Down, Set....HUT!

Yes, it is that time of year again. It's hard to believe it...but I am officially a football widow already!

Football started Monday and Chet has been to the park every night. This is his first year coaching an A team and we are all excited to see how it goes. I think he's a little nervous but excited none the less. He has the Bingham Junior A team (14-15 year olds) which is a fun age group for him. Hopefully it will be a great season.

I, of course, had to have some fun with Cash in his football gettup. This picture below just makes me laugh. He looks like he's one of those sports commentators or coaches...saying,

"Now, you look here....back in the day when I played..."
(or something to that effect! haha)

And oh, those big brown eyes {sigh} they make my heart melt!
How I {heart} this little guy!

"P" Day Celebrations

Lots of fun was had over the Holiday weekend...

Including LOTS and LOTS of good food and swimming!

At the Ballards on Friday followed by fireworks...

(Cody had one too many waters!)

MORE on Saturday at my Aunt and Uncle's house...

Cash has never had so many women around him giving him kisses, loves and all kinds of attention...

He was LOVING all of it too....
(what guy wouldn't, right?)

We have awesome family and we had so much fun spending the weekend with all of them!

"Light" ~

My friend, who is an amazing professional photographer, invited me to play a game with her and some of her other photog friends. It is called "The Photographer's Word Game".

Each week a word is chosen and then you have that week to capture the word in a photograph and post it on the discussion board. It has to be a new photo taken that week only. It's intended to get your creative juices flowing and help your photography skills as well. One of the rules is that very little or no Photoshop be used because they want to see what you can do as a photographer and not a "Photoshopper"!

This last week's word was "Light". Here are the pictures I chose as my final entry.I really think it is remarkable how a rainbow is created with light and only a mist of water. Granted you have to be standing in just the right spot in order to see it though.

And I LOVE this one of Makayla. I love how the light is filtering through the trees and hitting the truck. Also, I love how it highlights and illuminates her hair and body, making her stand out from the background just enough.

It has been really fun and I look forward to the next week's words!

It's Boots and Chaps...

It's cowboy hats It's spurs and latigo,
It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo!

~Garth Brooks

On Thursday night, Makayla and a few kids from last year's fourth grade class sang during the opening ceremonies of the D47 Rodeo. The kids were so excited since they've never been to a rodeo before. I had to go and buy cowboy hats for the boys and they thought it was so fun to wear them there. Hunter looked so cute in his little outfit and the cowboy boots.

Dad was so sweet to come and we all had so much fun. We were told when we got there that Pres. Monson would be there and Makayla would be singing directly to him. HOW COOL....well, so we thought it would be. Unfortunately, he decided to come on Friday's championship night instead...bummer! Still they did a great job and it was a fun experience for her. Chet was out of town so unfortunately he missed it!


Hunter could hardly contain himself. He sat on his knees at the edge of his seat the whole time. They couldn't wait for the bull riding. They thought the best part of the night was when a bull sent a clown flying in the air and over the gate! Probably scary for the clown but the kids LOVED it!!!

What a fun night!

Taster's Choice.

I have been introducing different baby foods to Cash over the last two weeks. First was sweet potatoes....loved it! Then bananas....LOVED IT!!! And then there was...

{ SQUASH! }
no explanation necessary!

What you don't see in these pics is the chill that shook his body after each bite! haha!

Happy July Birthday!

Birthday wishes this month too...

Glen Ballard
(he is such an awesome guy and will do anything for anyone!)

My cute nephews, Taylor and Cole Crowther...
(I had to steal this old pic from Cole's FB b/c they are all so cute in it!)

My beautiful and sweet sis-n-law,
Christina Burr

and last but not least,
Quinn Coates!

Another Month Gone By...

This month has been a fun and busy one. There is so much that happened this last week so make sure you scroll down to see other posts.

Cash is 5 months old TODAY! He is just a chunk and so fun to have. It is so hard to get anything done because when he's awake he is just so happy and so much fun to play with. He has the sweetest smile and his laugh just melts your heart.

He is now rolling over and just tries to chew and lick anything that touches his mouth. He also loves to bat at toys and try to pick them up.
He is loving baby food and just gets so excited when it's time to eat! He is such a flirt too...smiling and batting those big brown eyes...Oh how I am in SO much trouble. He is going to get whatever he wants for sure!

We just love him SO much! :)

Life's a "Ball"...

We had our annual Ball Family reunion in Heber this weekend. It is Chet's Mom's side of the family and it is so much fun every year.

We go up to a house his cousin's family own up in Heber City and camp out. It's so nice up in that area and the kids love the thought of sleeping in the mountains!

We played lots of games...

even Cash seemed to be enjoying himself!

We made family totem poles...

and socialized!

This would be our family totem pole :)

A family pic of those that were there...the family is MUCH bigger than this!!

Good times!!! Thanks again to the Anderson's for letting us use their house!

Summer Fun...

We are just loving summer so far! It has been very busy but fun. This last week we did lots of playing...Harry Potter 6, Kylee had girl's camp, playing with cousins at the beach in Daybreak (fun place)...

There is nothing like the feeling of sand between your toes!

My cute little Buddha baby....totally loving his "moobs"~


Talon also had his first Scout Day camp. He had such a blast and bought his first pocket knife! I am wondering if I should be nervous...

Twins...

I am sometimes amazed at how some siblings can look nothing alike yet others can look like the same kid. Like, Kylee and Makayla for instance. To see them together, and not knowing any better, I would never guess that they were sisters. I've had many people tell me the same thing about them. They are total opposites!

Hunter has never really looked like any of his siblings in particular either...until now!

I was going through baby pics of all my kids the other day scanning them into my computer and when I came across this one of Hunter I was blown away. I always thought Cash looked a lot like Hunter, and even Makayla too, but check out these pictures and decide for yourself.

This is Hunter at 3 months...

Cash at 4 months..

I just have to say WOW!!!

First Things First...

{FIRST}

We are FINALLY beginning our summer! The kids are out of school...hooray! I am so proud of both Talon and Makayla. They did so well this year. Talon was "Student of the Week" two weeks before school let out and Makayla got her FIRST "straight 4's" and all "E's" for citizenship on her report card for this year. She was shocked to see that she got all 4's, but honestly I'm not! (Jordan School district does not go by letter grades in elementary, instead they go by numbers. 4 being the highest grade). They also earned their "Soaring Eagle" award! Here are a few more of the FIRST things we've had in this last week...


FIRST time sleeping on a new bed...

FIRST 4th of July!
(as stated on a previous post)

FIRST bee sting for one little 5 year old boy as well as the FIRST one of the season! (and hopefully last!)

FIRST time eating solids from a spoon...

and he LOVED it!!!

The FIRST day of summer vacation was spent with sprinklers and trampolines!
SO fun!

For some reason my rose bushes bloomed late. But last week I came out to find my FIRST bloom!

Hooray for Summer and to all of the wonderful things that have come with it! (well, except for bee stings!)