1st annual fred ward family reunion

this picture says it all. the wards have been on vacation!

kevin’s family held their first ever family reunion over the holiday weekend. aaron & sarah (being the oldest family) took charge and did a fantastic job planning this get-away.

we gathered at bear lake in utah on friday afternoon and stayed through monday afternoon. we were hoping it would be relaxing…and it was. we were hoping the weather would be PERFECT…and it was. and we were hoping to have lots of raspberry milkshakes…and we did!

it was our first time ever going to bear lake and we were so pleased. I hope we go back again soon.

we spent friday just settling in and relaxing in the house we were renting. it had a great view of the lake and garden city. we enjoyed that house to it’s fullest.

saturday we wasted no time and spent the day in the water. we rented a couple wave runners for a few hours and when that fun was over we headed over to the north beach to play in the sand and shallow water.

staci and kyle getting ready to play on the wave runners.

kevin and wesley

madalyn LOVED playing in the sand and really wanted nothing to do with the water

this little turtle we brought was a HIT! and owen and kimball had a great time playing together.

eleanor and madalyn had more in common than just physical similarities (you could tell they were cousins) and they also both loved the sand!

sisters (laura and staci)

kevin and wesley

wesley really enjoyed the wave runner, but he wasn’t so fond of getting wet.

enjoying the sun and fun with my hubby! it was so fun to be able to play all.day.long together!

HEAVEN I tell ya! this girl was in heaven!

owen showing off his shell collection to his cousins.

owen, kimball, simon, aaron, and brian

tball

we spent june on the ball fields!

wesley played his first year of tball and had games on tuesdays and thursday the month of june. he enjoyed playing and you could tell he felt like a big boy. he LOVED to give a thumbs up to EVERYONE as he played. something to look forward to while you watched.


ball hoggzz
wesley is on the first row the second in from the left

owen played his second year of tball. he had games on mondays and wednesdays. this year i helped as the assistant coach. a little easier than being coach but still enough work for me. (; owen didn't love it as much as he did last year. but, i think he did have a little bit of fun. we shall see what the next year brings.


rambunctious royals
owen is on the first row the second in from the left

the little iona ball park was busy busy busy and that means fun! it's a fun little community.

old friends

earlier this week a couple of my old high school friends came to pay me a visit. I hadn’t seen either of them since our 10 year high school reunion (nearly four years ago) so I was SO happy to see them.

facebook is great, but there is nothing better than being able to chat face to face! they both looked beautiful…and it was entertaining to watch our little kids play together.

me and jenny

cassy and me

ahh…highschool! I NEVER want to go back but I am thankful for good friendships made during that time. thanks ladies for the friendship and memories.

race

last weekend kev and I competed in the scenic river classic. kevin did the 10k run and brenda (my neighbor/friend/running partner)and i did the 5k.

getting pumped up before the race. (; those are our game faces.

brenda has proven to be great running company. she helped me knock 6 minutes off my race time. (; we finished just seconds over 30 minutes and we were both pleased with the time. now we have even higher expectations for the next one.

 

after the race

 

kevin’s goal was to finish the 10k in 62 minutes and reached it with seconds to spare.

 

it was a fun race. looking forward to the next one.

family home evening

each month my parents try to attend a family home evening at one of their children's homes. june just happened to be our month!

we had them over for dinner, a short lesson, and then dessert…of course!

we really love this tradition and look forward to sharing the evening with grandma and grandpa. unfortunately, kevin was working late so he missed all the fun! BOO! hopefully next time. (;

when we’re helping we’re happy

this week I am beginning to sense some of the extra joys that come with being a mother.

I started a chore chart and have assigned my little ones chores for the first time in their young lives. I have been dragging my feet on this because I felt like I would just have to redo everything they did which would defeat the purpose. but, I came to my senses and I cannot stop myself from smiling each morning when they wake up and start working.

now I know what I have been missing. they love feeling important, they are learning to work, and I love having things dusted, vacuumed, and wiped off every morning. even if it isn’t perfection…it’s still so rewarding! the cutest little workers I have ever seen.

I let madalyn loose with a dust cloth and a wash cloth each morning and she goes to town.

this week wesley’s job is vacuuming and he couldn’t be prouder pushing that monster around.

owen is in charge of wiping down the bathrooms each morning and said “this is so easy”. then he asked, “so, now what are YOU going to do?” LOL.

no stone left unturned. she loves wiping things off.

happy memorial day

we followed tradition and spent memorial day in malad, id. it rained and was VERY cold. I only took a couple pictures.

it wasn’t the best showing from the harding family… BUT, i sure loved seeing the people who did come.

and yes, owen did get his bullet shell from the gun salute. he is one happy boy.

rigby lake sprint triathlon

kevin competed in his third sprint triathlon last saturday. he really enjoys them, but I think he is crazy for doing one this early in the year. IT.WAS.FREEZING.COLD! it didn’t rain on us so there was a minor improvement from last year. because it was so cold a few competitors even opted to drop out of the race because they couldn’t stay in the water. but kevin survived and finished the race 5 minutes faster than the last one.

right before the swim

transitioning from the swim to this bike

the kids stayed busy playing on the play sets in between warm up sessions in the car (per mom’s request)

the bike race

transition from bike to run

the kids watching for dad to finish

sprinting to the finish line

proud kids (owen is sporting kevin’s finisher medal from the last race)

finisher

last day of school

last thursday was owen’s last day of school. he was asked to say a part in the assembly tribute to their retiring principal. he did a great job!

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he is so excited for summer and even more excited to be in first grade (which means no afternoon NAPS)! (:

owen and his school buddies

happy summer everyone!

magic worm

owen's kindergarten class had a talent show last week. owen was so excited to do a "magic trick" with his magic worm. for some reason i couldn't get my camera to record the first part of his trick with the cups, but i did catch the finger looping.

you can tell he is very nervous but we were proud of owen for stepping out of his comfort zone and participating.

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wesley’s 4th birthday

thursday was wesley’s birthday. kevin took the day off and we played ALL.DAY.LONG!

we took wesley to pick out his bike last week so he wasn’t surprised when he saw it…but, he was thrilled to see a green helmet (his favorite color) that matches his bike perfectly.

kevin made wesley a fantastic birthday breakfast…

and then we sent owen off to school. the weather was perfect so wesley was able to play outside all morning on his new bike and with his new Styrofoam airplane.

after owen made it home we played outside until everyone was hungry. then we headed over to mcdonald’s for lunch! the kids were THRILLED to be getting happy meals. after lunch we took madalyn over to our neighbors (THANKS BRENDA) while the rest of us went and watched Rio at the theatre. wesley had played so hard he slept through most of it. it was a very relaxing two hours. (;

we had my parents over for a pizza dinner. we were glad they came to join us. they gave wesley a new BIG book, take me out to the ball game. it came with a cd of carly simon singing the song. wesley has been singing it non-stop since thursday. it’s pretty cute!

wesley requested a batman cake and he was thrilled with the way it turned out! we forget how easy it is to please them.

make a wish little buddy! we love you wesley!

celebrating wesley!

well, it's that time of year again. cinco de mayo and my baby's birthday! today we are celebrating wesley's 4th birthday. i am so thankful for the hugs, kisses, smiles, funny sayings, and the sweetness of this little man!

it nearly kills me to edit his montage each year and try to decide which pictures to take out. but, i managed.

happy birthday wesley! we love you and we are thankful we get to celebrate you today.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

always room

madalyn LOVES to pal around with her big brothers and their friends. and they are pretty tolerant of it. madalyn just figures there is always room for her. yesterday the boys were watching a show and madalyn decided she would prefer to sit on the ottoman with wesley and carson (our neighbor friend) instead of on the couch. she squeezed right in and they didn’t make a peep about it! so sweet.

jamis’ weekend

last weekend we made a trip to utah to be a part of jamis’ baptism. we went down LATE thursday night and stayed through sunday afternoon. we were able to spend a lot of time with family from both my side and kevin’s. it was a nice get-away.

 

I LOVE witnessing a baptism! I always leave with a firmer knowledge of my Savior and Heavenly Father.

jamis was just as handsome and sweet as ever. nice work melissa and blake!

grandpa, grandma, and jamis