Independence Day! Let's Celebrate!

The 4th of July has come once again...one of our favorite days of the year! We celebrated in the usual "Clark-fashion"!

Karlee LOVED the BYU cheerleaders...her heros!

After the parade the boys hit the golf course (Spencer was SO excited because this was the first year he was invited to attend!) and the girls watched a movie and made cupcakes!

The Nemrow's BBQ was delish and super-fun...the swing is always a hit...so are the pinatas!

Then the fireworks back at Grandma Clark's were great and the jet fly-by was awesome!
What a day!

California baby!!

Our annual summer trip to California was fantabulous! LOTS of family time! We arrived on Father's Day and had a "Dollar Store" gift for each of the Dad's..."money" glasses for Grandpa, Cheetah duct tape for Uncle Blair, a whoopee cushion for Uncle Travis and a "BaBa" for Uncle Kyle...plus Dad scored with a gift from each of the kids! I think his favorite was the "10 more minutes" sleep mask from Audree! Anyways, that was a great evening.

We hit the beach with Shanna and Brooke one day,

hung out at Scandia with Kyle and Brooke one day, (only took the video camera for that one!)
took pictures with Grandma, Grandpa and the cousins,

Aunt Katie won a "Spa Day" for the little ladies and invited us to the party! The girls LOVED every minute of the pampering and the boys LOVED bowling!

We went to see the movie "Brave" with everyone!

And...one of our favorite things is always having a beach bon fire...complete with a wiffle ball game!

The Tooth Fairy is Coming!

Audree has been dreaming of this day for several years now...the big day when she lost her first tooth! It's been loose for like 2 years and all of her friends have been losing teeth during this time. Anyways, it's been hanging by a thread for the past couple days and while I was brushing her teeth tonight it suddenly appeared on her lip! We thought it was toothpaste at first (it's so tiny!), but upon closer inspection we discovered it's true identity! Anyways, she is having fun pushing her tongue thru the newly formed hole in her mouth and we will be excited to see what the tooth fairy leaves for her tonight!! Congratulations, Audree...you're getting so big!

Room #2- Check!

So, once Karlee and Rylee had their "Big Girl" room done...Audree decided she needed an update too! So, for her 7th birthday we made her a "Princess" room...because she really is the princess around here! We changed her green stripes to purple...per her request... and we made it look like a canopy bed (because she wanted a canopy bed and wasn't going to get one). What you can't tell from the pictures is that the purple stripes have glitter in them...oh so sparkly! Also, the cork board is there because she is QUITE the artist and always needs a place to show off her latest creations. She really is pretty stoked about the new room and has thanked me profusely and declared me "The Best Mom Ever"....yes!! Anyways, I am just happy that she's happy and so glad to have another room done...now Spencer is asking when it's his turn...just give me a couple weeks! Old Room! New Room!

Audree's 7!!

I can't believe that my baby-girl is 7 years old! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday (that was an unpleasant, but memorable day...although everyday since has been wonderful!). Anyways, she is a unique, artistic, bright, happy, musical, gorgeous and funny kid (her belly laugh is still my favorite!)...I must be the world's luckiest mom! For her big day she wanted the family to go to Lowes Extreme Airsports (a giant tramoline, foam pit, trapeze, rock climbing place) and then go to IHOP for dinner (chocolate chip pancakes...mmmm yummy!). So, we had a great night celebrating her birthday yesterday. Even though she left in tears because Daddy pretended he was going to push her off the trapeze stand and completely freaked her out. Karlee learned to do a backflip off the trapeze swing...just like her daddy...it was pretty cool. Mom, who is terrified of heights, even went on the trapeze swing a few times! Rylee was quite the trickster on the trampolines (jumping off the walls!) and Spencer was flying like Superman into the foam pits (so funny!). Audree overcame some fears and jumped backwards off the trampolines into the foam pits too! Anyways, today we had cupcakes (chocolate with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips...and some that have her name on them) by Audree's request and she opened her presents. She is patiently waiting because for her birthday she is getting her room re-done and it's not quite ready yet...photos to come! Well, Audree is becoming quite the litte lady and we are so proud to have her as part of our family. We love you, Audree! Spencer really liked the cupcakes tonight!!

Art City 5K

The annual Art City Days 5K is becoming quite the tradition for us. The 2-hour raffle at the end is just too tempting to miss! Jake has run in this race for the past couple years and this year Karlee and Rylee decided to go for it too! I was really impressed, both the girls did great! They ran it with their friends, Adam and Makayala and made great times! Anyways, when the race was over and we ate all the Haagan-Daz ice cream we could (another fantastic benefit of running this particular race!) the raffle began. This raffle contains hundreds of prizes including tents, electronics, bikes, gift cards, and all sorts of great goodies. They actually start the raffle by throwing out hundreds of frisbees...this year many of them had a dollar taped to them...it was madness! Then during the raffle we actually won a sweet prize this year and walked away with 2 free tickets to Lagoon...so watch for a great post from Lagoon later this summer! Always a great Saturday activity and the girls have committed to doing it again next year!

Start Summer Off with a Bang...Lake Powell!!

So, school got out at noon on Friday...by 1:00 we were in the car headed to Lake Powell!! We're not foolin' around this summer...let the fun begin! The first 2 days on the lake were basically a hurricane...we camped out in the houseboat making flipflops, painting toe nails, having a tatoo contest, testing out the new flatscreen tv, eating treats and playing games. The next 2 days were perfection!! Because of the rough weather the lake was like a ghost town and we got to enjoy the glassy water and open beaches all to ourselves! We took a cruise on the motorboat and just explored and enjoyed the scenery one day. The next day we went tubing, skiing and hiking! There is nowhere on Earth as relaxing as Lake Powell for me and I just LOVE to hang out with the kids all day. Audree loved making volcanoes out of the sand on the beach, Spencer loved finding clam shells and exploring with Dad, Karlee tried (and almost got up!) slolom skiing this year...it was an adult sized ski, otherwise she would have had it! Rylee loved tubing and trying to eat every treat on the boat! Jake and I both skiied this year (not bad for a couple of old farts!) and just enjoyed having the phones and computers turned off!