Camping with Friends...

3rd year of residency is turning out to be a great year! Darin has a crazy amount of days off this week so I am trying to make the best out of the time we have with him. So we joined some of the ward families that were doing a camp out for some of their 11 year old scout boys. It was so fun. But I don't know if Darin or I are up for roughing it anymore....

haha our air mattress took up our entire tent but oh was it so much better then sleeping on the HARD ground!

I think the best part about camping is the fire and the food you make on the fire! I LOVE IT!

Every male person at the camp felt the need to constantly be blowing on the fire.

The kids including Nash were a big help with poking the fire (and the adults) with sticks...BIG HELPERS!

This 2 point deer was pretty friendly. Darin was only yards away from it for the majority of the time it was near our camp. I feel sorry for it when deer season rolls around. It won't have much hope I am afraid!

Nash enjoyed the games brought by the Ockerman girls.

I hope he didn't lose any of the pieces.

Brook teaching the girls some of her mad speed skills. She is good but I can take her! haha.

Fire roasted corn was the treat of the night.

Do I have any in my TEETH???!!!??

"WHAT NO ONE BROUGHT THE ICE CREAM???"

This was mine and Darin's tinfoil dinner....YUMMY!! Salmon, zucchini, carrots, celery, peppers and onions.....oh it was so GOOD!

When it was time to go to bed. Nash was so ANGRY! He said "I NEED TO GO HOME NOW MOMMY!" He wanted nothing to do with the tent. We forgot his blankie so that caused craziness. Darin and I were exhausted so we handed him the Itouch with "How to train your dragon" playing on it and we went to sleep. Neither one of us really know when he finally closed his eyes...such great parents I KNOW!

4th of July BBQ...

We got to join friends from the ward at the Smith house for a yummy BBQ! We love going to the Smith's house for many reasons. It is the best for summer BBQ's because of their fun backyard. The kids play so good and the parents are able to hang out and relax. Darin and I enjoyed the badminton game with the Wills then the AWESOME fireworks!

Riley led the older kids in the fireworks. Nothing like a block firework party!

We were happy being the spectators.

By the end of the night this is where Nash ended up. The neighbors were letting off sky fireworks that he felt were a little loud.
Thanks everyone that made our 4th of July weekend so fun. It is my favorite holiday and I dislike being away from Blanding during it.

4th of July Fireworks...

I am so behind on my posting! We had a fun 4th of July weekend. First a trip to the temple with the Ockerman's on Friday and Saturday. Then fireworks in Breinigsville on Sunday. I invited a bunch of ward members and residency friends to join us near the park to watch them. It was a good spot where we had very little traffic to deal with and a good view of the show.

We decided to go an hour early so we could let the kids run around and play and we could all socialize.

It was a pretty humid night but a fun one!

Nash insisted on taking his sword. Sadly the sword was put in time out before the night was over, for lack of sharing.

Darin played frisbee with the kids. Poor little Lucus lost his pants trying to follow Nash ("Tash") around.

I was taking a picture of Lucus and Nash couldn't handle not being the center of my attention...oh dear!

ooooohhhh

aaaaahhhhh!

We all enjoyed it but Nash. He highly DISLIKES fireworks. This is how he sat the entire time, until he fell asleep. It was a long weekend and we still had Monday festivities to do!

Trip to Washington DC Temple...

Last month on our friends the Ockerman's invited us to go to the Washington DC temple with them. The temple is 3 hours away so it is an all day process when you have kids and try to split up the sessions. We attended the temple on Friday night while they watched Nash for us. Then we watched their kids while they went Saturday morning.

I love being able to see the temple for the free-way. Out here you really don't see anything but trees from the free-way so when you can find something to look at it is awesome...especially when it is the temple!
It was so nice doing a session with Darin. It had been a LONG time since we had been.

Saturday morning we took the Ockerman kids to the flea market down the road.

But there was a lady that freaked out because I was taking pictures of the kids holding her merchandise. So we left.

The kids and Darin wanted to swim so we went back to the hotel. The pool was located on top of the hotel. From one side you could see the temple. :)

Nash still doesn't believe in getting into the water. He just LOVES to run around the sides.

And of course boss everyone around!

Washington DC Tour...

We decided to spend the day walking around DC taking in some of the sights. It was a HOT day and there were a BILLION people in the DC area for the 4th weekend. It seems we spent a TON of time on the metro, which was nice because it was hot above ground, but crazy because of all the people. We lost Brook once getting on. It was so sad to see the doors close on her worried face. But she was amazing and met up with us like a champ at the next stop. I think I would have completely freaked out. :)

Riley loves history and was a great tour guide.

Darin was in charge of the camera and taking pictures of the trip.

Nash fell asleep waiting for the metro. I had to carry him everywhere, as you really can't have a stroller open on the metro with that many people. Yes I did stand and stabilize myself. There was a nice lady way beyond where I could get to that tried to give me her seat. Thankfully our route was short.

I love visiting Arlington cemetery when we go to DC. Riley was nice enough to answer all my stupid military questions. Here we are at the unknown soldier memorial, to watch the changing of the guard.

Nash had enough of being quiet so I had to take him to the side where he was angry at how hot it was.

Nash has a little crush on Brook. He likes to follow her around and gets really shy when she talks to him.

Nash wasn't the only one that was grumpy with how hot it was...haha!

Brook was showing off her super-model walk with the metro wind blowing her hair.

Thanks Ockerman's for inviting us to DC. We are happy we got to go the temple as well as hang out with all of you!