4th of July--warning: long post below

Our good friends, Mandy and Theron, invited us to spend the weekend with them at the Whiting Homestead. I used to go there with Mandy when we were little, and I hadn't been in at least 15 years. Our boys were in heaven. They got to camp out in a tent, go to a parade, get as dirty as possible, eat tons of junk food, catch horny toads and chipmunks, and play with their buddies. It was great to get out of the heat too. Thanks for a fun weekend guys!

Crew loves this little blanket from the hospital. On the drive up, he wouldn't take it out of his mouth. It kind of grosses me out. I have to wash it all the time because he drags it everywhere.

The boys loved this rope swing they have on a super steep mountain. It's been there forever. We used to play on it when I would go with Mandy when we were little.

Horny Toad-the boys were obsessed when they heard that they shoot blood out of their eyes.

There were chipmunks everywhere, and Jeremy was determined to catch one. This is his trap.
It was funny because after he caught it, he put a rock on top so it wouldn't get out until Ty got there to see it. A few minutes later, they went back and lifted it up, and the chipmunk had dug it's way out.

Mandy's brother Morgan and sister Angela made us breakfast at the parade. First class service!

We were all too tired to drive to the fireworks show, so the boys got glow sticks and hung out in the tent. We were sitting out on the porch playing games, and we heard one of the kids start screaming. Then we heard all of them join in. We went over there and the tent was shaking and there was a full-on brawl going on inside. When they all finally calmed down enough to talk, Jackson told us that Riggs and Ty started talking about wrestling, then Riggs punched Ty and Ty bit Riggs. Those 2 are both super strong willed, stubborn, and hot-tempered. Neither of them was backing down. They were so mad at each other, but in the morning, they were buddies again. It was pretty funny.
We had a picnic on Greens Peak on Sunday afternoon--10,000 feet up

Utah Cousins

We had Jeremy's sisters, Jenny and Kassie, and their 4 little ones stay with us for a week in June. I think they all got heat stroke, but other than that, we had a blast. They were so brave to drive the 13 hours straight from Lehi with all those kids. I don't think I could do that with just Crew, to say nothing of all of our boys. We're so glad they came, and want them to come again when the weather's good!

Father's Day--very belated

Even though it's very late, I need to post a little about my hombre here for Father's Day. I'm so lucky that I can't think of a single thing I would change about the kind of dad Jeremy is. He would rather spend time with our boys than anything. He loves to take them with him whenever he's running errands on the weekends, and tries to do lots of one-on-one stuff with them. If we're ever going anywhere in 2 cars, they would all rather go with him (Jackson will sometimes come with me because he thinks I'll feel bad if I'm all alone).

Anyway, I hope these boys know that they are 3 lucky little guys to have him for their dad.

Can you tell Jeremy got to sleep in (cute bed-head).

Crew thought this "Backyardigans" card was the best thing ever. I don't think he let go of it for a good 2 hours after Jeremy opened it.

Master Bedroom

So I'm finally going to get some bedding for our room, and I need some help deciding. Jeremy doesn't want anything too "girly", so here are my finalists. What do you think?

Hamblin Reunion 2009

We spent this past weekend at the "Sherwood Forest" with all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. Our kids had the best time playing with cousins they don't get to see very often.

Crew was a wild man, as usual. Jeremy and I were completely wiped out after chasing him around the camp for 3 days.
The boys caught a snake and thought they were pretty cool.

Riggs, Jackson, Harvey, Trader, Dylan

Harvey, Charlie, Riggs

My funniest Aunt Weezy and Uncle Kenny

My mom, Aunt Tricia, and Colten

Dalton and Colton

They made rockets with the kids and let them launch them off. It was super cool. I'm going to have to try this with my cub scouts.

Basketball sidelines

Riggs and my cousin, Kent, got started off on the wrong foot. Right after we got there on Friday, they started teasing each other. Riggs took it a little far when he got a bucket full of sand and threw the whole thing at Kent. Kent picket him up by his ankle and dipped his head in a bucket of water. Riggs lost it after that and was ready to fight. It took awhile, but they were friends again the next day. What a little punk of a kid I have.

Zoo Day

It has been an unusually cool June here (high 80's to low 90's for the past couple weeks), so we're still able to do some outdoor stuff besides swimming. Mandy and I took our boys to the zoo last week. They have so much fun together.

Ty and Riggs

Mandy and Jonathan

The kids probably liked the splash pad more than they liked seeing the animals.

Riggs and his zoo map--he and Jackson both love maps

Red

My cousin, Kristine (aka, "Red") , who I haven't seen in over 10 years, came to visit with her husband, Adam, last week. We had the best time with them. She and I were roomates at Ricks College, and haven't seen each other since. Life has been crazy, but there's no excuse for that! Anyway, we found that we really haven't changed all that much, other than she says I dress a lot more feminine than I did in college (I was kind of a slacker). We spent most of the day memorial day swimming at Steve's house and talking about old times. It was great.