Summer Fun 2012

We've had a crazy busy fun filled summer. Besides Rob's job, our church callings, baby appointments and regular life stuff we've managed to squeeze in tons of other fun activities. Some of these activities have included:

Rob's softball games- He's been playing for an IF mens city league on a team sponsored by Dan's Auto and Collision Repair. They played every monday/wednesday evening and did a great job. He also participated in a special 3 day tournament up in montana. We're now getting started on the fall season of softball and it promises to be a fun time!

Bike rides- We had a yard sale, did some odd jobs, did some research, and saved up our money, so we could buy the perfect bike trailer. We (especially Abby) love it! Thankfully Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dean were gracious enough to long term lend us their adult bicycles so that saved us a bit of money and allowed us a whole summer of exercise, outings, and adventures. Rob, Abby and I have rode all around Ammon.

Zoo-We snagged a free zoo day (courtesy of rob's job) and had a really good time. It was a really sunny and super hot day. Abby is just old enough that she thought all of the animals were SO cool (and luckily she's young enough that her attention span is short enough that we'd get a nice couple minute glimpse at each exhibit then we were moving right along to the next.) Some of her favorites were getting to see the zoo workers feed the penguins, watching the monkeys swing around, and seeing the tigers and bears walk close by their fences. She got brave enough to go in the petting zoo fence with daddy to get up close and personal with the goats...as soon as they were in there she decided that was a rookie mistake and immediately reached for me to take her out. Fun day :)

Icecream/snowcones- What would summer be without plenty of ice cream and snow cones? lame. Therefore we've taken many opportunities to snatch these up (after the swimming pool, on our bike rides, at picnics, during ball games....) and savor the goodness all summer long.

Grandma's/ raspberries- While rob was in montana for the softball tournament, Abby and I stayed over at the Welker house for a couple nights. It was nice to have company and not worry about every little noise we'd hear in our house. We had fun being there and are so thankful to have such awesome family close by. We've also taken the opportunity to pick raspberries there a few times. This year we enjoyed them fresh (instead of picking tons and freezing them for the winter) and it was so good :)

Grammy's bon fires- Another activity that makes summer a little more complete are Titus family bonfires. We go visit, get the fire pit in the backyard going, and bring out little smokies/hot dogs/smores. This is a tradition in our family now and will always hold a special place in our hearts. Rob and I met in person for the first time 5 years ago at one of these famed bonfires. Now abby really enjoys them with us. By the way- smores are 1000 times better if you use chewy chips ahoy cookies instead of grahm crakers :)

Melaleuca picnic- Every year we look forward to the big Melaleuca summer picnic. All you can eat cotton candy, ice cream and drinks. Unlimited horse rides, games, and inflatable bounce toys. Delicious catered lunch. Company giveaways/prizes. This year we were able to have abby ride the horses with rob several times and she loved feeling like Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye from the Toy Story.

Parks and pool- Abby has really enjoyed visiting and exploring different playgrounds this year. We've gone to community park, tautphaus park, eagle point park, porter park, and mccowin park. We have also gotten to go to ammon pool and the idaho falls aquatic center. She loves this stuff!

Boating- Ah boating...life is good when ya get to have a morning or day on the lake :) This year I've been too pregnant to do any tubing or boarding BUT i have thoroughly enjoyed our time out there anyway. I like the exercise I get from swimming and Abby loves swimming too. She also learned to love tubing this year. It was so fun to see her cute expressions... she would smile, giggle, say "woo hoo!", blow kisses and wave her hands. luckily (thanks to good aunties) there was always someone there to hold on to her and make sure she didn't fall off. Rob has totally rocked the wakeboard and ski as usual. He and his dad picked out a new wakeboard at the begining of the summer and he's loved how nicely it handles compared to the old one.

Home- When we are home we try to get creative and find more fun things to do. We planted flowers and abby loves helping daddy water them in the evenings. We pulled out a large box of sidewalk chalk that we won at a family reunion a long time ago- keeps us busy and messy for a long time! I've also had some craft projects going on and try to let abby feel included. Her favorite was when I let her paint...she likes to color with crayons but she LOVES to paint. Its a lot of fun.


There have been a couple new babies added to the family- Hyrum Marvin Welker (Jake's new boy) and Liam Liberty Hodge (Lindsay's new boy). Recently we also had a couple church activities (pioneer day chicken dinner and the summer primary activity), Kurt and Deena Welker Family mini reunion, a day trip to rexburg/parker idaho, a birthday party for Tiana, and some IF Chukars games. All these things and more have kept us busy busy busy :) with a few relaxing bum around days in between...its been a good summer!