Summer is coming to an end!

I can't believe how quickly this summer has come to an end. It has been a wonderful summer and the kids have been great. We have been to Utah, done some day trips, days at pool, playgrounds, bowling, play dates, picnics, dress up, and everything else. It has been a fun summer. The kids are still amazing and still took a nap together almost everyday and we got to enjoy time together and Cavin and Ella had a sleepover almost every night! It has been one of my favorite summers. 

 

Ella and Channing using their imaginations and getting on a plane to Germany and chilling in Channing's toddler bed.

This girl is always making us laugh. Here she is with her dad's socks! We love her sassy personality.

It was also a summer of teeth......Cavin is growing up too fast! Friday the dentist had to pull his bottom two teeth because the adult teeth were already growing in behind them, so I was so sad! His first two teeth gone and starting kindergarten all in a few days!!! Here is a shot before they are gone....and then

Here is our cute toothless boy!

Ella lost a few teeth too! Oh boy.....here comes those lovely "kid" smiles!! hahaha!

And finally, they just got their haircut before school.... Here is Ella before!!

Her hair was getting so long....

Here is her fresh hair after the summer dryness. She cut about 4 inches!

Here is Cavin before....His hair was getting pretty long too

Now we are all ready for school to start! Oh how I am going to miss them. I am one of those weird moms who loves having her kids home and I am going to miss them SOOOO much! Kindergarten here is all day, so Channing might get smothered and hugged and squeezed all day! We are sure going to miss Cavin and Ella! Bye Bye Summer 2013!

The Bluebell Factory!

Yesterday we went with my parents and my sister Natalie to the Bluebell Ice cream Factory in Brenham, Texas. Due to the fact that we are known for our delicious blue bell ice cream, it is a common tourist attraction in Texas and after living her most of my life, you would think I have been several times! Well, yesterday was my first trip out and we had a fun time. We picked up my parents and drove up the road. It's only about an hour from my parents house.

Here we are having a snack and waiting for the tour to begin! 

 Time to squish Grandpa!

Cavin couldn't stop eating his snack long enough to take a picture....

He is also beginning this obnoxious phase of making silly faces every time we try and take a picture....oh boys, what do you do with them?!?!

The tour was a perfect length, not too long and not too short. The kids were entertained because there was ice cream all around them! After the tour you get to pick a scoop of ice cream to try! Yum! Channing was in love with her hat....and as you can see...she insisted on wearing it right above her eyes where she could barely see!

We had a fun time. My dad tried a new flavor called "Rockslide Brownie" and he thought it was so good that I am pretty sure even today he is still talking about it ;) He came home and went straight to the store to buy some more! Crazy what retirement does to you! The kids and I are so glad that we get to go on fun adventures with their grandparents! We look forward to adventures with the other set of grandparents in December!

Summertime!

We have been having a fun relaxing summer. We are enjoying the pools, and playing with grandma and grandpa, and trying to enjoy every second until the school year starts again and we get back to our routine!

We have been going to grandmas house to have tea (lemonade) parties. Grandma even obliged us with making bite size food of all shapes and sorts, and getting out her nice plates and cups! Ella made the lovely place mats and wanted it to be just like her Fancy Nancy tea party book.

Even grandpa joined in on the fun ;) That's what you get for retiring!!

We have been playing dress up and Ella is making sure Channing knows all the ropes of "fashion" as she calls it!

And although Cavin is a great sport and puts up with all the girl fun in our house, he is glad to be out with his dad for a father/son date. He loves being with him. This night they headed to the Houston Dynamo soccer game.....I bet you would think by their attire he was going to the Rockets game, but we bleed red.....need to work on getting us some Dynamo orange! I love summertime!

Summer Fun in Utah!

This summer we had the chance to go back to Utah for a couple weeks. The kids were really excited and I was really hopeful that it would be a great trip! Ragnar was able to be with us the whole time which was wonderful! It started with Channing's first plane ride....

We decided it was worth it to drag the carseat on the plane, and it was WELL worth it! She did awesome both to Utah and home!

Once we landed we drove up to Logan, UT. We had to go see one of our favorite Aunts, Aunt Daphne and spent a few days with her. Logan holds a special place in our hearts! Ragnar and I are both proud USU aggies, we bought our first home here, and Ella and Cavin were born here! So naturally we had to go up to campus and show them around!

"Aggies"

And possibly "Future Aggies!"

After campus we went to Ragnar and I's favorite spot....first dam. We used to love going there to talk and the kids came to feed the ducks. At first they screamed because the ducks/geese would see your bread and just run up to you. Man I never have seen the kids run so fast! Once we were safe on the deck they enjoyed feeding them!

We then went to visit the spot by the Logan LDS temple where Ragnar proposed....this is our famous bench where we talked about having these little munchkins, and now here they are in that very spot ;)

We had a lot of fun in Logan playing with Daphne. She accompanied me on a nice long run which I loved because I really miss running in Utah. We got to play and on Saturday their cousin Jonas and Ragnar's sister Sandra came up to go bowling

The kids had a good time and we got to go to one of our favorite restaurants "The BlueBird". We had a BBQ and played at the park and got to see our close friends the Ferrins,Wendy Jeppsen, The Sleights, and lots of Ragnar's old coworkers. It was great! 

Daphne is one of my closest friends and a wonderful Aunt to the kids. She is great at playing games with them and keeping them entertained. We are so lucky we got to spend time with her and sleep at her house which was very kind! We sure miss her already!
On the way to SLC we got to see my cousin Stephanie Harris and her cute kiddos including her newborn Charlotte! It was fun to chat and catch up and she was kind enough to feed us a yummy dinner! 
Also we got to see one of my closest friends who just moved to Oregon and happened to be visiting family in Utah. The kids were so excited to see the Waters family!

Here are the kiddos, Ella, Channing, Cavin, Tyler, Tyson, and Emma

They are cute kiddos!

Candice took this picture of the girls which I thought was cute...even if their hair is crazy after running around!

Here is Cavin with his best buddy Tyler

Channing with her little buddy Emma who she was TOTALLY excited to see. She loves babies so much!

And me with mine....oh how I miss Candice! Cavin misses his best friend Tyler and I miss the whole family! We were so glad we got to see them for a minute and play and feed the ducks! They are a special family!

Monday we went to SLC for a few days and the above picture is actually from the resturaunt "Sweet Tomatoes" we met Ragnar's two sisters there and his Uncle Werner.

Channing really had fun with Ragnar's sister Sandra and warmed up pretty fast to her, which is not always the case, so she had a buddy for a couple days!

Uncle Werner always has lots of stories and information to share ;) Below is Ragnar, and his two sisters that live in America, Daphne and Sandra and then his Uncle Werner who lives here also.

We also went swimming with Sandra and Jonas and the kids had fun playing with their cousin they don't see often. We appreciated her taking time off of work to play for a minute!

Monday night we got to go see my Aunt Sheri, Uncle Dale, and cousin Brian and that was great. It was fun to see them and they were kind enough to feed us, not care too much when we spray water guns all over the wall :) and take the time to say hello. They have an I Spy book....and let me just tell you....I swear there CANNOT be a dolphin on that "said" page!

Tuesday we got to see our friends and old neighbors the MacNairs. We sure miss them. They always make us laugh! They had a cute baby girl Ava which Channing was very excited about. 

Here are the kiddos! When we left there was just Ella, Cavin, and Ian.....now 4 years later there is also Aaron, Channing, and little Ava. So fun. 

 Channing LOVES babies and was so excited to hold Ava who is just 2 weeks old!

And this is the typical Ashley. She knows how much I love to hug and so she always makes it super awkward! Gotta love her! We were glad to see Tim and Ashley and their family. 
That evening we got to see my old roommate Angeline and her family and it was great to see her as well. Our last stop was visiting Kristen, my old college friend and her family! She also had a brand new baby Hartlynn which Channing was also in heaven to see! So many cute babies! It was good for my kids to see the life on a farm and see how there are wonderful things outside of "city" life!

 All our visits went really well and it was so fun to see everyone!

The last 5 days were for the main reason we came to Utah....we had our very first "Speers Reunion" My parents had my two brothers and two sisters and I come to a family reunion in Heber, UT. Our family theme was "Count on Me." We had a wonderful time. Since only my sister Natalie, and I live in Houston by my parents it was nice to see the other siblings and all their family.

I got to meet this cutie, Charlotte who is my brother Chris' youngest child. 

The first day was the 4th of July and we had planned to go to the Provo Parade but it rained so we went to tour SLC and temple sqaure, the conference center, tabernacle, and all the fun things there. 
When we got back we relaxed and had a BBQ!

Ella LOVED playing with her two cousins Madi and Caden and she was so sad to leave them when the week was over!

 Here are the 12 grandkids! Our cousin Ang took pictures of the family and I hope they turned out better than this one! Silly kiddos! Happy Fourth of July!!!

On Friday we went to "This is the Place" park and the kids got to see the life of a pilgrim. 

We got to do a few chores  which Channing, my OCD child, loved.

Ella loved riding "Chip" the horse

And their favorite was the train ride.

We went up to Park City on Saturday to go down the Alpine Slides and Corey, Chris, Chira, Marisa, Ethan, and I went zip-lining. It was a lot of fun, but 4th of July weekend probably wasn't our best choice! Super busy!
That afternoon we had my WHOLE extended family who still lives in Utah come to visit and have a BBQ. My Grandma Wall, Grandma and Grandpa Haws, my Aunt Becky and Uncle Kevin and most of their kids, Aunt Charm and Uncle Lance, and Aunt Laurie and Uncle Stephen and tons of my cousins. It was so fun to have everyone there. There was 51 people at the cabin. It was such a fun cabin. We all loved it even though it was 20 minutes up the mountain! It was so peaceful and the weather was wonderful. The kids got to go on a hike and make walking sticks and just play!

It was a wonderful reunion and I am so grateful my parents made it happen and we got to see everyone! 

Here is my Grandma Wall who is 88 and you would never know! She stayed a few nights and it was so fun to have her. 
All in all it was a fabulous trip and the kids did AWESOME. They were not perfect, but considering hardly any naps and much of a schedule, they were great. It was such a nice break and we were so grateful that the "kidney stone" Ragnar had to come home to waited til the night after we got home. It was such a blessing it didn't happen the day earlier in a cabin high up in the mountain! On a positive note being back Ragnar was promoted at work and so that was wonderful! Thanks to everyone for making Utah happen!