Summer Happenings

Getting ready for dinner.

Annual College Roommate Reunion with the Stephensons, Jarom Brown and the Cramers. Missing a lot of roommates but still had a great time with our old friends.

When I get hand-me-downs I really put them to good use. This shirt started out as Toren's went through all the Woodstock boys then was handed down to Spencer, went to Rod and now Jeffrey is using it. Still cute.

Having fun at the park We made a goal to visit all the parks in Spanish Fork this summer. The park by our house was the first on the list.

Since Christmas we've been using our Christmas tote as a baby gate to keep Jeffrey in the family room area and away from the stairs. It worked great for about 6 months and then the day came that he finally overcame the barrier. Sad day.

Steve, "Rod, why do you look like a weirdo?"

Rod, "What do you mean?"

Jeffrey figured out how to use my camera.

Every time the boys go out to pick raspberries my heart bursts. Living the dream.

Jessica was going through some old boxes and stopped to explain to Spencer what cassette tapes were.

I was showing Jeffrey this picture of Grandpa and Grandma and he loved it. Every time he sees my phone now he starts saying, "Papa? Papa?" Because he wanted to see this picture. I pull it up and he gets all excited, "Papa!" He used to say ga-mah but now he just says papa for both of them.

Rod wanted me to take a picture of him with his super hero fighting fan.

Boys taking pictures and videos to entertain themselves while I was teaching our next door neighbor girl piano lessons.

Summer work party for UCCU. Private screening of the new Spiderman movie. It was pretty good and fun to have a date night with Steve. Love my job and love my company.

Jeffrey with one of his Lovey's. Dino and Curious George are his favorites.

Brian's birthday. Good lookin kid.

Had a mini-high school reunion with these cute girls. We met in Salt Lake for dinner and gelato. I missed them and it was so fun to get together and catch up. Felt like old times. 

Left to right: Melissa (Bown) Petty, Jennifer (Mildenhall) Skipper, Me, Brenna (Lyman) Olsen, Michelle (Ferry) Williams.

Museum of Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. Jeffrey is old enough he has fun there too now.

Hanging out at swimming lessons waiting for the older boys. (He was actually having fun. We were making silly faces.)

Jessica's birthday. Making a wish.

4th of July 2017

The night before the 4th of July our neighbors invited everyone over to watch fireworks.

Day of we got up and went to the park and helped the boys practice riding their bikes. Spencer finally got the hang of riding without training wheels and without us holding on. Rod rode his big kid bike with training wheels for the first time. He threw a fit at first that we wouldn't let him take his tricycle but once he got the hang of his bike he became a maniac. He asks to ride his bike everyday now.

I love watching my boys watch movies. So cute. 

We had a barbecue, rode bikes some more, watched Captain America. Kind of patriotic right? Then we did pop its and Jeffrey discovered he loves them.

Ended the night with sparklers and watching more fireworks.

Bar 10 Ranch

For our family vacation this year we went to Bar 10 Ranch (off the North Rim of the Grand Canyon). Daniel has worked there for the last 3 years and is a manager now. They have family day once a year so we went to see him in action. Most people helicopter or fly into the ranch. The only road there is a very rocky dirt road. Daniel didn't think our van would make it (and he would have been totally right) so we split up the family and car pooled with Scott and Dad. The trip started off rough when Scott and Danielle's vehicle got not one, but two, flat tires. And they realized their jack was missing. There was a lot of down time in the car while we waited for help. Boys were champs through it all and Scott and Danielle stayed really positive although I'm sure they were so stressed.

Once we got there it was super-duper hot, but so fun and relaxing. We did a tour, skeet shooting, horse riding, played cards, had great food and entertainment.

We decided to sleep out on the deck under the stars. The boys had never seen so many stars in their life. I saw several falling stars as I was falling asleep. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the Grand Canyon in the distance. Then we took a helicopter ride down to the Colorado River down in the Canyon. The ranch picks up river rafting groups and brings them back to the lodge to either catch a flight to Vegas or stay the night. We tagged along and the boys had a blast playing on the beach and making new friends. This group had been rafting for 6 days! Troopers. It was a beautiful, memorable trip.

Amber and her family were going to go, but they had some last minute things come up, so they couldn't. Amber volunteered to keep Jeffrey. I felt bad and almost said no but once we got there I was so glad I took her up on the offer. It was so hot and not baby friendly. We had a great time with the older boys and Jeffrey had a fabulous time being spoiled by the Wastlunds.