This and that of recent past!

Brady,Meg, Katie and I went camping while Jim and Cam where exploring Alaska a few weeks ago (Alaska post to come). It was a camp ground we have been wanting to go to for a long time!
It was a great campground with lots to do.
The paddle boat was fun. Katie guided us to a floating dock where the girls jumped off a few times, and under a little"jungle" area. (The water was pretty high so we paddled around trees and shrubs in the water.)
Yes even golf. Brady was very willing to help me get camp set up so he could get out on the course. Two of his friends met him on the second day. It only cost them $5 to play- that is a deal! This is them coming down 18.
This is the view from inside our trailer window.
Another view from the same window. (If you look close you can see Meg and Katie playing in pj's early one morning.)
This shot gives you an idea of how close the course is from the campground. It was a great trip. My favorite was just laying on the dock chatting with the girls, feeding fish crackers to the little minnows.



The next few pictures (and the header) are of one of the 25 mile bike rides Brady did with his dad. His first 25 miler he rode from his grandma Judy's house to our house. I clocked it wrong and it ended up being 28 miles. (oops-so what's another 3 miles up a slight incline!) There were quite a few hills and slight inclines on this trip. For his next 25 miler we found a nice downhill ride. He did the Provo canyon trail 2x to get the miles in.
Coming down from vivian park.
The other kids and I park hopped as they finished. We then we waited at the Training Table and celebrated with big hamburgers and cheesy fries!

Yummy treat

I was in the back room the other day and I kept hearing the girls giggling in the kitchen. I asked what they were up to and they told me that they were making me a surprise. I was thinking it was a picture or a painted rock or something. When I was finally allowed to come out and see it, I was taken back for a minute. Megan said "It is like on TV. An edible fruit arrangement!" It was tasty-the 3 of us sat there and ate the whole thing! I think we ate our fruit servings that day!

Family Night

O.K. it is official-We have the coolest neighbors! "Aunt" Amber and "Uncle" Greg always come up with such fun things to do with our kids (Well, I think Greg would agree that it is Amber). They have organized a kids movie night in their back yard, neighborhood scavenger hunts and doughnut runs, winter snow ball fights, summer water fights, Wii competitions, and now they have added to the "Amber is so fun list" -a skit including homemade costumes and props.

The kids were so excited to perform this for us. They would not give us any hints about it. They all wrote it as a 'add a part story'. (one person started the story and stopped and the next person would add, etc.)

I'll give a short summary: Katie was a little troll named Penelope who wanted to be a dragon. She ate 10 ladybugs and drank dragon spit, but it turned her into a........

magical butterfly, whose wings spread glitter and gumballs everywhere.

Merlin rode his vehicle, which was made of soda cans for wheels and a giraffe engine, all around to try to find Penelope. She wanted him to turn her back into a troll.
He did and then the skies opened up and it rained gumballs! The moral of the story (I know you are all wondering!!!) Be happy with who you are and not with who you aren't.
We look forward to the next show. Thanks for the fun night neighbors-pizza and a show, you can't beat that!

Sisters come to visit

As we pulled in to the driveway from our trip to Yuba. My sister and 3 of her girls pulled in from Idaho. That next morning we left for Brian Head to stay at a cabin with my other sister from Texas. (My brother in laws sister's cabin-who was very generous to let us all stay!) We did some hiking around cedar breaks that first day and the next day we hiked around Zion's. (Tami's family was all about doing outdoor "Utah" stuff. ) We left Jim and Brady at home because they had work and youth conference.
This waterfall was more like a trickle compared to the last time we saw it. (which was not that long ago) Last time we made the trip we had heavy jackets on. When we pulled into Zions this time it was 92 by 10:00. Luckily heavy clouds came and it turned out to be great.
This is Cam and his cousin Jared. They are pointing to angel's landing. Tami's husband is a go- getter. He talked us into going on this. Tami stayed behind with the girls so I could hike up with Cameron. (And because she was not sure how she would do with the height of the hike, and the fear of her son falling) This is the part of the hike that some chicken out of going the rest of the way. There is a chain that you can hold onto as you climb the trail. The boys loved it.
This is Cam and I at the top. It was a lot of fun. As we were hiking up the lower part of the trail people kept telling us that they did not make it to the top. They said that it was to high or scary. Dan and I started having second thoughts. But it really was not that bad. I want to take Jim on this hike. I know Tami could have made it.
Here we are sitting and relaxing after snacks. If you look at the top right area of the picture you can see the ridge that we came up. The views are beautiful!

People kept offering to take our "families" picture. Dan and I thought it was pretty funny.
Tami showed the girls how to catch tad poles. She said they spent a long time digging out a little pool and putting the collection into it. Katie's favorite was a tad pole that was just about a full frog.
After our long hike the girls wanted to show us the tad poles. It felt good to take our shoes off and put our feet into the cold water. I told the boys I would give them $2 if they went under. They said no way until Dan went under and did it first. They each got $2 from me. It was very cold water!

I did not have my Camera with me when Paulette and her girls were with us. I am hoping Tami gets them up on her blog. (If she will ever post again!!!!) We had a great week. I have said many times that it is very hard for me to live so far from my family. I laugh and cringe inside when people say that they live so far from family and it is only an hour or two away. (I would love that!) I had fun spending time with my sisters and my kids love seeing cousins.  Here are a few pictures from the visit.

 

 

Happy Birthday Grandma Judy

It was grandma Judy's birthday yesterday. We have enjoyed her living so close.

We enjoy our visits and dinners. Our kids especially enjoy going to grandma's. There are lots of things to keep them busy and candy dishes to soothe any craving! Katie says she gives good hugs too!
Dave and Judy have had the kids over a number of times so that Jim and I could get away.
She has also come here quite often to see the kids perform in dance, sports events, birthdays, etc. She recently took Brady and his cousin Justin golfing at Gladstan. She rode in the cart (for all 18 holes) with the boys so that she could watch them play. Brady really enjoyed the day.

Happy Birthday Grandma Judy-We love you!