I love it when babies start smiling and gooing. Abby has the cutest smile, and I love it when she talks. She is such a good baby, and we all adore her. Before going to bed every night, everyone has to hug and kiss Abby. The kids love to hold her and make her laugh.
Since my parents haven't met Abby yet, I guess this is the next best thing (until we get a web cam).
For the 4th of July weekend, Rob went to Oregon with his sister and parents to get things ready for the cherry harvest. Rob calls it a "don't tell the doctor where Dad is, kind of weekend," because surely the doctor wouldn't approve of his little trip. Anyway, luckily Terri called and invited me to Provo for the weekend, otherwise we probably wouldn't have done anything for the the holiday. (Bear with all the pictures here, I want my parents to see as much of family events as possible. Plus, I've heard of people having their blogs printed into a book and kept as a journal, and I'd like to do that.)
Too bad Terri covered up her cool costume!
We spent the night at my sister Laura's house then attended the Provo Freedom Festival Parade. We generally avoid large crowds like this, and I'm pretty sure this was the first big parade I've ever attended, but we had a good time. Matthew was enthralled with the parade for the first hour. He wasn't even scared by the loud fire engine, after fire engine, after fire engine.
Here's my bro Evan with Sarah and Porter, Carter, my bro Dan, sister Laura, and her husband Mike. We had great seats in the shade! My sister Sherry and her boys came too, but it must have been after I took all these pictures.
Here's the cute patriotic family in red, white and blue: Evan, Porter, and Toni.
Terri was so great to hold Matthew the whole time. The only thing the kids were disappointed with was the lack of candy thrown in the parade (I guess it's not allowed in this parade). I was happy with the one piece they got, rather than the bag-fulls of candy they usually get at parades. 
Towards the end of the parade, when people were getting tired and not cheering much, Rep. Jason Chaffetz walked by. I think he's doing a great job, so I yelled out, "Yeah Jason," really loud. When he heard me, he stopped, found me in the crowd, and weaved through the crowd to shake my hand. Guess I have a really loud voice when I want to. Plus, how could he miss the crazy lady waiving her arms?! This is a picture of him shaking Toni's hand. I had to mention that or she'd be sad.
Like I said, the crowd got pretty quiet near the end of the parade. So when this semi came by, everyone heard Sarah loud and clear as she yelled "Cougars stink." I'm sure every head turned and stared. My kids are such turncoats...traitors...fair-weather-fans!!! I guess I need to have a little discussion with my kids about when it's not appropriate to show their preference for red. -Like when they are in Cougar Country! And the loud voice... I guess she gets it from her Daddy:) 
When Sarah got bored of the parade, she took off her shoes and filled them with grass. Then she went around offering "cake" to everyone.
It was fun having such a big crew at the parade. Here's Evan with Abby. 
We sat at the parade right in front of the Colonial Village, where my nieces Katie and Lindsey, and nephew Carter were volunteering. Here's Lindsey making a corn husk doll for Sarah.
Katie gave people samples of apple butter, and freshly churned butter on bread.
They were so cute, and did a great job- each putting in 12 hours of service over three days!
Sarah loved her doll, but didn't want her picture taken.
Carter taught kids how to play Colonial games. Here he's teaching Nathan how to play a ring catch game. It looks like Nathan closes his eyes to catch things, just like his mama.
We toured a great museum that was right by the Colonial Days area. It was very cool.
The kids thought the replica of the golden plates was really neat.
Later, we played games and barbecued at Laura's, then watched the Stadium of Fire Fireworks from Rock Canyon Park. Katie was excited to teach us a bunch of fun games she had just learned from her first time attending girl's camp. Here's Laura, Katie, Lindsey, Nathan, Toni, Evan and Porter.
Matthew made sure his uncle Mike didn't miss any of the fireworks. The fireworks were fantastic!
Though we missed Rob, we had a great and exhausting Independence Day celebration. I wouldn't have dared venture out very far with the kids without the help of my family. Thanks guys!
The kids had a great time making birthday signs for Grandpa's birthday. We miss you Grandpa, and hope that you had a great day. We love you!
Sarah wanted to show the back side of her picture. What an artist! :)
And how can I resist posting a cute picture of little Abby?! She is growing so fast. It will still be another year before she gets to meet her Grandpa. I won't say any more, because then I'll start to cry.I know that Father's Day was a long time ago, but I failed to post any kind of tribute to the men I love. LOVE YOU!!!
This is one of my favorite pictures of when Sarah was little.
Rob helping Nathan shoot his potato cannon
Last summer my dad took the kids for a ride on the combine, and they thought it was awesome. He hadn't grown wheat in a long, long time (and may never again), so this was a rare opportunity for the kids.
Matthew was wondering who this guy is. He looks like Grandpa Z. but what's with the hair?!
Grandpa R. with Sarah (doesn't she look just like Abby?!) 
Nathan made this cute card at school.
Anyway, You ROCK!!! Ok, so it's pouring rain outside, but summer is finally here! Yeah! Nathan had his last day of school today, so now we're free. We'll be on a traditional schedule at his new school, so he'll get a decent summer break. There's just something wrong with going to school in the middle of summer. Oh, and I'm happy not to have to make the 20 minute drive each-way, to get him to and from school every day. He'll be able to walk around the corner to his new school.
Last Saturday was beautiful- time for the slip and slide! It was so much fun!
Later on we went to fireworks. Oh how I love a good fireworks show. Thanks Amy, for letting us join you, and sharing glow sticks with my kids. While Nathan and Sarah were too busy playing with friends to watch much of the show, Matthew was mesmerized by them the entire time. Nature put on it's own fantastic show- check out the amazing sunset!
Well, Rob's been feeling lousy for over a week now. He was already getting a cold last weekend when he went on a Scout camp out with our old ward, and they rafted the Weber River. Long story short, their 14 foot raft hit a pillar for the freeway and flipped, sending all the passengers for a swim in the Weber River. Rob was able to hold on to the raft, and eventually get it flipped back over, but he spent considerable time and energy in the river. When he came home, not only was he scratched and beat up, but was also exhausted. He rested as much as he could over the weekend (as much as you can rest when you have to teach Elder's Quorum). Then he worked all this week, and snuck in a nap here and there when he could. The other day he asked if I would make him an appointment to see the doctor. Really?!!! He usually has to be on his death bed before he sees the doctor. He thought he had pneumonia. Well, he just got back from the doctor's office, and sure enough, it's pneumonia! WHAT?!!! It's only been a few weeks since Nathan had pneumonia. I feel bad now, because I didn't think he was that sick. What a summer this is turning out to be. No, really we're doing really well (other than a little pneumonia here and there).
A few weeks ago, while much of Rob's family was in town after the temple, Rob blessed Abby. It was so neat to have his dad participate for the first time. We had hoped he would do the blessing, but he didn't feel comfortable with that yet (he's only had the priesthood for a few weeks). It was the first time my dad wasn't there for a blessing. We miss them terribly, but have posted lots of pictures for them.
These are the girl grandchildren on Rob's side of the family. Aren't they beautiful?! This is Jerany with Abby, Cameryn, Sarah and Madi.
This is my awesome nephew Josh. He is the oldest grandchild on my side of the family, so of course we had to get a picture of the oldest with the youngest grandchild. We are so proud of Josh. He just graduated as Valedictorian of his class, and is heading to West Point! We will miss him.
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