Look what we got...finally!

It only took almost 10 years of marriage, but we finally got a piano!! I have been watching the local news classifieds trying to find one that didn't look to beat up, didn't cost too much, and was the right color of brown that I wanted. We found this one last week, so Nate went and checked it out on his lunch break and bought it. I love just sitting down and playing the piano. It is a great stress reliever for me. Now the kids are excited to start piano lessons. I think we will just start Gavin for now and see how long the excitement lasts. (probably only until he has to practice 30 minutes everyday) :)

Pajama Party

Even though we started school already we invited all the cousins over for an end of summer sleepover last Friday. Most of the cousins are starting school on Monday so it was a last little summer fun for all. We had pizza for dinner, played lots of game both inside and outside, watched the movie 'Up' and even got some sleep. We all had a lot of fun. This may be a new annual tradition!! (We miss Emma and Colin, maybe we can get you here next year!) Sorry the pictures are a little out of order, and I totally forgot to get a picture of all of them in their sleep bags! Oh well!

The kids Saturday morning watching cartoons!

Nate playing Uno Attack with some of the kids.

Another angle of the Uno Attack game.

Ashlyn just being silly.

Gavin, Liam, and cousin David being crazy, but having fun!

Cousins are the best!

Bees Game

Grandpa Hess treated us all to a Bee's baseball game last Monday. It was a great Family Home Evening get together. We enjoyed watching the game (which the Bees lost) and just enjoyed being with family. Here are some pictures!

Gavin and his cousin David. Best buddies!

Ashlyn with a messy face.

Nate and others at the game. Grandpa looked back right when I took the picture! :)

Liam and his cousin Lizzy. Best buddies too!

School is in!

School has started, but first I have some pictures that I took in the past few weeks that I wanted to put in this post. The first one is of Ashlyn after I actually did her hair. I usually pull some up and then scrunch the rest so it's wavy. I decided to try blow drying it straight, but before that I gave Ashlyn her first haircut. I mainly cut some off the sides because they were longer than the back. Now it is even all around. She is such a cutie! The other picture of her is from one morning where she insisted on wearing her sunglasses while she ate breakfast. It made me laugh watching her try to eat and watch t.v. all with her sunglasses on. We had some free time before church last Sunday so Nate and I tried to get some pictures of the kids. You can see that they didn't turn out great, but it least they are all together. The last pictures are from Gavin and Liam's first day of school which was Monday. I think I am having the hardest time with starting school. I need about 3 more weeks of summer. :) They both seem to like their teachers and are mostly excited to be going to the same school. Let's hope it's another great year of learning!

Ashlyn with her cute hair-do.

Eating breakfast like a rock-star.

My kiddos!

They are growing up way too fast!

First day of school. Gavin wasn't sad, just didn't like the sun. Ashlyn insisted on being in all the pictures with her little backpack on too!

Liam in front of the Kindergarten doors.

Gavin waiting to go into his 2nd grade class. (can't believe I have a 2nd grader!)

Lagoon 2011

We went to Lagoon last Thursday the 4th. It was my brother's stake Lagoon day, so we decided to tag along for the day. The kids had a great time. The weather was good and of course the park was crowded. Nate was the happiest because he got Gavin to go on the colossus 4 times, wicked, the bat, the white roller coaster, and more. Nate was so glad to have a riding buddy and it gave him hope that our kids won't always be scared of the big rides! :) Anyway, it was a great day and here are the pictures to prove it!

Ashlyn on the train. The first ride she dared to go on.

The carousel. Ashlyn refused to sit on an animal, but wanted to sit on the rocking bench.

Liam and his cousin Lizzy on the carousel.

The bumper cars. Ashlyn, Liam, and cousins, Thomas and Lizzy.

Gavin and cousin David on bumper cars.

Liam and Lizzy on the "fishy ride" as they called it.

Gavin and David.

Ashlyn and me. Sadly Ashlyn wimped out after this pic and didn't end up riding with me.

My kiddos on the helicopter ride.

Liam and Ashlyn on the cars.

Gavin driving the cars. He is almost too big for this ride now.

The "gun" ride.

Liam and Lizzy

Ashlyn and Thomas on the boat ride.

Everyone except Ashlyn and me on Rattlesnake rapids. They all got really wet!

Ashlyn driving her own car.

Last ride of the day for Ashlyn in her own boat.

Until next year Lagoon...

Cedar Mountain

Last week we went down to Cedar Mountain/Duck Creek Village for the Andersen Family Reunion (Nate's Mom's side of the family). We had a great time hiking, fishing, eating, and enjoying the Kohl and Andersen families. The weather was awesome with high's only in the 70's. The reunion was the last of our vacations for the summer. Gavin and Liam start school in a week and a half. :( I am not ready for that! Here are some pictures from our time on Cedar Mountain.

The kids along the trail to Aspen Mirror Lake.

Aspen Mirror Lake

Looking for rocks to throw in.

The river that flows into the lake. The boys loved playing on the rocks.

We ended up in what Nate calls "Horny Toad Valley" and to our surprise we found a Horny Toad/Horned Lizard. The boys were so happy!

Ashlyn enjoy some snacks in Horny Toad Valley.

Gavin with the horned lizard.

Dad and Ashlyn.

My boys

The lizard climbing up Gavin. Gavin wanted to bring it home, but we convinced him that it needed to stay there to survive.

Fishing on Navajo Lake. It was beautiful and peaceful even though know one had any luck catching a fish. We did catch two leopard frogs so Gavin was satisfied.

Gavin the fisherman. He is awesome at it!

Liam the fisherman. He also did very well.

Ashlyn also fished, but mostly played in the dirt and threw rocks in the water.

Hanging at the Andersen cabin. Gavin with Uncle Dan and Uncle Jordan.

Nate, Aunt Shelley, Uncle Rob, and Uncle Todd.

The family at Aspen Mirror Lake.

Dad, Ashlyn, and Gavin on the rocks in the river.

We rented a cabin near duck creek for the Kohl's to sleep in. It was awesome! Here is a picture of the games that happened every night.

The four brothers playing banana-grams.

Uncle Todd with our kids. He is leaving on a mission in October so this was our last time seeing him.

Uncle Dan and the kids. He is also leaving on a mission in December so this was our last time seeing him too. He had not received his mission call when this picture was taken, but opened it when he got home to Indiana. Believe or not Uncle Dan and Uncle Todd got called to serve in the same mission, the Uruguay, Montevideo West mission!

My two handsome boys. (Thanks Shelley for taking this pic)

Our family in front of our rented cabin.

On our way home we drove through Cedar Breaks National Park, so we stopped and grabbed some pics. It was beautiful (and a little chilly, only 50's)

Cold kids, but what a view!