Summer Road Trip

This is our longest family road trip yet. We will pass through 13 states before we are finished. We are on our ninth state so far - Utah, my favorite State. We have seen some beautiful things and had a lot of fun. Here are some highlights so far...

Landon loved playing in the ocean in Southern California. He was out riding the waves with his body or his boogie board most of everyday last week with his cousins. It doesn't get any better than that.

William loved Sea World. He loves animals and this time he was tall enough for all of the rides. And again, vacation with cousins is simply the best. They are best friends. The boys also loved the mix CD that Vince made for our trip. He put a bunch of different versions of Route 66 on it since we were traveling along much of the old highway.

Sophie turned four last week. All that she wanted for her birthday was a dance party. Toni made her a great dance mix on her ipod and we had a fabulous dance party at the beach house. Fun times. Also, a great Sophie moment. We stayed in Mesquite, Nevada one night at the Oasis. The next morning, we went to Denny's for breakfast which is hooked on to the casino. We walked in and Sophie saw the lights and all of the slot machines and said wide eyed, "Wow. Denny's is really cool, mom."

Audrey has been a great traveler. She enjoyed swimming in the ocean and the motel pools and she loves to go on walks with dad. When she sees the jogging stroller, she giggles. We enjoyed some great walks along the beach at sunset. She also loved the steep staircase at the beach house. She would giggle after each step. We had to watch her every second. She also loves the Muppets. My mom bought the first three seasons of the Muppet Show on DVD and we all enjoyed watching them together after a long day of fun and sun at the beach.

Vince was really excited to see Santa Fe, New Mexico. We stayed there our first night and spent some time there the next morning. We both really enjoyed the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. We also had some amazing food at this run-down little cafe in Tucumcari. The best Chile Relleno ever. Vince loved that and just spending time with the kids. He and Aud were up early every morning going for a walk and then making breakfast for everyone.

He also enjoyed this creepy little rock shop off of the highway in Hollbrook, Arizona. They had an ostrich farm and all of these store mannequins in weird poses with huge fake dinosaurs, like in the dinosaur's mouth or hanging from a crane. Weird spot for a bathroom break but the kids got these necklaces that they like for only $3 so I guess that it wasn't a total waste. I wanted to leave quickly. The lady in there kept telling Audrey that she was going to eat her up and I started to wonder. I would have waited in the car if it hadn't been hotter than a steel playground at noon.

I loved seeing the ocean again. One day some dolphins actually came by right in front of us, just a few feet from where Dobber, my brother-in-law, was swimming. Amazing. I also loved the fresh sea food. We have had such a great time. Next, we are going to spend some time with Vince's parents in Northern Nevada and then a few more days in Utah and Bear Lake with my dad. So glad it's summertime!! I will post pictures when we get home.

Nine Years Old

Today is Landon's Birthday! Nine years old. He is a good kid and I am blessed to be his mom. He loves to laugh and has one of those great contagious laughs. He loves technology stuff. He was drawing pictures with the computer mouse and working the tv remote when he was only a year old. He is a good big brother and we love him lots. In this first picture, he is sporting his new t-shirt and his new green ipod.

He wanted donuts instead of cake. Mmmmmm donuts.

And we finally got some new curtains.

And we made some throw pillows to match.

And Vince made an arbor with some of the branches that he trimmed from our trees. The birds love it. Every morning, we have a few robins perched up on top.


And crazy story of the week. We had a great 4th of July. Many of the fireworks that are illegal in Utah are fine here. The kids had a great time lighting them off with some friends. While we were on the street in front of their house, just a few blocks from our house, Vince re-connected with an old classmate. One of Vince's classmates lives just a few blocks from us. This is crazy because Vince had a graduating class of 2 and this girl, a year older than him had a class of 3. They haven't seen each other in 24 years. What are the odds of two people from a highschool of less than ten people ending up in the same little town a few states away 24 years later? She just moved here last year. It's a small small world.

A Few June Pictures

First are a few pictures of our family reunion. The kids love camping in the Utah desert with their cousins and look forward to this all year. I was a very lazy picture taker this year. But here are a couple. First Grandpa cracking black walnuts with the kids and then one of William and his cousin Justin. Justin cracks me up. He is saving his money to buy a ventriloquist dummy that he will showcase at next years talent show. I can't wait!


Next is a picture of Kellie and Chris at the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner. It was at Carvers in Sandy and we all had a great time.


Next are some wedding pics. It was a beautiful day and I wish that I had taken more pictures. I did take several of Sophie. She was just so cute that day. She was a flower-girl and enjoyed every second wearing her pretty dress and twirling around like a princess.

Baby Audrey and The Bride.


Audrey and my Dad.

Morgan and Sophie, the flower-girls.

This great close-up of Sophie was taken by my Cousin Beau's wife Tiffany. I love it.

One more of Sophie.

Kellie and the gang, all of her nieces and nephews.

My sister Toni and my brother Tom.

My cousin Beau with his sweet little Andie Belle and my mom.


And here are a couple of the kids having some backyard cousin fun at Toni's house before we made the trip back home.

Sophie and Tanner

William and Carson


Fun Times!

First Time

After a lifetime of seeing them in the movies and reading about them in storybooks, last night I witnessed lightning bugs firsthand for the first time and it was amazing. We all sat on the front porch steps and watched them flashing in the night sky for a long time. I can't wait for tonight so I can see them again.

True Colors

We are back from our first trip out West this summer. We had a great time. The Bates Reunion was fun for all and Kellie's wedding was beautiful. I will add more details and pictures soon. We are leaving for California in 19 days. I am not sure that I will have time to recuperate or get as much done around here as I would like to, but I am going to try. My biggest obstacle right now? AUDZILLA! The boys have started calling her this because she seems to attack her toys more than play with them. She is into everything. This house has not been child-proofed since we moved in two years ago. Child-proofing is so much harder with three older kids leaving stuff out and Wal-mart does not have a gate wide enough for our stair case. She is a terror and explores and destroys in a way that none of her older siblings did at this age.

After California, we will be in Utah for a couple of weeks. So, my dear Utah friends, if you are around, I would love love love to see you! Let's plan something.

More soon. Audrey calls. Our entire trip to Utah, she was so good. Everyone commented on her amazing behavior. But I am telling you, I think that she puts on a sweet face for public even more that her mother does, because she is a major stinker at home!

Going to the Chapel

Vince was called as Branch President last month. Yesterday, he performed his first wedding ceremony in our chapel here. An older couple that moved into our Branch a few months ago married each other for the third time. The ceremony was nice. Vince did a good job. When he pronounced them husband and wife and told them that they could kiss each other, they got a little carried away. After a very long minute, Vince put his hand on the grooms back and said, "that's enough". Landon laughed so hard he almost fell off of the pew.

A Few Close-Ups