Wow...Lake Powell

Lake Powell was one of the best trips our family has ever been on. It was so much fun. The only problem with the whole trip was that Sydnie wasn't there with us. She chose to go to Cheer Camp instead. I wished so much the entire trip that she was with us, things did not seem the same and I was always looking for one more kid. Even when we got home and was looking through the pictures, I said to Steve "Oh, you didn't get any pictures of Sydnie cliff jumping!" Kim was there with us and she had to tell me that was because Sydnie wasn't there...so sad. But other than that, the trip was a blast. Every day was jam packed with FUN! Sam had the time of his life...One day, we had some boat trouble and we were out in the hot sun for hours. Finally Dean rescued us and started to take us back to the house boat. On the way back, he stopped and had everyone jump in because we were all so dang hot. Well, Sam jumped right in, and on his way in, he yelled "This is the BEST day of my life!" I thought how could he say that when we had just about melted to death all day, just sitting there, doing nothing? I laughed and so did Dean and that became the quote of the trip. Wow, everyone should have an outlook in life like that!

We were invited to go with the Garretts and their family, along with the Larsens. I can't think of a funner bunch. The things that I loved...

• watching everyone on the tubes...having the ride of their life.
• watching Sam play so hard all day long!
  
• being with great friends
  
• Jared (he was our entertainment)
  
• jumping into 90 degree water
  
• the food
  
• the sun
  
• watching Brinley and Grace play
  
• laughing so hard that I cried
  
• the beautiful scenery
• hanging out with Lyndsie

We had so much fun. It is a trip that we will never forget!

The cliff jumping was awesome. Everyone was so brave. I couldn't believe Sam, he just jumped like there was nothing to it. Demi was the dare devil though and Abby and Lyndsie only went if the other would go. Once you were up on the cliff, it looked a lot higher than when you were down in the water coaxing everyone to go. Ha Ha

The tube riding was outrageous! Some of the time, I actually feared for lives. People were flying everywhere. The funniest was to watch Steve, Brad, Jared and Claire ride the big tube. It was exciting to see who was going to be "King" of the tube...Jared usually won.

...the greatest days of our lives...
Here are some more great pictures of our week...

"Big T Little T!"

Oh...we missed Sydnie so much. She would have had so much fun! On Friday, Sydnie was leaving cheer camp to go and stay with the McKenzies until Sunday. She called me on her way home and it was so hard to talk to her...she was sad and so was I! We love you Sydnie and we wished that you were with us!

School Days are here again!

The first day of school...

Brinley is in the 5th grade and her teacher is Mrs. Gardner. Sam is in 1st grade and his teacher is Mrs. Thomas. I can't believe that the time has come when all of my children are in school full time. What am I going to do? I guess that I will just keep doing my thing...whatever that is?!

Cheer Camp for Clearfield

Lyndsie had cheer camp at the U of U. She had a great time with all of the other cheerleaders, it is a great time to really get to know everyone...but her favorite is McKenna Flink. Lyndsie said that it was a lot of hard work and the heat was almost unbearable. They stayed up late every night and worked out in the sun from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The last day, Steve and I along with Brinley and Sam, went down to watch their last performance. They looked very good. When we got home, Lyndsie had about a 4 hour nap...she was exhausted!

Summer Fun at the Roy Pool

Many of us from Syracuse like to go hang out at the Roy Pool. It is a weekly activity for many. When you are there, you will see so many people that you know, it is a lot of fun. Sam even does a great job there, he will even go down the great big slide...he just loves to go there. And Brinley, well she always has a good time going full throttle. We are having a fantastic summer so far!

Independence Day!

The Fourth of July is one of my most favorite holidays! I have always loved it. I loved it while growing up in Huntsville, riding my horse in the parade, going down the water slide in the park with Tammy, having a BBQ with family then going over to the park again for some square dancing and fireworks. It was always a fun filled day. Now that I am older, I still love it and enjoy it with my family. This year, Lyndsie was in 2 parades and by the end, she was tired. We first went to the Clearfield Parade and then over to the Layton Parade. After that we went to the Layton Park to walk around and then home and had a BBQ with Christie and the Larsen Family and Donna Pratt came over for dessert of homemade icecream and cake...yummy! Then after we were stuffed, we went over to watch the Clearfield fireworks.

Heritage Days Parade...

We really enjoy going to the Heritage day parade every year. This year was no exception, but it was a lot more enjoyable because both Lyndsie and Sydnie were in it. We also found a nice shady spot and Brin and Sam loved watching it and collecting a whole bunch of candy. I love summer and I especially love parades and this parade starts off the summer.

Drive, Run, Sleep, Repeat...

Wow, what a weekend...I am soooooo tired! I have just spent 30 hours running the Wasatch Back with 11 other babes. Here is a shout out to all of the Valley Babes who ran the race!!! Great job and what a fun experience. Here are some of the highlights...

Our Vans...

each subburban was decked out with a life size barbie (in honor of our name...babefest 2008). Thanks to Brian and Sherene for their creativity.

Van #1...

Van one was the best and I had the greatest time with Sherene and all of the others. It was also fun talking with Jenny Jensen and getting caught up with her life. All the babes in Van #1 were so great!!

There was a time when things got a little dramatic...Van #1 was supposed to meet Van #2 at exchange 24 and we couldn't get there because of road construction. We were hurrying so fast, pulling out the Ragnar Bible to get some answers, and calling van 2 to see what to do. We finally figured it out after some heavy drama and things worked out okay...Ally ran another leg from van 2 ( I felt so bad for her because she had just finished one of her legs and then had to run Sherene's) She was definately a trooper and so was Sherene for running hers later on.

Everyone ran a total of three times durning the course from Logan to Park City. My first run was 7.5 miles up Avon. My second run was 6 miles through Morgan. This run was my favorite run. I loved it because it was at 12 midnight, it was cool, and dark and it was kinda like you were all by yourself. I also loved it because Lyndsie was up at Youth Conference at the Stake Camp and she was my inspiration during this run because I loved knowing that she was so close to me. My final run was 4.5 miles down into Midway. It was harder than I thought it would be and by the end, I was tuckered out!

This is our entire team at the finish line. I am so proud of everyone. We laughed a lot, ran a lot and drove a lot too. It was so fun, we have already signed up for next year!

Brinley turned 10 years old

Happy Birthday Brinley!!! We love you!

Brinley is such a good girl. She is an over achiever, she tries so hard. She has a lot of friends and is very happy most of the time. I love to be around her because she brings such a positive atmosphere to life. She is going to be going into the 5th grade and I can hardly believe it, she still seems little, but is actually going to be close to finishing elementary. Sixth grade will come before we know it. She loves to play soccer and tumble. She works hard in school and tries her best. She is amazing and likes to always be doing something and if she isn't doing much, she is planning for future outings. Happy Birthday Brinley! Here are some pictures of her day and her party with friends...

Brinley had a great Birthday Party and it was wild!! She had soccer friends and school friends over and that adds up to a lot of girls. They all came over and played in the back yard. They played some water games, had a BBQ, and played some more. They even got Steve drenched in one of their water fights...funny! Brinley is so lucky to have so many good friends that live around here. They are all such good girls.