Our Arizona neighbors...

We had some fun new neighbors move in this summer, The Cooks. They bought a summer home up here to get out of the "Arizona heat". We just latched right onto them and they kind of became our extended family. When the kids would wake and come out for breakfast, Jared and Rachel would be ready to play with them. After a while they even skipped the back door, they would just climb down our window well and hop inside! When my girls felt a little more comfortable they started venturing over to their house and I wouldn't see them for hours at a time. I wish Taeyab and Anna had been in this picture too, but if I remember right, Taeya went somewhere with her dad that night. Brandalyn and Anastyn My girls and I and Gigi and her kids came to Pizza Factory for dinner so Brandalyn could get her carbs in the night before her half marathon. It was lots of fun. I just wish I'd caught more pics of all these kids playing together all summer!

This is Heritage Park right by our elementary school. I took the kids down there one night to cool off. Anna got in really quick and did great walking through the water. I tried to put Alayna in and she wanted to get right back out after touching the water. That's my little dare devil! It was pretty cold though.

Cute Brynn and Rachel

Our funny little girls

Making mud pies...They were mixing and forming pies for a really long time!

I'll race you to the top!

Jared, playing at the park. Theses cute Cook kids are little acrobats, but were giving me a heart attack the way they could climb so high and balance on things. They told me they did it all the time and not to worry!

My cute little Kira Belle

Oh what a great time these kids had together! Notice Jared didn't want to join the ladies for the picture, he's up in the left hand corner.:) The day they had to drive home for to start school in Arizona was a sad one...but we are just glad they will be here soon to visit!

A Fun Summer Ride!

Here is our great little slip'n slide we used just this one time during the summer. The girls were so excited and had to show me some cool moves.

This was as much slip'n and sliding that this little person was going to do. But she loved it and kept squealing and trying to catch the water and trying to get little drinks.

Our big water slide was always a hit this summer and I think we put it to good use. I had to put these pictures in because the kids definitely used the slide for climbing rather than sliding some of the time. (No matter how many times we said, "up the stairs and down the slide!")

Cute Brielle! It was so great to have Lawni, Bryce and Brielle around for a while. Some of these summer days Brynn would be on that slide for 2 to 3 hours straight without getting off.

Oooo Hot Mama! Aren't they the cutest!
I just love the way these two are hugging each other and hugging onto the bike! They are like miniature people. You just want to eat them all up:)

One day we all decided to go to Jump on It. It was fun, although I'm pretty sure Alayna didn't do much jumping(we're still working on that one:). It brings back old times, of going to jump on it for aerobics back when Taeya and Brielle were little.

Brynn, Kira, Autumn and Brooke in the foam pit. Brynn later told me that she fell in there from off of the rock wall and she could hardly get out she was so deep into the foam.

Cute little girls! This is something Alayna could do all day long! No jumping involved, just quarters!

One day we also went over to the splash park in Alpine. Brandalyn was packing so Mary, Gigi and Lawni took all the kids over. Alayna wasn't thrilled with the water, but something did catch her eye. A girl and her friend were dog sitting and had brought the puppies to the park. Alayna went crazy for them and was sure they were there just for her. Bryce wasn't truly happy until we found him a ball. It was so funny, Lawni was saying how great it would be if she could find a ball for Bryce and just then a little kid came up with a shoebox full of balls, saying he was selling them for 25 cents. Unbelievable, you ask and you shall receive, right? It was funny.

She's thinking about it...but she left nice and dry that day!

Oh man I love these kids!! How fun it is to be young and carefree and full of imagination. We did take these kids some fun places, but all they really needed for a good time was the back yard, some water and each other. We sure did love having Lawni here too. I felt so bad that Bryce and Brielle got so sick and they were bound to the Kennard home. But, I had lots of fun hanging out Lawni though. I was really sad when she left that time!