vawdrey cousin fun

 I only have a few pictures to show a couple of fun outings with Vawdrey cousins during the summer.  We drove out to the Herriman reservoir to spend an after noon with Ethan, Rachel, & Katie.  The boys had a great time in the water and especially in the sand!  The temperature at the reservoir was perfect for a leisurely afternoon in the sun.

 Another fun outing was Lagoon with all the Vawdrey cousins!  Matthew and Zach had a great time riding rides together.

 Jacob had such a fun time making sure that Will had a good time -- and he did! 

We all had a very fun time!

salsa-licious!

I have had such a great time making salsa this season!  As usual, my tomatoes just aren't plentiful enough to provide what I need, so thankfully, friends and family have pulled through with providing the tomatoes to feed my salsa-canning fetish.  LOVE THIS!

first day of school

The first day of school -- Jacob is in 5th grade and Matthew is in 1st grade.  Matthew is so excited for this first day back at school!  I love it!  Jared and Ryan were lucky to avoid pictures today because I forgot to pull the camera out when they left early this morning. It's hard to believe this is Ryan's last year of junior high and Jared is a junior.  Wow!

vawdrey family photo

We managed to get all of us Vawdrey's together for a family photo!

vawdrey family photo shoot

We managed to get all of the Vawdreys together for an afternoon of food, fun, and fotos.  Jacob, Rachel, and Sarah are all about the same age and have so much fun hanging out together.

I really didn't like the way our family photo shoot turned out, but here's the best one (above).  My handsome boys. (I do like this one)

 This picture of G&G turned out really nice! Love it!

watermelon harvest

Ryan always wants to plant a watermelon plant in the spring.  We planted a mini-watermelon this year right below our front step.  The plant did great and we had quite a few watermelons on it.  Problem is, we can't tell when they are ripe!  We misjudged most of them, but this one was PERFECT!

ryan's birthday

Ryan started his day by opening presents -- you know, straight to the good stuff!

He had been hoping we'd come through with this tablet that he'd picked out before his birthday.  Good things come to those that wait!  He was pretty excited!

Ryan's birthday dinner: steak, homemade mac n' cheese, apples, and fruit punch.  Yum!

His birthday cake was truly a work of art -- and tasty too!  He requested an Oreo ice cream cake from DQ, but they were all sold out.  Sooo... I made him one!  Cookies and cream ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, and lots and lots of oreos = delicious!!

 That's quite a fire atop that cake!  I can't  believe Ryan is 14 already.  Yep, he's growing up.

Ryan is full of energy, he loves being with friends and family, has an opinion about everything, speaks his mind, and turns everything in life into a game or challenge to make things more fun and interesting.  Happy Birthday Ryan!  We love you!

bike rack project

I decided it was time to find a way to get the 5 bikes in our shed in and out without dragging out all of them everytime we only needed one!  They were falling all over each other and I was worried that pedals or chains or something else was going to get damaged in the process as well.  So, thanks to some internet research and our own experimentation, Jared and I came up with this little gem!

It fit perfectly into the allowed space in the shed and holds all five bikes (one missing from picture because it was being used at picture time, but I guarantee it fits!)  I can't help it, I was proud of our efforts and the final product!

jared's first job

Jared got his first "real" job!  He got hired at Papa Murphy's!  Wahoo! (Papa Murphy's makes and sells unbaked pizzas.  Customers pick up the pizza and take it home to bake.) He makes pizzas, takes phone orders, washes dishes, and runs the cash register. He had to get his food handler permit before he could start.  This was pretty easy -- study for a permit test, go to Clearfield to take the test, pass it, and pay $25.  He is working part time and will continue to work a few hours a week even when school starts.  He is excited!