Happy Fodder's Day!

For Father's Day (known as "Fodder's Day" at our house), I decided to get sick. :( So, the kids really stepped up to make it a nice Sunday for Dad. John, however, cooked, cleaned, mowed 2 lawns, helped the neighbors move, and took the kids shopping (with his $$) on Saturday- phew! What a Dad!

They rewarded him with these cute Star Wars Father's Day surprises. (Ideas here- if you want to try them out for next year or birthdays!)


Droid Chips, Wookie Cookies, Han's Rolos, Yoda Soda, Vaderade and more...




Father's Day tie!



Daddy's request for Father's Day dinner: hamburgers, beans, potato salad.


These have nothing to do with Father's Day- they are Becca's chinchillas! "Cocoa" and "Cream"


She scored these for free from ksl classifieds- huge cage (taller than she is) (Becca informed me that she is 1 inch taller then the cage!), food & accessories included! She is in heaven with pets of her own, finally! :)

Catching up with Cousins

John and I had a record # SEVEN nieces & nephews born this last year. We've been meeting these new little cuties over the past few weeks. (And we look forward to meeting Sophie in OR and Will in TX hopefully soon!;)

Here are a few pictures of our "meeting up" with all of our fantastic cousins:


Their Great-Grandma aka "G.G." had her 80th birthday party! All 18 cousins together at last!


Another photo op with Grandma and Grandpa Blackwell. This was after Melissa & Ryan's little Tyson was blessed.


Lexi and Abbi.


Get hairstyle lessons from Emilee. :)


Me with my awesome grandparents, Grammy and Papa!


2 cool guys.


These 3 will be seven-years-old this year! (Well, Parker's already there....)


Alli and Zoe.


Rebecca and Hallie.


With even more baby cousins: Claire & Tyson.


We also snuck in a trip to This Is The Place Park with the Jones family. Here are the kids on the train.


We don't remember this happening, but here's a picture of it anyway!


In front of our ancestral home, The Fairbanks. They crossed the plains and then spent the winter in Payson in their wagon. Brrr..... wow. We're grateful for their sacrifices.


It was free day + free ice cream to boot! That's my kind of outing. :)


Mataya was surprisingly right at home with the goats. She acted so relaxed and calm- it was pretty funny!


My cute girls- what would I do without them?!

Lots of rain makes Beautiful Rainbows

Rebecca was chosen to represent Pocahontas for her class history presentation. She even did it twice for her class so I could come and take her picture! :) Isn't her poster fantastic!?


Thomas was the "catch of the week" in his 1st grade class. He filled his "About Me" bag with a Star Wars 4 DVD, Star Wars Wii game, his light saber, and his Dad's Star Wars ship. Yes, we know what Thomas is all about these days!


My guys at a crazy Monkey bouncy place.


Rebecca gave her Pocahontas report again for the school assembly! She upgraded her costume with the help of a nice neighbor.


We got to sit by some of our favorite people, the Trainors, from our Riverton ward! (Unfortunately, not pictured- we did catch "John Smith" in the back, however.)


Jumping on the trampoline is fun to do....


....especially when it looks like you're flying over the mountains.


Allison got to sing in one more choir concert. (Look at their cute pianist!)


We visited Matthew's grave for the 4th Memorial Day in a row. Wow, the years are flying by and each year brings us closer to the time when we see him again. That makes me happy.


Brothers. :)