Crazy Days of Summer

Well, we've been back home for over a week now and man o'man have we been busy. Of course we should be busy packing and organzing but where's the fun in getting ahead of schedule!

Pepper and Morgan have been perfecting the family band. Morgan, of course, is lead guitar and Pepper has taken over as lead singer. She loves to hold the microphones and sing into them while shaking her hips. I'm still trying to get a good video of this.

On Tuesday afternoon last week, we went over to Abby's house to go to the park and play with friends. Jack joined us also and the three of them had a great time chasing each other.

While the big kids ran about Pepper and baby Ben hung out with the mommies.

Jack is always good for a big cheezy grin!

Wednesday morning was Morgan's last day of preschool for this year. Morgan LOVED his first preschool experience and I couldn't be happier with how well he did. We both love his teachers Miss Becky and Miss Krystal and will miss them greatly until next fall! Of course, since we see them every week at church, we won't have to wait too long to see them:)

Here are some videos of the graduation/party:

Miss Krystal and William. Morgan loved having William in his class and really looked up to him. Sadly, William's family is moving next week. They will be greatly missed!

Morgan and Miss Krystal

Miss Krystal and Miss Becky

Thursday morning was Morgan's showcase day for his Little Gym Funny Bug class. This was the first semester Morgan was in class all by himself and I must say he did amazing!

He had a small class with the best little kids and fantastic moms and grandmas. I had such a great time hanging out with the ladies and other little siblings every Thursday morning.

I miss my little Hen Party!

Teacher Sue rocks!

Morgan had missed the last three weeks before the showcase so he was a little rusty and confused but thanks to Teacher Sue, Morgan still had a great time.

Here's Morgan rockin' the balance beam:

And doing a great floor routine:

And finally trying out his bar skills:

Zachery, Morgan, Frankie, Julia, Erin and Abby

Morgan is still so proud of his gold medal!

Waving to his adoring fans.

Ta-Da!

We love you Teacher Sue! See you in the fall.

Friday morning we got up bright and early and went strawberry picking with Heather and Jack. Luckily it was an overcast day and not too hot. The ground was muddy and the kids were crazy...and heavy but we were determined. (and yes that is Jack and Morgan running amuck in the background)

Pepper decided that dirty fruit is her favorite, since this was the first time I have been able to get her to eat whole fruit.

10lbs of fresh strawberries later.

Heather, who is about to pop at anytime, hardly complained and was such a trooper!

These two tried to eat and steal all of our strawberries and just generally were up to no good. Such great little helpers.

Heather trying to defend her harvest while waiting for the tractor to take us back to the barn. We would have walked except for the 3 ft of soft squishy mud between us.

Quite a workout with almost 25 extra pounds on my back trying to eat all my strawberries.

This is happiness!

That night our ward had a Luau at Copley Community Park. The kids had a great time running around and playing with friends.

We had a great time eating yummy Hawaiian haystacks.

Becky, Abby and baby Ben joined us in the fun and with getting bit by mosquitoes.

Pepper trying out her hoola-hoop skills.

Saturday afternoon, we drove to Wadsworth to help Morgan's friend, David, celebrate his 4th birthday at the bowling alley. This was Morgan's very first time bowling and he was pretty excited.

The party crew, Pepper, David, Peyton, Jack, Jenna and Morgan's legs.

Pepper with her favorite, Heather. I don't know what Pepper will do when Heather has another little baby girl in her arms!

Morgan discovered the arcade and spent most of his time in there when he was not bowling. Pepper joined him for some Dance Dance Revolution.

These videos are hillarious!

Morgan had beginners luck and ended up winning with a 96.

Better than a lot of my scores!

After bowling, we went back to David's house for some yummy sloppy joes and golf cake.

Hooray for good friends!

This morning we got the keys to our new home so now the craziness really begins!!!

Annual Summer Florida Trip

Saturday, the kids and I returned from a two week vacation to my parents' home in Florida.

It was heavenly being able to spend so much time with my whole family and for the kids to play with their cousins. Pepper and Jacob enjoying Gramma and Papa's pool.
Gramma or a Legionaire...who can tell?

Pepper's hair really enjoyed the humidity.

Pepper crashing nursery at my sister Kim's ward. We went there to hear my nephew, Nathan, give a talk in sacramament meeting.

Morgan and Benny waiting for snacks.

Gramma got a special froggy-potty to help Morgan.

No one can help, however, with his need to hide under rugs and towels.

My cousin, Lisa, with Pepper.Benny, Nathan and Morgan reading stories.Morgan relaxing after a long day in the pool.

My cousin, Lisa, her husband, Sean and daughter, Sophia came to visit the first weekend we were home. Baby Sophia is two weeks younger than Pepper. It was so fun getting to spend some time together. Sophia is a real life baby doll and just the sweetest thing!

Yes, I am a horrible mother and let my child get a bad sunburn. But to be fair I was ten times worse!

Do not rely on spray lotion to cover everything!

Tuesday morning we all went to watch my mom and sister, Jill, peform with their band at a senior center.

As you can see we are sitting off to the side of the stage and right in front of everyone. There were ten rowdy children dancing about and taking all of the attention. Good thing they are all super cute and the audience was a group of grandmas and grandpas!

Pepper was the big hit of the performance and the conductor even gave her a shout out. She sat in my dad's lap and waved her arm up and down to the music. It looked like she was trying to help the conductor. It was hysterical!

My mom playing her trumpet and sister, Jill, playing her french horn.

The boys playing trains at Jill's house after the performance.

The next day Jill and her kids joined us at the Brevard Zoo.

The kids loved feeding the giraffes.

Climbing down to check out the new cheetah exhibit. One of the cheetahs was named, Pepper. All the kids got a big kick out of that.

The curly haired twins, Alice and Pepper.

Morgan feeding the birds.

Everyone was happy to take a break and ride the train.

After a quick trip through half the zoo we headed to the water playground. Morgan is getting ready to ride down the whale slide.

Since I couldn't go out in the sun with my horrible sunburn, Gramma helped keep an eye on Pepper, who seems to have no fear of water and is under the impression she can swim.

Alice, Gramma and Pepper. What Pepper has to look forward to in the hair department.After a long, sweaty day outside the kids took a dip in Gramma's tub. First the girls, Jane, Pepper and Alice.Then the boys, Benny and Morgan.

Morgan had a blast playing all of Gramma's instruments the entire time we were home. The first thing he said every morning was, "Gramma, can I play the french horn, trumpet and trombone? Please!!!!" The kid can actually make some amazing sounds and does a good job handling them. And thus grows the musical obsession.

Friday we went to the beach in the morning with Kim's family. They were getting ready to move to Alabama to join Mike who has been there for the past few months and set up a beach day with all their friends.

Mikayla, Alice and Jane builing a sandcastle.

Jill and her little baby bump catching some rays.

Big brother, Nathan, helping baby brother, Ben, build his sandcastle.

At first Morgan was not so sure about the whole beach thing...

but after awhile it was hard to get him to leave!

Mike and Kim hanging out at the pool after a long morning at the beach. Ahh the life of a Floridian.

Morgan was no match for how draining the sun and sand can be.

Saturday, we drove to St. Augustine to visit my grandfather, Grandpa Goodier. He will be 92 soon and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to visit him all together before Kim and family leave Florida. My Uncle Larry and Pat flew down from Boston for the weekend. It was wonderful to be there together and Grandpa was so proud of his posterity.

Uncle Kevin entertaining the Jane, Pepper and Alice.

Pepper loved Great-Grandpa Goodier and kept giving him her half chewed crunchies to hold. Luckily, he was a great sport about the whole thing. She was completely attached to my dad the whole time we were there so I think she felt the connection with Grandpa as well.

To give Grandpa a break from the total chaos our family can create, most of the kids and adults took a break in the clubhouse pool after lunch.

Pepper was totally exhausted from being cute!

Joshua and Jacob joined us for the ride home and kept Morgan company in the back seat.

The next day on Sunday, we all got up bright and early again and this time drove two hours in the oppossite direction to Tampa for baby Sophia's baptism.

The family getting ready for the big event.

My Auntie Cheryl got her wedding dress sized down to become a baptismal dress for Sophia. It was beautiful as was this beaming daughter of God.

Sean, Lisa, and Sophia with the god-parents.

The reception afterwards was at a beautiful Cuban restaurant in Ybor City. Pepper was very happy to continue eating...this girl can eat and eat and eat some more!

Kim and family.

Gramma and Benny.

It was another long day but we were so glad to be able to support baby Sophia on her big day and to spend that special time together as a family.

Morgan enjoying the pool toys.

Movie night.

My parents have four tvs so it was always movie time somewhere in the house.

Auntie Kim and Alice.

Miss cutie-patootie, Alice, on Memorial Day.

Alice loves giving Mommy some love.

Pepper also loved Uncle Kevin and could often be found on his lap. I think someone was missing Daddy!

Uncle Mike playing a game with the kids. Morgan had a great time playing with all of Gramma's cool games. I guess he's finally hit that age where we need to start investing in some board games.

Tuesday we headed back to the zoo to see the other half of the animals and go back to the water playground.

This time Kim and family joined us for the zoo day fun.

Auntie Jill, Alice, Benny and Mikayla.

Yep, two little boys left alone for just a few minutes can create all of this!

Morgan, Jane, Mikayla and Ben.

Morgan is missing all of his cousins and can't wait to play with them again!

Wednesday, was the last day for Kim and family before they headed off to Alabama. We also took the time together to celebrate Mike's birthday, which was on Tuesday.

Cody turned 31 on Wednesday, June 2nd but sadly he was in NYC on business and didn't get to party with us. I ate a second piece of carrot cake in his honor!

Even with a slight pouty face this little girl is a beauty!

Wednesday afternoon we left all the kids with babysitters and/or daddy and headed out for a girls afternoon. Kim, Jill, mom and I had a nice lunch, went to a jewelry store for some repairs and then got pedicures and did a little mall shopping. It was fabulous getting to spend some down time with my sisters and mom. I love these pretty ladies!

Pepper with her favorite person. I think it was the height.

The kids were having a dance party and Gramma and Papa decided they couldn't pass up a dancing opportunity. These crazy kids!

Friday morning while Jill, Kevin and Papa were at the Orlando Temple, Gramma and I took the kids to the McD's playplace to burn off some energy on a rainy day.

After nap time, we went to Patrick Air Force Base to get some haircuts. Jane decided she wanted a shorter haircut and jumped into the chair. Such a big girl!

I asked Morgan what kind of haircut he wanted and he told me he wanted to get a rocker cut. I asked him to be more specific and he said he wanted to look like Pat, the drummer from Weezer. Pat has a shaved/bald head so that is what we did. All the old military guys waiting to get their hair cut kept saying it looked like he was headed to boot camp and things like, "I haven't had my hair that short since 1962!"

So in a not so small nutshell that was our trip to Florida. I have lots of videos that are not cooperating at the moment so I will upload some of those once I get them on Youtube.

It is great to be home and fantastic to be with Cody but boy-oh-boy do I miss my family! Everyone needs to come and visit once we get moved into our new home. Oh yeah, that reminds me, we closed on our house on Friday, May 28th. So we are now officially homeownwers.

Crazy, crazy, crazy!