Playing at Shae's house!

Yesterday we had a busy day! First we dropped Dallin off at the airport to fly back home to Texas (Thank you Rick Ashford for picking him up!!!!). Then we stopped by Grandpa's work in Phoenix, stopped by Grandma Strong's for a minute, then went to play at Shae's house for the afternoon. Shae is my cousin, but she is only 4...so the kids just think of her as their cousin.

The boys with some of my cousin Amy Rapier's kids...Colin, Chesley & Baby ZachShae helping Grandma entertain Connor...

Connor having fun with my Aunt Marilee (Shae's mom)

Watching Scooby-Doo...

My cousin Melinda, Aunt Marilee, Aunt Karen & Rachael's daughter Emma

My cousin Melinda & I

Strong Family Fun

We had so much fun with family this week. The kids had a blast playing with all of their Strong cousins. Grandma always had at least one kid on her lap...usually more.Zach loves Laddie...

The boys all took up wrestling, with the men being referees...

This took all day to build because the babies kept wandering in to knock it down...

Connor dancing with Aunt Amy, and LOVING it!

Zach with Uncle Dave Montague

The boys playing soccer with Tommy in his backyard

Grandpa reading to Savannah and Hannah

Tickling Maya...

It was Will's birthday earlier in the week so we had a little party with leftover wedding cake...

Aunt Stephanie brought a big bag of balloons for Will's birthday...it was a huge hit as you can see.

On Tuesday it was just our family over at the Strongs in the afternoon. Grandma found Savannah a bag of old My Little Ponies...she was in heaven (also having Grandma all to herself).

Visiting Anna!

I got to go and visit Anna Davies on Sunday! It was so fun to see her and see how well she's progressing. She is an amazing woman. I forgot how much I missed seeing her smiling face. We'll miss you Anna!!!

Justin Strong's Wedding

We drove to Mesa, AZ on Thursday, July 10. We made it in 15 hours and 40 minutes, only stopping for gas and restroom breaks. We ate all our meals in the car. The kids were so happy to be out of the car. We stayed at Dallin's sister Melinda's house and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins. All of Dallin's 6 siblings were here for the wedding, along with every spouse and grandkid. It was a great time!

Dallin's youngest brother Justin was married on July 12 in the Mesa Temple. His wife Tanya is so fun and sweet. We're excited to have her in the family!A rare picture of Dallin & I together...one of us is usually behind the camera.

The kid table at the luncheon...

All 14 of the Strong grandkids...
Back: Will, Zach, Jacob, Maya, Talmage, Garrett, Tommy, Tanner
Middle: Savannah, Matthew, Hannah
Front (on floor): McKenzie, Connor, Corinne

Strong siblings: Melinda, Amy, Stephanie, Carrie, Justin, Daniel, Dallin

Savannah LOVED the flowers on the cake and got to take a bunch home after...

Connor with Aunt Alisha Strong. We had a room set up for the kids to be able to go in and watch a movie. It was GREAT! They just wandered between there and the reception all evening.
Jacob was such a good helper at the reception. He assigned himself to open the door for people as they were coming in. Then later Carrie asked him to help clear tables. After he'd done a couple I saw him over by the garbage drinking out of the cups. He thought he wasn't allowed to dump the drinks into the garbage so he was drinking the leftovers! He was just trying to be a good boy. Luckily I caught him after only a couple.

How sweet is that?

This morning I woke up not feeling well at all (a bad headache). As I was checking my email Zach tiptoed into my room and started making the bed. He said "Mommy, you're sick so I'll make your bed today." He found this coupon that he had made at Primary Activity Day and came and made my king-sized bed for me all by himself. The sheet was even pulled up nice underneath the bedspread.I think he did a pretty good job!!!

Old McZach-Man Had a Farm

Today we were driving to church and went past a big field with only a couple of cows.

Zach: "Mommy, see that farm? It only has 2 cows because they're saving it for me. They're waiting for me to grow up so I can be the farmer of that farm."

Mom: "Oh, so are you going to have a cow farm, horse farm, or food farm?"

Zach: "An EVERYTHING farm."

Mom: "You're going to have to learn all about planting things and all about animals."

Zach: "Well I already know how to milk cows."

Mom: "Really. Where did you learn that?"

Zach: "I just watched it."

?????

4th of July!!!

The boys said this was the "funnest 4th of July EVER!" Last year I didn't let them stay up to see fireworks and then felt guilty after...so this year we stayed up nice and late. But to start the day off we made some colorful flags.

Then we went to Old Settler's Park to watch the annual reenactment of the Sam Bass shootout. That's what Round Rock is famous for...killing an outlaw. So we thought we'd give the kids some history. This was 5 minutes after we got there and we were already dripping with sweat.

"Sam Bass coming to town with his gang"

The shootout...the boys were both not too happy with the loud noise of the guns.

In the evening we went to a BBQ at the Corbetts'. The kids had a great time all playing together. Connor loves the trampoline even though this is what happens when he jumps with the big kids.

The boys got to try out the Wii and enjoyed every minute of it.

The Nysetvolds were there too and so Savannah followed Sierra around like she was her shadow.

We went to the parking lot of the Dell Diamond, right by the park. We had fun hanging out by the car while it got dark.

Jacob took this picture of Dallin & Zach...

Almost dark

Yeah! Finally! The kids were lovin' it.

Connor was starting to fuss but calmed right down when they started. He was mesmerized.

Zach did a little dance for each one

Connor fighting so hard to stay awake at 9:40pm...

It took us 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot and home. Traffic was backed up so bad...but it was worth it. Most of the kids even slept in until after 8:00am this morning! It was some fun memories.

Friends, Pets & Connor Boredom

Today was very fun because we went to Toys'R'Us to spend some well-saved money. Jacob had been saving for weeks for a particular toy and Savannah had some money in her bank too. Savannah is obsessed with her "friends," which are all of her stuffed animals. But she decided that she needed some "pets" since I won't let them have any right now. Imagine how excited she was when all of the stuffed animals were Buy One Get One Free! So she got to pick out 2 pets! She went through dozens of names before she finally decided. The black dog is "Diamond" and the siamese cat is "Circle." Yes, we know our shapes. Zach came up with Diamond and she loved it. This evening when we went to change into her pajamas this is what I found on the bed. Savannah told me that since she has 2 pets now Heidi needed 2 pets too.

This is a sample of what Connor loves to do now when he's bored...pull Savannah's hair. He does it at home, in the shopping cart, in the car, at the pool, etc. Savannah doesn't love it though...and neither do I. This was about 2 minutes after I did her hair this morning.