Hailey turns 8

My sweet Hailey turned 8 this summer.

She was so excited to get her ears pierced.

Opening gifts on the big day.

And eating brownie sundaes.

Her big gift was getting to stay overnight with her mom at a hotel, swimming, and then going to the American Girl store in Chicago.

My parents were able to come out for Hailey's baptism and gave her a new set of scriptures.

Our 5 sweet children.

Disney

We did it...we took the family to Disney.  We are good parents.  My children can no longer blame me for that (although I'm sure that the therapy bills I'll be paying for later will still be significant).  We went with my parents who just returned from their mission to Vancouver, my sister Stacy and her two girls and my sister Cory and her husband Adam and their 3 children.

After spending a billion dollars, and having a wonderful time, I am now convinced that we could have saved all of that money since one of the top activities was swimming at the house with their cousins.  

Christmas card picture?  I'm thinking this could be it since we are at the "happiest place on earth" and I bribed my kids to smile.  By the way-is anyone else's family sometimes screaming at this oh so wonderful place?  Just wondering.  (Please excuse the sarcasm.  It's just a mood-we really did have a wonderful time!)

 All of the kids were so excited to see Dad Dad after he had been gone for 18 months.  They adore him.

 Don't let the sweatshirts fool you....it was 95 and extremely humid the whole time that we were there.  Stacy and Lauren just have 0% body fat and are always cold.  :)

 Lounging at the pool.  

 My dad was talking into the noodles to the kids and they were mesmerized for quite awhile.  Thank goodness for grandparents!

 Playing around at Epcot.  There is something special about being beheaded by a Viking.  

 Since Hailey "hates" princesses (her own words), I was so excited that Alyssa was into it.  Her favorite, by far, was Minnie Mouse.  So cute.

 On a ride with her dad

 Splash Mountain for the first time.  My sister, Cory rocked the house (as well as Lauren and Caity) for having their arms up the whole time.  I'm in the 2nd to last row quickly bringing my arms down in sheer terror.  (And, yes, if you are wondering my sisters and I bought matching shirts and hats...we are just that silly).

 All of the cousins at Magic Kingdom.

 Trying to find the crabs under the sand at the beach.

 Soul sisters.  Hailey wanted to hang out with Stacy a lot while we were there.

 My girls

 The 3 oldest cousins boogie boarding. 

 The Tower of Terror survivors.  We went twice more and they loved it.  Hailey said that the scariest part of the ride was the movie with the ghosts.  I personally thought that dropping several stories over and over again was terrifying.

 Hollywood Studios.

 Playing Uno with Brama.

 Paul and Alyssa playing in their fort.  Afterwards they each got a stuffed animal cat and hit each other with it while they laughed hysterically.  Fun times.

 Silly cousins.

 Midnight....riding the ferry back at Magic Kingdom.  It was hot and they were EXHAUSTED.  Thank goodness for the stroller.

 Mickey Mouse ice cream.

 The girls and my dad.

Grant and Sammi playing at Disney Quest.

At the end of the trip, we were at the airport with my sister Cory.  All of the kids sat watching cartoons while we waited for the plane to come.  We talked so long, that they didn't realize that the plane was boarding until they were on the "C" boarding list.  Bummer.  We had such a great time and would love to do it again sometime (maybe without kids and more like a Mediterranean cruise or something...anyone??).

By the way, aren't you glad I didn't post all 250 pictures that I took???  :)

Cory's visit

My wonderful sister, Cory, came to visit with her 3 children and we had so much fun.  We took tons of pictures and laughed a lot.  Alyssa asked us, "what you funny about?" a couple of times as Cory and I were about to cry from laughing so hard.  When I tried to describe it to Chris he just looked at me with  a blank expression.  Thank goodness for sisters.  My other dear sister, Stacy, asked to see the pictures, so these are for you.  Wish you could have been here too (but it was a lot quieter where you were!)

 Cousins playing in the basement.  There were a lot of goofy moments and they played so well together (minus Alyssa screaming at Paul and him punching her in the face-minor issue).

 Sweet Lily.  That girl is a doll and so sweet.  

 Sammi and Hailey had a lot of fun playing together.

 At the park.

 Paul crying on the playground.  I was trying so hard not to laugh, but that kid is so darling, even when he is sad.

 Happier times at the park.  

 We headed to Brookfield Zoo and had a lot of fun (minus the time when we lost Alyssa for 10 of the longest minutes of my life).

 Alyssa and Paul actually sharing space and liking each other.

 Cute kids!

 These girls kept having sleepovers in the same room and hanging out together.  So cute.

 At the Peggy Notebaert Nature museum in Chicago (thanks Kori for the recommendation).  They have a room full of free flying butterflies that the kids either loved or hated.

 Sammi used Lily's flower to try to lure a butterfly to her and eventually got one on her finger.  On the other hand, Hailey was really freaked out, but still tried to get them to land on her...not really sure about the psychological issues there.

 Little Miss Happy

 Cute girls

 Playing in the water

 Tired out on the drive home.

 They spend tons of time on the trampoline-this is right when they all woke up and couldn't even get dressed first.  Cute girls.

 Cory may kill me for posting this, but I thought it was hysterical.  The kids were putting water balloons in their swimming suits and then jumping on the trampoline to pop them ("Sonic Pop").  But, they would walk around forever before they would pop them and it just looked too funny.

 The balloons entertained for hours!

 Mr. goofy.  Paul is too funny and has a darling personality.

I just had to post this b/c a lot of our time was spent watching different sporting activities.  The kids were so patient driving all over and watching various games every night of the week.  We sure loved having the Hopkins family here and can't wait until Florida!

Carter turns 12

I can't believe it, but Carter is 12.  This is such a big birthday for him and it was fun to see him be so grateful and thoughtful to those around him.  It was a great day.  He wanted me to bring McDonald's to school for lunch.  After school he hung out with a friend until dinner (steak-what a boy).  We had brownie sundaes and opened gifts.  He's a fantastic kid and turning into a wonderful young man.  On Sunday, he was ordained a deacon...I cannot believe it.  We are now in the world of Young Men's and he has already gone on his first campout.  Crazy days.

 All of the kids made a card for Carter and he had fun reading them.  Grant put a joke on there about a chicken crossing the road which was pretty funny.

 Carter is really into baseball and got a new bat from my parents.  

Looking sharp on Sunday