Lake Powell

Two weeks before school started we planned one last boating with Shaun and his family. We had never been to Lake Powell (except for Bill many years ago) and have always wanted to go since we got our boat! Shaun and Mistee had been several times so we were extra glad to go with some veterans. We camped off the beach in Bullfrog. I loved the drive down since we were able to go through Capital Reef - my happy place as I refer to it. I have always loved the red rock mountains and Lake Powell was nothing but.

Our first day was hot. Hot. HOT. We played in the water most of the time. It was 78 degrees so it was amazing! Shaun took us to a cave and we swam in there every day of our trip. We loved it! Stella especially. She's my mermaid. Such a water-baby! The kids chased each other around in the water, put wet sand all over their bodies, snorkeled, and loved every minute of it! Our running joke throughout the trip was "What time is it?" We'd all guess and it was always so much earlier than we thought it felt. Don't get me wrong, it's great when time goes by slow while on vacation, but this felt ridiculously slow at times!

Friday morning was stormy. We woke up to lightning in the mountains behind us which then turned to all around us! We huddled under the canopy and watched how awesome it looked! I tried to get some really good pictures but was never fast enough. Grrrr. It cleared up for a few minutes so we did a little skiing, fishing and swimming. Of course as we got back to make dinner a huge wind storm came and got into EVERYTHING. It took Shaun approximately 2 hours to cook their pork chops! We all gathered into our barely 4 man tent to play some cards and complain. Shaun's tent blew down and Makayla's was on the verge.

Saturday was beautiful! Perfect weather. We spent most of the day driving down Moki Canyon. It was incredible!! I loved it so much! Incredibly tall red and white mountains. I kept thinking how much I wish my grandpa were there to see it. He would be thrilled. Bill and Shaun cliff dived, we fished some more (still no fish to this point) and more swimming. We all enjoyed some yummy ice cream from the dock. Tristan caught the first fish and Bill caught a teeny tiny fish that night. It wasn't what he expected the fishing to be, but when you're somewhere as beautiful as Powell what's not to like. The day was absolutely perfect!

Sunday we cleaned up, packed up, loaded up, and headed on our very long journey home after a bit of knee boarding. Tristan got up and was even showing off (shocker, I know) by doing it one-handed. No hands at first when the handle was still attached. Stella didn't get up but liked being pulled around on it. Now for the pictures. Lots and lots of them. You've been warned!

New Adventures

About a month ago we bought a boat! We had been talking about it for a couple of months. Bill obsessively checked out KSL every day for probably 3 weeks straight until he found our boat. We got a great deal and have enjoyed taking it out! We took a little first trip to Deer Creek to make sure everything ran good. Then our first big trip was Yuba with Shaun, Mistee & kids. That was a lot of fun! We had to boat all our camping gear to our campsite, which was some extra work, but so much nicer than the other campsites. The water was nice and it was just so great to catch up with each other! It's been too long since our last trip together. Aside from our huge wind storm that blew our tent down it was a really fun weekend!

Our next big trip was to Jordanelle with the Eichelbergers. I think Melissa was as excited as the kids! Our kids have so much fun together it makes experiences like this so worthwhile. The lake was pretty dang busy, but it was really pretty. The weather was great and Bart was the first person so far to get up on the wake board! We will definitely have many more trips like this in the future!

This summer seemed to come and go so fast! I wasn't ready for school to start already! I tried to cram some extra summer fun into their last week off. We went to the Bee's game with Emily, Cole and Dylan. I probably watched 2 minutes of the actual game. It's a fun change of scenery. The kids even got to go on the sweet train ride. We also did father/daughter & mother/son dates. Stella and Bill went swimming while T and I went to the nickelcade. I don't think I've really been on a date with T! I'm alone with him most of the time, but it was a lot of fun to sit down and eat and talk with him. As well as go somewhere that was something he would enjoy. I love my dates with the kiddos! It makes parenting feel so rewarding. And it's great to see their personalities away from each other. Goodbye summer! Hello holidays? Oh, no.

This Summer Thus Far...

This summer has been really nice so far! The weather seems a little cooler than most summer's which I love. I hate the heat! We haven't done too much. We've only been camping once, with the exception of girls camp for me! Hopefully we can get in a few more trips before school starts next month!

Stella's last day of school! She's officially big!

Fairview Rodeo for the 4th of July. Feelin' the American Pride!

Sweet neighborhood fireworks! (Can't complain. We didn't pay for them! And the kids loved it!)

Tristan is now riding his big boy bike!

Lots of trips to our local library. Keeps our summer educational and gives us something to do each week.

A little nature walk at Strawberry.

A pretty overlook of Strawberry on one of our evening drives.

Tristan's big catch. He thought it was a whale, but it was this big umbrella! He was pretty proud. And it was the only thing we caught that afternoon.

This was a rainbow/sunset I saw leaving the library last week. It was so bright and pretty. Luckily I had my camera with me so I could capture the view. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was amazing! God is great!

It's Summer Time

That's right people, it's officially summer time. Stella has graduated Kindergarten and is out for the summer. Well, for 3 weeks of summer until she starts the first grade. We've had our first camping trip and went swimming with everyone else in Salt Lake at the Kearns Rec Center. Ahhhhh, good times.

Stella's Dance Recital. The most beautiful ballerina EVER!


Last day of Kindergarten. (sigh)

Yes, this is my 3 year old holding a gun! Following is his father's footsteps.



Just a few Fish Lake photos


A few more pictures of Tristan's t-ball team. He's too cute in uniform to not post this!

Summer Fun

This month has been a busy, but fun one for our family. July started off with a camping trip at Fish Lake with Shaun & Mistee and Ron & Becky. It was rainy half of the time, but that seems to be a recurrent theme in our camping trips so far! We took the kids fishing at Gates Lake and caught almost 20 fish! It was definitely not a boring sport that day! Stella wasn't too into so she got some coloring done. Whatever keeps them happy!

We did the usual camping activities. Eat, 4-wheeling, camp fires, and such. On the
4th we got hit hard with a huge rain storm. We were originally planning on going to the Sevier Rodeo, but now we weren't quite sure. We decided to risk it and take a shot at missing the storm. Luckily for us it had cleared up before we got there. We found the softest rock on the mountain we could find and enjoyed watching the rodeo with the kids. Stella and Tristan were surprisingly into it the whole time. Stella has decided she wants to be a rodeo-princess when she grows up. She loved the cowgirls in the sparkly outfits. Tristan liked all the animals and the little truck that drove out during half-time (I guess is what it could be compared to). Aside from losing Makayla for 10 minutes we had a great time! The fireworks were awesome!! (Even though Stella asked a few minutes into them if we could go home)

We have tried to go swimming at the Kearns Rec Center weekly this summer. Stella and Tristan have such a blast going down the slide over and over! Stella has found a passion for swimming I think. We need to get her in some swim lessons we've decided. It's hard to get her out of the pool once we are there. Tristan likes it about every other time we go. He doesn't last as long as Stella, but still loves the slides.

We went to the museum up at the U of U. We went with our adoption playgroup. We took Tracks up to the U. Stella and Tristan had never been on Tracks before so they had a lot of fun. Tristan is obsessed with trains so I knew it would be something he would enjoy! We brought our lunches and had a picnic when we got there then walked through the museum for the next few hours. They got to see all kinds of gross frogs and stuff like that. I was beat by the end of that play date, but they had a lot of fun so that's all that mattered. Note to self, don't forget the umbrella stroller next time and don't wear heels!!

Finally, this past weekend we went to the cabin with the Duffin's. We went down Thursday and Bill's parents joined us later that night. We went swimming as soon as we got there. It was the perfect day for it. 100 degrees with no wind. Friday morning we went fishing at Gooseberry. We did pretty good! Stella reeled in all of the fish. Tristan was busy pretending to reel in fish on his new Cars fishing pole. We went 4-wheeling when we got back and when Jason and crew came up we went swimming again. This time the weather was not so great, but we had fun anyway. We got home later that night. It was a fun couple of days, but I have to say there is no place like home! After all of the busyness that went on that past week I was in need of some good down time!

Keepin' Cool

Today we hung out at the Eichelbergers for a few hours. Stella and Tristan had fun playing on Kaden's slip n' slide. Here they are taking a drink from the Water Rocket. Tristan was not dressed for the part, but got in on the action. Now I need to get one for our house! Why bother tho when you can walk two doors down!

Summer Lovin' Had Me A Blast!

I'm already updating my blog and it's only been one month! Can you believe it? I have to admit I am not a fan of summer time, it's too hot! However, we have been trying to make the most of it while it's here. Last weekend we escaped to Moon Lake. I had never been there before, so when Bart and Melissa invited us to tag along with their family we jumped at the chance. It was really beautiful! For the most part our camping trip was a success.

Stella had so much fun going on buggy rides with Kaden and his grandpa. We also attempted several fishing trips. After the first time we decided it best to leave the dogs at camp. Not such a good idea! We did all the fun things that come along with camping: s'mores, a short hike, fishing, a trip on the fishing boat, and pigging out. Stella's favorite thing though was throwing rocks in the lake. Go figure! Tristan, poor little guy, was a little bit clumsy. He biffed it on several occasions and managed to land himself a giant goose-egg on his forehead our first night there! He seemed to enjoy himself and loved playing in the dirt. Nap time and bedtime were quite stressful. He is at an age that is hard for him to fall asleep anywhere other than his crib. Needless to say, we ended up coming home a day early. We are hoping our next trip will be a little easier.

It's strange to think that now I am the mom taking my family camping and trying to entertain my kids. It doesn't seem too long ago when I was the kid needing to be entertained. Jason and Suzanne (with kids in tow) joined us Friday night. I was so glad they were able to make it even if it was just for a night. Jason and I were in complete awe as we stared at the stars. It has a way of making someone feel very small. All in all we had a wonderful time and are thankful to the Eichelbergers for letting us tag along and for their hospitality. We can't wait to do it again. Right Melissa?!

On the home front, Bill has almost completed our basement! He has installed the flooring, lighting and molding. We can't wait to have the extra room, and have a cool place to hang out in the summer. I can't believe he has done all of this on his own! I am really proud of him. Last week he took a week off work. He decided it was time for some much needed R&R.

As for me, I am staying busy keeping up with my two little ones. They manage to always keep me on my toes. Tristan is at such a fun age. He is starting to talk more and figure things out. I love the one year to three year time frame. Stella is still my angel, however these past few months she is starting to really test her limits and our patience. I have to say, four is not my favorite age so far! I hear it only gets worse. Oh well. At least her cute moments and priceless expressions save her.