Visiting Family!

We were blessed to have Seth & Caroline and Adam & Christine's families come and visit. (David and Missy came the week before, but I actually didn't get any photo's of them....sorry.) We all had a really good time together. We managed to keep busy, and got plenty of time to play and socialize. It is always fun when we can get together!

Here we are having a "party" in the back yard.
This was something we did just to keep the kids busy and entertained. It wasn't very long, but it was a lot of fun.

I even made a "pinata". But it wasn't strong enough. Oh well...the fact it's filled with candy is the best part.

Playing "Clue". With our books for privacy as we fill out our sheets to see "who done it." We always play lots of games together. One of my favorite parts of our get togethers.

The Sprinter Van test drive. Kip is looking at getting one of these for the business. And who know's....maybe we will want one someday too. So we thought we'de take it out for a ride and show it to Seth and Caroline.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round...."

The trampoline is always a highlight for the kids.

Kip and Josh.

Breanne and Carlie.

Preggo Mommy! (I finally got a picture of me pregnant with baby #5.)

Breanne and Ella enjoying a popsicle.

Sadie and Scott, having popcorn and watching a show. (Too cute!)

Playing games together. Here we are playing Spoons, but we also love Catch Phrase, Settlers of Cattan, Clue, Tumblin' Monkeys, and many more. Plus lots of video games!

Here's Breanne with here stuffed animals on her bed. (She just wanted me to take this picture of her, and it turned out super cute.)

Makin' cupcakes with Megan and Lucy.

Another "keep the kids busy" project. We had the girls make and decorate their own cupcakes. They had a blast! It was super fun and they were yummy!

Pretty cute huh?!

"Want a cupcake?"

Lucy

Scott

Happy Fourth of July! We did fireworks with everyone! It was fun, and special because they can't do fireworks in Arizona on their streets. So it was a new experience for some of our nieces.

Primary Pioneer Parade and Carnival

My job in the primary presidency is to do our quarterly activities. And I loved doing the primary parade and carnival so much at our old ward that I thought I would start doing it in this ward. It was a huge success! Everyone had a lot of fun and we had a great turn out. 8 month pregnant me did not walk the parade route, but I got it started then waited for everyone at the carnival site. The kids played "drums" and "shakers" and threw candy as they walked the streets of our ward. They then ended up behind the church where we had 12 different carnival games for them to play. It was really a lot of fun. We'll see if it becomes a tradition.


Jared walking with the boys.

Here's Josh at the carnival.

Breanne.

Scott, taking a turn to knock the bull down.

The Broken Bone

So we had our first major E.R. trip. Scott fell off G-ma's trampoline because he was trying to sit on the edge with his popsicle, and broke his arm just above his elbow. It was a really bad break that required him to go into an emergency surgery to have 2 pins put in to hold the bone in place. Luckily it looks like the pins were a success and he didn't have to go in for another surgery. Now we wait another week, then do another x-ray to make sure everything is healing properly, and then put a cast on for a couple of weeks, then eventually...pull the pins out when his is all better! We are just grateful for the wonderful surgeon who has done a great job, and for all the modern inventions and medicines that make it to where this injury was able to be fixed. He has sure been a trooper throughout the whole thing, and has gotten pretty used to his bulky arm. But it sure was a scary and tramatic experience for Mom and Dad.

Here he is at the E.R. before the surgery.

No fun seeing such a little guy like that.

Field Trip to Sweet's Candy Factory

We had the best time going to the Sweet's Candy Factory! It was so neat because they took you all in the factory. But they wouldn't let you bring a camera in....so no pics of that. These are just the pics I got after the tour and in the candy shop. The kids loved seeing how all the different types of candies were made, and we all learned a lot! This is definitely my favorite field trip of this year! Too Yummy!

We had to wear these hair nets while in the factory. Scott just looked too cute with his on.

Grandma Mortensen with the kids.

"Cheese!"

The kids favorite part was at the end when they could pick out candy of their own (mom let them pick out 10 candies each.) And it was fun, cause then they could leave with their own bag of candy. (Mom left with plenty of treats for herself too!)

What a fun place to go! If you haven't been...I highly recommend it!

The Roof is DONE!

The roof is finally done! Thank you to all the wonderful people who helped!!! We feel so blessed, and are so grateful that this big job is finally finished! (Now on to all the other jobs.....)
NO more big, ugly, blue tarped, swamp cooler!
Doesn't it look great!


The back

The front.

Re-Roofing

My sister-in-law will blog about special blessings that have happened to them in her blog, and I always love reading her stories of how the Lord blesses them. So I wanted to post about our "blessings" concerning our re-roofing project. First of all....it is a HUGE project to take on, but it saved us so much money, and Jared is so capable, that we decided to just buy supplies, and then rely on the generosity of our family for labor. What we didn't expect was the amount of help we recieved. My wonderful brother-in-laws and Father have worked day after day, in the summer heat, and have gotten so much done! We also had a neighbor (who had a broken leg!) come over and just start helping clean up shingles from the ground...two days in a row! My brother came and helped on Friday during the day when everyone else had to work, and made it possible for the rest of the crew to get up there at night and get the tar-paper down only minutes before it started raining! We really felt like the Lord held off the weather to give the guys just enough time to get the weather proof paper down. And now, today, they are finishing with the shingling...which seems to be going great! It all looks so professional. I think it will be an awesome roof when it is all done! (Pics of that to come.)
I'm just so grateful that this project has been going so smoothly, and for all the wonderul workers who are taking their time, and suffering the heat and fatigue for us! How can we ever repay you??? We love you! Thanks so much! We are truely blessed!

Field Trip to The BYU Dino Museum

We went to the BUY Dinosour Museum this week. It is always interesting and fun for the kids. It is a great place to go, cause it is FREE! but still very entertaining. (Plus it is air conditioned!)
After the museum, we went to a park and played Dino themed activities.

Here the kids are taking "Dinosour Eggs" and carefully carying them away from the "lava" to saftey.

Here, they are trying to "steal" dino eggs from the sleeping T-rex's.

And here, they are stomping like Dino's, and singing fun Dino themed songs.

It was a really fun activity! The kids loved it!