Let Freedom Ring

The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love the sun, the fun, the late nights, the friends and family....everything. This year the Phisters had a big family reunion, so we were with them a lot this 4th.
The celebration started with the parade.Luckily Marks Parents live right on the parade route, and have some of the best shade in town. While we were at the parade Mark had his Softball Tournament. They ended up only playing 3 games, better luck next year! After the parade was over we went to the park to watch "The Bee Movie." The kids had a lot of fun. On the Fourth we went to watch Kayden & Ethan get pulled behind the four wheelers by their dad and Grandpa. They did really good, and got really dirty. The fourth was just the usual family, friends, and BBQ. It was a great day, ending in some fun Fireworks down at the park. We found out the price you pay for laying right under the fireworks is that ash falls all over you. Oh well....a small price to pay for some good firework watchin!
The next day we were off to 7 Peaks with everybody. It was soooo much fun to take the kids. They love water slides.Kip was able to go on everything, and he almost did....his favorite was the boomerang, which most adults won't even go on. Sier loved the Kid pool and the kid slides, but he also loved the tube slides with us. If you ask Kip what his favorite place on earth is he will tell you 7 Peaks, not Disneyland!
I hope my kids learned that the 4th of July isn't just a fun time of year, but it's a day we celebrate our founding Fathers, and our freedom. Thank you to all the men and women who went before us to give us this beautiful land, and our wonderful heritage. Thank you to everybody who has given their lives to make all of the celebrations possible. God Bless America!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I was tagged!!

Thanks for tagging me Jenny P!!!

3 Joys...

1. My Family. There is nothing funner than spending time with just the four of us. My kids make me smile and laugh all day long.
2. Vacationing- I hope to do a lot more of this in the next few years to come. I can't wait to make all of those fun memories with my family.
3. Boating. I love being on a boat in a lake. Not many things make me happier or give me more joy.


3 Fears....

1. Losing one of my kids.
2. Death by drowning or burning.
3. Being trapped in a small space...claustrophobic!!!!

3 Goals....

1. Being able to teach my kids right from wrong.
2. Traveling more!
3. Hopefully having a baby in the next year!!!

3 Obsessions...

1. Blogging
2. Having painted toenails.
3. Having fun with my kids.


3 People I tag...

1. Jera
2. Jesse
3. Joni

Kaylee Jo Gilham

Meet Kaylee Jo! She was born on June 30 at about 5:30 in the evening. She was 7lbs 8 ozs, and just over 20 inches long. And of course, she is absolutely beautiful. Her mom is my younger sister Cami, and her dad is Steve. Kaily looks totally different than her older sister, Adylen. Kaily has lots of dark hair, and Adylen had no hair when she was born...it did eventually grow in to be red and curly. Congratulations Cami & Steve- you both are really good parents who will teach your children well, and love them more than anything. Welcome to the world Kaily- We love you already. Love, your favorite Aunt Lara :)

Sier Loves Babies! He was soo excited to go see baby "Daily"

Addie when she was a baby -CUTE-

22 reasons everybody should wish Jesse a Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Jesse! I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and give you a shout-out on your big day. I hope you got to sit in whatever chair you wanted to at work today! Here are 22 reasons why I love you to pieces.

1. It's her 22nd birthday!!
2. She's always fun to talk too.
3. She got kicked out of beautician school!
4. She puts up with Kurts crap.
5. She gives Kurt a lot of crap to put up with.
6. She's always trying to convince my kids that she's their favorite aunt.
7. She really is my kids favorite aunt, and Jamie is their favorite cousin.
8. She watched my kids for a whole weekend when we went out of town.
9. She likes to scrapbook.
10. She can feel comfortable in the skimpiest clothes better than anybody I know!!!
11. She buys me cute things from Buckle :)
12. She let us all go Hawaii for her wedding.
13. She worked in Key West for a Spring, and Kurt thought he was going to die without her.
14. She can understand every body's points of views.
15. She is totally honest.
16. She likes to sit on a boat.
17. She had a pink four wheeler.
18. She is VERY forgiving.
19. She knows how to party and have fun.
20. She use to sing at Riverton Town Days!!
21. She has no problem admitting that Kurt is a better housekeeper than her :)
22. She has pink hair!

Herriman Days

I know, we don't even live in Herriman, but we still have fun at their Town Days. Craig and Jera live right on the parade route, so over the past couple of years it has kind of become a tradition that we watch the parade there. It was a great parade, TONZ of candy for the kids, not too long for the adults.
After the parade we cooled down at Craig and Jera's....went to the carnival....the kids broke a Karate Board (they think they're soooo tough) & we got our Texas Twister drinks (one of my favorites). Later that night we met for a BBQ and played a mean game of Wiffle Ball- thank you Eric for letting us use your yard, it took some convincing, but we finally managed to play a couple games. Cami couldn't waite to run the bases to help get her baby out, I do have to say Jori was way faster than you....but she has a few months left, not a few days. We ended the night by watching fireworks from the backyard.....I love fireworks! Thank you Jera & Craig for all of your hard work and letting us have such a fun day with you guys.

Baseball

I can't tell you how much better life has been the past couple of weeks! Why? Because T-Ball and Coach Pitch are OVER!!! It is amazing at how much time they can take out of your lives. Kip played Coach Pitch this year and did very well, he has learned how to hit the ball (some of the time). His coaches were amazing...thanks Cory & Neal- you guys were soo patient with all of those little boys. Sier was officially in T-Ball this year, even though he played quite a bit with Kip last year. Mark was Sier's coach, and Craig Peterson was the assistant. Once again, amazing job with the patience of the coaches. The little kids were so fun and cute to watch run around the bases, they did so well at throwing the ball to first base as well. I'm so glad to have Spring out of our lives, and I gladly welcome Summer....now we can really get started on softball tournaments for Mark. These are just the joys of having an active family :)

Did you hear?

Wicked!!! (Kips FAVORITE word)
Crashing isn't' all that bad is it?
This is as close as it gets for Sier on the tube
Kip, Jamie, Lauren, Conner Lauren, one of the cutest girls on the planet!
Lauren & her mom Kim....She's Prego:)
Kim's husband JR
Steve falling on his butt!
Mark clearing the wake
50 years, and can still ski
Mark on the Ski
Jamie on our ski!
Shelly thought she would blow out a knee, but pulled it off
Steve & Mark anchoring down the boat
Peyton & his HUGE muscles carrying the rock to anchor the boat
Peyton burying his girlfriend Annie- she is so fun!
Everybody playing Hale Mary
Me and my Ho (that's the name of my water ski)
Mark and me!
Kip learning how to drive the boat
Chip lips

Kip is a Water-Skiing Fool!!! We were finally able to go boating this year- and my gosh it was fun. Summertime is officially here, we have boating fever again. I don't think there's any family activity that I enjoy more than sitting on a boat at a lake.

We went down to Yuba with a bunch of people for the weekend, and Steve and Jamie brought their boat...THANKS GUYS!!!! I love Jamie and Steven....and their boat, I'm just glad they know that I'm a serious boating buddy and will go anytime, day or night, all they have to do is call.

The big accomplishment came from Kip this weekend. He learned how to ski, and he had fun while he was doing it! We've had ski's for him for a few years, but he has never dared. We went to the Boat Show a few months ago and Kip found a wakeboard that he wanted really bad, so we made a deal. The deal is if he can ski and crash without any help, then we will buy him a wakeboard. That's all it took, and he is a skier now. Mark had to help him into the ski's, but when he was done he was able to swim to the boat by himself, so he's halfway there! He also enjoyed the tube this trip also, I think it helped having other boys there to encourage him on. We still can't talk Sier into tubing, or skiing. He is usually so fearless of things, but there is something about the water that just gets to my boys, they LOVE being on a boat, and rafting down the river, but actually getting in just terrifies them. One day we will get Sier out there!

Mark was awesome on the wakeboard, he us getting better about landing almost anything he does. He also got the good old slalom ski out and road that for a little while, the ski isn't anything special, so he wasn't on it for long. Of course I was on the water with my Ho. (that's the name of my ski) The water was good, but there were big roller waves and they kill my legs, so there was nothing special buy me on the ski. But I did wakeboard and learned how to jump, if you count six inches as a jump. The kids were amazed that I knew how to wakeboard, they've just seen me ski, so they were funny talking to me about it when I was done. Jamie did good on our wakeboard ;) and on our ski :). Steven had one goal for the summer, to land a 180 and he accomplished it already. I wonder what he will do next?

I absolutely love the lake. Yuba is so great because there is actual beach that the kids can play at, and the water is pretty clean. Thanks to everybody who went and tried to ski, Terri & Christa you kicked butt buy getting up so stinkin fast on your first tries!! You are both naturals. I hope I can be like Mike and Shelly and get my butt up on a ski when I'm in my 50's!!! Way to go guys, you really are my health hero's! I can't wait for next time when we get to go, hopefully the water will be glass so I can really ski, once you ski on perfect water you become a spoiled brat. That's me, deal with it. Welcome back Summertime!

Talk Derby To Me!!

On Saturday night the boys and I went to the Riverton Derby. Mark had to work, so we missed him...but we had fun. Before we went to the Demolition Derby we went to eat at Kips favorite resteraunt.....Golden Tree......he loves their ham fried rice and egg roles. After that it was off to the Demolition Derby were we met up with my brother Craig & his family. Craig has boys that are the same ages as my kids...plus a few more!! His oldest, Makade, was having his birthday that day, six years old! I can't believe it, man time flies by fast. All of the boys LOVED the Derby- All of the old beat up cars, smoke, flat tire, long hair, big belly's...they loved everything about it. The sad thing is I think all of the adults got just as much enjoyment out of it as the kids.

What the Heck???

Sier's favorite saying is "What the heck?" He says it at total random times, when you tell him he can't have any more Pepsi, when he can't find where Kip is, when he needs to go to the bathroom. It didn't start very long ago.... it was when I walked into the room and saw him biting his toenail and what did I say to him? Yep, "What the heck are you doing?" I guess when you have only one hand that works like you'd like it too, your mouth just automatically substitutes for the other! Sier really is the cutest kid in the world, with such a great personality, he is constantly making me laugh. I love you Sier:)

Happy Fathers Day!!

This day is dedicated to all the wonderful Dads there are in the world. I'm such a lucky person to have Mark be the father of my kids. They absolutly adore him. Whenever you tell Kip that you love him, he will look at you and say "I love my Dad". How sweet is that??? He truly loves his dad more than anything.
Kids look up to there dads so much, you find them mirroring and echoing whatever there dads do and say. The other day we were driving in the car and the tire went flat, sure enough Kip was out there helping Mark the whole time. Luckily Sier was asleep so he didn't have to help. The whole time I kept picturing "The Christmas Story" when they were changing the tire on the car and Ralphie said a really bad word, I poked my head out the window and reminded Mark to watch what he says- otherwise I know Kip would be saying the same thing.
Happy Fathers Day to all of those wonderful Dads I know!! All of those Dads who not only move mountains, but they Build them, tear them down, tame them and ride them off into the sunset, all without an instruction manual or GPS. Thanks to all of you dads out there who take care of those kids I love. I Love you all and appreciate what you all do as Fathers. But remember, none of you would be who you are today without your wonderful, beautiful wives. ;)

My Dad!

Marks Dad
My Brother Tim & his wife Beckie, My sister Cami & her hubby Steve, Mark & Me
My Brother Craig and his cute wife Jera
My Sister-in-law Joni with her husband Kari