4th of July in Driggs

We had our second annual family reunion in Driggs over the 4th of July weekend. Once again it was so much fun and this year everyone in the family was able to come. That is 9 adults and 8 kids. (Our family keeps getting bigger!) I hope this is a tradition we continue every year because with my family all over the world it is nice to know we will all get together at least once every year! And what a beautiful house and area to get together!
This is Abigale and Ben one year ago: And this year!

Ryan was able to spend a lot of time getting to know his cousins better. They were all so cute with him and Claire and Eliza loved holding him.

The boy cousins (minus Ben). Max and William were so cute and loved to give Ryan and each other hugs. I see a fun future for these boys!My brother is known as the Avatar Uncle because he introduced the kids to Avatar on netflix and last year they loved watching it with him. This picture was taken last year:Obviously they are still into it and their Uncle! We took a fun hike where my sister went earlier and hid prizes for all the kids. It was a long walk but the kids were troopers. Siblings and all the kids (minus Ryan who was sleeping and Ben who ran away before we could take another picture) Cute Lydia during the hike

And Abigale who loves her "wishing plants" and was in heaven when they were everywhere she looked.

Ryan and his tongue

We brought our bikes this year and trailor and had a blast going on bike rides. We even found a way to put Ryans carseat in the trailor and Abigale rode her bike so the whole family could go.

We rode our bikes into town and had a picnic. "Thumbs up for rock and roll" (one of the cutest you tube videos ever. Thank you Caitlin for introducing it to me!)

The kids played duck duck goose with Uncle Jeff and things got a little out of control! It was pretty funny to watch. Lydia is doing her typical hands on the hips and probably bossing someone around or yelling at Jeff for messing with her sister! We went to a firework show put on at the Huntsman Center. This was pretty late for our kids so I think they were excited and a little delirious! I love this picture of all the girl cousins and Ryan sleeping in the back!

Some of the guys (Ben and Jeff)

On Sunday we decided to hike around Jennys Lake and it was so beautiful!

Grand Tetons!

When we got there we realized that the kids probably wouldn't last the hike around the lake so we rode the boat to the other side and then hiked up the mountain. It was perfect because we could go as long as we wanted and then head back plus the kids loved riding the boat.

The Mulcocks! (so precious) Jonathan sporting Abigale's visor and Ryan with his "Little Ranger" hat. We were scared his head would get sunburned so we bought the sweet hat.

Abigale is our little rock climber. I was afraid she wouldnt make it on the hike but she was always climbing up the side rocks and running up ahead. She was in heaven and looking pretty cute!

We hiked up to a place called Hidden Falls and it was amazing! There was sooo much water coming down the mountain. The mist felt so good and the temperature dropped about ten degrees just standing by it.

We took a detour and did some rock climbing

The water was so high in some places that you couldnt cross the bridges. This picture makes me a little nervous because that water was going so fast and looked so powerful but Lydia looks cute!

Ryan did amazing. He stayed in the carrier the entire time and was in and out of sleep but never made a sound. Love this boy!

The next day was the fourth of July and we rode our bikes into town for a fun parade (I forgot my camera) and then headed to the park.

Lydia showing off her candy from the parade My sister put on a scavenger hunt for all the kids which took them all over. They even got a break in the middle for pirate cupcakes! The prize was a toy for all the kids. Abigale and Lydia each got a harmonica. They love them a little too much and I have had to hide them more then once!

Looking for clues by the lake!

Ryan hanging out with Uncle Jeff and his new cowboy hat (dont be fooled. he is a lawyer in DC)

Lydia telling Jeff a story.

Playing in the sprinklers
Ryan was so tired the last night. Jonathan picked him up and he put his head down and just went to sleep. So sweet!
The last night!
Love these kids!!
We had so much fun and are hoping to see them one more time this summer before they head back to South Africa but we always have next year, right everyone?

Crazy month of June!

We had a crazy week last week! We got home from a great trip in Driggs, Idaho to find out that our house we were renting was foreclosing and they wanted us out in 30 days! :( We spent the week looking for houses online and walking through many of them. We really wanted to stay in our ward and neighborhood and there were a few homes available to rent but not what we are looking for. Jonathan is working from home more and more so we really needed a house with an office. We finally found one in Clearfield about 10 minutes away. While it is not as nice as the house we are in now, it is in a really nice neighborhood and it has plenty of space. So we got out the boxes that we had unpacked 6 months ago and started packing everything up again. Aahh I hate moving but we are trying to stay postive. We have moved 6 times since we have been married and this is the first time I have not been pregnant so that is nice!

Anyway on with the month of June. . .

June was full of visitors and we loved it! Our good friends the Forresters stayed a night at our house on their way to California and the next weekend our other very good friends the Perrys (who we miss like crazy) stayed for the weekend. It was so much fun!

Abigale with her friend London Forrester
This is the only picture I got when the Perrys came to town. We were having too much fun I guess but one night Holly and Jace went to their cousins wedding in Park City so we took all the kids to Arctic Circle for dinner and to play on the toys. They had a lot of fun and it was sad to see them leave but we cant wait to go back to Boise to visit!

This is Ryan just hanging out while the kids played.

A few days after the Perrys left my sister and her little boy Max came to stay with us from Florida. It was so much fun and Abigale and Lydia loved having a little boy to play with and follow around.

Max loved the cars in the backyard and loves pushing anything he can including little baby strollers

Cute guy

Caitlin was going to leave for a cruise the next day and she was going to leave Max with us so my dad came to help out until my mom got back in town (from Paris!) to take over.

We had fun at the Treehouse Musuem in Ogden (one of our favorite places)

We met up with some of our cousins at the Gateway who are in town for the summer from South Africa!

LOVE love this picture! Abigale and Ben are too cute and who knows what Lydia is doing!

My beautiful sister and her sweet little guy who was having a rough night. It was the night before she was going to leave him with us and he was not feeling well so she took him to an instant care and he had pink eye! He was nice enough to share it with me, Jonathan, Lydia, and Ryan but at least the same drops were used for everyone!

Cant forget this happy guy!

I think Max was missing his mom but we did our best to keep him happy. He is such an easy and fun guy. Abigale was sitting on the couch and Max just climbed up on her lap. He loves her!

Eating ice cream with Nana!

Playing in the sprinklers

My mom took Max to Pocatello for a few days and Abigale decided to join them. We missed her but tried to have fun with just two kids. We decided to head into SLC and went to the farmers market and the Gateway where they were having a chalk art competition/family festival.

There was a band playing at the farmers market and Lydia just wanted to watch them the whole time.

Some of the chalk art was amazing.

Cute kids but a dark picture

Abigale helping Ryan in his swing

Abigale worked hard to earn enough points to get a bike so that she could take it to Driggs for the 4th of July. Since she got a new bike Lydia got her old one. She doesnt quite know how to ride it yet but they will have a lot of fun riding together in the future!

The Treehouse Museum had a family fiesta night. It was kind of lame but they had churros which were good. Of course the kids had fun- they love that place!

They gave the kids moroccos (or however you spell that). Ryan grabbed mine out of my hand and he loves holding it but he keeps hitting himself with it.

The next weekend my parents and Caitlin's family came back to SLC because my dad had a conference. They stayed at Little America so we took advantage of the swimming pool and had a Cafe Rio pool party.

Whew! That was a long post full of fun events! Stay tuned for 4 of July pics!