Football tryouts.....

Cute Jensen is trying football out this fall.....We are excited for him to try a new sport, but also anxious, it is a whole new ball game (literally) from soccer. He does look really awesome in his football gear - helmet and pads, it puts a smile on my face. I love seeing their name on the back of their jersey.
Freak!! Look at the size difference of some of the boys that he will be playing with. He barely weighs in at 52 pounds, he is a little dude. We are a little concerned for him, seeing as he has cried the last 2 nights when practice has ended, I am not sure he knew what he was getting himself in to. Stomach ache the first night and then a twisted ankle the second night....who knows what tonight will bring. After all, it is the first night that they wear full pads and start hitting---yikes.

This is a picture of him doing one of the drills, he has a mean karaoke (shuffle step kind of thing)- even after 3 full years of Drew playing football I am still a little behind on all the proper terminology of what things are called. I just enjoy watching the game and I am hopeful that Jenky boy will love it as much as he thinks he will. Good luck little man!!

Crazy summer.....

I would like to know what ever happened to the 'chilled-out' days of summer....Our summer began late for the boys because of year round school and since then we have gone non stop. Is that what happens with big families? Or is it just the way life is now? My older girls have gone to Youth Conference, Girls camp, and this week Morgan is gone to EFY...Brenna leaves for EFY next week. Brenna has Dance camp this week, and football is getting underway tonight for Drew and Jensen. Football will now be every night through August and then 3-4 nights a week for the rest of the season which won't end until October. Not to forget to mention the Scout hikes that Drew has gone on and Scout camp for Jensen. Don't get me wrong, all of the activities are worth while and good, it just seems crazy. Trying to find time to squeeze in a family vacation was a little difficult, but we did manage. Getting home last night from St.George with our family- (a Hackwell family tradition) - why in the middle of summer, you ask...because we love to bake I guess in the 100 degree plus temperatures. (Will post more about that later) - I do love summer, the late nights and warm weather....it just seems like it is going by way too fast this year. Such is life.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple.....

This afternoon we went out to the open house at the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It is so fun to be able to go through these wonderful buildings with my whole family. To sit in the sealing rooms and to go through the Celestial rooms with my children is a blessing that I hope and pray will happen all throughout my life. I feel blessed to be able to live in an area where we can walk out our front door and look up to the mountain and see a temple practically in our own front yard.

A week in the life of.....

We started off this last week with Jensen heading off to scout camp early Monday morning. I can't believe that he is going to be 8 at the end of this month, in fact, it snuck up on me so badly that I didn't even have a scout shirt for him to wear. Sunday night I was taking Drews old shirt apart (the awards and such), and washing it so it could be ready for Jensen the next day. He went to camp on Monday and Tuesday and had alot of fun, shooting bb guns, bow and arrows, sling-shots and learning about fossils. Before he left for camp the only question he had for me was "are we going to learn how to make fires??" - sadly, no, but he had a good time anyway. They watched different shows and he was sad on Tuesday afternoon when he got home because he knew he wouldn't be going back the next day. He also came home with a pocket knife from the Trading Post, a must for a boy at his age....

Morgan and Brenna were also away at girls camp this week. Our house was especially quiet and we quickly realized that we MISS our people when they are not at home. Neither J.D. or I like going to bed at night without our kids in their beds, I know, I am a total baby. They got home on Friday and they also had a great time. Morgan was a YCL this last year and she was able to be in charge of her own tent and have a group of girls that she was in charge of. She spend many hours preparing devotionals and handouts for her girls. They all had a sport associated with their tent, and Morgan chose baseball. She gave her girls baseball shirts with their names on them, baseball socks, hats, and balls. Each night before bed they got their treat with a thought associated with it. She prepared well, and I was proud of her for taking it so seriously.
So, this is how my baby still looks....sleeping always. I am so happy that he is such a good boy. This is one of his morning naps - there can be noise and confusion going on around him and he will just sleep right through it. I tell people that if there were a checklist of things to order up on your newborn, he would be the one with all the right things checked off!! He is really starting to smile and "talk" with us. J.D. was starting to get worried that it would never happen, so it is gratifying to have him respond to us. The smiles are priceless!! He is 3 months old now, and already sleeping through the night. I never had any other of my kids do that at such a young age. You would never know by looking at him that he was a preemie either, he has packed on the pounds and is growing like crazy. What a treat it is to have Jiles in our lives....

We love to have Corey and Janeen and their baby Owen over. Ella loves to be in the hot tub, I turned the temperature way down so it is more like a warm pool, which is so nice in the hot summer. We thought that it would be fun to see if Owen liked it and sure enough he did. He likes most things and almost always has a smile on his face. He is a great little boy and it will be so fun for him to be able to grow up with my kids. Ella really enjoys him right now and I am sure he and Jiles will be great friends someday. They are only 8 months apart in age, and my other sister Julie will be having a baby boy at the end of October. It has been a blessing that cousins have kind of been born in clumps of girls and boys....they all get along and we are all so lucky that we all live close by each other.

The big news of the week is that Morgan cut her hair!! She looks so cute with it short, I know that she was scared and so was I....we got her into my hair girl and she did an amazing job. Morgan has tried to grow her hair out, she has had hair extensions, but none of them seemed to be as cute as the short hair. I am glad she did it, but it makes her look even older than she is which is the only thing that I don't know if I love. Oh well.

Morgan was off on a date later that night, so she did not spend it with our family and she was missed. I don't really like sharing her with other families on holidays, that is going to take some getting used to and to be honest, I don't know how often I will let it happen.

So, on Saturday we had another get together at my house for the 24th of July celebration in Draper. They always celebrate the week before with their parade, carnival, rodeo and fireworks. We started off our morning at the parade with Julie, Janeen and Jill and their families. Getting into a scuffle with the family next to us was the highlight of the morning...No need to elaborate, just know that Jill and Janeen are not going to take crap from anyone, while Julie and I sat back and tried to be polite. Morgan wanted to crawl under her chair and the police got involved. (It sounds worse than it was, and we can all laugh about it now) - "what?? - are you going to handcuff me??"

We also celebrated Uncle Blakes 20th birthday that night with a little birthday cake and a song....I made him his first cake when he turned 1 and J.D. and I lived in Washington, again, another reminder of how time flies. We were all glad that he came over and we were able to spend some time with him. He did blow out all 20 candles in 1 breath, good job Blake!!

Before the fireworks started all the kids spent some time in the hot/cool tub...with much splashing and screaming, everyone had a fun time. Beau, hung on to the side for dear life, which really isn't his personality, and Aliza was in and then out, I think that there were too many in for her liking. The big boys were nice and didn't cause any problems.

Watching the kids in the water so we don't have any drownings - having lots of treats after a really yummy dinner of gourmet hot dogs and corn on the cob. When we get together we know how to eat and we always prepare way too much food. We do it every time though, you would think we would learn, but no. We went and sat on our hill in the back yard at 10:00 when the fireworks started and had a pretty good view. We noticed this year that our trees and bushes are getting bigger because they are starting to get in the way. Next year we might need a new plan, but I really like staying home and not fighting the crowds or the traffic of the park. Oh well, another great 24th celebration!!

Sitting up?....

I woke up the other morning to feed Jiles and when I looked over (yes, Ella is sleeping on the couch in my bedroom.... and, no, it doesn't bother us) and she was sleeping sitting up. I just happened to have the camera next to my bed so I thought I would take a quick picture - she didn't even wake up with the flash. What a strange little girl. I don't know how or when she got that way, but she seemed pretty comfortable and was sleeping so soundly that when I went over and layed her back down she stayed asleep. It's a little freaky that her one eye is open in the picture below, of course I didn't notice before I took the picture, otherwise I probably would have tried to shut it. There is just something a little disturbing about eyes open while sleeping. Oh well - a moment in our life that was amusing to me.

4th of July.....

Our 4th was fun this year. We did something that we have never done before, we started our morning having breakfast at our house....it was less crowded than any restaurant, had flushing and cleaner toilets, (compared to going to the canyons or a park), and we could just hang out and do whatever we wanted. I think that everyone had a good time. The trampoline got used, and so did the sand box. With my family it doesn't take much of an excuse to get together, I am so glad we all like to hang with each other as much as we do.

This is a picture of Brenna, Leah, Ella (flying high) and Robbie all jumping on the tramp. I think Brenna was holding Aliza also, you just can't see her with the bad camera angle. I love our yard. It is an amazing place (if we could just figure out the weeds, yuck.) We feel so blessed to be here, especially in the summer time, it makes enjoying it so easy.
Drew and Jake playing in the sand (Lucas in the background), Drew really didn't want me to take his picture, I think that he thinks he is too cool to be caught doing something so juvenile, but he really does like it. Boys like dirt. That is one thing I do know, I don't think it matters your age.

Morgan sitting on her daddys lap. I hope she never gets to old to do that. Saturday morning was awesome weather, compared to the monsoon like weather we have been having. It was nice to be able to be outside and enjoy July like we should.

We had everyone over, the usuals, Mom and Dad, Jill, Mike and their kids, Trent, Jana and their kids, Brad, Julie and Aliza, Corey, Janeen and Owen (cuties in the picture)....we also had Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bob. They are all so fun to be around and everyone pitched in and made an AWESOME breakfast, like I said, way better than any restaurant.

Is it ever too early for ice cream?? Apparently not in Ella and Alizas book. Who cares really?? I have really tried not to sweat the small stuff lately. There are way more important things to get worked up about, that is one lesson that I have learned as of late. Enjoy each day as it comes, live life to its fullest and have fun doing it. Grandpa really enjoys his grandkids, (the girls especially) - he had 5 of his own and knows how to make them smile.

Later that day we all met out at the Riverton Carnival for rides and fireworks. I had all my people wearing the 'timeless' matching Old Navy Flag shirts....no one complained or acted too embarassed of their mom for making them wear such a thing. I am so lucky that my kids still will humor me with my ideas.

Aliza and Ella on a roller coaster, one thing about it, the ride tickets were expensive (like $5.00 per ride), but they did go for a long time which made it a little less painful to pay for. Luckily my big kids didn't want to do too many rides (they all made them sick after having hoards of pizza for dinner) - so really Ella was the only one doing all the riding. Oh well, we tried, and it was entertainment enough doing all the people watching - wow, it takes all kinds or people to make the world go around is what we have decided. We even saw a girl there with an ankle bracelet on, the kind that you wear so you don't break your parole. A little scary, but mostly just plain strange.

Half the family in the photo, Drew was off doing one of those dizzying rides and Jiles was asleep and me of course behind the camera....Happy 4th of July everyone!

Just a side note, if anyone is wondering, Rivertons fireworks are the longest show I think that I have ever been to...most 'bang' for your buck for sure!! (ha, ha, I know I am dumb)

My sleeping babies.....

There is almost nothing sweeter than the sight of your children sleeping. This is what happens after a long summer day and a nice warm bath. My 3 big kids were gone last week with YMYW and it was just the 3 little ones at home. We had a fun night together, dinner on the deck (ham and cheese sandwiches, nothing fancy), J.D. had just gotten back in town and we enjoyed the evening together. Bath time and then without even blinking all 3 of them were asleep in my bed. I am constantly amazed with how much I love these people, being a mom is the greatest and even still small things like these are so precious to me.

And then even something better happened.... 'ahhhh' (that is the sound of angels singing), Jiles slept through the night last night. I put him down around 11:00 and he didn't wake until 6:30 this morning, what a great little guy. I am going to give him whatever he wants today. Ha ha. Hopefully it wasn't a one time trick, but we will see. Even still, it was nice to sleep through the night for the first time in months.