Texas!!

Destination #2 in our massive summer road trip was to Texas. A great family friend (who's really more like family) got some hair-brained idea to move to Texas after she graduated from BYU. After throwing numerous tantrums and laying on a pretty heavy guilt trip we decided to help her move.  So after returning home from the Michaelson Family reunion, we had a 24 hour turn-around and headed out the next day with myself, the twins, Annika and just so I wasn't making the 18 hour road trip back by myself I brought along another one of my favorite people, Raquel and Jace!

After a couple hours on the road we decided to stop and unwind a bit at "Hole N' The Rock."

Here's Kael goofing off inside the store.

Jacer-Guy chillin

 cowboy style...

The boys LOVED hangin' out with Mater.

They spent a good deal of time at this mine car, trying to get it to move. We didn't stop them. They were very dedicated in their work.

Not sure where the bunny came from, but once he was spotted, a chase ensued.

We found Big Foot after following the signs, and passing by it a few times (even thinking that the bunny was meant to be "Big Foot" at one point).  There's a blond joke in there somewhere....

This was just too awesome, I had to take a pic to pass on the laughs.

A very cool rock chair.

Raquel....such a cutie!

Me and the guys!

LOL! Get it?

There were so many cool gadgets and fun stuff to look at we spent a great deal of time at the "Hole N' The Rock" in stead of posting every little thing, you can go"> here and see the collection of pics from our trip.

Day one on the road we left Lehi at 10 and settled down at 2am in Roswell, New Mexico which is a VERY interesting, funny and strange place. I did have a bunch of pictures but the Aliens came and cleared all those images from my camera.... **enter spooky music here** :)

Bear Lake **one of the many trips taken*

This is the first of many trips taken to Bear Lake this year.  We have gone back several times to fix up Barry's Grandma's house.  This trip, however, is the first time we were able to hop in the water.  The spring run-off was so overwhelming to the surrounding rivers and lakes that there was hardly any beach this season.  I've never seen the lake so high.

 Kael playing with an umbrella...

The line-up. 

 

Stewart Falls and Such...

Stewart Falls.... a hike I try to go on every year.  It's a gorgeous hike up Provo Canyon.  Since we had colder than usual temperatures the snow wasn't completely melted. What we're standing on is all snow and ice!  The ground is still a couple feet below us.  So it was a little chilly in the shade.... standing on snow.... with mist from the falls blowing by.  It also rained on us while we were hiking in, made for the most awesome lush, mountain aromas.

Reed, Raquel and Jace in the backpack.

David (Reed's childhood friend I've known him since he was 6, we've pretty much adopted him into our family), and his brother Taylor.

The boys at the bottom standing on a pretty big rock.

Baby Tolson.  We went and visited our newest nephew in the hospital.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Kyrsten had their 3rd baby boy!  Welcome Tolson!

Feeding the ducks. 

I love this pond not only because of the fun scenery but there are turtles that live in this pond too! 

You can see some of the turtle swimming around with the ducks!

iFAMILY, Do you?

So, for the last year I've had this great idea...I just hadn't quite found someone to help me with it.  So when I saw a friends blog, and invited her to be a guest on my show I knew she was perfect and approached her at once and introduced her to my brain child.....iFAMILY.  It's a blog/segment catered to moms and it's about everything!  Kids, family, holidays, DIY, marriage, health, beauty, you name it, we had it covered.  So we presented the idea to my work who were crazy about it and we decided we would be a good fit for the locally produced show, Fresh Living.  They asked that we just focus on kid stuff, so we gladly accepted.  Here's a few pics of the boys helping me out with our Squishy Fishy segment....

A fun project right before bedtime!

Here's a glimpse at our page....or just click on  iFAMILY for some fun kid stuff.  We are currently taking a small break because of summer vacations and school starting, but will be starting up here very soon so check back frequently!

June Wrap-Up

Our Summer was insanely busy with June being the beginning to our Rollercoaster season.  This post is just a few highlights and in-between moments we were able to enjoy together. 

We had friends come into town to visit from Arizona, and not just friends, their considered more like family to us.  So to celebrate this joyful reunion, my family all gathered at the park for a "picnic."  And what better way to "picnic" than with pizza!  When you combine, pizza, park, cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandpa and friends....you've got a great mix for a good time.  So good in fact, I took only a few pics of the twins right when we got there and forgot about the camera the entire time!  We all stayed there WAY past our bedtimes until you could barely see far past the street lights.  All the kids thought that was pretty cool since they rarely get to stay up late.

Koen (red)

A Day at Lagoon!  This year's trip to Lagoon was WAY more fun than last year.  Since last year it was burning hot all day and Barry had just gotten out of the hospital for his mysterious sickness he had for a few months.  So he wasn't up for too much, for too long.  So this year we tore the place up!

 We were even able to go on a lot of "Big Kid" rides since the twins were right at the mark...

 We also brought Annika along to help with kid-herding, plus she's just Awesome!

 Kael taking in the scenery as we wait in line.

 And yes, I put all the boys in matching shorts and nearly matching shirts.  Don't knock it! It makes for tracking everyone down to a cinch! So besides Aidan puking up all his McDonalds in the parking lot as we first get there because he THAT excited..(thanks again Annika for catching that....gross), we chalked up this family day with all thumbs up!

Father's Day

For Father's Day the kids exercised their artistic abilities and portrayed them on a tie (for primary) and a plate.  In primary all the kids made ties for their dads and presented them after sacrament after each dad was highlighted.  All the primary kids filled out sheets about their dads (I'll post their comments in a bit).  Some of the comments were read and then they took a picture (I'll post later).  It was pretty cool to see all the fathers in the ward checking out each other's ties...

 At home we had a project of our own going on.  The kids each colored and signed a plate.

 They were so proud and excited to give it to dad, especially Kael.

 The presentation....

Happy Father's Day!