Lake Powell

Lake Powell. Isn't that a wonderful place! Jer and I just returned from a houseboat trip to Lake Powell with Jeremy's family this past week and we are trying hard to adjust back to real life...it's not working...we want to go back! We had a wonderful time in our own private cove in Moqui Canyon and five days seemed to fly by. Really, what is better than swimming, boating, sleeping, and eating all day. Thank you so much mom and dad for watching our kids for us and we missed you Amber and Ryan. We had a ton of fun boarding and skiing and we were even brave enough to cliff jump and hike to the Defiance House ruins in Forgotten Canyon. Jeremy turned 32 on our trip and we celebrated with a superhero party. Thank you to Jer's family for a wonderful vacation!

Our own private cove in Moqui Canyon

Jer showing off his skill knee boarding

Trying to master wakeboarding

The Gang - Stones, Bartletts, Alders, Fortunes

Jer turns 32!


Cliff Jumping

Defiance House Ruins

Bryce Turns Two

My baby turned two! I am still in shock. Time has flown by too fast. I love my little Bryce! He chose to have a dinosaur birthday with a volcano cake. All he wanted to do was to go to the park. So we spent the day outside playing, opened presents, had cake and then in the evening we went to the park until the boys were exhausted. His favorite present was the football. I just need to remember that all he wants in life is sports equipment. Bryce is such a wonderful kid. He is such a charmer and anyone who meets him falls in love with him. I feel so blessed that I get to have this special guy in my life. Happy Birthday Bryce!

It seems like just yesterday he was that little...and now he is my big boy!

Run

Run...that's what Jeremy and I did a couple weeks ago as part of a fundraiser for a family in my sister-in-laws ward. Jer and I finished our first 5 K together and it was surprisingly fun. I think we'll try to run one together at least a couple times a year. Todd, our brother-in-law also ran it with us, along with 629 other people. The fundraiser was for the Mack family. The mother passed away while she was 8 months pregnant. The father will now be raising his three other children on his own, so the ladies in his ward put together a fundraiser to help him pay for some of the funeral and other costs he would now be responsible for paying. He has a website where you can read his family's story and a blog. Be prepared...his family blog might leave you in tears. http://mackfamilyfund.com. It is amazing to me the power of people. How these ladies in his ward stepped up and put together a huge fundraiser for him and his family...filled with a 5 K race, a crock walk, silent auction, raffle prizes and a day of face painting, pony rides, bounce houses, and more. It is amazing what we can accomplish when we work together. Jeremy and I were grateful to be able to participate.

July 4th

We had a great fourth of July holiday this year, filled with family, food, and fun! On Friday, we drove to Logan and watched fireworks with Jer's mom and step-dad and family and then the next morning we had a breakfast celebration with Jer's dad and step-mom and family. Michael and Bryce love seeing their grandparents and playing with their cousins and uncles. Saturday afternoon, Jer, I, and our boys headed up to Bear Lake for our own family vacation. We had such a great time and the weather was perfect. We spent most of our time at the indoor and outdoor pool, but we did go to the North Beach one day, and toured Minnetonka cave. I love vacationing! Leaving your regular schedule, along with the phone, and business and just spending time with family. I wish I could vacation every month....of course then we'd have no money to live. Hope you all had a great fourth of July too!

Who doesn't love playing in the mud

Bryce found every rock there was in Bear Lake

Swimming in the pool

Minnetonka Cave

Their favorite thing to do....collect rocks

Watching fireworks

Breakfast Celebration






I love his cute face...look at the excitement of watching fireworks
I love you baby!

A Beautiful Day

American Fork is so beautiful in the summer, so Jeremy and I are going to try and spend more time up there this year. We have been on some beautiful hikes up there, but one of our favorite places to go is up to Silver Lake. It is so peaceful and the kids love to stand by the waters edge and throw rocks into the water. They could do that for hours. You have to take a dirt road to get there that is bumpy and can be hazardous to cars (and minivans). On the way back down the road, our front tire popped, and Jer had to fix our flat tire on this little dirt road. Good thing he's manly and had no problems slapping our spare on. So....travelers be warned....make sure you have a good spare. I'm also posting some pictures of our hike to Cascade Springs.

Cascade Springs

Silver Lake

My little fish

This year we decided to enroll Michael in swimming lessons. He did great and by the end of class he would go completely under water and jump into the pool by himself. He still needs a little more confidence and skills before he can swim on his own, but Jer and I are hoping that after we work with him a little he will be swimming on his own by the end of the year. It was fun to watch him play in the water and he loved his teacher and playing "tiger in the basket." Good job Mikey!

Playing "tiger in the basket"
Learning how to do the front stroke
Chase (Mikey's cousin) also had swimming lessons