More Summer Fun

We love summer! We had a great one this year. We had tons of fun with company and also had some adventures on our own. Here are some more of our summer activities (in no particular order)....

Hannah enjoyed attending princess dance camp at Dance Tech Academy again this year. She loved having her cousin Malory in her class. On the last day the girls danced for the parents and then were presented to the audience. Eli was her escort and did a great job.

We went to the fire station with the cub scouts.

(I was the Wolf den mother.)

Brady and I got to slip away to Salt Lake for a long weekend.

We enjoyed doing a session in the temple and remembering the day we were married there.

The kids had fun playing together.

Can you guess who is buried here?

We had fun visiting the zoo.

The kids enjoyed feeding the ducks and swans.

We went down to the river for the duck race for the first time this year.

Unfortunately, our duck did not win- so no new car for us...

there's always next year.

We went down to the river for the Roaring Youth Jam

and the kids got to do TONS of art projects.

In the picture below you can see the huge xylophone they had set up.

The kids could paint it and also play it.

The kids enjoyed participating in the library's summer reading program.

They were motivated to read by the prizes the library offered.

They got to attend a party too. Pirate themed, obviously :)

And last, but not least, here's Jonas helping daddy mow the lawn.

(One of his favorite summer activities!)

Summer Company

Amy, Hannah, and baby Mary

Our kids with their cousins Isabelle and Wendell

Our kids with their buddies Abbey, Luke, and Lea Risenmay

Us with Jeff and Alison Risenmay

We love having people come visit us during the summer. This year, we had my sister Michelle and her family, my brother David and his family, my sister Amy and her family, Brady's brother Luke and his family, and our good friends the Risenmays. I don't have good pictures of everyone to post, but we do have good memories of playing in the backyard, going to the river to feed the ducks and listen to music, swimming at the aquatic center, and going to Rigby Lake.

Princess Vicki got married!

Our sweet Vicki got married to her longtime sweetheart, Kyle, in July. We are so happy for them. Kyle is one lucky guy. We are excited for them as they start their new lives together.

All of her brothers adore her. (Kyle apparently passed the brothers' test.)

The whole family was able to be there to support the new couple.

Shipp Family Reunion 2011

The Shipp side of our family got together in southern Utah for a family reunion in July. All of my siblings and their families were there except for Amy's family.

We spent a lot of time hiking and exploring the beautiful surroundings. We also enjoyed swimming at the condo. There weren't a lot of other families there, so we usually had the pool all to ourselves.

Each night we had a family devotional and spent time playing games, sharing talents, doing silly skits, and just being together. The cousins did secret gifts for their assigned cousin. They loved being sneaky. At the end of our stay, they revealed who they had. We are already looking forward to another reunion next summer!

Forth of July 2011

Idaho Falls knows how to celebrate the Forth of July!

In the morning we go to a parade. The kids love it and they collect lots of candy.

We got a great spot for watching the fireworks. We love listening to the program that is played along with the show. Great words of inspiration and patriotic music.

We can't imagine celebrating the 4th anywhere else. We love it here!

Jonas is the big 3

Here's the birthday boy! He started the party in clothes, but after getting two outfits wet in the pool, we opted for the swimming suit.

Jonas was excited to have cousins over to celebrate and to try out the new pool. What a fun day!

That night our family went to the drive-in to see Cars 2. It was a lot of fun!

Happy birthday Jonas, we love you bunches!

End of the School Year 2011

The end of the year is almost here, so it's time to update the blog... and fast :)

Eli graduated from Miss Karla's preschool.

There was singing and signing and much celebrating :)

Hannah had her final dance recital and did a great job!

Here are Eli and Jonas (and their cousin Gavin) at their end of the year tumbling class. They all got medals. My boys are the ones wearing shorts.

Here's Jonas demonstrating some skills :)

Hannah loves the year end dance party. She loves adding new trophies to her trophy shelf.

So those were our end of the school year activities. Lots of fun... now to find out what we did during the summer.