudden Dan said "ouch, Bailey! Laura help me" he hurried too the bathroom while covering his right eye, Bailey was on the bed bawling hysterically. I ran to Bailey and asked her what happened. "I bit Daddy," she said. I immediately started into a lecture about how we don't bite and it's not nice blah blah blah. Dan then came out of the bathroom and said, "no, she didn't bite me. She fell on me and her mouth was open." He uncovered his eye and blood was dripping from the cut above his eyebrow. Man that girl must have sharp teeth. We butterflied it and it is healing nicely.

Summer Happenings...

Saturday night we went to the drive-in again. I love going, it is such a great thing for the kids and so nice to have our own comfy truck to snuggle up in. It's so great to go out and buy all the treats we want and so much cheaper then going to the Megaplex (there's a time for that too though). The back of our truck is so sweet when we go, we blow up an air mattress and bring lots of blankets and ALL of the pillows in our house. It is awesome!

Sunday we had tickets to the Raptors game. We had a really fun time, the kids especially loved being goofy, all the spectators around us enjoyed their show.

Yesterday I set up the slip-n-slide for the kids, they are so silly! Her are some pictures and video of them being nutty...

"I ain't gonna kiss no monkey!"

This last Monday I had a meeting at work (in Salt Lake), Jenny (Dan's sister) watched the kids for me, afterward we met at Hogle Zoo. The kids had a great time. Bailey kept calling all the small animals doggies and Peyton was totally grossed out by the snakes and the spiders. It was a nice day, pretty much all of the animals made an appearance so I was really glad the kids got to see them all. Here are some pictures of the day trip.

Peyton was so funny... in the picture on the bottom left I was telling all the kids to kiss the gorilla statue so I could take their picture and Peyton refused! When I was trying to convince him he said "I ain't gonna kiss no monkey!" I almost had him convinced when I started offering money!

The next day my sister-in-law Ivette and I attempted to take the kids to the Disney thing at Union Station. We got there around 11 am and it was PACKED. We decided to take the kids to McDonald's instead. I think they had a pretty good time. Afterwards we came home and let the kids swim and play on the slip-n-slide. It stayed sunny the whole time!! They had a great time.

I guess I didn't take as many pictures of the kids swimming as I thought I did. None of Peyton! oops :)

Tour de Cure 2009...

Yesterday was our ride for the Tour de Cure.
We woke up bright and early and headed to meet the family and load bikes in the truck. Then we drove up to Brigham City for the ride. The weather was not too great but it definitely could have been worse. It was windy with a little rain, just sprinkles mostly, so we were glad there wasn't any downpour!
The ride started at 10:00 am. We rode the 25 mile course since we are just riding rookies but there was also a 100 mile and a 61 mile race. There were over 1000 riders in all. It was such a great experience! I can't lie, it was harder then I thought it would be, the last 1/4 of the ride all I could think about was laying down! My legs have never been more tired. Dan was such a sweet husband, he wasn't fatigued at all, the only thing bothering him was his butt. I kept telling him he could just ride ahead since he was riding slower for me, but he wouldn't leave me. His encouragement really helped me to push myself. We crossed the finish line at about 12:15pm. It was so great to finish and see our family. Peyton and Bailey stayed with their MeeMaw to meet us at the finish line. I couldn't help but get teary as we crossed the finish line. I was so impressed by all the red riders (those were the people who rode that have diabetes), there were so many of them, young (kids!) and old.
It was an amazing experience and I am impressed by Dan's sisters that rode, they deal with diabetes everyday and I have no idea what it would be like to have a disease like that, they are an inspiration to me and to all~! Dan's sister Betsy's kids even rode! They are amazing and so cute to support their mom.
What a great opportunity we have to raise funds for such an important cause. Diabetes research has made and continues to make great progress. Dan and I were both able to reach our fund raising goal which helped our team, the "Blood Sugar Daddies" reach their fund raising goal of $4,000! Thank you to all who donated to this cause. We plan on riding for many years to come!

Our Team

Here we are, almost to the half way point.

At the finish line.

I PASSED...

I passed my LPN boards!! I tested on Friday and found out my results today. I am so excited and relieved. I am glad to have that off my back and planning for a fun Summer. YEAH!!

Hope I'm better than this nurse!

(the cartoon was Dan's idea, so sorry if anyone is offended)

This Saturday June 13...

Our Tour de Cure ride is this Saturday June 13th. We are so excited for the ride and have been training as much as we can. It's been tough with the kids and a crapy old bike trailer but they have toughed it out despite the crammy fit and the blazing sun. Dan reached his fund raising goal quickly due to a few large donations, thank you all! I am so close to my goal and have had many people generously donate, thank you so much. I just wanted to give you all an update on our fund raising and ride.

Summer Fun... (warning~lots of pictures)

We have been having a lot of fun already this Summer. I have been working a lot and I really should be doing more studying but what they hey, Summer only lasts so long so I figure we should be having fun.
First we had a BBQ and a fire in the back yard with Kim and Nate~ we roasted marshmallows and had smores, the kids loved it.

Then we went to Dinosaur Park for a play date with some of my high school friends and their kiddos.

Then we had a BBQ with my uncle Michael and his family and Kim & Nate's family. The kids ran through the sprinklers and played on the playground. It was great to catch up with Uncle Michael and my cousins whom I haven't seen much since Nursing school started.

We went to the drive in to see Night at the Museum and Wolverine.

Then after working a grave shift (one of many worked so far this Summer) in an effort to wear the kids out so they would take long naps, I had them swim in the yard, they loved that! We need a bigger pool.

And finally, today we had another play date with friends from high school again at Layton Park. It's always fun hanging out with them, and great to visit with adults!