Daddy Daughter Date

Reyn has to go back to her mom's house tomorrow so I thought it would be nice for Ben to take her out.  She had been begging to go to Seaquest so I got them tickets.  She loved it!

Q was the only one left home, so we went out and bought him his first Lego set.  He was extremely thankful and said he was so lucky.  I sure love this little guy.

Sewing Camp!!!

Oh my goodness, I signed Alyssa, Holly and Reyn up for sewing camp and they are in heaven!  They seem more excited about sewing than they did about going to Disneyland.  Day one they made pajama pants...

Day 2, a personalized towel...

Days 3/4/5, an owl purse and a zipper pouch...

Time For a Lifestyle Change?

Most of my life I was proud that I could eat whatever I wanted and still look good.   I was the girl in high school who would challenge a boy to a food eating contest and win.  My senior year I ate an entire large pepperoni Pizza Hut pan pizza.  The guy I had challenged couldn't finish his.  Anyways, that isn't working out so well for me anymore.  The extra calories are starting to stick in places I don't want them.  Might be time for a lifestyle change?  The problem is, I hate almost all vegetables, so when I hear that in order to be healthy I need to eat more vegetables, I'm out.  That won't work for me.  I don't love fruit either.  What I do love is pizza, ice cream (I grew up eating ice cream every single day), bacon and cheesecake.  Ben's in the same boat.  He used to be able to eat whatever and however much he wanted, but now that he doesn't play sports nearly as much he has put on some weight and he's not happy about it.  About 3 weeks ago he started to get serious about losing some of the excess fat around his middle ( mostly because we are going on a cruise for his 40th birthday.)  He has been working out at the gym, running a hilly loop around our neighborhood, eating a little healthier and has lost about 10 lbs.  I've been doing more consistent workouts and trying to eat a little healthier too. This is what we've been eating for lunch.  I find that if I eat one healthier meal a day, I feel better about things.  I don't know if this constitutes a lifestyle change, but by small and simple things...

A pear avocado smoothie with spinach salad.

Foundation

I know these posts about makeup are silly, but maybe my daughters and future grand daughters will appreciate them??  Most girls have this makeup stuff all figured out in high school, but I'm not most girls. 43 and still experimenting.  It's really only the foundation I'm adding.  Normally I wear eyeliner and mascara, with a little bronzer on occasion.  I don't think I will ever be the kind of girl that wears all of this stuff daily, just on special occasions.

Today Ben and I spoke in church so I decided to try out a new foundation (different than the one I tried A few weeks ago.)  I liked this one much better!  I actually felt slightly pretty.

Tiago turned 11!

Alyssa wanted me to write that she will always be older than you Tiago.  Sorry these pictures are not the best, the lighting was pretty bad.  HaPpY bIrThDaY! Hope your elevens are even more magnificent than your tens, if that is even possible.  

First Ever Julien Family Reunion

The first Julien Family Reunion is in the books and yes, we wore matching t-shirts...

Day 1 we floated the Portneuf River at Lava Hot Springs.  This was our 3rd year in a row but it gets better every year.  This time nobody sat out, even little Q was brave enough to go the entire time.  The river was a little higher and colder than normal, but fun nonetheless.  David and his family didn't seem to love it so much.  After the first run I overheard David  say, "I paid money for this?"

That night we roasted marshmallows, made woofums, and sang around the fire.  So fun!

She woofed it!
First time you eat a woofum
You gotta eat the whole thing at once

Not his first woofum but he
Woofed it anyways

Day 2 we played some games and spent the afternoon at the pool.

The evening was filled with ping pong, old classic Disney movies, and soaking in the hot springs.

Day 3 we played a few more games and got the place cleaned up.

I got attacked by "Jesus" while making up my bed.
He is a Jerusalem cricket so Holly named him"Jesus"

We also did a project for mom and dad, since they couldn't come.  It's a thumb print family tree.  Jenny was in charge of this project and it turned out great!

Lucky Kids!

Our kids are the luckiest kids... neener, neener, neener.  Ben is a pretty awesome dad!  Each year he gets the kids a gift on Father's Day, because without them, he wouldn't be a dad.  But he is also awesome because he spends time with them playing video games and doing sports, he creates magic shows for them, he bounces them super high on the trampoline, and he tells them bedtime stories.  They love him, and he is grateful for them.

Reyn took this picture of us.
He is a super handsome dad too!

Flag Day Celebration!

This guy had so much fun at the ward Flag Day Celebration.  There was a parade, games, cotton candy, popcorn, bubbles, and a fire truck that sprayed them all down with the big hose.  Q was in heaven and didn't want to leave.

Dancing Troll

This girl loves to dance!
We drove an hour to watch her
dance for 3 minutes, we must really love her.
 She did great!

Father/Sons Campout

Another year, another father/sons campout. This was the only pic Ben took.  You can't really tell they were camping, but it's cute.

While the boys were away I took Reyn and Ayzha to dine at Blue Lemon.  Then we walked around some stores at Station Park, took advantage of national doughnut day with a free donut at Krispy Kreme, and watched a movie (Step Up).  I hope they enjoyed our evening together.

Gold Rush?

I don't know if there be gold in these here parts, but if there is, our kids are determined to find it.

Actually, since they didn't find the mother lode after the first few minutes they lost interest.  It's a lovely location though.  This is one of my favorite spots.  I chopped down some twigs to make a passageway and you can see the chopped off roots of a toppled tree in the creek.

Ghetto Peaks

It's sad, but management at the Salt Lake Seven Peaks has let the place fall apart.  It is seriously ghetto.  Even so, we were blessed to have the opportunity to go.  It was lovely to feel the sunshine, enjoy the glorious weather and sit it the shallow water.

The Great Outdoors

We have been spending some time exploring the great outdoors behind my parent's house.  Unfortunately, we encountered a hillside of poison ivy and lots of thorny bushes, but there is also a lovely little creek.  We built a couple of bridges over the creek and have now added a rope swing.  Tiago, our brave rope swing tester, landed in some of the thorny bushes.  Reyn smacked into a branch on her attempt.  Q, Alyssa and Holly did fine though and Ayzha decided she would pass.  The swing is a work in progress.

Darn poison ivy....it's so itchy!

s'mores over the fire was
a great way to end the day.