St GEORGE

With our busy busy summer waiting for us ahead, I was feeling some anxiety about not getting a family vacation. We decided an impromptu visit to st. george to see me brother and do some hiking! We hit Snow Canyon and I could have stayed there all day going on trails! I absolutely loved it and I think the kids did too although they complained some.

 Little Ashton tagged along and did awesome keeping up! Brielle was wearing a leash and she dragged whoever was holding onto her. SHE did awesome!

 A narrow spot in the trail. Tony and his family.

 Stopping for some shade in a hollow.

 Carter decided he needed to make a sno....SAND ANGEL! AHH!

 And guess who followed immediately?! Brielle! Oh she had sand EVERYWHERE!! We all loved the red soft sand but we brought our fair share back to the hotel.

 Breaking for lunch!

 After lunch was the splash pad! What a fun little place. I was amazed at how cheap this vacation really was. Almost everything we did was free or cost very little and we had so much fun doing it!

 Little Ry even loved getting wet. The weather was warm but not too hot either. It was perfect! The adults relaxed in the shade and ate chips!

 Theres a cute little merry go round in the same park and so we had to go for a ride of course!

 After that we went to the childrens museum which again...very cheap! They only take donations and it was funner than any museum in SLC that you pay tons of money to get into! Here's Mol milking the cow. (Ry was obviously enjoying herself too!)

 Carter's favorite thing was working under the car.

 Ashton checking out his mom at the grocery counter.

 I couldn't find Carter anywhere and when I finally found him he had run off and dressed up in the firemans clothes. Silly kid!

 It's so fun to watch Brielle experience things for the first time. She was so happy doing anything fun and each room was a new adventure. I love this picture of her. It shows how truly happy she was. I couldn't get her out of this tree house and she knew I couldnt get up there to pull her down!

 We were all pretty hot and tired after all this fun stuff so we went back to Tony's. Him and Monserratt surprised us and told us they wanted to keep the kids while we went on a date. How nice! So where did we jet off to? SWIG of course! We also checked out the DI but with no luck of finding a treasure.

 After some pizza we went back to our hotel and the older kids got to swim for a while. We went to church with Tony to the spanish branch and left after sacrament meeting to go visit our friends the Phelps in Hurricane. It was fun to catch up but I didn't get a picture! After some yummy tacos by Monse we headed to the St. George temple for the afternoon. Its such a pretty temple and blindingly white! I felt so peaceful and its a good thing because while we were there we got some sad new.

We learned that my grandma DeGiulio, who had been in the hospital with the flu, was not doing really well at all. Not well at all in fact. That she probably wouldn't leave the hospital and could possibly pass soon. I felt the tears coming as I gathered my family and brothers family around me so I could pass on the news. Amazingly nothing but peace washed over me and I was able to explain clearly was what going on. A tender mercy for sure.

 I am so glad, so amazed, so humbled that my little family can be together forever and I knew that we would see grandma again.

 Later that evening my mom called and told me that grandpa and my mom and her siblings had all decided to take her off the life support that she had been on since that afternoon. A simple nose bleed had drained into her lungs causing cardiac arrest and had to recessitate her. She had been down too long though and the doctors knew she would never be the same again or off of life support. She has had Parkinsons disease for 16 years and her quality of life has been so poor. I believe my grandpa made the best choice for her although I know it was excruciatingly painful. I was laying in the hotel bed crying and trying to get it together as I explained to my kids and Chad that the end was near. Really near. Carter climbed up by me and snuggled with me to help me feel better. He has such a tender heart.

 She passed that night about 1 AM. I knew it was for the best. But it's never easy to loose someone you love. The next morning we fit in some swimming to try to lift our spirits before packing up and heading home. It was a somber morning and we were all ready to go home so we hopped in the car soon after and left the red rocks behind.

 This was Rylee's first time swimming...she loved the sunshine but not the water. She was NOT a fan. And neither was I! It was freezing water!

We will be back St. George! I have lots more exploring I want to do there! Despite the hard news, it was one of our favorite family vacations so far! I'm glad we have family there now too to give us more reasons to go back! Until we meet again St. George...and my dear grandma!

Bridal shower & Bachlor Party

 Back in Nov my baby brother proposed to Brittney Tubbs and ever since then wedding plans have been well under way! Including a bridal shower I traveled with the girls to Idaho to throw the shower. We started with brunch at Perkins and then headed to the church for some games and gifts. I planned some games to help us get to know her better.

 She was a good sport and played a game that when her answer didn't match Adams (whom we had recorded on camera) she had to put a piece of gum in her mouth! Lets just say her mouth was really full by the end!

While the girls showered Brit, the guys had some fun of their own. 

They hit up Lagoon and even invited Carter to go! I think it made his whole year.... 

Can you tell by the smile on his face?! 

He did most every ride the big boys did and then some. They all went on the sky coaster and I was glad Carter sat that one out! Crazy kid! He is a thrill seeker for sure! We are getting very excited and anxious for the wedding!!!

New things!

A few new things that are worth documenting.....

Miss Ry is 11 months old and sporting 2 new teeth! She wouldn't be a Hymas if her "vampire" teeth weren't some of the first! It's a blurry picture but I had to tickle her to get her to show them off!!

 Mollie has been begging for months to cut her hair short. I told her when school got out that we would chop it off! We went to the best...AUBREY! And chopped off about 6 inches.

 Brielle was a little more timid but hopped right up there and let Aubrey cut off about 4 inches of her little duck tail. Her hair looks so much better and I love it!

 They were thrilled when Aubrey pulled out little brooms to sweep up their hair with.

 Here's Mollies finished product! So Adorable!! And so grown up!

Last Day of School X 2

Mollie got out 2 weeks before Carter did but this was her on the last day of school....

HAHAHAHAHA! First one out the door, running like mad, clear ahead of her classmates. I was dying laughing. She actually really loves school but was mostly excited to tell me about her day. :)

She has grown so much and when she walked out her preschool doors on the last day she was READING BOOKS! I thought her teachers were mad when they sent home the first book and it took us two days to get through an 8 page book. BUT she caught on so quick and then next book only took a few minutes! INCREDIBLE! And the entire credit goes to these two wonderful women Mrs. Marshall and Miss Aubrey. They were incredible with her and pushed her to excel. 

Her and her little buddy Jocelyn on the last day.

Carter was a little more mellow but excited to get to his playdate with his new good little buddy Trevor. This is the last year he will go to Harris Elementary. We are getting a new school and it will be called Sterling Elementary and the mascot will be Eagles I believe. 

I was as ready for summer as the kids were. The countless homework, reading and Portuguese hours were starting to wear on me. Waterballoons, squirt guns, and 2 pools were waiting for them in the sun.

It didn't take too long before water wars were well under way.

Mollie and her little friend Trinley

I keep hearing the kids running around singing "SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!" And I want to say AMEN to that!!

Field Trip and Field Day!

I was lucky enough to get to go on Carter's field trip with him to This Is The Place in Salt Lake. It's a place I've always wanted to go but haven't taken the time to. There is so much history in Salt Lake and its fun to see how it ties into the church. 

 They learned how to harvest wool and turn it into rope and to plow a field.

 To Milk a cow (good thing it was a fake one! Carter was ALL about the fake cow) and to buck hay

The train was the most exciting thing for him I think!

 A few days later I also helped with Field Day. I was in charge of the most awful game. Flag tag! Everyone had to run around and pull each others flags. There were bloody noses, smashed fingers, bonked heads....oh it was a long morning!

 There were water activities and I caught these two cute kids posing for the camera before getting wet!

 And the most exciting thing was the bubble balls!! I absolutely love this picture and I'm so happy my friend got this photo and sent it to me! How fun!!!

Glad I get to be a stay at home mommy so that I can be involved in his school activities. I consider myself lucky! I keep waiting for the day when its not so cool for me to be at school but for now I will soak it in! Sure love getting to spend time with my Carter man!