Irrigation Day

Treyson playing with his friend Carson

Ashlyn was most excited about being around the horses

The kids playing in the water

Today my friend Kristalyn invited the kids and I up to her parents house to help with irrigation. Her parents are in our ward and have lived her for years. Every week they get the water for about an hour and it fills the yard up. The kids get to slide and splash in the water and walk in it. They had a blast. These are some of my kids friends the Smiths and Chandlers. I guess the water was really low this day so we will go back when the water is higher.

Britton with his friend Parker

Brielle just taking it all in

Rest of trip

Scott decided to show the kids how to do a real fire. He didn't want to use matches to show the kids his Boy Scout skills. So here he is starting the fire without matches. The entire time he was doing this Ashlyn kept saying "So why don't you just get the matches." Even after the fire was started she wanted to know if he was going to get the matches now.
Here is our family sitting around the fire. We enjoyed a fun night of SMORES!!! Yummy. We didn't even burn our marshmallows. We went on a fun hike around Cascade Springs. Here are the kids and their Dad on the hike.
Here's mommy and the kids. We sure had a fun time. It was hot but it was a lot hotter down in Pleasant Grove. We also drove to a nearby lake to play. The kids had to get in the water clothes and all. We had a great time that was until a dust storm hit and covered our wet bodies with a layer of dirt. We hurried and had to take all their clothes off to drive back to camp. The shower was sure dirty the next day.
All the kids in the water.

Camping Trip

Well I changed how the blog looks today. I decided that I am a horrible journal keeper. I just don't find the time to write in a journal. So I thought this was a sense a type of journal where we are tellings what the Grange family has been up to. Okay so not a real journal but as good as it is going to get for us. So I went to print my blog and it keeps not printing right and taking the end of the sentences off. So with this new format I should be able to print the sheets better.

This weekend we headed up to the mountains for a few days of rest and relaxation. It was a fun trip. We packed everything up and headed 15 minutes away. Yep, just 15. We live just 10 minutes from American Fork Canyon. That's where Timpanogos Cave is. They have several camping sites up that particular canyon. As you continue up the canyon it is considered the Alpine Loop and loops around to Provo Canyon. We spent two days up there. We actually came back home Friday night so we could go to a ward party. When you are only 15 minutes away it wasn't a big deal. So we had a yummy BBQ with the ward and the kids enjoyed playing all the games. We came back up camping and all 4 kids slept GREAT!!! Yeah for us.

Here are the kids in front of the river at the campground. Fortuantely they stayed far away from it. As you can tell this is the beginning of the trip. They are still a little clean.

Here's Scott making breakfast for us. Yummy pancakes and Sausage. Okay they all thought the sausage was yummy I'm not a fan of it at all. But Treyson loves the little "hotdogs".

Brielle hanging out in her portable crib. Isn't she a cutie. She did such a great job. She only got up once the first night for about 20 seconds. She slept like a baby. Well I guess she is our baby. She sure enjoys being with her siblings. Just wish they weren't always so close.
The kids explored the camp ground and found rocks of all kinds. They loved exploring and wandering around for treasures.
What a sweet baby.

4th of July

Brielle hanging out on the 4th

Well we had a wonderful 4th of July. We headed down to my parents house early to go swimming in their neighbors pool. The Gustafsons are always so nice to let us use the pool. They were having a party in the afternoon so we were able to use it in the morning. It was warm and we got lucky because the clouds and rain came in the afternoon.

The kids all had a fun time swimming with the family. After that we had a VERY Yummy BBQ with the family. We had Kabobs that my dad made-Delicous. We also had Spinach Salad, Pasta Salad and Homemade Salsa. All which tasted Great. So thanks for the yummy food family.

Ashlyn, Brit, And Trey at the Movies

After the BBQ the kids enjoyed playing with the dress up clothes and just hanging out. The boys all danced to Napolean Music. They are pretty good dancers. We then headed to the Movies "Cars" because we promised the kids we could go. They loved it and of course we had to have popcorn. This was the first time in a long time that I didn't have any. I love popcorn but had eaten so much earlier that it didn't even sound good.

The boys with Kaden dressing up

I forgot to mention that we did the Cousin Picture again of the three little ones. They were all dressed in their 4th of July Attire and all looked so cute. My nephew Parker broke his arm (when he rolled off the bed) but doesn't his little cast look cute. I am glad it matched Whitney!

The three little cousins. The girls picking on Parker

After the movie we headed home. We decided to go to the Fireworks at Pleasant Grove Highschool. We got their and was able to get good seats and parking. The best part of the night was being able to get out of the area without any problems. Yeah!! It was a fun 4th of July. Thanks family for all the fun.

Softball, Baseball, Itty Bitty Ball and Alpine Slide

Scott, Britton, and Ashlyn at the Alpine Slide

We have had a fun week this last few weeks. The kids have been involved in a Park it Program where they go to a different park each day for activities. They go from10-2 and just have fun. This week they had a camp theme and painted t-shirts and roasted hotdogs over the fire. They also had movie day and went to Madagascar. They also had Track and Field Day and other days of just fun.

Britton waiting for his turn

We also had a busy day of Softball, Baseball and Itty Bitty Ball. Britton is loving Coach's Pitch this year. It's his first year playing it and he is sure getting better. Last year at T-Ball it was a little easier but he can now hit from the coach.

Ashlyn getting ready to hit

Ashlyn is playing her first year of softball. When I signed her up the page said 10 and under. So I signed her up for that. To find out for her age she wasn't supposed to be in this league. 7 and 8 year olds are suppossed to play Machine Pitch-not Softball with the girls pitching. So she was a little young for the team. But she did awesome. She is glad I messed up because she didn't want to be in Machine Pitch because they play with BOYS!!! YUCK!!!

Treyson had a fun week doing Itty Bitty Ball. It is for 3-4 year olds. Each day they do a different sport and have fun stations for each sport. The first day he played baseball, then Basketball then Soccer than Golf. He thought Golf and Soccer were cool.

Treyson at Itty Bitty Ball

On Wednesday afternoon we headed up to Parkcity to stay at a Condo for the night with Scott's family. We had a really fun time. We got up there and we decided to take the two oldest on the Alpine Slide. Here they are with Grandpa and Dad and I going up the chair lift to the top. Britton was worried about losing his shoes. Ashlyn was a little worried about doing the slide herself. But in the end we had a fabulous time. It was a lot of fun . I want to go back up and do the Zip Line down the Mountain. It was literally down the mountain. It looked like fun. After that we came back to the Condo and went swimming. The kids had fun with there cousin Carter. That night Jenny, Jason, Carter and Ryland left but Kevin, Chelsey, Hunter and Kenyon came up. We hadn't seen them for awhile so it was nice to see them. Unforunately the next morning we had to get up early to get back home for the activites of the day.

We went back up to the Granges on Friday afternoon so we could go to a movie. We went with Bob, Kevin and Chelsey to Superman. It was an entertaining movie mainly just action packed with an okay plot. The special effects were way cool. It's amazing what they can do in movies now.

Yesterday we spent the day working in the yard and in the basement. Fun for us.

That's what we've been up to this week.

It's been a LONG time

Brielle and her friend Cassidy


Well everyone it has been awhile since I last wrote. We have had so many fun things going on. I don't even know where to start. After school got done on Friday we just had a fun relaxing week. We went to the pool several times that week and just hung out. It was a lot of fun. We went to a family reunion for Scott's family, a baby blessing for Scott's sisters and just enjoyed each other.

The next week the kids participated in Soccer camp. They LOVED IT!!!! They played soccer and soccer games for 4 days for an hour and a half each day. We then spent some of those days at the pool. Oh how fun summer is!!!!

We also celebrated our city Pleasant Grove with going to the rodeo. The kids loved it. It is called Strawberry Days and they have the best desseret of Strawberries and Cream.




In fact the food at most functions like this is outrageous. Not this rodeo. I was able to get 5 strawberries and cream, two huge sugar cookies with frosting, and two waters all for 8 dollars. Wow I was impressed. It was a late night but it was sure enjoyable.







The boys then went to Father's and Sons and Ashlyn, Brielle and I had a girls night. The girls all went to dinner, watched a movie and scrapbooked. Okay, so Brielle just came along for the ride. The boys had a wonderful time at the Father's and Sons campground. They just went up the canyon near our home so it was pretty easy. They enjoyed the smores and just being with all the fun kids.






They got home Saturday morning and we packed up again to head to Manti. We had a blast. We stayed with some great friends that just moved there. We knew them in Colorado. We also had our other good friends drive out from Colorado too so it was a BIG party. We all headed there to see the Manti Pageant. It was awesome. They live about two blocks away from the temple so it was a short and easy walk after it ended. The Pageant doesn't start until 9:30 p.m. because they need it to be dark. But most of my kids stayed up for the whole thing. Britton was fascinated by it. He loved the fights between the Lamanites and Nephities, seeing Moroni on top of the actual temple, and seeing the volcano. If you haven't been to the Pageant lately or at all you should make the effort. We loved it.

We then spent Sunday with our friends visiting. We made yummy breakfast for the dads and had a wonderful lasagna, salad, and bread for dinner. Our kids surely didn't want to leave when it was time. They just keep talking about their friends. They played the entire time and we did very little entertaining of them. They did it all on their own.

Dance Festival at School and Teachers

The Grange Kids at the Dance Festival

Well the year is coming to an end. The end of the school year that is. At Manila Elementary our kids do a fun dance festival every year. The parents all come and each grade does a fun dance. Sometimes they have shirts or different themes. It has been a fun tradition at this school for years. They also announce the top 6th graders and the Student Council for next year. Of course the Dance Festival is always warm. But it is fun.

ASHLYN AND BRITTON'S TEACHERS DANCING
This year the kids teachers all did a dance. I must say that both Mrs. Barton and Mrs. Long have a lot of talent in the dance realm. The kids all thought it was funny.

Britton's Kindergarten class did it to Bearnecessities from the Jungle Book. He was a tiger. Here he is doing a dance move.

Here is also a picture of Britton and his teacher Mrs. Barton

He sure enjoyed having her as a teacher this year. She sure loves the kids

and he loved her.

Here is Ashlyn and her teacher Mrs. Long. Ashlyn thought she was

a great teacher. She loved Third Grade and all the stuff she learned.

Ashlyn's dance was to Grease. They looked like little fifties kids.

Dance Recital

Ashlyn had her Spring Spectacular Dance Recital tonight. It was at a park here in a nearby town. It has a stage and the audience all sits on the hill of grass overlooking the stage. There is a river running between the stage and the audience. It was pretty. I really like it because your other kids can still be loud and it doesn't bother the other people. It was a fun recital.

What a way to celebrate the end of the clogging year. Ashlyn's group performed twice.

She did a great job. She sure loves dancing. At the end they have an awards ceremony. Each year her trophy will get bigger. She was excited to get her trophy this year. She will be taking a few classes this summer and then a new year in the fall.

Ashlyn is in the middle circle on the left side

Tomorrow is the kids dance festival. So we will show you tomorrow how that went.

Hope everyone has a good night. Ashlyn wants to thanks her Grandma and Grandpa's for coming and the rest of the family that came.