Balloons

We got up early Thursday morning and met my family in Provo for the Balloon Festival!!! This is something we try to do every year. For me it always makes me think of my dad, because he loved doing this for the 4th of July weekend. There is a breakfast too, which is great!

The balloons getting ready:
Conli & Mara

Max & Xander

Tony The Tiger!!!

It was pretty when the sun finally peaked over the mountains! Apparently, there was wind at higher elevations, so the balloons didn't lift off. But it was still fun to see them all blown up!

Cabin Time

Tuesday night we went to our cabin with our friends JD & Stacy. When we got to Fairview we stopped off at our favorite place to eat: T-Cee's, and got some ice cream and shakes!

When we got to the cabin, we got right down to business. We put Star Wars: The Clone Wars on for the boys and the adults played this:

And the girls were occupied with these:

After we put the kids to bed, JD & Stacy taught us a new dice game called Farkle! Even though neither of us won, we still had fun! I love new games :)

In the morning after eating breakfast we took a little walk up the road (which wasn't very far because our cabin is almost at the top of the road) The kids had nets, but didn't catch much.

When we got back to the cabin, we packed up some lunch and headed to the base and took advantage of the pool! Too bad it was cloudy, so it made the water pretty cold. At least the boys were brave and used the water slide and diving board.

Here is Pat doing a sweet dive:

Xander wouldn't go down the slide by himself, but loved to do it. I think they went down the slide at least 15 times!

Pat even got Mara to go down with him :) She did it twice!!!

Once we got a jacket for Xander he was able to go down the slide alone!

A quick picture of everyone before we headed home.

It was so fun to go with friends, and even better that it was mid-week!! Thanks for coming with us Hanks, we had a great time :)

Like Father, Like Son

Mara

After getting ready for bed one night, she decided to get settled on the floor and 'read' a book to her bear.
This is Mara's 'Tea Party' with her toys. Too bad she didn't get out all her play food. I just love that Bear and Buster (the dog) have chairs of their own. I'm not sure who was in the stroller though.

So Much to Blog About...

But no time to do it!!!!!
(Hopefully I'll be able to catch up next week.)

Summer

This =

This

Happy Father's Day

(I have to show off the fun things I'm making in Photoshop!)

The Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point

On Tuesday I was able to go to Thanksgiving Point with my friend Andrea, and we went to the Children's Garden. I had never been, and was excited to go. So we got the kids in their swimsuits and went up for the afternoon.

There's a Giant Noah's Ark with water at the base.

The best picture I have of the kids together at the ark. Mara was not in the mood to look at the camera the whole time!!

I told the kids to just look at me and say cheese, but they decided to make poses!!

Jarom, Mara, & Xander

Mara playing with Josh.

(I love this picture)
Xander posing with one of the statues.
I was playing around with the settings on my camera and was able to get this fun shot of Mara running through the water!
I think my shutter speed was too high, because most of my pictures came out really grainy. I guess I need to play some more.
The only 'real' picture of Mara. She just didn't want to look at the camera!

There was a really fun Lighthouse that we were able to go into.

Xander, Jarom, Mara, & Julia.

At the top of the Lighthouse!!!

A full picture of the Lighthouse.

Mara & Xander riding the BEAR!!!!

Mara really didn't want to sit on it, but I made her anyway. The fist picture I got she was crying but then she decided that it was okay to be 'happy', but still not look at the camera.

Looking into the Bear Cave!!

Xander wanted me to follow him though it, so I did. It was a somewhat steep angle at the end and I ended up crawling. My knees hurt, but I did it. It is definitely made for kids and not adults.

My Boy!!!

At least on the higher shutter speed I was able to get Mara jumping!!! Water spurted out of these, and she liked to jump on them.

As always, a self portrait with my girl.

Xander liked to see if the water could get him in the face! It did a few times and then he was done!

Thanks again Andrea for inviting us with you! We had a great time and would love to go again!

Missing In Action

This is Mara's bear that she got on her first Christmas and she love love loves it! Bear has gone with us to Disneyland, Boise, the Cabin, and countless car rides. Mara takes this bear almost EVERYWHERE she goes. Little did we know that she was

MIA for exactly 5 1/2 hours today.

I had my Activity Day girls over today so Pat took the kids to the Library, and of course, bear had to go too. We didn't realize that she was missing until bed time. After searching the house 3 times, looking in the car, and every nook & cranny, she was no where to be found. So I asked Pat where he took the kids. The reply was Library & Target. My first thought is that she lost it at the Library, and they for sure would have it, but then he tells me that he knew that bear came out of the Library. So I asked if bear came out of Target, and he couldn't remember. I grab my cell phone and call Target (I have their # programed), I explain to Guest Services about the missing bear, after a moment she tells me that it's there!! We were in the process of putting the kids to bed, so we said goodnight and then I drove to Target and picked up the bear. It was dumb, but I totally cried in the car after I got her. It's one of those toys that your kids have had for so long that it's become a member of the family. I didn't know what I was going to do if it was gone. I'm just glad it didn't come to that. By the time I got home Mara was already asleep, so I snuck into her room and put bear next to her. I'm expecting to get a big smile and thank you from her in the morning. And now we have a new rule:

ALL TOYS STAY IN THE CAR!!!!!

I still can't believe that someone found her and turned her in to the lost & found. This truly is a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. He knew of the importance of the bear and made sure that she was reunited with Mara, and I thank Him for that.

Class of 99

I just got an email with this site. We are having our 10 year reunion on JULY 11th. Pass it on!!!!!!