Jori's Wedding

My sister Jori got married 2 weeks after my sister Amy. It has been a crazy summer with all the events, but this one in particular was pretty special. We stayed at a house in Kanab, and that is where she got married. It was perfect because we didn't have to travel to and from the hotel, there was a pool, and we had everything there for the wedding/reception. She got married on July 13th to Daniel Schofield. He couldn't be more perfect for Jori and her children. 

Here is the isle, with my dad and Jori's son Carson walking her down in the back. In the front there is Dawson on the left, Mckynlee in the wagon, Breslynn and Daxon (the twins) on the right, and one of Danny's nieces pulling the wagon. Dawson was so proud to be a part of the wedding.

As they walked passed, this is what I noticed..... the big bow on the back of the wagon that had Andee M'lee written in gold on it. She was a flower girl with Mckynlee. In the wagon they had a pink teddy bear with Andee M'lee embroidered on it. Mckynlee was holding the bear and playing with it. Both of my kids were a part of this special day for my sister. It brought tears to my eyes because of how thoughtful my sister Jori is. She always talks about Andee M'lee and never fails to include her. When we ask Mckynlee, "Where's Andee? Where's Andee?" She just starts smiling so big and looks up.

During the ceremony Mckynlee would start to get a little fussy and Dawson just played with her the entire time to keep her happy. The thought of Andee M'lee being there with her and Dawson playing with her too was such a tender moment. It also never fails to suprise me how in tune Dawson is with little ones. His attention span towards babies and younger kids is truly amazing.

Here's the newlyweds to be! It was so funny during the ceremony because Danny was reading was the bishop was reading out of his book. Danny was just following along with his eyes and we all started laughing once the bishop turned his book towards Danny so he could see better to follow along. HILARIOUS! Then the bishop asked, "Have I misread anything?"

Here's Dawson next to the Andee M'lee bow and the "Andee Bear". Dawson was so proud of knowing his sister was there with him, and he took care of her the rest of the night......

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Here is our whole family, missing one....that should be here in December. It includes my sister Amy and her new husband with his kids, all of Amy's kids before James goes on his mission, and everyone else. L-R: Rick (Amy's new husband), Amy, Choc in the back, Kortni, Haylee in the back (hopefully Choc's wife soon), Me, J.D. behind me, Danny, Jori holding Mckynlee, Matt, Jamie, Chad, James behind, Layne behind, my mom, my dad, Lyndee, Mikinzie, and Sari. Then the kids in fron L-R: Carson (Rick's boy), Tayson (Rick's other boy), Dawson holding the Andee bear standing behind, Rylee, Daxon, Jessi behind, Breslynn, and Carson (Jori's son).

Here is our little family. Sorry about the hair do, we had just gotten home from Lake Powell and had about 1 hour to get all of us ready, so no specialties with getting ready.

Remember how I said earlier that Dawson took care of Andee M'lee all night? Well, what that entailed was him pulling that wagon around all evening with the Andee Bear wrapped in a blanket. It was so sweet!

When other kids would come try to pull the wagon they would start to run and Dawson would yell, "NO! slow down! You have to be careful with my sister, she's asleep and little." He's so protective. :-)

This little man is Daxon. He is such a character and absolutely adorable. He's sitting on Great Grandma Biel's lap and sang, "You are so Beautiful" from Little Rascals to her. We couldn't get enough of hearing him sing it! He would even go high at the end like Alfalfa, "to meeeeeeeeee."

Here are the men in our family, minus my dad. They all are pretty well fit don't ya think? L-R: J.D., Chad, Danny, Matt, Rick, and Choc.

And here are the ladies (sisters). L-R: Jori, Me, Amy, Kortni, and Jamie. We all try to pose and then on the count of 3.... the next picture really shows us.

I yelled "on the count of three grab your boobs!" and so we did and Jori bent over- it was hilarious! The best part is that my sister Kortni is grabbing  her chest in this pic, but then she thought we were supposed to grab the person in front of us, so she tried to grab Amy's chest.... seriously.

My mother, her mother, Jori, and Mckynlee- 4 generations all healthy and lookin' good!

After the party, we needed another party at the pool. So J.D. and I headed out with the kids and had so much fun! L-R: Dawson, Chase, Jaidon, and Miki in the back.

We obviously didn't get enough, so we swam again the next day and the next! BUT, J.D. wouldn't get in.... so of course Dawson and his mischevious side (from me) pushed him in! Way to go Dawson!

 

All in all it was an awesome weekend and full of lots of laughter.

The 4th of July

This year we were in Holden for the 4th. It was pretty dang hot, but we lasted and had fun. Dawson had a pretty unfriendly attitude with the camera for the parade (mainly because he does not like being woken up, unfortunately he gets that from his mom.) We found a perfect spot for the parade and we weren't even early! 

I do have to be proud of this little guy because we didn't let him stay and play for more than 10 minutes on the bounce houses. He didn't fuss or whine, he was ready to go home. 

Of course, the heat meant it was time for swimming. From left to right its Dawson, Brant, Tilden in the back, Jetta, and Taylee. They had so much fun running in circles and making a whirl pool carry them around the pool. It was pretty impressive!

The cousins again relaxing in the cool water.

 

 Before we went to Molly and Lucas' to swim, we set up a little pool at Grandma and Grandpa's. Dawson had a great idea of setting the slide into the pool. The little kids loved this! Below is Kyson and Dawson.

Such a great weekend, and we can't get enough of cousins and Holden.

Yuba Lake this Year

We finally made it to Yuba Lake for the summer. It was a perfect day with the whole clan. 

Here is Dawson, Aunt Loni, Taylee, and Kyson building a sand castle! They had a blast kicking it down at the end of the day.

The kids spent a lot of time out in the water jumping off the tube and swimming around it. Below is Jetta and Dawson trying to catch a fish with a bucket....... no luck.

Here's the kiddos again still searching for a fish....

and another shot of the other cousins on the tube. They never wanted to get off. Out on the water when Chet was pulling the tube behind his boat Dawson just wanted to go faster and faster! He loved it! It was hilarious that he wanted to go super fast and some of the older kids just wanted to keep it slow. Dawson did get his thrill when he rode with J.D. and Parker. I wasn't on the boat, but he had quite a story to tell when he got back to the beach.

Thank you again Uncle Chet and Aunt Bobi Sue for bringing your boat and toys! It was so much fun!

Amy's Wedding

SADLY, I didn't get any photos, but my sister Amy got married!! She is so happy and we couldn't be more happy for her and her new husband. She married a man that has been a family friend for over 20 years. He is truly an amazing guy and he makes my sister so happy. 

She got married June 28th, at Angel's Landing in Kanab, UT. It was so beautiful. J.D. and I prepared and cooked all of the food. We had BBQ'd ribs (those were prepared by a restuarant), and had dutch oven potatoes and salad. After the ceremony we all ate and enjoyed a live band! We danced and danced until it was dark. Dawson was so CUTE! We tried so hard to get a picture, but the lights weren't working. All night he kept asking this little girl, (the groom's niece), to dance. She wouldn't..... and finally she did! Dawson, NO JOKE, would twirl her under his arm and rock back and forth. He was in total control and led the girl all around the dance floor twirling her. Everyone couldn't get enough of them. A true gentleman we have on our hands. 

Congratulations to Amy and Rick! We are so happy for you!

The Move to Orem, UT

On May 14th we moved up to Orem, UT to start a new business with J.D.'s brother. It's been pretty hard moving because Holden felt so much like home to us. Dawson made friends so easily, as well as J.D. and I. J.D.'s Handy man business brought him so much confidence and felt proud about what he was doing. It took us about 2 months to actually get all the boxes unpacked and sort of moved in. We have been dragging our feet because we didn't want to move. I know it will take some time to get adjusted, and there are some positives about moving. 

We live in my brother Choc's house in the upstairs for now. We are still looking for another place to live or hopefully buy.... but as things keep going on, it looks like some other options may possibly be popping up and we may or may not be moving in that direction. We will see as time moves on. 

We spent a lot of time swimming in the beginning at the Provo Rec Center.

It was so much fun until they started to change the rules and you had to slide down the slides on your back laying down..... unfortunately it is no longer where we want to swim because of the injuries that occurred from that rule.

I will post a couple pics of our front room. We are still moving in, and have not decorated anywhere in the house. Even this room needs some more decorating, but I don't think it will happen until we know if we will be here for a long time or not.

We absolutely love our new entertainment center that we traded a log bed for with J.D.'s brother. It has been wonderful and adds so much to the room. It's by far my favorite piece of furniture. We still have some decorating to do with it as well.....

 

We just transferred our records, have signed Dawson up for soccer & preschool, and are hoping to make friends soon. 

The Pet Parade

Millard county had a street fair one day where the hosted a pet parade, chicken run, bunny run, trout catch with bare hands, and lots of other activities. We did the trout catch, and chicken run. By far the best was the trout catch. What made it better was our good friends Doug and Megan came up to visit!

The night before we had a bonfire in the backyard with our friends. It was so much fun and we made some more hilarious memories. There is truly never a dull moment when we are with them. 

Dawson took a million pics- but I'm only posting 1. Lol! 

The trout catch was awesome! The first round Dawson got so close, but no fish. Then they let my age group go and I missed as well. Then Dawson was prepping for his second round and aught one before the whistle so they made him put it back....... But he redeemed himself again! He caught one and was so proud! Those things were so slippery it was amazing that he held onto it. 

Then my turn again- and i tracked down this huge fish in the bunch, and had to grab between its gills to hold onto it! I was SO excited!!! Me and Dawson had to watch and learn how to gut a fish, but in the end we just gave them to the cats.... so gross. Lol! 

The chicken run was a joke with 2 chickens and 40 kids. Not exactly fun cuz the chickens didn't run. They just got picked up in 2 seconds- Dawson was a little upset but we reminded him that he got a fish and not everyone was able to do that. After that he was once again proud and the chickens forgotten. 

There were free bounce houses which is where most of the time was spent! Also a balloonist was there and made a ninja turtle for Dawson! It was a great day and ended with a serious sunburn on my end-  whoops!

Doing the Dishes

While in Holden Dawson had wanted to spend time with mom, and I had to pick up the house so I could help out more with JD's parents for everything they have done for us. So Dawson decided he could do the dishes, which he faithfully did almost every day. Not even kidding. He did such a good job too! He'd even sing his cleaning the dishes song! So freaking cute!

I will have to upload the video when we get our computer up and going again.