water day fun

Our last day with Ashley & family we spent at the park, splash pad, and pool.  (The pool was finally open...) We also had McDonald's for lunch.  Buddies, water fun, McDonald's.  

Doesn't get much better than that, right?

  

(This stream was pretty cold!  I couldn't stay in there very long.)

Bear Lake

Our original plans to go do a Bear Lake outing the week before were spoiled by rain, so we went back another day.  (This was actually the very last day of July.)  We had such a good time.  The only unfortunate thing was that Alison & Micah couldn't join us this time.  We are excited to go back again in the future - the lake is so clear, the water warm, and it just seems more like a beach than a lake.  And it's so pretty to see the mountains.  The boys, especially Weston, all seemed to be in their element.     

We had to stop again for some more "famous raspberry shakes."  

The kids enjoyed playing in the grass and wandering around at this look-out point for Bear Lake.  (Don't worry - there's a sidewalk on the other side of that ledge they're walking on.)

We also loved watching the hummingbirds.

Such a fun day!

number 26 and 27

While on vacation in Utah, we checked off two more temples on our list:  Logan and Jordan River Utah.  Alex had been to the Jordan River Temple on his mission, but I hadn't been there (our list only includes ones we have both been to).  The Logan Utah Temple was new for both of us.  It actually turned out to be a neat day to go, because it was the first day of a new video presentation released to temples worldwide.

It was cool to see the Logan Utah Temple, because it is one of the oldest temples.  It's the 4th constructed, but 2nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (following the St. George Utah Temple).  It was announced in May of 1877, built by volunteer labor over a 7-year period, and dedicated in May of 1884.  In 1917 a fire destroyed part of the temple, requiring repair.  The interior was remodeled again in 1949 and completely re-done in 1977.  

I love the dark colored stone on the exterior.  The boys thought the temple looked like a castle.  Originally the exterior was painted an off-white color to hide the dark stone, but has since been allowed the paint to weather away.  It was also interesting to see a temple without an angel Moroni statue on the top.  Apparently it's 1 of 8 temples that don't have an angel Moroni (St. George, Manti, Logan, Laie Hawaii, Cardston Alberta, Mesa Arizona, Hamilton New Zealand and Oakland CA).    

Here is our updated temple list:

Albuquerque NM

Bern Switzerland

Ciudad Juarez Mexico

Dallas TX

Denver CO

Draper Utah

Fresno CA

Hamilton New Zealand

Houston TX

Jordan River UT

Las Vegas NV

Logan UT

Los Angeles CA

Melbourne Australia

Memphis TN

Mount Timpanogos UT

Nauvoo IL

Oakland CA

Oklahoma City OK

Redlands CA

Salt Lake UT

San Antonio TX

San Diego CA

Snowflake AZ

St. George UT

St. Louis MO

Sydney Australia

Utah - part...whatver

We had a great time hanging out with my sisters Ashley & Alison.  We were looking forward to the new pool opening at my sister's apartment complex.  The day of the opening, we got all ready to go swimming.  Swimsuits.  Swim diapers (for some).  Flip-flops.  Towels.  Sunscreen.  Floaties.  Owen was so ready with that pink floatie... finally heading to the pool.   

...only to find out that it wasn't quite ready yet - something about the inspector hadn't come yet.  Bummer.  As we stood there disappointed, wondering what to do, the sprinklers came on.  The kids looked at us and we said, "Go!"  Except Owen wouldn't go.  He stood there in that floatie, with a rejected look.  

And then... they discovered the rain water that had accumulated on the sidewalk from the day before.  Perfect for a hot day!

We attempted to get all of the kids on one couch.  We got them, for a moment.  Whew!  Here are 10 of the 13 (soon to be 14 and 15) grandkids.  

Mason is about 4 months older than Savannah.  He has such a great little personality.  Love his smile!  Glad I didn't have to clean him up...

The big boys played games.  

The littler ones played with toys.  Weston loved those animals!  Owen and Hailey were buddies.  Owen is about 7 months older than Hailey.  

 We let them stay up late one night to watch a movie.  

 Alison stayed at Micah's sister's house, but the rest of us crammed into Ashley and Daniel's apartment.  We didn't mind sleeping on the floor.  We had 5 boys in one room, Mason in with Ashley & Daniel, Savannah & Hailey in one room, and Alex & me on the living room floor.  We had some re-arranging on a nightly basis and little ones coming and going, but it worked.  One night I ended up on the air mattress in Jaden's room... that's what was left.

So glad to spend time with Ashley and Alison!

Utah - part 3

We spent 2 nights at Alison's, followed by 2 nights camping near where Ashley lives.  We found a perfect camping site that was big enough for the kids to run around, to easily set up 3 big tents, shaded with lots of trees, and not near the road or water (which is important when you have young wanderers).  We had a great time.  Can't wait to do this again!  I took lots of pictures of the kids, especially the babies, and not hardly any of the adults (unless you were holding a baby).  I think Ashley was the most photographed adult...because she was often holding Mason!  I hadn't met Mason yet - he is nearly a year old.  Such a ham!  Ashley also had not met Savannah.  

Savannah, meet Auntie Ashley (and Uncle Daniel and also Uncle Micah.  Auntie Alison met Savannah the day she was born.)  :)

  Love all these kiddos!     

Weston and Dallin are only about 4 months apart - cute little buddies.  

I can still taste those yummy smores!  I had way too many of them.  Owen was funny - he was complaining about how sticky they were.  "They're sticking to my fingers!"  He started fussing.  Instead of helping him get unstuck, I grabbed the camera and snapped a picture.  Then he was all better... we were all laughing about that one.   Had to be there...

The campfire is just magical... love just hanging out, watching the flames dance, chatting, and thinking about the deeper things in life...  :)  We actually didn't stay up too late.  It's amazing how much things change when you have kids - especially those that get up at 6:30am regardless of what time they go to bed.  We may have made it until midnight... whimps.  :)

Everyone slept pretty good.  Weston came on our air mattress at some point during the night, but we were all cozy.  Jaden slept in our tent the first night - it was a big slumber party!  The boys loved it.  We got them to go to sleep eventually...

And Savannah was a champ.  She didn't make a peep - Just a happy camper!

Most of the crew went for a hike and dip in the lake.  I opted to stay at the campsite so Savannah could take a nap.  I wish I had gone, because she only slept about 30 minutes...  that was the most peaceful couple of hours I have had in a long time.  It was almost too quiet, being out there in the wilderness with just me and Savannah (and no cell phone coverage, no internet or TV, no vehicle).  A deer came and wandered right through our camp.  We watched each other for a while until it wandered off.  The only traffic that came through was a guy in a truck... I felt a little vulnerable at that point.  Luckily he kept on going, but I got back in the tent after that.  I was actually glad to have the chaos back at camp later that afternoon.  They had a good time playing in the water.  Alex and Alison snapped a few pictures.  It was funny to see the boys trying to keep their shorts from getting wet.  Jared had them all wedged up in his underwear! 

These are some real busy bodies!  They love dirt. It's amazing how they can entertain themselves with sticks and dirt.   

Alison and Micah made some yummy scout burgers on the 2nd night.  It's been a while since I have had those - back in girl scout camp maybe?  20 years ago?  I didn't remember how to make them, but luckily Alison and Micah are quite experienced with the campfire cooking.  (They go camping quite a bit with Micah's family.)  Alex & Micah (?) made breakfast the first morning and then Ashley and Daniel did breakfast the 2nd morning.  Love the eggs and sausage.  And love when someone else does the cooking! :)

Here are all my parents granddaughters together - just 3 of them (out of 13 - soon to be 14.  Audrey is having another boy really soon).  Thank goodness for some sweet girls.  

Our plans for Saturday got spoiled by rain, but we still enjoyed burgers and "famous raspberry shakes."  And we made it into Idaho... don't think I have been there before.  Ida-who...?

Fun times!

Utah - part 2

After our short sight-seeing trip, we headed to Alison's, where we stayed a couple of nights.  I enjoyed doing a zumba work-out with Alison and her work-out group.  We took the kids to a cool "castle park" and just enjoyed hanging out.  I had not seen Emmy and Dallin since they were about 2 months and 18 months old.  Emmy is about 16 months now, and Dallin is 2 yrs. 8 months old.  They have changed a lot in a year and are quite the busy bodies!  And cute as can be.   

Utah...part 1

We loaded up and took a road trip to Utah, mostly to visit family.  On the way, we did some sightseeing.  We didn't stop very long, but drove through parts of Zion National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument.  Gorgeous!