Happy Clean Living: No Meridian Dairy Days, but Yes to Jolley Visit

Because I am such a slacker and so far behind on blogging, I have snatched this blog post from my niece's blog here:

From Zoey Michelle: We love going to Boise each year to get away and have some low key fun! This year, Meridian canceled their Dairy Days parade which has become a beloved tradition of our family. We love the parade best of all! Aunt Sondra lives only 1 1/2 blocks from the excitement! We can't wait to be a part of such a wonderful community again next year!

The first thing Brady, Faith and Dawson did was play the board game "Life Twists and Turns". Faith was disappointed all year while Brady was attending BYU because he was never here when they came to visit and she wanted a re-match because she didn't win the last time they played. But really, I think they just have a blast playing this game together. Dawson seems to always have good luck playing this game and usually wins. Faith really, really wanted to win and she did! Horray for Faith!

The evening after they arrived we had a family BBQ. I invited all the family in the Boise/Meridian/Nampa area. There were several other families (cousins) that were invited but didn't come. It was very fun though! Robyn and her family did come and enjoyed BBQ Hamburgers and Hot Dogs. It was a very HOT, HOT day and so we ended up eating inside the house - but that didn't stop the kids from enjoying the outdoors.

Brandon graciously consented to man the grill for us, but with the kids coming in and out the back door it set off the smoke alarm - good thing it works *wink. I think it surprised the kids though.

Miss Faith! (boy my grass sure looks nice and green)

I purchased these beach balls thinking that they would be a normal size ball, but when I took them out of the package and blew them up, I couldn't believe how big the were. Just the right size to lay on!

Dawson, Brady, Faith, and Colt

Kate and Jadyn

Kate is all about the babies!!!

I LOVE Bristol's smile!

Bristol, Jadyn, Hallee, Kate

Adding in our boy - Colt!

Bristol

Kaylor wearing a black eye, poor little girl.

Kaylor has the cupcakes. Yum!

Robyn the Mom of Hallee, Jayden, Colt, Bristol and Kaylor AND Zoey Michelle's sister.

Zoey Michelle took these pictures of me and says:

I love both of these pictures. They describe why I call her 'FUN Aunt Sondra.'

(I'm so glad they love to come to Aunt Sondra's house for a visit).

After the BBQ, we headed out to Settlers Park in Meridian to watch the family movie "Rio" on a giant screen outside. I have to say that it was so much fun and FREE! I definitely want to put it on our list for next time. We got there at the perfect time and had an excellent spot!

Love all of Dawson's faces too!

I love this little girl! It didn't turn dark very early. We were there by 9pm but it was much too light to watch a movie outside. So we had to wait until 10pm. Meanwhile Aunt Sondra and Kate went and played at the playground. It's always amazing to me how strong these kids are playing on the monkey bars (but I did it too when I was young). Settler's park playground is awesome! Kate had a great time and Aunt Sondra had a fun time watching her.

What the movie screen looked like

After lunch, Sondra, Dawson, Kate, and I headed out to Robyn's (leaving Brandon and Faith for naps.) Robyn set out this fun blowup slide/pool that all of the kids played on the entire afternoon. It was good to visit and have cousin time ... and I forgot to document with pictures. :(

Brandon's birthday was on Saturday. He is another year older and we love him so much! We hope he had a special day!

While searching for a movie to watch, Aunt Sondra said that she gave away the Twilight movies because she just couldn't handle it. And when I found them, I took that opportunity to take another picture! (Boy that is some scary sweated out hair on a HOT summer day). Also as a side note, Sharon took them to Hastings and sold them - my house is now free from those terrible Twilight movies - LOL!

We decided on Avatar which was really cool. (Zoey Michelle had never seen it before and she didn't love it the way that I do.)

We finished off the night with a bang! Sondra and Brady gave us our own personal firework show which was really cool and fun!

Brady taught Dawson and Kate how to light fireworks. They definitely enjoyed it!

Faith content to watch

Ohhh-ing and ahhh-ing for the show!

We came in to find that Dawson was "burnt bacon" (in his own words). We put on essential oils to make this better! The legs were perfect the next morning, but the back took a couple of days.

All weekend long we were trying to get Kate to let us pull out her tooth. It was barely hanging on and it was causing her a little bit of pain every time she ate something. But she wasn't brave enough to let any of us pull it out. FINALLY we talked her into it and it came right out and wasn't that big of a deal she said AFTER it was out. She was a brave girl!!! And the tooth fairy found her in Boise - lucky girl!

After she was dressed and ready for church, I had to take some pictures of our cute little Kate showing us her missing tooth.

I love her dress and sun kissed cheeks.

Kate and her mom, Zoey Michelle after the tooth was finally pulled out.

Before we left for church Zoey Michelle was talking Faith into wearing make up. Faith does NOT like to wear make up - can you imagine it?

But, Zoey Michelle didn't back down and we forced her to wear a little make up. Here mom is putting on her mascara. I am always amazed to see them together as mom and daughter - they look like sisters. Zoey Michelle still looks like a kid herself instead of a mom to 3 children and a daughter 12 years old.

Sunday, we woke up to see Dawson upside down in the recliner. Quite a funny boy!

We finished up the weekend with sacrament meeting, which happened to be quite incredible.

From the Jolley's: Thank you Aunt Sondra for hosting us once again and to the Royce family for helping make our Boise trip so much fun! We love you all! Until next time!

Thanks Jolley family for coming for a visit! I sure love you guys.

They always leave me a thank you gift. They sent me a text after they left and said "the hunt is on" - which meant I was to search out my thank you gift. Michelle always hides it - and makes it a surprise. This time it was tucked inside a book she brought for me to read. Inside the care was $40 cash to put toward my new car I was saving for. They are so giving and loving. They shouldn't give me such gifts, but it's their way. They are always good at showing love and thankfulness to everyone around them. They are one AWESOME family. I sure love them and love the time I get to share with them, although it always ends much too soon.