A Grand Weekend

This past weekend we traveled with most of my family to Williams, Arizona. Friday night we boarded the Polar Express Train and rode to the North Pole. On Saturday we took the two hour train into the Grand Canyon. We had the most amazing time. We enjoyed both of the train rides as well as the company. I would definately recommend this adventure to anyone.

This is grandma (my mom) and all the grandkids waiting to board the train. They wore their pajamas and it was very cold.

This is Nathans new pose for pictures. As you can see, Andrew's as excited to get his picture taken as he always is.

I've included these two pictures because I'm interested to see which one of us you think Nathan looks the most like. (I don't see much resemblance to either of us.)

He was very excited to see Santa and get his bell. He was even more excited when he could "hear" the bell ringing.

These guys were sitting with their cousins most of the time so I didn't get as many pictures of them. But they had a blast and the cookies and hot chocolate were so yummy.

The next morning we arrived at the train station early for the Wild Wild West show. It was funny but a little hard to enjoy because it started snowing and the wind was blowing and we were FREEZING. Of course we took our picture with the sheriff, not the train robbers.

Here is what we saw when we walked up the hill from the train station. This was unbelievable to me. I had never been to the Grand Canyon before and was completely amazed. I was also very frightened at how close to the edge you can get without any barrier to the canyon floor. Nathan stayed quite close to me the entire time we were there.

Our trip lasted less than 36 hours but it was so worth it. We had fun singing Christmas carols on the Polar Express ride. Everyone enjoyed being entertained by the musical cowboys on the Grand Canyon train ride. And we'll never forget the train robbery on the way back. It was definately one Grand adventure.

13 going on 30

Monday, Emma celebrated her 13th birthday. So I am now officially the parent of a teenager. I know it sounds scary but I'm not too worried. (Ask me again next year when she turns 14 and is old enough to go the Saturday night dances!) Emma is a magnificent girl or should I say young women. She is responsible, self-motivated, compassionate and sometimes just plain fun. She is a good example to her brothers and sister. I feel lucky to have her as my oldest child.

Happy Birthday Emma! We love you!

Funny Pictures

I went with Katie's class on a field trip last year. We saw this monkey and he cracked us up. Katie is always willing to be crazy to have fun. She's a great sport.

He had chapped lips and insisted on a Band-Aid.

(I must admit there were some other benefits from this.)

Summer Vacation...Finally!

School was finally over on Friday. And with only two weeks off before it starts again, we need to cram in as much fun as we can. Kyle, our nephew, was going to attend surf camp down in Manhatten Beach for a week. Kami called and invited us to come hang out for a couple of days. So we loaded up on Tuesday and headed to Melody's house for some beach fun. Gary needed to work so it was just me and the kids. We got there by early afternoon and spent that night watching movies and eating yummy food. On Wednesday morning it was off to the beach.

As you can tell in this picture, Andrew didn't want to waste time taking a picture when he could be playing in the water.

I was worried about this kid because he can't stand to get dirty and he hates cold water.

But with some help from his Aunt Kami he jumped in and had so much fun.

These kids were awesome. They played both days for hours without complaining or fighting. And I was able to sit back, relax and enjoy the cool weather and great company.

Of course you can't go to the beach without burying someone and Andrew was more than willing to volunteer.

Thanks Kami for inviting us and thanks Melody and David for letting us use your house (they was gone all week visiting grandkids and attending their daughter's college graduation).

It's Official!

Katie was baptized on Saturday, August 1. She was so excited. There were two other kids from our ward baptized and the program was wonderful. Then, of course, we came back to our house and ate amazing food. Minty made the Cafe Rio pork with all the trimmings and dressing. (I believe I must also thank Chandra for this as they were tested out at Jace's baptism dinner first.) I have never tried Cafe Rio but I think I can say this was better than the original, at least all the comments were positive. For dessert I tried two new cupcake receipes, fresh strawberry and caramel. I should have taken a picture but I was too busy stuffing my face. My favorite were the caramel. I believe this will be a favorite receipe for years to come. Thanks so much to all the friends and family who showed up for this special day for Katie!

We couldn't find a white dress so I told Katie she could pick her favorite and this is what she choose. Our friend who took this picture didn't know that the best part of her outfit were the shoes.

So I made Katie put them on a few minutes ago to take a quick picture. I think you'll agree it was worth it. Gary says she is definately my daughter choosing a black dress with cute shoes.

Congrats Katie. We love you!

Birthday Time Again

I cannot believe it! Katie has turned eight years old. What can I say about this child? She is one of the most joyful and animated kids I've ever known. She never holds back and always tells you exactly what she thinks. She talks like she's 20 and sometimes thinks we should treat her that way too. She loves to play with her friends. And she is amazing with little kids (she'll make a great mom one day). She brings so much laughter to our home and we love her so much.

Just waiting to open her presents.

Minutes old with Grandma Nanette.

Ready to be blessed.

I love these eyes.

Whenever Katie is excited about something her eyes get bigger and bigger.

As a little child she was always happy and ready to laugh.

On her new birthday bike.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Anyone for a game of catch....up?

OK, so it's true. The older your kids are the busier life becomes. Eventually I'll have to catch up my posts with the Pine Wood Derby, band concerts, primary activites and dance recitals that have happened. But for today I had to post about my garden. Emma helped Gary plant it and then she was in charge of watering. She did it for one of her YW value projects. For the last six weeks we've been reaping the benefits.

This is the last of the squash. We had summer squash, zucchini and pat-a-pan which were amazing sauted in olive oil and butter sprinkled with salt and pepper. I picked the tomato this morning. It was one of the prettiest I've seen.

These are about how many tomatoes I pick every other day. They are so wonderful. We've enjoyed them in BLT's, sandwiches and hamburgers. Or just cut with salt and pepper. This is probably my favorite thing about summer. This weekend we are going to shade the tomatos and see how long we can keep them going. I will definately miss them when they're gone.