The Creek!

Today was HOT!! So, Derek and I went over to this fun little creek that's over in Cedar Hills by my sister's house. It's really shallow, but perfect for little people to float down. We had a great system - Michele (my sis) was launching the kids up river, and Jenny (SIL) & I were catching kids down stream. They LOVED it! It was so fun. The water, however, was COLD! It took about 6 or 7 minutes to adjust to having my feet in the water before the numbness took over & the pain passed.... seriously!

This is so classic of Derek - whenever water sports are involved, he's found laying out on blankets or towels!
Derek's first float down the river. Cute!
Jon-Jon - working the shades! He had fun
Rachie-Roo
Eli-bug!

I wish I'd have gotten more pictures of Michele's kids, but they were doing the long float - from further up to further down stream. It's a great little place. I'll be sure to hit it up a few more times before the summer passes. It's a total hit with the kids.

Our drive into the mountains

Yesterday Dave & I decided to take a drive to scout out a good camping spot for our family camping trip in July. We had a few places in mind and drove up toward Kamas. We drove up Mirror Lake Hwy and made a few stops along the way - like at the Upper Provo River falls (very pretty!). Then, we ended up at Mirror Lake. I had never been up there, but it was absolutely beautiful!! As you can see in the picture, there was still some snow piles on the ground that hadn't melted yet. It was so perfect up there - maybe 68 degrees and sunny. There were tons of people up there fishing, and canoeing on the lake. It looked pretty inviting... I wanted to stay!

Here Dave is trying to point out to Derek where some fish are
Derek - hanging out on a lone rock, gearing up for throwing pebbles into the water.
Derek was on a roll - he wanted to throw sticks into the water. What is the deal with little boys wanting to throw stuff into water? Anyway - he had a great time, and hopefully it didn't drive all the fish away (since he would only throw stuff in right near the fishermen - oops!)

Yee-HaW!

We went to the rodeo in Lehi last night (or radio as Derek called it). It was really fun, and we loved it! We met up w/ Jon, Amber & Cambrie down there.

Derek & Dave sporting the pink hats (no they are not really theirs)

Cheese much!?
Derek was feeding Cambrie his slushie - ah, feel the love.

So - The video is Derek rocking out (with Dave) to the music -- sadly - you mostly just hear the announcer.

We all had such a ball at the rodeo - who knew they could be so fun. This was my first, and I'm sure I'll come back next year for another batch of hee-haw fun!

Jam Packed weekend

We've had such a fun weekend! Sadly - no pics, but I thought I'd type up a little anyway.

Friday I took the kids along w/ Amber & Cambrie to Seven Peaks. It was a nice HOT day, perfect for lounging in the water. The little kids had fun laying out on the tubes & floating in the water. Hailey had fun in all the water parts & the obstacle course. She mastered the lilly pads :). Sadly, poor Derek got a sunburn, despite my best efforts to reapply sunscreen multiple times. So sad! Later that night, Dave & I went w/ Amber & Jon up Provo canyon. We picked up some yummy food from goodwood & took it to go. We ate at Nunn's park, then walked up to Bridal Veil Falls. We had a nice evening.

Saturday: Dave was working all day at Saratoga Splash, so he was off bright & early to get set up. Derek & I had a leisurly morning before running some errands in town. Then, we picked up Dave's folks & went to the festivities. There were tons of cute booths set up along w/ food, blow up jumping toys for the kids & more. Derek didn't last too long before it was time to eat lunch. So we grabbed some yummy lunch at Bajio before nap time. In the evening it was our ward bbq, so we headed down to the park & at tons of good food & Derek got to try out for his first real time - slip & slides! He LOVED them. He was rallying all over the place, totally cutting in line - ugh! I got shot with the water hose right before we left. It was a hot day, so it felt pretty refreshing.
After - we picked up some food for Dave & his brother who were still working, and went to play on the jumping toys at Saratoga Splash. We brought our blanket & chair to map out a spot for the concert - Ryan Shupe & the Rubberbands. Derek did great - he just laid & rolled around on the blanket the whole time, then there were fireworks. It was a great show - especially considering it was just for our little city. We had a really fun weekend!

Father's Day

This morning Dave got a nice breakfast in bed. Derek & Hailey had made hime a cute candybar card. Derek was excited to give his daddy the card :)

We had a nice day at church. Afterward we went over to Dave's folks house & ate dinner, and had a huge water fight. It was great. Derek had so much fun running around throwing balloons at everyone. He screamed like a girl when he got shot with the water hose :). Dave's dad tried to sneak out of the fun, but the hose ended up in the house dousing him. It was a fun time.

As you can see here, Derek was fully tuckered out :) He fell asleep watching Toy Story (at 6:45!!) It's been a great day. We're glad to have celebrated with Dave... He is really a great dad, and is so wonderful with the kids. I couldn't ask for a better spouse :)

Girl's Camp

Girl's camp was this past week. I was able to go up on Thursday for our ward day. I had a great time! The girls did service (coloring pictures for kindergarteners and an Amazing Service Race), cleaning (bathrooms, yeah!), then our ward had some free time before dinner.

As you can see here - the free time was well used. Lots of the girls got pedicures, and many others did manicures.
Here, Jill gave me some rockin' orange nails - w/ glitter of course :)
Here, our two older girls who came up w/ me (Ausia & Brittney) are decorating their pillow cases.

I wish I had more pictures from the day. It was great to see the girls so pumped about being there (even 4 days in!). They were great helpers, and had such positive attitudes. I was able to be their for the testimony meeting which was amazing. These girls really are gaining testimonies, and it's awesome to see first hand. I'm really glad to have a calling in the young women. After how I was in YW, it's great to come back to be a leader of great girls :)

Oregon!

On our second day of driving, we arrived at Multnomah falls in Oregon. We stopped here for a little runaround, it was especially great for the kids!



Here we had hiked up to the bridge - it was a nice little energy burner :)



On one of our rainy days - the kids decorated bobble-head monkeys :) It was pretty funny.


This was the beach right down the street from our house. The kids had fun running around, looking at crabs, shells & all the driftwood on the beach
Can you say strike a pose?
Hailey was working the camera too :) I tried to tell her the water was too cold, but who can pass up the opportunity to splash around in the water?
TILLAMOOK!!! Okay, so growing up, this was always the coolest place. They have cheese & fresh ice cream. It's fantastic. I think I had more fun here than the kids did!
It was fun for them to see all the blocks running through the conveyer belts :)

This is Seaside. We came here on a "milder" day. The kids had a great time playing in the water, sand & flying kites.

Yet again, hailey had no hesitation about running into the water. The outside temp was 54 degrees... plus wind! ugh! cold!
Derek & Olivia had a great time helping me bury Hailey in the sand.
I couldn't resist this picture -- TOO CUTE!

Derek did take a moment here or there to snuggle w/ his mommy to stay warm :)

We went down to Newport & hit three fun exhibits.. Ripley's believe it or not, the Wax museum & the Underwater Sea Aquarium. Here is Hailey strumming the digital harp - very cool!
We grubbed some lunch at this place called Local Ocean Seafood. It was divine. The kids could have cared less, but I had the yummiest crab "po-boy" sandwich. Divine!
Derek was trying to kiss the crab... looks more like he's taking a bite though :)
At the underwater sea aquarium, there was this cool exhibit where the kids could touch all sorts of living sealife, like starfish, sea anemone & the like.

Outside the aquarium were tons of sealions. Derek cracked up when they started barking, and he barked right back :)

This is our backyard (of the beach house). Em & I finally get a pic together :)
The kids had fun w/ the fire. Especially for smores
My brother Mike & His fiancee Leslie came out for the weekend. We had a great time!

We went to the Cannon Beach Sandcastle building competition. It was fun to rally the cars down on the beach, and play in the water. Derek & olivia most liked petting all the dogs that were there.

Notice famous Haystack rock in the background -- you know you recognize it from Goonies :)

I think the rest of my pictures cut off, but this is a taste of our trip. We had fun exploring, playing, lounging & of course... driving :) We were glad to get away before baby # 3 arrived.