Ellie's First Fireworks

It might be an understatement to say that Ellie enjoyed watching the fireworks.  She was so funny (in part because it was past her bedtime), that I had to get out the camera.  Sorry the video isn't quality....it was a little dark out :)  But I didn't want to capture the sites anyway, but instead Ellie's hilarious ramblings.  And oh, was she talking or singing non-stop for an hour or so.  I loved it when she kept saying "Amazing!" and had to laugh when she declared, "Nope I'm not done yet." when I asked if she was ready for bed.  You made the night memorable Ellie Belle!





Here are a few pictures from our Independence Day 2013:

Casey and I did the Freedom Run!  I was so fun to run with her.  

(And thank you to Chris for getting the girls to the parade all by himself)

Chandra and her friends camped out and saved us some good spots for the parade.

Ellie and Dad having a 4th of July breakfast...donuts and Naked juices. Mmmm

It was so nice that Chris could be with this year instead of being out in the street taking pictures.

Kylie thought she was wearing "July" colors by wearing white somewhere.

Ellie danced to every band that marched past.

Kylie anxiously waited for BYU....and Cosmo to pass by.

Neighborhood fireworks

What a fun holiday!

The Grand Canyon

After Channing and Cody's wedding, my girls and I climbed in with my parents and Chandra to head to the open house reception at Cody's home in New Mexico.  We stopped at four corners on the way there and on the way back to Vegas (where my parents flew flew home from), we hit up the Grand Canyon for a day and a half.  It was a fun little road trip.

Four corners!

In four places at once!

At their open house reception.

The Grand Canyon!

It was a little windy

Chandra doing some exploring.

Our second day there, Kylie finally posed for a picture.

Dad out on a ledge.

What fun with Grandma!

Kylie and Teacher Tracey.... at her preschool for dress-up day.  

The only downside of summer starting is the end of preschool.  Kylie loved going this year!

Channing and Cody= Married

Channing and Cody's big day finally arrived!  All the hard work paid off and everything was beautiful.  They were married in the St. George, Utah LDS Temple on April 27th.  Their marriage sealing was wonderful.  Channing was beautiful.  Cody was smiling.  There was lots of family around.  And the sun was shining (maybe a little too much, because standing for pictures was hot!)  It was a great day.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

Abe Family

Hamblin Family (minus one brother who is serving a mission)

Don't they look so happy?

Congrats Channing and Cody!  You guys are awesome together.  We are so excited for you.  And we love you so much!

Pre-wedding Hike

Yes, it has been over two months since we were all in St. George for Channing and Cody's wedding, but these past two months have been busy!  We have been in and out of town a lot-six states in seven weeks!  (And that doesn't include the ones we drove through on our way back from Wisconsin).  So, needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do.  I think I will just do the highlights though from the last two months..... and Channing and Cody's wedding was definitely a highlight.

The day before the big day, we hiked around Snow Canyon, which is located in Northwest St. George.  It is beautiful there.  The girls of course loved it....and wanted to do everything all on their own.  Here are a few pics....

It was super fun to have Rochelle and Andrea with us!

Kylie was super excited to go on a hike.....we all had been dying for some warm weather.  

One out of the two times Ellie allowed me to carry her.

The girls and their awesome aunts! 

Group shot

A handstand picture is a tradition

The girls

The one thing that the girls were most excited about was swimming!  Our hotel had this awesome kid sized swimming pool that we all could just play and relax in.  Yeah for sunny, warm weather!

That evening, we all went to the temple while Channing went through for the first time.  It was wonderful.  And we grabbed some good Mexican food afterwards.  It was a very good pre-wedding day.  Filled with lots of fun, family and of course pedicures.

Benson Video

This past semester I (Chris) took a class on video, specifically for photographers.  It was a bit overwhelming at first but by the end I really started to enjoy it.  Here is a project I did on my brother.  As always he did great.  Thanks, Ben, for helping.

Mattress jumping

Kylie and Ellie had a really hard time staying inside during the month of April.  The weather was super nice for a week and then it got cold again and even snowed a few times.  We had the mattress out for a night in our living room, but we kept it there for four days because the girls had so much fun using it as a trampoline and occasionally putting all of their stuffed animals to bed.  They seriously jumped for a couple of hours each day.

March Vegas Trip

Chris, as a photographer for the Daily Universe Newspaper, had to shoot the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament down in Vegas, so we made it a family trip.  We are very lucky to be able to see Chris's family so often.  Even though it was a bit chilly for Vegas's standard, the girls loved being able to play outside.  As we drove down to Nevada, Kylie got all excited about her great idea....going on a hike there.  So even though it was quite windy, we went "hiking" in the desert near Grandma and Pa Bunker's house.

It was a treat to be able to picnic at the park with Pa.

Grandma and Kylie

Kylie hiked up anything and everything.

Ellie was eager to climb up everything too.

Cousin Baby Jay

Kylie and Ellie finally have a cousin!...and Chris and I can finally claim the title of uncle and aunt.  Jay Murry was born on February 12, 2013.  We are so excited to have Jay in our family.  He is so handsome and such a sweetie.  Ellie asks daily, "Baby Jay, my home!?!"  We have loved being so close to Josh and Nicole over the last few months and are so sad that they have moved to Vegas for the summer.  :(

Kylie took this picture of Baby Jay

And Ellie is pretending to be Baby Jay :)

Ellie LOVES to give him kisses and hugs. 

Jay's blessing day!