I smile because we are family...

...I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it!

Since my parents and sister Kirsten, and my sister Lisa and her familiy were here for Tyler and Quintin's graduations, we took some time to take some family pictures. It's been a little while...4 years for my family. Our awesome niece Pene was so gracious to come and take them for us. We were missing my brothers and their families and were sad that they weren't able to make it. They plan on taking more pictures when they all get together this Summer for my grandma's 90th birthday.

 My Parents and Sisters

(L-R: Julie, Dad, Mom, Lisa, Me and Kirsten in front)

 With our Spouses

(L-R: Bob & Julie, Dad & Mom, Chris & I, Jordan & Lisa, and Kirsten)

All the Grandkids

(L-R: Back Row-Zachary, Lauren, Tyler & Brynnly; Middle Row-McKenna, Grandpa, Grandma, Quintin & Brooklynn; Front Row-Adelaide, Braxton, Ivy, Sinjin, LaRue & Matilda)

 The Whole Gang

 Our Family - May 2016

 Lauren - 16 years old

The one of the left was taken in April 2016. She hates it, but I love it!

 Brooklynn - 10 years old

McKenna - 13 years old & LaRue - 12 years old

(We didn't get one of just McKenna)

And, we didn't take any of Tyler because we had just taken his Senior Pictures. But just so he doesn't feel left out...here is the official yearbook picture.

Happy 4th of July

We made our annual trek to Malad for the Salmon Bake and 4th of July festivities, and, to visit this guy.

GRANDPA

We ALWAYS go to Malad for the 4th, it's just tradition. Haven't missed once in 9 years. We usually do the same things every year which you can verify here and here. I have to thank Pene for all the pictures. I took exactly 5 pictures from the 4th and half of them weren't even my kids! So thank you Pene!

We left on Friday afternoon and drove straight to the city park for the Salmon Bake. Chris' dad is in charge of the Salmon and has his sons and grandsons help out. It is the Scouts big fundraiser for the year.

Going down the line to get food

Cute scout serving

It is also a tradition that after the bake, the big trailer they cook the salmon on is towed back to Dad's house and the coals are PERFECT for S'mores. So the whole family sits around stuffing ourselves silly on S'mores and lighting off fireworks....which are much cooler than in Utah because in Utah, everything is illegal.

Another family tradition is Sourdough Pancakes. Everytime we have a big group of family together for breakfast you can count on sourdough pancakes. Chris usually has the honor of making them. Mmmm, once you've had sourdough pancakes with buttermilk syrup, you just can't go back to regular ones.

Sourdough starter - bubbly goodness in a bowl

Almost ready!!

Mmmmm.... I really wish I had some right now.

After breakfast on Saturday morning we all headed down to the parade. Malad is a small town therefore, don't be late to the parade or you might miss it. We sit in the same spot every year. Kind of like church, don't take my pew, don't take my parade spot! Afterward, the kids all walked to main street for the shoot out and to check out some other activities while the adults all went home and relaxed. That night we went to the fireworks show. One that never disappoints. For a small town, this show can rival most big cities. This year though probably a dozen fireworks exploded on the ground and one ignited a small fire. Luckily nobody was hurt and the fire was put out quickly. The rest of the weekend we just relaxed and visited. It was really nice. Until next year!

Just another nice picture Pene took of Tyler.

New Pictures

My niece Pene took the kids pictures over the 4th of July. She is really talented and has a good eye. We had so many fun locations to shoot at, they were all so beautiful. She even took pictures of Roxy! I guess Chris and I will have to update our photo sometime, didn't think about us. It's so much work just getting the kids together. So I have updated all the pictures on the side bar...now you'll actually have to go to my blog and look, lazy google readers you! I have added her button to my blog as well and she's offering a great special right now. Go check it out! Thanks Pene, you're the best!

Some of my other favorites:Tyler - almost 12

Lauren - 10

McKenna - 7

Brooklynn - 4 1/2

Roxy - 1