What a Summer~part 2

And it all began a few days ago..comin to see these two wonderful daughters of mine!! I just love these girls! They are the best~est of friends!! So Sunday morning after Shyns birthday bash...we decided to wake up and head down south to St. George to see some good friends! Stopped by to visit my Dad in Fountain Green...then, well....as you can see here...it took a little longer that we had planned~(sigh) We were about 40 minutes from St. George when the kids and I thought we heard a helicopter above us....when the sound suddenly got louder and louder...I looked in my rear view mirror to see pieces of my tire flying through the air....then the car started to shake...I immediately slowed down (as I was in the fast lane doing the speed limit...75) and pulled over...only to get out of the car and find THIS!!! WOW...how did that happen?! I considered flagging a trucker over....but had the kids with me...a scary thought! When suddenly I remembered I had friends in Cedar City...which I had just passed both exits. So after calling...some DEAR friends came to our rescue. It took Lynn, Lori and myself all to change the tire....I was Sooooooo grateful for them!! Finally arrived and had dinner with Elaine at 10 pm!!

WHAT A RELIEF!!!!! Note to self...never burn bridges with friends...you never know when you just might need a friend!!

This is Elaine....whe was so happy to see us finally arrive! The next day we went downtown and let the kids cool off in the water.....they had a blast...and wished we lived closer to St. George!

I also got to visit my dear friend Shay (My Shaylin is named after her!) who I hadn't seen in about 11 years! We have some great memories of my days living in St. George and opening the Marie Callendar's Restaurant which is now closed....those were some pretty fun days!!

We are Planning a trip to Maui with her and her husband in April...can't wait!

Our trip was much too short in southern Utah...we climbed the red cliffs in St. George...which I LOVE!! (See the Temple behind us?) Beautiful!!

Jaycee took this picture the next day of the St. George Temple...I love it!!!!

Then after meeting our good friend Jeremy in Lehi to do a photo shoot with my 4 kids....we went to Provo and did a little R & R at the pool...this was NICE!! I stopped by a couple scrapbook stores...couldn't possibly come to Utah and NOT stop by at least one!!!

Later that evening Shaylin was able to schedule her Patriarical blessing for when we were in town! What a neat experience to be able to be there for this!! It was a wonderful blessing! We celebrated at the old spaghetti factory for dinner!!Yummmm!
Then, the next evening was Kaylee's graduation from massage therapy school!! Hooray...she did it!! We are so proud of her and her accomplishments... (she gives a mean massage too!! ) Thanks dear!!
THE PROUD GRADUATE!!


Our Family after graduation....we picked Kev up at the airport just before graduation...we missed him!!!!So that pretty much wraps up my August in Utah...what an eventful week or so!! I love my Family...just glad we aren't further away!!

What a summer~part 1

Ok... I am going to re-cap my last 3 weeks slowly here....after girls camp, I had 3 or 4 days home...Jaycee had her best friend in the whole world come to visit and spend 2 nights with us. Kameron used to live here in Puyallup, then moved to California...so it was so good for them to get caught up with each other!!And they are the cutest of friends...they miss each other so much...both girls are starting Jr. High this year. They keep in touch through e-mail and web-cam....so life is good for them!!

Then, Tanner, Jaycee and I headed to Utah in the Excursion. We drove straight through. Left on the 30th of July. We wanted to go and be able to spend a little time there since it was summer! The girls came and stayed the night with us and took Friday off of work so we could play. The next morning the 31st, we got up and headed to the Oquirrh Temple Open House...it truly is a beautiful Temple!! Then we headed up North to Logan to see our good friends Kris and Dave and go boating and spend the day with them. We kind of took the long way up there...but we finally did make it! One of these days I will invest in a much needed GPS! We went to Hyrum Dam and had a nice day with them! Kaylee and Shaylin did a little wake boarding, the water wasn't the smoothest so it wasn't that easy! Tanner and Kaylee

Tanner can't get enough of his big Sisters....thing just aren't the same without them here at home with us!! Shaylin, Jace and Kaylee

And Jaycee just loves these girls to pieces...sure is fun having kids of all ages...so we can experience all sorts of activities all the time!! The next day.. Aug 1st~ was Shaylin's 19th birthday..we had all sorts of activities planned for today....but half way through the day.....we got the best news of all!! Shaylin had a niece born on HER birthday!! Ryan and Casey had little Natalie...7 lbs 15 oz.!! Hooray!!!! This was the best present Shaylin got today!! And of course Gramma was especially happy to see her born early (since I was flying out to Ohio on the 7th to meet her!) When I made my reservations, I did this knowing Casey would hopefully go early like she had the other 2 times...and luckily she did!! So sweet!!!

After the wonderful news of our newest addition to our Family...we went to Seven Peaks Water Park down in Provo to celebrate Shaylin's birthday...just for the start of a fun day!

Of course it was Soooo hot and beautiful, which made us want to be in the water...we went down some slides and enjoyed the wave pool ALOT! We left a little early so that we could get ready to head to Comedy Sportz in Provo. It's an improv comedy show for Family's...and we laughed our heads off!! They even had Shaylin on stage for her birthday song!! Great place to go!!
Our row of fun people!!

I could have listened to these guys all night, they were GOOD! And of course the company was awesome as well. I finally got to meet Lindsay...who I had been hearing alot about...that's her in the end in the gray shirt.., she's full of energy!! Cute!! It's fun to meet all the fun guys and girls we have been hearing so much about!! It was nice to see blue skies everyday, but also be close to the girls too! So that wraps up the first few days after girls camp and our couple in Utah...more to come!!

HOME FROM GIRL'S CAMP

And seriously...these two are the funnest to work with!! We had a great week...and really NO complaints. The cleaning fairy (me) cleaned our cabin the 2nd day...then after that...we didn't have time to care about our cabin being clean! Our theme was "Virtue League". We based it off of the Justice league ( superheroes). Our daily themes were.. Monday, Your virtue is priceless ~ Tues. ~Never a better heroe, focus on Christ ~ Weds ~ Super Friends "friendship day" Thurs ~ Go the Distance "Endure to the end". And Fri ~ The hero within "Your superpower is your free agency" We had a 5k up at camp, and surprisingly alot of girls participated! Jaycee and I walked it in less than an hour...our 1st 5k! It was a fun theme with capes of all colors and makes! Talk about talent in our stake!!

Jaycee and I enjoying donuts brought up by our Bishopric on Testimony night!! Mmmm

These women ROCK!! They jumped in with me after our service project...it was SO hot that day!! This is the BRAVE bunch...clothes and all!! A few cheated and put their swimsuits on!! Janna was a virgin polar dipper till she met me!! YA!
Jaycee and Laura made these adorable buddie shirts before camp...it took them all day with imteruptions of every kind inbetween. They had to break for lunch...a little Wii-Fit fun, and just deciding which colors of fabric to use and what kind of faces to use on their gals!! They were a hit at camp...certainly one of a kind! She was so happy to have me up at camp...and I love it when my girls have been at camp with me...just so much fun! She really had a great experience her 1st year...she says it is definately funner than 6th grade camp!!
Licking the foil clean after making bananna boats in the fire for certification! I had to keep poppin in to the 1st year camp so I could get some photo's. I ended up taking over 500 photo's for the stake...alot being my own girls in our ward...but I was definately the papparazzi at camp!! I think that's a good thing!! I have posted alot more photo's on facebook f you want to take a peek! Too many to choose from to just pick a couple for my blog!
So a couple of months off then we start to plan for next year!! Whew..alot of work, but definately worth every bit of it!! Now catchin up on wash so we can leave for Utah in 4 days to see the girls!!! With boating and a BBQ and games in between...man...I guess we never slow down!!

In the 90's!!

I CAN HANDLE WEATHER LIKE THIS!! This is how I like to enjoy the nice warm SUN...tanning oil on my bod!! ( AND PLEASE NOTE...THERE IS NOT A PICTURE OF MY BOD!! HA HA) Today I took an hour break from all the camp to do lists...and there are more than I like to admit....and layed in the pool and tanned....soooo relaxing!!! (above photo op idea from Shyn!! Thanks dear!)
That is until Tan and Jace came in for a swim...which was great, because the water was perfect, when I flipped over and dove in...it wasn't even cold....such a nice day today!!!

It has been the BEST summer for Washington...we have had heat alot!! In fact the kids are sleeping on our floor in our room because their rooms are too hot, and we have a cooler in ours!

So I have to say that we are definately enjoying our pool this year!! Kevin has been so good at keeping it clear!!

I have been super busy preparing for girls camp...we leave at 5:30 am Monday morning...bright and early. So I will be a little pre-occupied next week...we come home on Friday afternoon!! We are going to have a great week at camp!! I'm excited...and Jaycee is too!! I'm so lucky to be called to camp when I have daughters that go....that just makes it all the more fun for me!!!

2000 miles in 5 days!!

AND A VERY PEACEFUL DRIVE AT THAT!!

We left at 5:15 am on Thursday morning and arrived in San Jose CA. at 7:15 pm. We had been talking about visiting Mom and Dad House on their mission...and we finally just did it!
Grampa House would grab Tanner everytime we went through a tunnel and tell him that it was the tunnel of love...he'd hug and kiss him and make him laugh!
Of course they had to show us around...lots of driving!!
We even got to celebrate their birthdays while we were there!! A bananna cream pie!!

After church on Sunday ~ they are the BEST missionaries...they have already made so many friends and are loved. They extended their mission another 6 months...they love it there so much!! So they will be home, back in SLC this time next year.

We drove through San Francisco...and ate at The Fishermans Wharf...the kids had more fun feeding the pigeons than anything!! WE drove over The Golden Gate Bridge...and the Bay was breathtaking....all the sailboats and beautiful water!!

in San Francisco

This made Jaycee's whole trip worthwhile. (She is holding a frog!)We had always talked about going down to see Kathy in the Redwoods and her and Jaycee catching frogs, they both LOVE frogs. We found it pretty ironic that this was the ONLY frog we saw the whole day...we somehow felt that it wasn't a coincidence afterall!! Kathy used to tell Jace time and time again how many frogs she came in contact with working in the Redwoods!!
We named her Jean (Kathy's middle name!)

Tanner playing in the waves in Santa Cruz.
...and more waves
(I'm wondering why it is that I took over 600 pictures!!)
Standing at the base of a Redwood tree.

We took the most beautiful drive through the Redwood Forest. We could have made a 5 day trip just here!! IF only we had more time!!

So after San Jose...Santa Cruz, Monterey to see my niece Melissa and visit The Monterey Aquarium...having authentic Mexican food in San Jose...The redwoods...we are safe and sound back in Puallup...until Girls Camp in 6 days!!! YIKES!! What a wonderful little fast vacation had by all!!

'THE FOURTH'

We were invited over to Sandbergs for the 4th this year, which was exciting, because they live on Lake Tapps and it was nice and hot~to enjoy the lake too!Barely snuck in a picture before we all submerged ourselves in the lake!!

"Jaycee and Tanner picking out fireworks at the local stands"

Kevin surfin on Tod's new board~pretty choppy water with all the boats on the lake, but still possible to get pulled!And so Tanner decided he wanted to give it a try as well! Amazing kid, he got on his knees and rode quite a distance his very first try!! He loved it!!
Rode and rode, and looked over to see if we were watchin' Are you kiddin? I had the camera in my hands all ready! Was wishin I was on the boat instead though!!

After he was through riding the waves, Kev brought him back to the dock to run and jump off the dock into the water with Jace, but 1st he came up to tell me how awesome it was being pulled behind the boat...and "did you see me Mom"~too cute!

He said "when I landed, the board came up and hit me in the head...do I have a bump right there Mom?" When I looked, there was blood. Yikes....and the back of his head was gaping a little...he wasn't worried until he saw there was blood. We were debating stitches, but decided to wait it out a little. Did we want to sit for hours in the Emergency on the 4th?! It was one of those cuts that could have gone either way~ So we put some ice on his head,(nurse Susan~Jo's sister held ice on his head~ above), stopped the bleeding and watched him a while. After an hour, he was ready to put his hat on and get going on the fireworks!

Tanner brought his own lighter, and liked lighting the bee's the best, especially lighting them off the dock, out into the water!! And yes, right after this picture I made him get some shoes on! He was doing pretty good too......that is, until........,

....he backed up a little too far from the fireworks, and landed right into the water!
Hat, shoes, and all! Luckily, the only thing hurt was his pride. poor kid~
That was the final straw for Tan. We got him all warmed up and blanket out to watch the fireworks, but he was exhausted! Long day, good food, great friends (Trina and Wade and little ones came by for a little while) So sweet of them to share Olivia and Kole with all of us!) All the pictures of them are on her camera~dang!

And the Fireworks were SPECTACULAR up at Lake Tapps. After the incredible show by Jordan and his cousins, Our Family and the Sandbergs went out in the boat to watch the ones put on by Tapps Island~I've never seen so many fireworks in one night EVER!! And huge ones at that!! Being on the boat and watching fireworks is like being at Disnayland!! So cool. Quite a day we had...certainly one to remember!!