Last weekend we went camping on the beach with a bunch of friends. We had an amazing time! Jackson loved the water and he loved having so many friends to play with. Josh was great at boggie boarding. I caught one good wave and then I was out of the water. It was a pretty chilly weekend. We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends! Here are some photos of the weekend...more to come!
Day One: A little chilly, but Jackson doesn't care he just wants to go in the water.
Jackson feeling how cold the water is!
His teeth were chattering but he didn't care. He loved chasing the waves with mommy and daddy.

Duke stayed on the beach. He was afraid of the waves and would cry when we brought him close to the water.
Day Two: I could barely move I was so sunburnt on my legs. On day one I fell asleep holding Duke the only thing NOT under the umbrella was from my knee down...I didn't know that until later that night. Ouch!
Jackson's spot for most of the trip.
He was soooooo happy!
Awwwwww...My Boys....

Swimming Video

Playing & Swimming

The boys swimming with daddy.



The boys playing with mommy. Duke has the outfit of choice. It is so hot here we wish we all could walk around like that!
Duke laughing at his brother. He just loves that guy!

Ahhhhhhhh I LOVE my babies blue eyes!
We were looking for things with our "binoculars".

WINNER!!!

Here is the good news, it was posted on facebook a week ago.

"Sorensen Studios Using a random number generator is fun! It has selected my WINNER! And the Winner of the free portrait session is Candace Arnold Perkins !!! Congrats!! She is one lucky girl, I know she wanted this!! Stay tuned for other events and specials....I'll keep you posted! Thanks for entering."

When I found out I started screaming. About a month ago I was telling my sister in law that we really needed some family pictures taken. We have no family portraits, and with my beautiful children that should be a crime. So Ashley knowing everyone showed me some websites of some people she knows that take pictures. I narrowed it down to two people and then saw some family shots that Selena did (Sorensen Studios) and then I was sold. I wanted Selena to take our first family portrait.
It goes without saying that if you know my husband you know how much he likes spending money soooooo, he said that we had to wait. Then Selena did a contest on Facebook. I entered thinking that there was no chance of me wining. But, I DID!!!
In October, we will have our pictures taken. Please go to Selena's website and look at the A-MA-ZING photos that she has taken and give me some ideas for our pictures. www.sorensen-studios.com
Look for our photos soon!!!
Thanks Selena!

Camping

Over the weekend we went camping with Josh's family. We had a great time! The only way to go camping is with a fifth wheel camper. If I have access to a regular toilet I could go camping for weeks. Here are some pictures from our adventure. They are courtesy of Nancy, because I am terrible at remembering to take photos.

What a rugged looking group!
Here we are getting ready to watch the fireworks in Heber. It was great to watch the fireworks where it was so cold.

Hard to see, but here is a picture of us watching the fireworks. Duke was so cute, he kept saying "oooooooo".

Jackson making a "big splash."

Jackson laughing at the dogs.

Duke enjoying Nana's fruit salad. Duke earned quite a reputation on the trip of eating and eating and eating. Uncle TJ really likes having another one in the family with a little belly.

Finally!

If only potty training was this cute! After my house smelling like a little box for weeks, swarms of flies taking up home in our back yard I have finally done it (well, Jackson has done it but I will take the credit because I was the one who was REALLY suffering). I have to say that I was sure that he would never get it. Don't get me wrong my son is smart, too smart. I am sure that he thought, "why in the WORLD, would I take time out of my busy schedule to use the potty when I can just stand right here and go and my mommy will deal with it later." Yeap he is one smart guy. But my son is just like his father and there is one thing that will get them to do anything...FOOD! I finally told Jackson that he would get an ice cream cone every time he went in the toilet. Yes, every time! I didn't care if Jackson had 3 square meals of ice cream everyday as long as he pooped in the toilet. I have to say that thus far in Jackson's short life of three years this has been THE HARDEST parenting obstacle, but success has never tasted so sweet! One down, one to go...well that is unless we have more kids...........hmmmmmmm

More Disney World Pictures

Here is the whole gang on day 1. Notice that we are all smiling, that wasn't the case by day 5!

The kids and I at Epcot. If you know me, you know what I think of Epcot...

Here it is...not my proudest moment, but this is exactly what I think of Epcot. I really am asleep here. I swear this ride was 30min of pure boredom, I don't remember which ride this was but I can tell that it wasn't good.
Beautiful Boy #2 and me in "Mexico" in Epcot.
Beautiful boy #1, Mickey, Minne and me.
The water fountain. I don't think I have ever seen Jackson so happy.
Lauren and I doing another plank for the World Plank website. (I LOVE that girl!!!)