fourth of july.

this year we had our annual packer 4th of july reunion. we headed up to the heber valley girls camp and enjoyed 2 days there. we went to the lake and canoed, did one of the challenge courses (the huge swing), hiked a little, enjoyed good food, rode "concho", ate lots of ice cream, roasted s'mores and loved spending time together!

cory enjoying the swing.

i was the first to go on the swing. it was probably a good thing, cause i don't know if i would have done it after watching someone else do it! it was pretty high but super fun!

mabel was not so impressed.

connor was pretty timid at first, but at the end let go of his hands and superman'd it.

our favorite uncle spencer rebuilt this horse. he painted it, named & branded it just like his son, my cousin, will's horse. will passed away just over a year ago. it was very touching. all the kids at the reunion l-o-v-e-d it. i think concho rode from the time he was setup until after 10pm, and he started early the next morning about 6am and rode till he was packed back up in the truck to go home. super fun!

elsie loved riding "concho".

after our canoe ride on the lake at heber valley girl's camp.

we finished off the celebrations with fireworks at our house with the packer clan. it was a fun fourth of july.

swim lessons.

in july connor & mabel had swim lessons. they both did awesome!! mabel was really worried about lessons for many days before. she even cried herself to asleep the night before lessons, so sad because mama could not be in the water with her. then she cried the whole drive over to lessons. i was expecting a huge scene, but she surprised us all! she got right in the water and did whatever bec, her teacher, asked her to. after a little hesitation and a few tears on the second day, from then on, she was super excited and always willing to tell everyone about what she was learning and doing at her lessons.

both connor and mabel have turned into fish! they love being in the water and going swimming! connor is swimming pretty much on his own. he also learned to dive off the side of the pool in less than 5 minutes. then later that night, we went swimming to practice their new skills and he decided to dive off the diving board! he is fearless! that is until his ear started hurting... we went to the doctor's after a few days of it still bugging him. turns out he had swimmer's ear and an ear infection. poor guy. but, now he's as good as new! no ear complaints any more!

here's a few shots from their fun lessons.

mabel doing her "princess float"

"monkey's on the wall" dance then she jumps in the water to her teacher.

practicing her floating.

mabel loves to put her head under the water. she requested that i take pictures of the whole thing!

doing a "pencil" dive.

learning to dive off the side.

it was a fun week of lessons!

i'm going there someday.

a few weeks ago on a wednesday night, the kids informed me and cory that they wanted to have another family home evening for the week. cory had planned a few fun fhe outings in advance and so he told us we needed to get in the car. and so we began our surprise fhe. after driving to salt lake, we parked near temple square. after getting the kids out of the car, cory told the kids that they would be taking their very own pictures of the temple to put in their bedrooms.

now, you have to understand, there is nothing connor and mabel love more than taking pictures by themselves with the camera! cory and i had been talking about putting the pictures of the temple in their room for a while now, but hadn't done it yet.

and so begins our adventure...

mabel: dancing and singing "i'm getting married..." over and over.

seriously...i'm not ready to even think about that!

connor: "now that's more like it!" as he takes the picture through the trees.

mabel's photo with cory's phone.

connor's taken with cory's phone.

mabel's also with cory's phone.

the kids thought this was the funnest fhe ever!

first bday party.

...yummy fruit pizzas...

...muddy buddies...

...popcorn...

...gooey cereal treats...

...watching tangled outside...

...glow sticks...

...lots of cute presents...

...smash cake for the bday girl...

...singing happy bday...

...lots of running around playing...

elsie managed to tip her cake upside down. she didn't end up eating too much of the cake, but loved licking the frosting!

it was a super fun night! thanks to all who came and gave her such cute and thoughtful gifts!