Summer Fun!

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by! I feel like everything has been chaotic and wonderful and crazy and fun all at the same time!

I could go into detail, but I won't, so here's our summer in a nutshell (there are even a few pictures!!):

We moved back up north and we are near family again, yeah!

Blake moved out!

We went to Disney world with Casey, Kim & Gage and my parents!

I had a paradigm shift!

I got to see my Mission President and Mission Mom!

Jace had his 7th birthday!

We went to the Oquirhh Mountain Temple Open House!

Mark graduated from High School!

We went to Bear Lake and stayed in a cabin for the 4th of July Weekend!

Jackson got a black eye, ugh!

Jenn's kids stayed with us for a couple of days!

Jackson got two stitches in his chin!

Spent the day with Petrina, Austin, Kyle and Collin!

Jackson go his stitches removed, thanks to Uncle Casey!

Mark had a birthday!

We celebrated 10 happy years of marriage!

Jadon got baptized!

I took the kids to Idaho for the day to see Grandma Mitzi!

And Caden started football!
We're not done yet, we are going to Park City, we get to see Petrina again, Mark and I are going to Puerto Rico (not Costa Rica) for our Anniversary, and I can't believe that my baby starts school! Jack will be in Kindergarten, Jace in 2nd Grade and Caden in 6th!

See what I mean? Time really flies!

What Happens in Vegas...

In the beginning of August we spent fun-filled weekend with the Goldings. We loaded up the car, dropped off the kids and headed on down to Vegas. We had a BLAST! We stayed at Planet Hollywood, right on the strip. We got to see "Stomp Out Loud" and "O". Both were really great shows.

The boys got to enjoy the rides at the top of the Stratosphere,

while Jen and I enjoyed the view.

As part of our "Package Deal", we GOT (notice I used the work "got" instead of "had") to go to the Westgate Owner’s Dinner for an hour. This is where they try to persuade you to upgrade your timeshare from a two bedroom to a four bedroom. It was held in a conference room with a nice little buffet in the back. They had a DJ and of course we got to sit with DeWayne (words cannot describe this man). There were several other owners there, suffering just like we were. It was the type of thing that you were sure you would die of boredom before the end of the night. So, what does Mark do? He decides to get up and provide the evening's entertainment by demonstrating how well white people can dance! Anyone who knows Mark KNOWS that he can NOT dance, and will understand how embarrassing and hilarious this was for everyone involved! But was he embarrassed? No! He didn’t care! He and DeWayne ended up having a dance off. I actually think that Mark may have won that one! I was dying! It was really funny and he did certainly liven up the evening!

Of course there was shopping and great food, between the buffets and Mark insisted that we eat at In-N-Out, twice. It was so nice to get away for a few days. Fun times!!

Then And Now....

Tara and I met in the 10th grade when I was 15 years old. (That was 20 years ago!!!!) Her family moved into our ward and we quickly became inseparable. We did everything together. I taught her how to drive a manual transmission in my little Mazda 323. Believe me, looking back, that is a scary thought! Disneyland, girls camp, youth conference, shopping, toilet papering teachers houses, just hanging out! We had so much fun!! My family moved away a few years later and she went to live with her mom in Newport Beach. Even living so far apart, we still found ways to get together and we would see each other quite regularly. She always had the funnest beach parties to go to!!! Over the years we had kept in contact, but then life just got in the way. I went on my mission and afterwards moved to Utah. After Mark and I got married, Tara and I lost contact for several years. While we were living in Texas she found me again and we’ve had so much fun catching up!

Last week, Mark finally got to meet her! Tara and her husband and kids were vacationing in Utah for a week so of course we had to get together. We drove to Park City to see them. We let the kids run and play while we made dinner and then sat and talked and took lots of pictures! It was so fun to see her after so many years!! I think it had been like 10 years since I’d last seen her. It was before Mark and I got married and we are celebrating our 9th anniversary this month. It was probably right after I came home from my mission. Wow, time certainly flies! Anyhow, it was so fun to see her and just catch up! Today I had to go digging through all our old pictures and oh, the memories came flooding back! We had way too much fun together!!! I wanted to post some pictures we’d taken over the years! And then some from Park City last week.

Then....






And now....

What A Summer!

It has been one crazy month! There is so much that has gone on and I have so many pictures to post! Here it all is in a nutshell! The Steele's are here to visit, Delta Res, Park City, Jackson' Itty Bitty T-Ball and Mark's Softball. Oh, and of course, Allison had her baby on Wednesday!! We have been going non-stop the last few weeks, and there is so much more to come! It's been a great, but busy summer so far and it's not even half way over!!

Our good friends are visiting from Texas for the summer. We went swimming with them on Tuesday. The kids had a blast! It's been so fun to visit with them! We miss them dearly!

Delta Res

Yeah, I didn't know it existed either! Our neighbors, and dear friends, took us boating for the weekend. What a super fun blast! We left Friday morning and stayed with Brad's parents through the weekend. There were three couples and tons of kids. We had such a great time waterskiing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, tubing and riding the jet skis! I left my camera at the house on Friday, so these are all pictures of Saturday. Sunday we all got dressed up and went to church. After church we ate a yummy lunch and drove home. We had such a great time!

Preg-Nut!

Look how cute Allison is!! She's like 20 months preggo and so stinkin' cute! We met in the MTC, served our missions together - we were never companions, but we went on splits all the time. We lived in Salt Lake City (with Angie and Anna) after our missions. I just LOVE her! This is her first baby and I am SOOOO excited and happy for her. Her cute hubby is awesome! He is serving in Iraq as you read this...What a stud!


I have never lived this close to BYU before, so Al thought it was important that I experience the BYU Creamery. Here we are in the ice cream isle!

Schools Out - Don't Forget The Shaving Cream!

It's Summer Time!!!! Friday was the kids last day of school. They went from 8:45 to 10:15...long day, I know! At noon we had a huge party in the park behind our house complete with water slide! Each person brought a can of shaving cream and everyone went crazy!!! The kids had a blast, we all did! Even the moms got involved! (although some were more readily involved than others!) It was so fun!