Seth's 8th birthday! The ULTIMATE 8th birthday boy party!

THE ultimate 8th birthday party for boys has been found. This is the BMX bike park in Chandler. It's a dirt bike course with hills and ramps and hours upon hours of bike riding fun.

None of my kids were intimidated by the course. It was all systems go for 2 full hours!

Katie's bike was a little tougher to ride than the smaller boys bikes but she got right in on the action.

Oh yeah. My biggest boy was not to be left out, either. However, he did spend most of his time helping the kids ride.

Is this the sign of a happy boy? Sweaty, red faced and a soda in his hand? Love you Isaac!

Even Cassie got in on the action. She's 3 going on however old the next kid is. This kid is not to be left out!

Seth at his birthday party!

This is the starting point for the track. It's a little unnerving the first time down, but after that, it's a blast!

Some of the hills at the track.

All we had to do was have pizza and drinks off to the side and the boys came whenever they needed a break, but they never stayed long.

Isaac on the hills. This was the EASIEST birthday party I have ever put on. Boys and their bikes just go hand in hand. We sure had a great time!

Seth's baptism

You know, there are just those kids that you sigh over as you watch them grow up. Seth is one of those. This is him at his baptism. We had 5 kids in our ward baptized that day so the ceremony was short, but the ordinances were long. We had a total of 8 kids baptized in the month of Sept!

Seth and Clint posing for a picture before the baptism.

Both of Seth's primary teachers showed up for his baptism. Thanks Bro. Arnold and Bro. Haslip!

Two of my boys in suits. One day this kid's suit will be bigger, but have a name tag attached to it.

This kid has just been waiting to have his own scriptures. On the day his school had their read-a-thon, Seth wanted to take his Book of Mormon. What a great kid. (Sigh!)

Seth's in Cub Scouts!

My little Seth's a Wolf now!!! I can't believe it! This is his first belt loop... flag football! He was so excited to start. Probably the best part of turning 8 for him!

Now, I've decided that this outfit does NOTHING to help me out, but I loved seeing Seth make the Cub Scout sign!

Seth got his bobcat on his first pack meeting! He was really excited about that.

1st day of School... August

First of August brings school. Hooray for school! We had a fun summer, but it was definitely time to head back to school.

Katie, Isaac, Bryce, David and Seth
Katie... 7th grade

Cassie... preschool

Isaac... Kindergarten

Seth... 2nd grade

David... 4th Grade

Bryce... 4th Grade

Haws Family Reunion in Utah... July 24th

If you go to Utah for the 24th of July, the Days of '47 parade is a must, right?

Cassie couldn'tsee very well so Clint was nice enough to hold her for awhile, until that sun became so hot that the thought of someone touching you made you sweat!

Our very sad picture of Pres, Uchtdorf as a Grand Marshall of the parade.

My sister, Michelle and I taking our own portrait.

Bryce and Cassie being friends with their cousin, Skyler.

One more kid who couldn't see. Isaac got a chance to be on Dad's shoulders.

Anyone ever been to Park City? Well it was sure a lot of fun. This is the Alpine slide. You get to determine how slow or fast you go down by pushing down on the handle. Bryce won the race.

Katie and Isaac getting ready to ride the alpine coaster. Once again, speed is determined by you!

Clint taking his turn on the giant trampolines. I think he managed a triple flip a couple times...

Something a little more my speed. On the merry-go-round with Cassie.

Seth wouldn't stop until he mastered the rock wall!

Another look at the beginning of the Alpine slide. Clint and Isaac getting ready to ride.

Katie and Makenli getting ready to ride.

You have to pull your own car to the slide.

I had to post this picture because after all our summer travels, I think this is how we all felt! Totally and completely burned out! Love you Clint for trying to fit in all this craziness all in the name of building family relationships!

Mortensen Family trip to California... July

We had a really fun week with the entire Mortensen Family in California. We stayed in Oceanside, but ventured to all the tourist-y spots in southern California as well.

This was a really early morning start at Sea World. The weather was a little chilly that morning, but ended up perfect the rest of the day!

Waiting for all the "big kids" to come down from the Journey to Atlantis ride. Does Cassie look like it's been a long day by this point?

Isaac just loved every minute of whatever he was doing. Touching a sea star.

David trying to touch the rays as they swim by.

Katie and Bryce as they got the special tour with the dolphins.

If you're going to be tourists, it's a must stop at Disneyland... plus we had to use our volunteer passes! Thanks Disney!

I took the little ones with me for most of the morning, but once Isaac found the bigger roller coasters, he had no more use for me, Cassie, or the tea cups!

I really love having the little ones while Clint gets the adreneline rushes. What am I going to do when they are all grown up???

We were shooting for another ride on the tea cups in between some of the other rides. These made me sick, but Katie loved it!

Wearing yellow helped to be able to find those kids who seemed to wander.

Cassie was just minding her own business, when a wave had the nerve of toppling her over! It didn't stop her for long, but it was sure funny for awhile... even if she didn't think so!

Sundays on vacation are a little tough, so after church, a trip to the San Diego temple, and lunch, we took a walk thru the jungles of California, just to end at a park. Bryce and Isaac swinging.

This is the jungle we hiked thru!

Family pictures on the beach.

The whole family on the beach in Oceanside. Thanks to mom and dad Mortensen for making this fun family memory possible!