Our very good friends, the Dawsons, came to visit us from AZ. We were so excited and we had a short but great time. Lea had never been to see Temple Square so we went. We had a blast although sometimes traveling with kids is a headache.......they had good moments too. Later that night Lea was able to give all three girls a hair cut. Thank you Lea! We were so glad that they could visit.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Pioneer Day is always a fun holiday to celebrate in Utah. I am grateful for the sacrifices that the pioneers have made for us to live in such a wonderful state. Utah celebrates Pioneer Day like it celebrates the 4th. There was a giant Days of 47 parade in Salt lake. You can see that we attended. There were amazing floats and many of them were made by the local stakes of the LDS church. I'm not sure if people just happen to know someone who dabbles in float making or if there is a website to order props.....but these were incredible. Every single one of them. It is almost a shame to take them apart. I would keep using it every year after all that work.
President Uchtdorf was in the parade, which is always a neat thing. Those of you who know who I'm talking about......you know what I'm talking about. We spent time with my family for the day and in the evening my neighbor has a fun block BBQ. Morgan decided to dress herself and as much as I want control, I decided that since we were only going around the corner and since everyone knows Morgan and how creative and Morgan-ish she is and because there would be many tears if I protested and apparently parents need to let their kids choose sometimes, I allowed it. It did make for some fun conversation and silly giggles. All in all we had a great day. Thank you again to all of the pioneers. I hope to never have those kind of struggles.

Camping out.

This past weekend we went camping up Logan canyon. Todd had really been itching to go and since it seems that sunmmer is nearly over already...we had to make haste. We decided that we wanted to be near Bear Lake so that there would be some swim time at the beach there. With little kids that is the only kind of swim time I want to deal with(shallow water). Todd took friday off and we were out of the house by 9-ish. Unfortunetly when you have kids....especially four of them, things don't always run so smooth or efficient. We had skipped breakfast at home so we needed to stop somewhere on the way. Before that, we needed to get ice. After the ice we needed to get gas because we were almost out.....oh wait, Todd left his sunglasses at work so we need to pick up some cheap ones. Walgreens would be a quick stop. No, Walgreens doesn't have any that will work. "Mom, when are we going to Burger King? I'm so hungry!" "Honey, how about checking at Kohls because it is right there, they have a good selection and I have 20% off right now." So we do. Success! Now to get the gas. After almost completely fueling up Leyton gets out of her seat. What a pain, but I think we need to have a bathroom stop now anyway to avoid further problems. Okay, Burger King here we come. Finally, everyone gets somewhat fed and we can get on our way. When we get to Logan I have to stop by my old work, Mooch's, and see if anyone is there. I visit for a few minutes and then we can head up the canyon. We didn't reserve anywhere because we didn't know exactly where we wanted to go. We only knew we wanted to play at the beach. The first campground we checked was full as of the car in front of us. Crap! Lame car! No big deal many more places to check. Full, Full, Full. Well, we decide that instead of setting up camp and then going to the beach we'll go to the beach and worry about camping after. If worse comes to worse we could drive back home. It isn't too far. We found a great beach area. Almost got the yukon and pop-up stuck in the sand....but did not. Played for a good 3 hours or so and had a great time. Now to find a place to sleep because we are tired. We headed back down Logan canyon to find a place. Full, full, full. We were forced to look in the public land camping areas. No big deal. "A nice spot, but someone is in it. Not such a nice spot...not enough shade, let's keep looking." That went on for an hour. All the good spots were occupied...and they were really awesome spots...just what we were looking for. The open spots were bare and dusty dirt. We drove on that small canyon road until we crossed the Utah/Idaho border. SERIOUSLY! Now the other open camp spots didn't sound too bad. We turned around and headed back. Most were taken already, one was slanted and a pain to get into(we tried). Finally, we got into the very first spot of the camping area. Not too shady, but flat and open. We popped up the trailer, made a quick dinner and went to bed. In the morning we ate, cleaned up and went home.

Even after all of that, we still enjoyed ourselves.

Pretty Patriots

Happy 4th of July!!

This year, like last year we decided to visit our friends in Idaho. We had a great time at the parade. There is nothing as fun as watching a parade with a bunch of Latin women. They know how to have a good time. There was dancing and cheering and you better believe Morgan was at the top of it. She loves to shake those hips. It must be that south Texas blood in her. After the parade we were invited to eat at this really awesome backyard BBQ. It was the prettiest backyard I have ever seen with a buffet of delicious food. Thank you to the Hosts! It was a really fun day and a great reminder to all of us of the freedoms that we enjoy.

We got a new computer and we haven't moved our pictures over. So, instead of all of the other great ones that I have big plans for on this blog, we get the slim pickin's of the most recently downloaded. Enjoy!