our fourth of july 2013.

we enjoyed the annual packer family reunion on the 4th of july. the kids loved it as usual. it was filled with great food, catching up with family, lots and lots of ice cream, a giant slip 'n slide, learning what it would be like to milk a cow {rubber gloves filled with water}, rides on concho, necklace making, more ice cream, a parade, a giant sandpile, and lots and lots of fun. 

ever since i can remember we've celebrated the fourth with the packers. it started out setting up tents and sleeping out overnight at grandma & grandpa's. we'd play around the pond. go for boat rides. feed the ducks. pick raspberries. say hi to shep {no. 1, 2, 3...i'm not sure how many shep's there actually were}. play in the sandpile. ride golf carts. play on the playground. swing on the giant rope swing. play army. explore. play in the creek. have dutch oven lunch {which i still miss}. decorating our bikes and having a parade around the circle. if you were lucky, afterwards, you got to go downstairs to put stuff away and see where the old swimming pool used to be... i remember a few years we had a talent show. i think i played the piano once. check out the peacocks. gather eggs in the old chicken coop. i'll have to ask anna for what else we'd do...she has a way better memory than i do... 

since the family has gotten so big, we've out grown grandma & grandpa's and the last few years we've either camped at the heber valley girls' camp or spent the morning/afternoon at uncle dave & aunt sue's. but what i've found is that wherever we are, the feeling is the same and it's always a good time!

{this year's highlights}

{connor's first fourth of july}

the last year at the grandma & grandpa's.

chalk festival 2013.

we made the annual trek down to the gateway to go to the chalk festival 2013. so much fun as usual. the kids always love the area where they get to draw with chalk. we saw some beautiful drawings, chalk art, or whatever they're called. we found out they have a theme each year and this year was "best in the west". there was even a beautiful drawing of an owl we couldn't resist taking pictures of.

here's some pics of our previous years...

{2012}

{2011}

{2010}

{2009}

{2008}

...mini cheerleaders...

a few weeks ago, mabel and elsie went to a mini cheer camp at the local charter school. they totally loved it! originally we thought that we'd just put mabel in it, thinking that elsie was too small and it'd be cheaper. well, to say elsie was crushed when the morning came for mabel to go would be a major understatement. she was devastated! it pretty much cut me to the core listening to her tell me in her cute, deep voice, "but my a big girl..." it was one of the saddest things. we've been telling her that she is such a big girl since she's been going on the potty, so this was too much! 

so we drove over there and signed her up the morning of! luckily they had extra t-shirts and pompoms so we could. yay!

worth. every. penny.

our baseball boys.

connor just finished his all-star baseball season. that boy loves his baseball! it has been so much fun to watch him do something that he loves. he started playing catcher and has LOVED it! we got him a catcher's mitt and he said to me at least 10 times, "i just can't believe i have a catcher's mitt!" to say he was excited was an understatement!

cory was able to help coach and that was fun for them to spend time together. plus, he got to wear those awesome baseball pants that he was so excited about! ;) cute, cute boys.

{still loves to slide}

we are so proud of him and his determination and hard work! 

you are awesome baseball player connor!

our owl babies.

anna gave us a sweet gift last night. a book entitled, "owl babies." the cover looks very much like this first photo. we continue to follow and document our "owl babies". we see them every other day or so. sometimes 2 days in a row if we're lucky. we usually see any number of the 3 babies and the dad. the mom hasn't been seen for a couple weeks now, but we found her this morning. one of the first things the kids do every morning is go and check to see if we have any owls and how many there are. 

i'll have to check, but i think we've seen them for almost 5 weeks now. it's been a highlight of the summer for sure. we've collected feathers and have even checked out their pellets. we haven't had the magpie problem (lots of squawking and obnoxiousness) that we'd had all spring, to which we credit to the owls. the robins don't like them at all. the robins will come and try and squawk to get the owls to leave, but the they aren't bothered and the robins eventually give up and leave after a few minutes. 

we think it's pretty amazing and have invited many family members and friends over to see them. 

i think we'll call it "the summer of the owls."

the last 2: photo cred goes to my uncle dave