Bear Lake July 2012

"Oh what do you do in the summer time?" For us, it's go to Bear Lake (again and again and again and . . .)

Ever since I was a little girl I have been coming to Bear Lake multiple times a summer. It is so great to me to be able to take my kids here too! And yup, here we are at Bear Lake, again! 

The great thing about going to Bear Lake is that you finally know exactly what to pack. Every trip is similar, and yet offers new adventures and fun! Last month, the Mercers came, this month they couldn't make it and the Rudd/Hudson family came (Heather and I were staples this summer and came every time!) Here are some memories of this months mini vay-cay! (short for vacation if you didn't get it)

Ash, chillin on the beach. I just want to take and post  a lot of pictures of her little because I know they grow up so fast! I like her little teethies in this one!

Ahhh, the blessed coconut trees! This time around we ALL climbed them! I have a relatively severe fear of heights (that has gotten worse over time). I did great going up, then at the top I was overcome with fear and an anxiety attack . . . it wasn't pretty. About 20 minutes later I finally made it down. I have pictures but didn't post them cause, well, yeah. Above: all the climbers. Back row left to right: Brayden, me, Kim, Heather, Skyler. Front row: Aubrey, Hannah, Becca, Spencer, Hailey and Brittany. P.S. if you look closely, I have a big black eye. It was a shiner I got playing pool games with Matt and Mike Mercer.

Brittany, Becca and Aubrey up the coconut trees.

Brittany teaching Aubrey her back-hand-spring. (Aubrey takes gymnastics at USA in Bountiful and Brittany is an AWESOME gym coach in Salt Lake.)

Skylar is obsessed with a LAME cartoon called Adventure Time. He drew these characters from the show. We all did sidewalk chalk, but Sky's was the best. (even if the cartoon is lame)

We played some Minute to Win It games that I found on Pinterest. You put a showercap on your head and put shaving cream on it, then have your partner throw cheese puffs on it. Whoever gets the most puffs stuck to their head wins! It was really fun and funny!!!

Shower-cap-cheese-puff-heads!!

We also did Bendaroos! Here is our "wall art" display of our creations. :)

Just eating some dinner!

Ben brought up our boat and the weather was perfect! Even the water wasn't cold (well as cold as it usually is) Above: James and Rachael Rudd (the twins)

The boys of summer! James, Brayden and Skyler

The Morgan Family. Heather, Mike, Melia, Spencer and Evera. Heather LOVES water sports and boats.

Spencer really wanted to kneeboard, but was scared. Mike (who HATES water sports) said he would do it to show Spencer how. I was shocked that Mike would try. Then, Spencer was brave and did a great job!! If you knew how much Mike hated watersports . . . he really took one for the team!

I think Becca and Hannah look so cute in the picture, clearly Melia is not thrilled!

Karate Kid

After Hailey's Achilles surgery we had to take her out of dance so she could heal. She was never 100% sold on dance and didn't love it. I have a firm belief that children need a hobby or sport or something outside the home to help them with their development physically, socially and most importantly develop a strong self-esteem. Ballet did this for me and football for Ben. We were having a hard time finding Hailey something to love. Hailey asked if she could take karate. How/why she thought of this, I have no idea. At first I thought it would go away. But she was insistent on it. I took her to a few dojos and checked them out. Ugg. I could not imagine my sweet little girl doing karate. I didn't know a lot about it and wasn't feeling that great about it. Then I found Bobby Lawrence Karate in Centerville. From the moment I walked in the front door, I really liked the look, the feel and the way they treated Hailey. Now, 18 months later I absolutely LOVE karate. Not karate in general, THIS dojo and these people who train Hailey. They work on so much more than karate! They work on being a leader, getting good grade, cleaning your room, EVERYTHING. It has been so wonderful for Hailey and me! In order to get promoted to the next belt, you need to have your parents sign off, school teacher sign off and (of course) karate instructor. I love how they incorporate all aspect of Hailey's life into one. They say that a karate mater is balanced in all aspects of life, not just karate. It has been so good. Here are some pictures of Hailey at her first karate tournament.

Hailey getting ready to perform. She has to stand all alone on the mat in front of the judges, introduce herself and do a kata. 

Hailey in her first sparing tournament. She had to compete again all boys that were a belt level higher than her! She did great! Look at her kick him in the gut! Yikes, it does get my feathers ruffled when I see some boy right hook my daughter, but she bounces right back!!! This is a far cry from my ballet days!

Hailey and Jade, the owner of her karate dojo and one of her trainers.

Hailey at her belt ceremony paying respect for her purple belt and moving to her green one.

Bear Lake June 2012

As soon as we got back from Lake Powell, we took off to Bear Lake. We are so blessed to have such wonderful families on BOTH sides. I am thrilled that my girls get to share their lives with cousins, aunts and uncles. Lake Powell with the Powell family and Bear Lake with the Place family, it's a good life!!!

Ben doesn't come to Bear Lake with us (gotta work sometime!), so we miss him dearly, but it gives me a good time to chill with my sisters. Stephanie and Heather were on this trip with me and their kiddos.

Stephanie's daughter Kali, ready to go swimming.

Ashley enjoying the swings!

Kali, Ashley and Melia (Heather's daughter) swinging. I love that there are so many cousins so close in age. Kali is a year and a half older than Melia and Melia is a year older than Ashley.

Every year we love feeding the seagulls, our marvelous State (read: garbage) Bird. We save up old bread and feed the birds for our Sunday activity. Wa-hoo. Here's the girls running after the garbage birds, I mean seagulls.

ALL vacation long, Steph's sone, Mike Mercer spent HOURS with the girls teaching them to rip-stick. Finally Aubrey was able to catch on and do it pretty well.

Hailey and Ash hanging on the steps. I love this picture because it shows how much Ashley adores and trusts her sisters. She loves to lean in and snuggle them.

Ashley and Melia playing in the sand.(Side Note: It makes me so sad that THIS is what my kids think sand is. I can't wait to someday take them to the real beach and show them soft, wonderful REAL sand, not this rocky yucky crap.)

Hailey in the sand.

I brought up Ashley's dolly stroller and she was in love. She LOVED strolling her baby down the long sidewalks. She did everyday. Kali and Melia both had strollers too. They loved playing "mommy."

Ashley in the kiddie pool. We spent a lot of time here. :)

Lake Powell May 2012

This year Lindsey and Ky couldn't get work off to come on the May Lake Powell trip. We needed another family to fill the spot. Luckily, we were able to invite some friends of our from the neighborhood. We invited the Caughlins! Jared and Amber, Darcy (11), Tessa (10), and Gibson (7). They were the perfect ages for my girls to have playmates. Also with Hilary, Quin, Jonas (3) and Rex (1). And of course, Grandma Powell and Grandpa Powell!  The weather actually cooperated for May (which it hasn't done in years). It was 90s all week with minimal wind! We had one of our best trips!!! Here are just a few of the millions of pictures.

 Here is Gibson (poor guy had to wear a pink life jacket the whole trip, but he was a good sport about it!) Tessa and Aubrey. They LOVED exploring in the kayaks. The would paddle around for hours on end!

The would paddle to the other side of our little cove and go exploring. High adventure!!

Aubrey and Tessa kneeboarding.

Gibson really hit it off with Grandma Powell. They were partners in crime. He always wanted to the with "the Grandma lady"

All the kiddos. Left to right: Gibson, Tess, Ashley, Jonas, Rex, Aubrey, Hailey and Darcy.

The Girls: Darcy, Aubrey, Tessa and Hailey

Our little family hiking to Rainbow Bridge.

I love this picture of Ashley and her daddy. I love my family!

Jonas and the girls

Me and my girls going on a rip-roaring tube ride!!

The two little stinkers: Ashley and Rex.

Hailey knee-boarding

Our cliff-jumping adventure! Aub is in the middle of a jump! I love that my girls are brave, they are great!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

This post is late, but I don't care . . .

This past winter, Station Park opened up. I have taken my girls there often and taken many pictures of them there. I think when they are older and see the pictures of themselves little there, they will get a kick out of it. Anyway, this was the first winter there and they had a teeny tiny ice rink outside. My girls begged and begged me to take them ice skating. I am a terrible parent because I waver on what I will and won't pay for. For some unknown reason I would NOT fork over the $3 it cost to go ice skating. I made them earn it. They did extra chores and each earned their money to go skate. They also decided to each bring a friend.

They were so proud of themselves to bring their own purses and pay the man themselves. I could tell they were thinking they were just so cool. Then they begged to go to the new "teenage" store that opened and look at the clothes. They were giggling and silly and pretending to be soooo grown up! It was a good time. I love these preteen days when they are still my little darlings "pretending" to be teenagers . . . I don't know how I'll feel when real teenage years hit and they are shopping there for real!

Above: At the ice rink (left to right) Maura Gardner, Hailey, Maryn Stewart, Aubrey

The girls trying out poses and clothes! Yikes.

Aubrey and Maryn striking their model poses.

The Epic Journey to Kansas City

It has been 10 years since Ben and I have been out to Kansas City to visit my brother Jeff and his wife Angela and their kids. I put it on the top of our priority list and this Spring Break we took the epic journey (by minivan) to Kansas. Of course, I took about a billion pictures of this trip and then I came home and made an entire scrapbook of it, so here are just a few moments from our trip.

This is what the drive looked like most of the time. B-B-B-BORNING. I'm fairly certain that Wyoming must be the most miserable state in the union. Our girls were troupers though. Nothing a few million DVDs, and coloring books can't conquer! 

We stopped in North Platte Nebraska for an overnight pit stop. The girls were thrilled with our "fancy" hotel (The Holiday Inn Express) Fortunately we did get the kids suite and Ashley was particularly happy with the table and chairs that were just her size!

Ben has always dreamed of being on a Harley surrounded by a bunch of beautiful women . . . but I don't think this is what he had in mind. ;) There is a Harley Davidson Factory in Kansas City, so of course, Ben NEEDED to tour it. However the girls weren't old enough to go. So . . .

The girls and I happened upon this remote Doll Museum. It was up a strange road and we just follow homemade signs to get to it. It just might be the most bizarre place I've ever been. It was a little spooky. When we got there, no lights were on but everything was unlocked so we went in. Then, an old (really old) lady came out and welcomed us. I was fully prepared for a chainsaw man to come out of the back too! It was a little crazy. I tried not to show the girls my personal reservations on the place but about half way through Aubrey curled up in a ball on the floor and started crying. When I asked what was wrong she said she was just soooo freaked out there and hated it. I snapped a quick picture (for the memory, or evidence, if needed) and we booked it out of there!!!

Of course the best part of Kansas City is The Place family!!!! We stayed with Jeff and Angela at their house. Every night Angela read to the girls. It was a daily favorite for all of them!! 

 We also traveled to Liberty Jail, where Joseph Smith was imprisoned for a time while he wrote the Doctrine and Covenants. To the right is the jail (but it is too dark to see). Above is a replica of the gold plates.

 Jeff spent a lot of time playing with the kids all together. This picture warms my heart!

 The is "The Man" it is this statue in the middle of no where, in Angela's neighborhood. It is weird and interesting all at the same time. I told the Place children to always think of us when they pass "the man" because he is dreaming of his family in Utah!

 It was unusually HOT for April in Kansas City. It was 90 degrees! Luckily we broke out the slip and slide and let the kids play all day!

Kansas City has an awesome library! This is just the parking structure!!! I love that it is all books!

 On the way home, we stopped at the Omaha zoo. I'd never been to a zoo that fantastic before! It was amazing and made our Hoogle Zoo look pretty weak. It was great!

Hailey had just done a report on Jaguars and was thrilled to be so close to one!!

Aubrey's 7th Birthday

On March 10th, for Aubrey's 7th Birthday, we took her and a bunch of her friend to the new CineMark at Station Park to see the new movie The Lorax! We had a great time!

 The gangs all here. Left to right: Ava Barkdull, Myah Smith, Hailey Powell, Grace Barkdull, Aubrey Powell, Brynna Coles, Bella Anderson, Maryn Stewart

I guess you can't be Aubrey's friend unless you're willing to be a goofball. (birds of a feather . . .) Goofy, goofy girls.