Homestead park fall festival

This last Saturday we went to one of our Hilliard parks to a festival. I left Aaron sleeping at home with Chris and I took the kids. He was willing to sacrifice having fun this time so Aaron could get a good nap in and so he could make sure the Buckeyes had enough people cheering for them. His sacrifice paid off because Aaron slept three hours and the Buckeyes won. It was amazing to me all the fun stuff they had. The only thing we paid for was the pumpkins to decorate.



The hayride was was really fun, and before that they got to jump in one of those big blow things for as long as they wanted.
The Big Wheel track was a big hit. Steven is always borrowing our neighbors big wheel so this was especially fun for him. He is hoping Santa brings one to him, well actually he asks me all the time if he can just have one now but that is just not an option.

This is a scarecrow making contest. We didn't make one but we had fun analyzing everyone elses.

Steven was enthralled by the Turtle Ladies Turtle. One look was enough for Laura but Steven got in there and had the turtle eating out of his hand much to the Turtle Ladies dismay.
Steven and his pumpkin head. Laura wouldn't cooperate for her pumpkin head photo. I still need to work on acquiring it.

Fall Fun

One of my friends decided to have a little mini soccer league this summer and we got to be part of it. Steven had a lot of fun learning soccer and we couldn't beat the price, free. She did and awesome job.
One of the perks of living in a city is all the festivals. We went to our own town of Hilliards fall festival and had a great time. This is Laura trying out the local police officers bike.

this clown was awesome and made Steven a sword and Laura a flower. Laura's flower had an untimely demise sadly.

We started the day at the kids race in Hilliard. It was their first race and it was a lot of fun as of course all races are.


A week before the Hilliard fest we went to the Native American fest. I liked it but no one else did so that was probably a one time thing. It was too hot and I guess dancing Native Americans only entertain 4, 5, and 30 year olds for short amounts of time.
This guy was awesome and did some very impressive hoop dancing.

My Grandpa Young's Funeral

I just wanted to write down some of my thoughts about my Grandpa's recent funeral. He passed away July 25 sometime in the morning. He had had a rough year and he went peacefully so we were all happy he finally got to go. When I intially heard about it I didn't thing I would be able to go to the funeral but my husband looked at his schedule and figured with a little help from our friends I could fly to the funeral. Yeah Emergency medicine month! So thanks to my wonderful willing loving husband and three wonderful friends Jocelyn Heidi and Kristy I hopped on a plane and went. The funeral was a beautiful culmination of his life. He was such a sweet and gentle man.

One thing that stood out to me the most was actually my parents. I watched my dad teary eyed as they dedicated and closed the casket and I thought about all the service he and my mom had given to grandpa these past years. My Grandpa had been in a nursing home in Logan and my mom went and saw him every day. Every sunday and any family gathering my dad went and got him in the van. I never heard either of them complain and they never skipped out on him. Even when things were crazy and lots of family was in town my mom would slip out and say I have to go see dad. When I went to see Grandpa he would always talk about how special my mom was. My parents were such a perfect example of service and love. I am so proud of them and proud to be their daughter.

After the funeral in Logan we loaded Grandpa up in my parents van for one last drive to Blanding Utah where he was buried by my Grandma. We had a memorial service in Blanding as well and that was such a neat service. People from Blanding and Colorado came and shared memories. My other Grandparents ( my dad's parents) were also at the memorial service and Grandma Roper even shared a memory she had of Grandpa. I learned a lot about Grandpa and I thought it was too bad I learned so many neat things now that he is gone. One of the best parts of the service was the burial. He had a military burial because he served in world war two. They played taps and then they folded the flag that was drapped over his coffin. Then one soldier marched over to the row of chairs where my mom and her sisters were sitting and handed the flag to my mom and said " I present this flag to you in honor of your loved ones service to his country." I wondered if my uncle had told him to to give the flag to my mom or if it was just chance that the soldier had handed it to her but it was perfect how it all went. I am so grateful for the summer I lived in Blanding and had the opportunity to spend so much time with my Grandpa and Grandma Young. I cherish those memories and consider them a special gift.

The whole time in Blanding with my parents was so fun for me. I was the only one of my four siblings who could go and I truly enjoyed the time to just be with my parents. I never enjoyed the seven hour drive to and from Blanding more then I did this time. In fact this was probably the first time I even enjoyed it at all. But after living in Ohio and being away from it for so long it is really amazing scenery and I just had a lot to think about. On Sunday we walked around temple square before my flight left and once again I just loved the laid back time with my mom and dad. The whole trip was really wonderful for me in so many ways. I learned a lot about my family, about myself, and my testimony of the gospel was truly strengthened.

When I got home the kids informed me they had a great time playing at friends houses and they had a really fun time with Dad. Aaron cried and cried when Chris left for work on Monday and It took me at least 15 mintues to distract him enough to calm down. I am so grateful for a wonderful husband who can work insane hours but can also hold down the fort while I'm gone and so willingly made a way for me to go.

Johanna's wedding

Here is the reason we went to Utah. This is Chris's little sister Johanna and her new husband Jared! It was such a fun day.

My Niece Elen and all her charm

mini Hershey Reunion

While I was in Utah I had the chance to meet up with these fellow Hershey alumni. It was so fun to walk back to Caraline's backyard and see everyone. Those were some great times that we had in Hershey. I have many great memories of all three of them but I will never forget Girls Camp with Caroline(staying up later then the girls laughing and talking.) Going to get ice cream after work at the sleep lab with Melanie.(forgetting to tell our husbands so they wouldn't worry oops.) Many nights of playing settlers with Megan and laughing so hard I cried. (you and Nick are so funny!) and being pregnant the same time and sharing pregnancy woes. This is what you get when you to try and take a picture of seven kids 5 and under.

These three had many play dates back in Hershey. They had a great time again this night.

Niece Ellen

Ideally this collage would be under the family work day post I haven't figured out how to post two Picasa collages in one post so I will have to work on that. This collage is only a few of a handful of very cute pictures that I have of her. As far as I could tell she almost always this happy.

Family work day

to get ready for Johanna's wedding we all worked together the Saturday before. We had a great time painting the fence planting flowers and finishing center pieces. Mostly it was just fun doing these things with family. Amy and new little Max

This is the newest member of the Hanks family Max. He is such a sweet baby.

I love this picture because of how he is looking up at his mommy and because it shows how little his head his.

It was a tough job but someone had to watch all those babies while we painted the fence. For Amy three babies is no sweat.

Family work day was more like family fun day. The kids thought painting the fence was awesome!

Father's Day Weekend

For Father's Day Laura made Chris a book called " The You and Me Book". Here is the story

I like coloring. You like biking.
I like playing dolls. You like playing cars.
I like building puzzles. You like climbing mountains.
I like swimming. You like playing baseball.
My favorite animal is a bear. Your favorite animal is a lion.
I like baked Oatmeal. You like pot pie
I like playing lit brite. You like reading.

Some of those favorites were news to Chris but most of them she got right on. She has always been a daddy's girl and most of the time when she was little she would prefer him over me. Chris got up at nights with her and I think that helped them bond. So I would suggest to all mothers out there to bag breast feeding and have your husbands get up at nights with the baby. It works wonders for their relationship and the good night of sleep worked wonders for me. He really is a great father. We have missed him a lot some months this year which just makes me realize how much we love him and need him. My mom was also a nice gift for us on Father's Day she came out to help me fly back to Utah for my sister-in-laws wedding. Since she was here we thought we would go to the Hilliard community pool since we had one adult per child. The pool is expensive but awesome. It has a lazy river and a really fun kiddy play area as well as a few pools. We made a day of it, got our money's worth, and had a great time.

A Rainy Day in June

This is what Laura and Steven got dressed in to go play in the rain. Laura didn't last long but Steven stayed out there jumping in puddles for a long time. We had planned to go to the park with our friends the Jones but the rain changed our plans so we went to Cosi.

At Cosi they have a big play area called Kid Space. It was really cute watching these two babies play together. Savanah has been walking for a long time but Aaron just barely started walking at 16 months. She used her great walking skills to give Aaron a ride. They both thought it was pretty great!

A climbing day in May

The last few days in May we camped out on Friday and then we climbed Saturday morning. We went climbing once last year and let the kids climb then. This year they both did a little better. After a few tries Laura climbed to the top of the climb. It took a lot of help and cheering but she did it and she was excited. Steven had fun climbing as well but still needs a year or two to develop some more coordination. I seem to have lost all climbing ability but I had fun just being there. Chris is still awesome at climbing though he claims he is rusty.

Kelley's Island camping trip

In May Chris had a week off so we decided to go on our first camping trip of the season. We went to Kelly's Island off of Lake Erie. Taking the ferry across was one of the highlights of the trip. It was a beautiful little Island and we had a great time. The last day we got rained on and when we woke up in the morning our tent was in a puddle. At 5:00 in the morning all the kids were awake because of the lighting thunder, rain and wind. It blew over after a few hours but that was a long few hours. After that we packed up our soggy camp site and went home. Over all an awesome trip and a great place to camp even with the wet finale. One of the great things about moving every four years is all the new places we get to explore. Here is your classic cookies for breakfast while dad starts the fire.

Chris brought all our bikes on this trip and taught Laura to ride without training wheels. We also hooked up the bike trailor and rode our bikes around the Island. The bike ride was incredible and one of my favorite parts of our trip.

On the first morning we were there we went on two hikes. This wasn't much of a hike but it was cool. These are glacial grooves that are of course more impressive if you are actually there looking at them.

This picture was taken at the end of our boardwalk trail to get to the beach.

Despite the not so hot weather we still got plenty of beach time in.

I had fun sorting and orgainzing the shells we found with the kids. i think we counted them too but I don't remember how many we had. I know it was at least 200.

One thing I really like about camping here in the wimpy east is the lawn campsites and the fun kids playgrounds. At first I thought it was lame but the more kids I have and the longer I live our here the more I have become a big fan. Despite what I intially thought it is still a great camping experience without all the dirt. Somehow they still manage to get dirty even without it.

Steven's great find on the last soggy rainy morning. It kept him entertained while we were packing up.

Last but not least the Ferry Ride back to the main land. I wish I took pictures on the way over because it was a beautiful sunny day unlike this day which was not.