Birthday Buffet anyone?

For her birthday, Suzanna chose to take a couple of friends out to eat instead of having a big party. I was all for that (much less work for me!). And ever since her Aunt Cheryl's wedding luncheon last year, she has been in LOVE with buffets--so that's where we had to go. I'm pretty sure it's just the soft serve ice cream and toppings that excite her so much, because it can't be the food =)

We had a great time (if a little chaotic) at the restaurant, and we certainly drew some stares with six kids in tow. Then we headed back to our house for presents and cake. Only nobody was really in the mood for cake after all the food consumed at dinner. Surprise, surprise.... We sang and blew out candles anyway--what kind of party would it be without that?

Suzanna had a great time celebrating turning seven!

Suzanna's Seven!

Suzanna turned seven on Saturday, but life has bearly slowed down enough for me to learn how to use our new scanner so that I can share some pictures of her life. There were WAY too many pictures to choose from, since we've had a digital camera for more than half her life. It's been fun to look back on her life and remember all the fun we've had with our daughter =)

Suzanna's Blessing day

Playing with Brendon just after her 1st Birthday


First pigtails!

Fourth birthday


Flying kites in Thatcher


First sleepover with friends Morgan and Meagan

We love you Suzanna!

FINALLY!

We were finally in town for a rainstorm on Sunday. We've been bummed that we've been out of town and missed some great summer monsoons lately. Brendon and Suzanna had fun getting their swimsuits on and playing on the trampoline while it drizzled after most of the storm had passed. Ty had his suit on, but watched from the porch most of the time.

Flake Family Vacation

Last week we went to Pinetop with my parents and my brother and his family for our last trip of the summer. The weather was beautiful, the company was great and the food was delicious! What more can you ask for? Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Brendon was the champion air hockey player of the kids. Too bad all the adults "smoked" him as our kids like to put it. We were excited to see Brendon again since he had spent the last few days in Thatcher.



Tyler loved the rocking horse. Especially with licorice in hand. I bought one of those huge licorice containers at Costco for the trip. I LOVE licorice, but I can never justify a huge tub unless I have lots of others to help me eat it.



Even though it was already cool outside, the kids insisted on playing in the water. They didn't last long outside since the water coming out of the hose is actually cold there instead of luke warm like here in Phoenix.



My parents watched all the kids while Phil, Cory, Ann and I went through a session at the Snowflake Temple on Thursday morning. It was so beautiful and peaceful there! I can enjoy a session much more when I know the kids are having fun with grandma and grandpa.



After we checked out of the rental house, we all headed to the park for lunch and a little more fun in the nice weather before heading home. The kids enjoyed every last minute of freedom before we locked them back up in seatbelts and careseats for the ride home. Jonathan was excited to ride home to Thatcher for his turn at grandma and grandpa's house.



We're sad the fun is over! What will we do with the rest of our summer???

Fabulous Fourth

We made an impromptu trip to Thatcher for the Fourth of July. We figured that we'd have a lot more fun if it wasn't so hot, and the weather in Thatcher was much better than Phoenix!

Thatcher has a "great" tradition of the fire trucks going around town blaring their sirens and waking everyone up at 5:00 a.m. Then everyone gathers for the parade and the kids get to ride on the fire trucks over to the junior high where they have a patriotic program.

Here's Suzanna getting ready for another mini parade for the program. I think she was the only kid who enjoyed it. She was up there marching and smiling while all the other kids looked like they would rather be in bed. Must be her first time =)

We were glad to be at the program since my dad was speaking about John Quincy Adams and my mom was giving the prayer. Then, after the program and after the delicious watermelon they serve, the firemen bring their trucks over to the field and spray all the kids. I wish I'd gotten some video of how much fun they had!

Back at Grandma Allred's the cousins had some more water fun with the slip-n-slide. Brendon prefers to slide on his knees--I think that's a smart idea since he's almost as long as the slide! When did he get so tall?!?

Jonathan liked it best when Uncle Phil (in the back of the picture) would "help" him slide by throwing him (and the rest of the cousins) onto the slip-n-slide.

We had a barbecue with all the Allreds that night and then went to watch the fireworks. I didn't get any pictures, but the kids loved sitting on the top of Uncle Phil's truck and eating popcorn as we watched. The weather was so great and we had such fun! We're definitely glad we went.

And now we're off on another trip tomorrow. Maybe I'll be quicker about posting on that trip =)