Rodeo...

Tonight our ward had a rodeo to celebrate the 24th of July (yes - I know that it is the 25th). I can honestly say that it was my first rodeo - and it was lots of fun! So - here are some pics from the fun!

The sack race - I loved that the twins raced right next to each other - I think Cayden could have passed Had at any time - but he stayed behind her!

The tug of war...can you find Devon and Granddad??

Cayden was loving the horses and games in the arena

So - remember this is my first rodeo - I don't know the names of everything, but...they had a contest where three guys got on each horse, rode around 3 barrels, and got something from each barrel to bring to the finish - Devon's teams horse did not want three riders - this is a picture with all 3 on - but it did not last! I am pretty sure that all three guys are going to be sore tomorrow from being bucked off the horse 3 or 4 times!

Barrett with Granddad - watching Devon get thrown off the horse - over and over...

Is there anything better than watermelon?!?

Cayden and Hadley - loved the horses - they probably would have stayed all night petting the horses!

Tan Lines

The past few weeks I have been cracking up at the tan lines on my kids -it is so funny to look at when they are showering or getting into their pj's-

Cayden's hair is all bleached out - and he wants it to be long - so no buzz cut yet this summer.

Hadley's top rides up all the time at the pool so she has a half tan back! It is so funny!

I don't know if you can tell from these pictures - but Barrett's are the most hilarious! He swims with a rash guard so he gets a total farmer's tan - he also gets tan lines around his chubby rolls - which I think are so cute and funny - I tried to stretch his arm out so you could see where the sun could not get through the chub!

For Hadley...

We love to go to the Springfield Cardinals games! For three summers Hadley has been terrified by the mascots. She literally shakes and hides when she sees them - even if they are three sections away from our seats! We have talked to her about the mascots being people with costumes on - and all other forms of reasoning with her. But - every game without fail she loses it when she sees the bird or the dog! (Cayden loves to give them five and runs to find them at the games.)

So - tonight was a monumental night in her life... she came back from getting a drink and going for a walk with Devon and Cayden and she showed me pictures on Devon's phone of her with Louie (the bird) and with Fetch (the dog). She was super excited for me to look at how brave she was!

Then it got even better! Fetch came walking down the aisle right next to our seats - and she was literally jumping over seats and people to get out to the aisle next to Fetch - she was hugging him and talking to him - then she let him pick her up while we took pictures!

hugging Fetch

letting Fetch pick her up!!

So this one is for Hadley - my super brave little girl! I love you!

Key Lime Pie

It is my favorite time of the summer in Springfield! For the month of July (and July only) the Andy's Frozen Custard has the mix-in of Key Lime Pie! They blend an entire piece of key lime pie - crust and all - into vanilla custard - and you get a delicious treat! It's one of those things that I think I could actually eat everyday the entire month of July...but I am showing pretty good restraint so far! We'll see how the last few days of the month go - I may feel that I need to eat it more often since it will be gone for another year! So - if you are ever in Springfield during the month of July - you too can enjoy the best treat in the world!

American Gladiators

Tonight - after dinner - Devon turned on the TV to watch "American Gladiators" (great show..right??) We were making carmel corn to take to a family in our ward - so Devon put Barrett in his little chair in front of the TV with the twins. It was so cute to see the three of them together! Who knew American Gladiators could hold their attention?!? Cayden kept telling us that he wanted to try all the contests - so who knows what stunts he is going to try building in his room this week - I will have to keep a close watch on what he takes into his bedroom! Anyway... I snapped a few pics of the three together watching TV (I know - Mother of the Year!) Barrett was mostly watching Cayden and Hadley laughing - but it was still super cute!

I love pictures of my kids from the back - I don't really know why! Can you see Barrett's head down at the bottom??

Such focus - they are not TV addicts or anything...

Barrett loves to smile when the camera comes around!

Barrett and Brock

I forgot to put the cute pictures of Barrett and Brock from the weekend on my super long last post. We always get pics of them when we are together - they are getting more aware of each other - which is fun to see.

Taking these pictures was so funny - we laughed about the "photo shoot" - we had laid a blanket down on the kitchen floor while Casie and Miah were packing to leave. When I stood over them with my camera they were both totally hamming it up for the camera.

A really long post...

So - it has been three weeks since my last post - but it doesn't feel like it has been that long... I was downloading pictures from my camera to my computer and there where over 100 - so I guess we have been doing some stuff - here is my brief (I'll try) summary of the last few weeks!


The twins had "jumpstart kindergarten" during the month of June - they loved it! They had "safety town" which I think is about being safe ... but who knows :) ! At the end there was a graduation - which if you read my blog you might remember how great preschool graduation went for Had - but she did great - she was really proud of herself for running up and getting her diploma!


We have been spending all of our free time in the pool! I am so glad that my kids love to swim - because I love it! Barrett is doing so great in the pool. He will float around for about an hour before he needs more attention. Then he takes a good nap so we can keep swimming. We are so lucky that Grammy and Granddad let us swim whenever we want to!

We had a really fun 4th of July. Both of Devon's sisters (and their families) were here for the weekend. It is so fun to see them and hang out! Devon's mom had her traditional 4th of July breakfast - complete with her delicious biscuits and gravy! We had a "Jarvis Family Eye Center float" in the Willard parade (4th year in a row!)- we went with a Hawaiian theme this year - and threw out mini beach balls! They were a big hit! We let the kids throw out candy as usual - which I later found out was actually outlawed in this year's parade - but no one said anything to us about it - and what kind of parade doesn't let you throw out candy?!? We had a fun time on the float and the weather was beautiful!

After the parade we headed back to Grammy and Granddad's. Grammy spent all afternoon filling water balloons for the kids - we played water balloon toss - and then the kids had a boys vs. girls water balloon fight! Devon, Brandon, and Miah were hilarious with the fireworks show! I think they had even more fun lighting them than we all had watching the show! We also let the kids do sparklers - a first for the twins - Hadley played with one - then she was done - but Cayden was brave and even did two at a time! It was a really fun day!