Oh, what did we do in the summertime?

Wow, I can't believe the summer is pretty much over! Hailey is now in first grade and Aubrey is a kindergartner. I have two months of "freedom" before the baby is born. Yeah! Here is a quick overview of what we did all summer long.

In July, my brother-in-law Loren insisted that we go find the waterfall in Centerville. What a surprise! I had no idea this was here and that it would be this much fun! We had a wonderful time climbing, swimming and exploring with the Mercers!

In June we went to Bear Lake with Grandma and Grandpa Place. We ended up only being there for 24 hours, but we packed more into that Bear Lake "trip" than ever. We fed seagulls, swam in the cold lake--Hailey and Ben even tried to snorkel in the lake. Hailey LOVES to snorkel even if it is 99% in Grandma Place's pool at 1% in Bear Lake. (I really hope to take her to the ocean someday and see how amazing it really can be.) We also took the girls horseback riding in the mountains. This was the highlight of the trip. This was the first time the girls have been on big, adult horses. They were also very excited about the "real" cowboy that guided the horse.

We went to Lake Powell twice this summer with the Powell family. Seven days in May, when it was freezing! Seven days in August when it was h-h-h-hot! Each trip was lots of fun and held exciting new adventures. In May it was pretty cold, but we had tons of fun exploring and catching (or trying to catch) a lizard. I finally captured one, but was too scared to grab it. Uncle Quin finally came to my rescue.

Our August Lake Powell trip was much warmer! We always love our Powell trips to Powell. The girls jet skied with Grandma and Grandpa Powell almost everyday. We spent all of the time in the water. BOTH girls surfed with Ben behind the boat. They were so cute and it was so much fun!

Aubrey surfed ready to wipe-out. She concentrated on the water and plugged her nose the entire time, just in case. Ben actually got so close to the boat he just picked her up and put her on the boat and she never even hit the water! Hailey was much more brave and could surf with "no hands."

On our August Lake Powell trip, we also had the opportunity to go to Rainbow Bridge. I remember going here when I was a child and it was just as much fun to see it as an adult. It really is an awesome sight.

That was pretty much our summer. I spent all of June on bed rest thankfully, the girls were able to have some fun with Aunt Stephanie who took them a few times a week to really neat places. (check out her blog for more on that). We were able to fit in one Lagoon Day and many summer days were spent at Grandma Place's pool. All in all, it was a fantastic summer!

We are so thankful to have so much family close by and ready for adventure!