We have had a crazy busy two weeks with the Dewey's visiting. It was so much fun, but my wrists hurt after trying to update our blog. I took over a hundred pictures in two weeks. There are so many good ones, but my computer takes too long to add them to the blog so I had to pick out the best. It was non stop every day and so worth it. We have made many great memories and we enjoyed every minute of it!



This is the annual Pioneer day block BBQ. It was held around the corner from our house at our neighbors home. We brought our own meat and a side to feed 10 people. There was lots of great company and even more great food. In the picture the men are loading a "candy cannon". It was a hit for the kids. They fill it with candy and on the count of three they push the button and candy shoots 30 feet into the air. I had to duck and run to avoid being hit, but the kids were not deterred. They mean business when it comes to candy. Now if it had been brownies or cupcakes or apple crisp with melting vanilla ice cream.........anyway.


This picture is not sideways in the folder....so why did it do that???? it's cuter when you can see it right side up.

Todd and the boy he wishes he could have. Isn't Boston so cute!? Enjoy it while you can, Todd!

Almost Paradise

We had never been to Mirror lake which is by Kamas which is in Utah somewhere, but man is it pretty! It took us about 2 1/2 hours to drive there, but it was beautiful the whole way. There is nothing like a drive through the mountains.

Many hours in the car

Aunt Kerri chillin" with her new sunglasses. Watch out Peter, she may find a new boyfriend.



Rieley is not really asleep here....she is only mimicking Morgan in the next picture who really is asleep.

I can't believe that she fell asleep with the gogurt in her mouth!

Ye-Hawwww

Look at these Patroiots! We went to the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo. It was so much fun! During all the horse riding the girls were asking when the bulls would come out. I would have to say that the bull riding is my least favorite because the way those cowboys' bodies are thrown around. It was all really fun!


Dancing like the cowgirls they are.
One of the skydivers that dropped in on a bullseye. This was the last of the four and the other three men rushed to pick up the flag before it touched the ground. Way cool!!

Here is a picture of the clan. The only ones missing are Todd's brother and his wife and Brittany's husband. We had a great and exhausting two weeks.

Willard bay

I love living in Utah because there are so many cool places close by. This time we took a trip to Willard Bay. It is a big lake that is good for boating, fishing and it even has a beach for swimming. The water isn't too cold and the scenery is gorgeous!




This is at Fort Buenaventura in Ogden. It is a little river that you can fish at. It is just outside some neighborhoods but it looks like it is way up the canyon. I think that we have an early cell phone crazed little lady on our hands. Not really, she is only playing the games and I am not a big fan of kids and cell phones. There are needs and there are extremes.

Trip to the pool

There are several swimming pools in the area. This is one that we had not been to yet, but had heard it was nice. They were right! It was super fun and nice and perfect for the hot 100 degree temps. There were shallow areas for the girls, slides for the crazy people and lots of tables and lounging areas for the lazy parents(like myself). It is so nice to go with the grandparents and older cousins...I didn't have to do anything with the kids. They sure do love playing with Jared and Natacsha!



Reading a magazine and getting some rays. Life is good!
I love the feet crossing. She is already a lady.


I'm so happy for life jackets. My girls love them and will wear them when told. When they want to try swimming they make sure to ask me first and stick close to a big kid.

Dinosaur museum

We took a trip to the Ogden Dinosaur Museum during the Dewey's visit to Utah. We had heard great things about it and thought that it was time we should go. These are some of the giant carp that we were able to feed. Judging by the size of them...I think they are close relatives to the dinosaur. They look pre-historic.
Here is Papa John with his little shadow for the day.



This was the moving dinosaur exhibit. Behind are two large dinosaurs about to fight. One is the mommy protecting her baby. The other is T-rex. Pretty cool!

Pioneer trek

My pictures are in the wrong order, but this is from Ensign peak in S.L.C. The youth took a trek of the last 50 miles that the pioneers traveled before they made it to the Salt Lake valley. We didn't actually "trek" as much as we drove, but we got to see many of the spots that they experienced. It was really cool and humbling to see the obstacles that the pioneers faced. The highways that push through some of the canyons are only there after mountains were removed. So there weren't many ways to make it past the mountains to reach the valley. I can't imagine having to do it period...much less with little children that are cold, hungry, tired and sick.


This picture shows the markings left behind from all of the hundreds and hundreds of wagon wheels that scraped a long this rock leaving specks of metal that later rusted. There are also grooves in the rock.


This is part of the trail area. Isn't it so pretty?!

Being spiritually uplifted and having a great time!

Big girl cruisin'....for a bruisin!

These are well deserved and welcomed injuries that come with the thrill of riding a big girl, two wheeler bike.


She may not be riding the scooter in the picture and she may even be naked, but I will tell you that she can cruise! When Rieley and Morgan got their big scooters, Leyton got their three wheeler scooters. Three wheels just doesn't cut it for a 2 1/2 year old. Now that her sisters ride two wheeler bikes she wants to ride their two wheeler scooters. I think that kids are a lot more capable than I give them credit for.


What a Pro!!! Our 7 year old neigbor taught Morgan how to ride her bike. Rieley had learned by simply jumping on another neighbors bike. She had no problem. Morgan was really wobbly and we thought that we would wait until she was a little more stable. One week later I glance out the window to see Morgan fly by on a two wheel bike followed by her friend, Erin frantically running after her. She did pretty well except the bike was too tall and she couldn't stop. That would explain why she shot out in to the road in front of our house. We are very grateful that there were no cars. So, now they can both ride and they have motivated three other kids in the neighborhood to say goodbye to training wheels.



I know they aren't wearing helmets. I just wanted to take a picture of them before they were already on ten speeds. In fact, Rieley was grounded from her bike on this day for being too sassy and rude. Anyway, so we are safe and we make them wear helmets.

Sweet dreams.

Kids are always so sweet while they slumber! Too bad it can end as soon as they wake up. Especially if they are girls and they think that they are almost teenagers. Notice that Morgan is inside her pillowcase with her pillow. You gotta love it!


Look at those Angelina Jolie lips. You can't even picture anything negative, or rude, or loud or screeching coming out of them can you?! At least this goes on for 10 consecutive hours...too bad I'm not awake to enjoy it.......or maybe thank heavens that I can enjoy it by sleeping.


Sweet dreams my little ladies!!!

summer indoor swimming

It is hot enough to swim outside, but on this day and even the past two weeks we have had rain. After promising all WINTER to take the girls to the indoor pool(because the outdoor pools weren't open).........we made it! The end of June really wasn't too long of a wait.


They all had lots of fun and were very good about keeping on their life jackets. In August they will get swimming lessons and hopefully that will get them a little more familiar with the water. They are definitely old enough to know how to swim.