Pre-Birthday Present

June 29, 2012- Joey has never been good at waiting until your actual birthday to give his present and this is no exception. Carly's eighth birthday is tomorrow. It is going to be a big day because not only is it her birthday but she will also be baptized on her birthday! Joey told her when Max turned eight and got a rifle that is she wanted one too, he would get her one. True to his word here is her brand new pump action .22. And she got to open it a day early! I can't tell who is more excited to go out and shoot it, Carly or Joey. Happy Birthday my little marksman!

Adele's Birthday Party

June 23, 2012- Today was Adele's 1st birthday party! Her actual birthday was on the 20th but Candace planned the party for Saturday so everyone could come. She did a swimming party at the Taylorsville pool and then had a BBQ set up at the park across the grass. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved being in the pool! We met at noon and helped set up (twice, due to the wind!). Then took the kids swimming for about an hour while Jared's dad got the grill going. Then we walked over to the park and had hot dogs and burgers for lunch, popsicles, and cake. Then went back over to the pool about 3:30 and swam until after 7pm! I finally made them get out because I was feeling a bit sunburned and was done being in the sun! The Johnson's, Chantel and her kids, and a bunch of the Howard's family were there. Rylie and Ashtyn were our little buddies most of the day! I've said it before, but it's always more fun with a friend! These pictures are of the cake I made for the party. Because it was a water theme Candace wanted a sand castle cake. She made mint chocolate shells and I did the cake. The little cake was just for Adele to dig into. I think it turned out really cute. Happy Birthday Adele-y!

Cub Scout Camp

June 22, 2012- I went up to Cub Country with Max and his den today. The day camp is up Millcreek canyon at Camp Tracy. They went to Cub Country Frontier camp today and did classes on frontier games, steer roping, BB guns shooting, flag folding, took a nature hike, panned for gold, and lots of other fun things that are frontier related. I rode up with Sis. Donnelly, who is the Wolf den leader, and five cub scout- Max, Avery Carpenter, Josh (?), Calvin Christofferson, and Colton Meldrum. It's cracks me up to listen to these boys talk. They all know everything about everything from Super heros to dinosaurs ro rocket powered space ships. They go around and around and their favorite words are "actually", "awesome", and "dude"! I think Max really enjoyed himself and I enjoy spening time with him! He even shared an Air Head with me that he purchased in the Trading Post. You gotta love Cub Camp!

Riverton Splash Pad

June 19, 2012- I took the kids out to the splash pad in Riverton to play in the water today. I was first introduced to this fun park by my sister in law, Stacy. She held a birthday party there several years ago. This is the first time we have gone back. It has the fountains and water on one side, then right next to it is a playground with the spongy floor so it can (and does) get wet. We took the Meldrum's with us too, so Colton and Paul were there and it's even more fun when you have friends with you!

Alpine Slide Baby!

June 16, 2012- Joey really wanted to take the kids to the Alpine Slide in Park City for his birthday, but we never found time to fit it in. So, we went for Father's Day instead. The Saturday before father's Day we and our neighbors/good friends, the Howards drove up to Park City to hit the slides. They have a baby who is 4 days shy of one years old and can't ride the slide so we took turns waiting at the bottom with Adele(the baby). We went first with our kids. you stand in line to get on the shair lift that takes you to the top of the slide. Then you get your cart and drag it down the path to the slide. Then you wait in line to ride down. Since Gus and Leo are too short to ride alone, I took Gus the first time down and Joey took Leo. They have two sets of tracks that run next to each other so I went first with Gus driving on my lap, next to Carly on the slide next to us. Gus had a hard time pushing forward the whole time to keep off the brakes. So, he would go and go until he was in front of Carly and then let go of the stick to rest. Then when Carly would catch up he would go again! Joey rode behind us with Leo and Max on the track next to him. Joey must have gone full speed the whole way down because when Leo got off his hair was wind blown and he was jumping up and down pumping his fists smiling and shouting about how he wanted to do it again! It was so stinking cute!
 Candace and Jared went with me and Leo and Carly this time. Joey stayed with Adele and Max and Gus. They got snow cones to eat while they waited so they were good! The second time down with Leo on my lap I went a bit faster and even got some air on one of the jumps. Then Joey went on the third trip down with Gus and Max. Candace and Jared also went on the Roller Coaster while I sat with Adele.

It was a fun time had by all! If you have never tried it before I would recommend it. It is a bit pricey but worth it for the experience! The kids loved it and I love to see them having a good time!After we finished our rides, we went to the Red Banjo Pizzaria for dinner. Had some delicious pizza, then headed to the outlet stores at Kimball Junction on the way home. We got Max and Leo some new shoes at the Van's store and Candace got some stuff for Adele at Children's Place. We went our seperate ways from there but Candace and Jared came over later for games after the kids were in bed! What a fun day!

Carly's field trip

May 31, 2012- I went with Carly's class on their field trip to This is the Place Park. We got to go to the farmers cabin, the weavers, the barbers, and the petting zoo. We rode the train too! It is a fun park and you really can learn a lot about our pioneer anscestors and heritage. The pictures are of Carly with her friend Teagan. Then Sophie and Tomasi getting shaved at the barbers and Mrs. Evans getting "bled out". My favorite parts were the barber and the reindeer! I didn't know the pioneers raised reindeer!?!

Goblin Valley

Everyone put your finger in the crack! Gross!

May 28, 2012- The last stop on our vacation agenda was Goblin Valley. Evenyone else decided to skip it and head home but we took a vote and the kids still wanted to go see it. It's an interresting place unlike anything I've seen. There are thousands of "goblins" spread over several miles and they vary in size and shape. You can literally explore and wander around, climb on, and jump over the goblins as much as you please. It's like a giant stone playground. The kids really enjoyed our time there. It was quite hot and we'd geen going for the last three days so we didn't stay long, but it was worth the extra drive time. Turns out my mom said they got caught in traffic on the way home and didn't even beat us home by much!

Black Dragon Wash

The canyon wall goes straight up!

We even found a lizard friend

May 28, 2012-Today was a four wheeler day! We hiked into Black Dragon Wash in the San Rafeal Swell and saw some amazing petroglyphs. Then took a turn on the four wheelers. Max even got a lesson in driving the four wheeler and was super excited that he could drive it all by himself!