Brad and Mack went fishing for the first time together.  They didn't catch anything, but as far as father/sons go, it's still a pretty big milestone. 

This is what Macy does while we work in the yard...

We did a lot of work on our yard again this week.

We spread 100 yards of top soil, and got the curbing done.  

There will be a deck built next year off the back of the house, and on the other side the "deck" that is already there, we are doing a flagstone patio next year. It will look great when it all gets done!

I think it looks fabulous so far.  

The fence is getting finished August 12th, and we are putting grass in as soon as we get back from our trip to San Francisco.

Today is me and Brad's 5 year anniversary.  

In 5 years, we have:

Had 2 kids

Moved 4 times

Bought 2 houses

Gone on some great vacations

Played/watched too many rec league softball games

Watched every episode of too many tv shows

And much much more...

It has been a great 5 years so far.  Here to an infinite more!

Mack has been taking swimming lessons lately.  He does fabulous.  Actually, he's a bit chatty in class.  

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Who is ready for school to start again?  I AM! I AM!

She is obsessed with this scooter.  She just goes and stands on it and yells "MAAAAAAA", waiting for me to push her around.

Ever since we got Franklin...

Macy thinks she is a dog.

Not pictured here:  Her eating off the ground on all 4's.

Who knew plumbers crack was so cute?

Who needs kiddie pools when you have two snow sleds that I stole out of my moms DI pile?  

My Macy is such a sweet girl.  

And she really LOVES ice cream.

I found this funny the other day when nikki was in town and we were at my moms house for dinner.  Nikki said to Beckham (her son), "Want a bite?"  And what happens?  all 3 babies flocked to her.  She ended up sharing her dessert with all 3 babies.  Moral of the story is you don't share your dessert with ANYONE.

We're teaching Macy early to love the ipad. 

Some more home improvements lately...

I got my guest room started.  I painted the headboard...bought a new bed and bedding...and some simple white curtains.  I still need some small night stands, a pair of cute lamps, and a cute clock.

Then we started spreading top soil at our house this week.  I about killed myself doing it.  shoveling dirt from 11 am til 6 pm with only an hour break pretty much sucks.  Luckily next week we will have Kenny's tractor to do the back yard.  Next friday we are getting curbing done and the week after we will have grass!!!!! AMAZING!  

So what was everyone doing while brad and I were working?  

Franklin did this...slept.  ALL day long on the front porch.

Macy played in the dirt and mud. 

And Mack?  Well he was MIA.  He followed a neighborhood boy back to his house and they played in the back yard for a lot of the day. 

Making progress.  It's dang expensive, but we're doing it.  If only cash grew on trees...we could pay for someone to do all of this and have everything done this summer.  

Next summers agenda:

Fence

Deck

Rock patio in the back

Rock wall in front of the porch 

It will be an expensive summer next summer.

The best of friends.

We went camping at Lava Hot Springs last weekend with Brad's family.  Here are the highlights:

We sat around in our camping chairs...

We went to the swimming pool...

We made delicious food in the dutch ovens...

We went to the hot pots...

Macy and Tregan got REALLY dirty so they took tubbies...

We made delicious smores over the fire...

Mack and Brad went fishing on the river...

And Geoff took all 3 kids on bike rides around the campground.

I know I haven't posted all week.  There is are reasons for that.  

Reason #1.

Meet Franklin.  He is our new puppy.  He is a 7 week old Great Dane.  I've been following him around all week long working on potty training and making sure he doesn't chew on things.  He is a very mellow, very smart little guy.  He's not going to stay little for long.  He will be gaining about 15 lbs a month for the first year.  As soon as we bring Chavon (our Boston Terrier who has been living at Brad's parents house for too long) home on Sunday, he will have a friend to play with.

Reason #2.

Macy.  She will get into anything if you are not watching her.  Like this bottle of baby lotion she poured in my carpet while my back was turned.

I find taking care of babies and puppies are the same.  

While potty training, you have to take them potty every 30 minutes and give a treat when they go.

They will chew on things they aren't supposed to.

I look forward to nap times.

There are a lot more similarities...just know this is why I haven't done any blogging lately.  I haven't sat down in a week!  

We went to the zoo the other day for Brad's company picnic.  

They had face painting...

My cute nephew Tregan...

The elephants...

Alyssa sticking her head in the big elephants bum...

The zoo had a pretty cool dinosaur exhibit going on too.  Mack was so excited for it!  They even moved like they were alive.  

And where was Macy?  Fast asleep. 

Mack is as big as a youth gorilla. 

Dude, Mack, Geoff, and Tregan riding the carousel. 

I had no idea steven was behind us. 

My cute sister in law Jessie. 

And the T Rex that roared and scared Mack to death. 

It was a fun trip to the zoo!

This is my princess.  Sure...she may not look very princess-like in these pictures.  It's still a work in progress with the princess lessons.  

She had pigtails in her hair. Can you tell?

She also likes splashing in the bath.  Can you tell?

Like I said....we're still working on the whole princess thing.

After going to the aquarium with nikki and erica and the kids, we came the the conclusion that it was a good reminder of why me and my sisters don't swim in water we can't see beneath us...

 Exhibit A.  This poky thing with eyes...weird. 

This reminded us why we hate spiders.  Really?  The Goliath Bird Eating Spider?!  

 Nasty. 

The cute pengiuns were fun to watch though...

Back to our fear of the open water...

 Exhibit B.  This guy just looks plain mean. 

And Exhibit C.  This alligator...yuck.

Not pictured were all the sharks, jelly fish, piranhas, eels, and other various threatening and deadly creatures. Case and point.

Many of you know that my world ended at the beginning of June when my sister Nikki moved her family to St George.  Ok...maybe I'm being a little dramatic.  But seriously, it sucks having them so far away.  The day before they moved, I met her and erica and the kids and to my surprise OWEN and we went to the aquarium.  It was so much fun!  If only reggie were there...

 I LOVE Xanders face in this.  And Owen is so dang cute. 

 Xander and Owen looking through the bubble...

 And Caitlyn and Courtney looking through it...

And of course the 4 oldies in the cave.  Again...Xanders face is great!