Swim lessons

Elle and Easton both did so great in their swim lessons this year! Blake is the BEST swim teacher and helped them both make a lot of progress. Elle is very cautious but she got to be a lot more comfortable in the deep end. She was really nervous to jump off the diving board and dive to the bottom to get rings on the first day but by the end of the week, she was jumping off the diving board during Easton's class and playing in the deep end diving for rings. She learned the different kicks and all the different strokes and is so much more comfortable in the water. It is so nice that I don't have to worry as much about her in the pool because she knows the strokes and at the very least, can tread water if she needs to.
Easton is a little more brave in the pool and is a great little swimmer! Blake taught his class the front crawl swim and the elementary back stroke, "Chicken, airplane, soldier" and they worked a lot on floating on their tummies and backs. Easton also got to dive for rings in the shallow end and loved jumping off the diving board and swimming to the wall all by himself. He can get across the pool doing the front crawl swim and even takes breaths and keeps on swimming. Good job Elle and Easton!

Elle and Easton

Practicing her kicks with the kickboard

Swimming

Learning a proper dive can be tough. It is so cute to see all the kids with their arms in position and then they jump off, feet first. Blake even holds their legs so their head will lead, but I think it is a weird feeling to get the hang of. Elle did some pretty cute jumps off of it though!

Easton swimming across the pool to Blake

Doing "Chicken, airplane, soldier"

Easton and his buddy Drake got to do swim lessons together

Off the slide

Ready to dive...

And then the jump! So cute!

Jayne was so good to play at Stewart's house for a couple of hours every day while Elle and Easton had their lessons. They have such a fun backyard though so she had a great time. She loved this little car and looked so cute pretending to drive it. She loved the swing and the trampoline and got to see her little friends, Ila and Roxy.

A hot summer day!

What do you do on a hot, summer day when the kids really want to go to the pool but Jayne is having a nap?

Turn on the sprinklers and let the kids run through them!

Boating

Our friends, the Sparks, invited us to go boating with them over 4th of July weekend at Deer Creek Reservoir. Fletchers came too and even though the lake was really crowded because of the holiday, it was still a lot of fun! We found a little grassy area to set up towels to have lunch and let the kids play and then we went out at different times on the boat. It was a little too choppy to ski but tubing was fun and we were just thrilled to be out on a boat on the lake with great friends! What a great weekend!

Don, Scott and Alan

Statton, Easton and Drake loved playing around in the water

Elle and Alli

Jayne with her friends, Ila and Roxy that are both just 4 months younger. For some reason, whenever we try to get a picture of Jayne with other babies, she starts to cry.

Ally, Statton, Drake, Elle playing on the beach with Scott and Molly in the boat

Jill and I with Jayne and Ila trying to get them to have a nap

4th of July

It has become a tradition to do fireworks on our street on 4th of July. The guys love lighting them and even though they aren't very big, it is fun to watch! We have treats and the kids have fun playing and watching the fireworks. And of course, we have to do sparklers! Who doesn't love sparklers? There's something about watching the sparks light up and writing your name in the air that makes me happy and reminds me of being a kid. I think I get just as excited as the kids. :)

Alan, Don and Bill love lighting them!

Sum, Jill and Tanna

Elle and Sadie

Cute Ila and Ava

Sammi, Lindsay, Diane with Jayne, Tami

Don's sister Auralee and her husband, David

Sparklers!

Sweet little Jayne

Smith Family Reunion

We left a night early from Aspen Grove so we could hurry home, do some laundry and pack again to leave the next morning for another family reunion. My brothers and sisters flew in and we all drove to Rupert, Idaho to celebrate my cute Grandma's 80th birthday and spend time with all my dad's family. It was SO much fun! I haven't seen some of my cousins for 10 years so it was really nice to be with everyone. I have so many good memories at my grandma's house. We would visit at least once a year growing up and had so much fun with all our cousins, who all lived there. We would play games, sleep on the trampoline, ride the 4-wheelers, play around in the old farm equipment, make forts in the haystacks, go on the boat, play night games like "Daddy shot all the bears last night" and just explore. Grandma would call us in when it was time for lunch or dinner and always made the best food. Don loves her amazing home made bright green pickles and says we need to learn to make them. She ALWAYS had cookies for us in her cookie jar too. Grandpa was always there working on the farm or making some gadget in his shop. He always said the funniest things. It was so fun talking with Grandma and Grandpa and we loved playing games with them, especially Dominoes. I was so glad my kids got to go to "Grandma's house" because it is such a great place!

The reunion was so fun! We had a big BBQ lunch with everyone and then visited. My Aunt Sandra organized all kinds of fun activities for the kids, which they loved. We had cake to celebrate my Grandma's birthday and roasted hot dogs over a fire for dinner that night. The next day Don got up early and left to go to his Grandma's funeral a few hours away. I stayed with the kids because we knew they wouldn't do well at a funeral. We went to the Rupert 4th of July parade and then played volleyball, board games, some went boating, the kids ran through sprinklers and we all went and saw some great fireworks over the Snake River that night. Thank you to my dad and all his siblings for planning everything and making it all so fun!

Grandma's house

Elle and Mason

Easton and Memphis were so excited to play together!

Lilah and Jayne

One of the best parts of being on a farm is just exploring...

And playing in the dirt... (Lilah was covered in dirt but she was loving it!)

My dad grilling up a ton of tri-tip steak for everyone

Visiting

Some of the little kids-Andrew, Sydney, Emily, Halle, Memphis, Easton, Elle, Mason

Scott and Heidi's cute little baby Alec

Don and Jayne

Parachute fun for the kids

Grandma with her birthday cake

Grandma and Grandpa on their wedding day

Grandma and all the grandkids

Grandma and all the great grandkids (Trying to get that many kids to smile and look is impossible)

Lots of volleyball

Don and Todd with the kids

Me with my sisters Sena and Heather and baby Jayne

Roasting hot dogs for dinner

Our family with Grandma

Elle and Easton loved jumping on the trampoline

Sum, Josh, Sena, Scott, Alec, Heidi, my dad, Easton, Elle, Grandma Darla

Elle on stilts my Grandpa made for the grandkids

Blowing bubbles

Jayne playing with a tractor

I didn't have any girl cousins my age, growing up, but Wayne and I always played together.

4TH OF JULY PARADE

Gathering candy

Uncle Josh and Elle

FIREWORKS

My Uncle Jack lives on the Snake River by his brother and they put on an amazing fireworks show everyone

We stopped at my Grandpa's grave on our way home. I wish my kids could have known him but I'm glad Don got a chance to. He was a great man! He had a deep stern voice but twinkly eyes. His famous phrase when it came time to eat, "Take all you want but eat all you take!"