Summer... where did it go?!?

We spend the 4th of July Camping in the Ruby Mountains with Dave's parents and his Aunt and Uncle. We had a great time hiking and playing in the river.
Cooper and Colby were great little hikers.

Carlie is the happiest little girl. Her brothers love to play with her, even when they are being a little rough, she just laughs and loves the attention. Luckily they haven't tried to include her in their wrestling matches yet.

She loves to pose for pictures by resting her head on her shoulder.

Camping!

We spent most of Memorial Day weekend camping. The kids had a great time even though it rained and rained. They didn't seem to mind getting wet and muddy. We went to this great spot in Spanish Fork Canyon. There are lots of trees and even a little stream.

Cooper is ready for the races. He handled the little quad quite well. I was pretty nervous at first but he is a really good driver.

We spent a few days down in Carlsbad visiting Danelle's Grandmas. We were so glad to discover that the boys love the ocean as much as we do!

Dave built the boys a little fortress. Here is Colby standing guard as the waves approach.

Colby loves the sand....

He even washed his hair in it...

And rinsed his hair in the nice clean ocean water...

He is quite the beach "bum".

Cooper loved running in the waves...

He showed no fear...

Well, maybe a little fear, when the waves got a little too big.

Carlie had her surgery on her eyes, and everything went great! It was very hard handing her over to the anesthesiologist before the surgery. Carlie did great, and so did the surgeon! She woke up easily but was not very happy, she screamed for 45 minutes or so and never opened her eyes until she had calmed down. But I had made Carlie a deal, that if she woke up from the anesthesia she could scream all she wanted and I would hold her and try to comfort her, so she was just fulfilling her part of the deal. She wasn't quite herself the rest of the day, but the next morning she woke up laughing and our little Carlie was back!

Before surgery, poor little eyes.

After surgery, eyes much straighter but pretty red from the surgery. Her eyes don't turn in anymore and she moves them both together. The redness went away after a couple weeks and now you would never know she was cross-eyed. The Dr. said he couldn't have hoped for better results, although he did say she could face more surgeries in the future. Her brain was not putting the 2 images from eyes and making them one. With her eyes straight now and moving together we hope her brain will learn to use them properly.

Carlie in her Easter dress.

The boys were modeling their new Easter clothes from Grammy as well.
Colby, lookin' good!

Cooper's growing up so fast.

The boys seem to find endless entertainment on the stairs.

They've jumped off them, slid down them and thrown various toys from the top of them.

It's all fun and games until someone gets a scratch on his bum.

Poor Colby.

Carlie and Daddy all dressed up for church.

Mommy doesn't own anything pink,

so Daddy wore his pink tie to match our baby girl.

Tennis Lessons

The little guy has pretty good form!

He loves playing tennis, we even play inside when it is too cold outdoors. Nothing has broken yet but I am sure it is only a matter of time. I know we are only setting ourselves up for trouble later on by letting the boys play ball inside, but it is just way too much fun.

He's actually watching the ball, that doesn't always happen.

Here is a video of our little Tennis Pro.

Here we have lazy-boy-tennis...

The Super Hero Interview

Playing with Carlie

The boys were all ready for church.

Carlie loves it when her brothers play with her. She gets so excited and laughs all the time.

They take good care of her.

More of the Kids

We had a visit from Dave's brother's family.

This is their youngest of 4 boys, Peter.

He and Carlie are only a couple months apart.

Here's our happy girl. She enjoys eating, sleeping and laughing.

We found out this week that she is going to need eye surgery, she has some muscle issues and her eyes are always turned in. She is our little cross-eyed Crossman. She can still see and focus on things and the Doctor said the surgery will straighten her eyes.

This is how Cooper shows his BIG muscles.

Colby learned to "flex" his muscle from watching his brother.

Cooper loves riding his bike and when it is too cold outside he enjoys "training" on his Smart Cycle. We thought he showed pretty good form, but I think he needs to shift into a harder gear.

Death Valley

We made our annual trip to Death Valley with the Paterson family.

It was a little colder than usual (60's which still felt very nice after leaving Salt Lake)

so Carlie had to sport her beanie while she was outside.

Cooper's cousin Kara taught him how to climb trees.

Colby is quite the little fish and loves going under water!