Miner Family Reunion

We got to go to our biannual Miner Family Reunion during the second week in July. It was at a really nice Cabin near Bear Lake(in Utah). It started on Monday and ended on Friday, so that basically gave us Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to plan fun activities. We decided that Wednesday and Thursday would be the best lake days because of weather conditions. On Tuesday we thought of checking out the cave tour nearby, but a lot of the group didn't want to risk having to wait hours in order to go through the tour. We opted to take a hike up to a lake instead. The cool thing about this specific lake is that it has a big rope swing and some cliffs to jump off of. Ashley loved the rope swing and did it at least three times.

Danny tried a couple of times too. Alyssa chickened out and I wasn't dressed for going in the water(plus I really didn't want to be cold).

Our kids were too young for us to let them try the cliff jump, but a lot of their older cousins jumped off and said it was awesome.
On our Wednesday lake day, we all went in on a boat rental. In addition to that, my oldest brother also brought 2 wave runners, a jet ski, and a huge water trampoline. It was a lot of effort to set the trampoline up, so we just left it floating on the lake overnight so we could enjoy it both days. We only worried a little bit that it would blow/float away, or get stolen. We took turns all day long on the wave runner(only one of the 2 would actually start) and jet ski and filling up the boat. It was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed splashing in the water and playing in the sand.

Here is the group(not everyone was there, but most of us were) in front of the lake on the second beach day. We didn't have the boat on the second day, but still enjoyed all of the other activities.

On the final evening together, the adults left all the kids at the cabin and went out to dinner together. Here is the whole group right before we left for dinner.

In addition to the daytime activities, the cabin also had a pool table, foosh ball, toys for the little kids, a play set outside, a volleyball net, a theater room, plus there was Grandma's Bingo every night for the grand kids and great grand kids. My brother also made a bubble solution for those gigantic bubbles and made wands to blow them. I think most of us tried making some big bubbles during our down time. Mostly, our kids just enjoyed playing/spending time with their cousins. It is always so fun to get together with family and we are already looking forward to the next reunion that will take place in 2 years. We are so grateful for Mom and Dad and their efforts to get us together every two years.

Foam Day

Around Pioneer Day every year, Lehi City has foam day. The Fire Department comes into a park and sprays foam all over the grass for the kids to play in. This is our second time going and the kids had a lot of fun. Danny was out of town for it, so I had to brave it alone. We got there right when it started with the plan to stay for only 2 hours. Unfortunately, the foam didn't even start until 2 hours after start time, so we ended up staying 3 hours instead. We got to do all of the other fun stuff while we waited for the foam, including water slide inflatables, sponsor booths giving away prizes, and the play ground. Here I am waiting with the boys for the foam to start. Camden was so tired by this point and actually ended up falling asleep about five minutes before the foam started.

And here are the three older kids enjoying the foam.

As you can see, Ashley enjoyed it the most. She was the one that we had to finally drag away. We were all starving and my arms and back were sore from holding a sleeping baby. Hopefully daddy can join us if we decided to do it again next year.

Summer Catch Up

We've been busy since the 4th of July and I guess that, as a result, my blog has been a little neglected. So now I am going to attempt to catch up on the last 6 weeks of summer. Here is a jumble of pictures that don't really have a theme, but that I thought were cute or needed to be included on the blog.
First off, the girls got a new little cousin, Abigail, born the beginning of June. She was in the NICU for the first few weeks of her life and we were all so happy to finally meet her and hold her when she got to go home. Here is a picture of Alyssa holding her on the day of her baby blessing.

We took the kids to see "Alice in Wonderland" at the Hale Center Theater. All of the actors were kids probably ages 8-18. The boys actually did really well(we were on the front row so we were a little worried). The girls, of course, loved it. After the show, Alyssa told us that she wanted to be in a play again. As a result, we are letting her audition for a play at the Lehi Arts Center in a couple of weeks.

Ashley with the Cheshire Cats(there were three in this production and they acted as narrators).

Ashley took this picture of Alyssa jumping rope and I thought it was cool. This was at the school Library's Reading Circle(they did some fun activities for the kids once a month during the summer).

Camden apparently loves to wear sunglasses. These belong to Ashley.

 Camden finally got his first haircut. This is the before picture. (he even let me do it with the electric clippers).

 

The after picture in the bath. He had swimming hair for the hair cut which is probably why that group of hairs is sticking up on the top.

I think we took this at the Lehi Fun Center while Ashley was mini golfing with Tyler. We were hot, hungry, and tired but the two of them were still going strong.

We also spent a lot of time at the swimming pool, Thanksgiving point, and an occasional trip to the water park. I don't take pictures at these places because we are usually too busy having fun.

Independence Day Celebrations

 We enjoyed our 4th of July weekend. We started it off bright and early(5:30am) on Friday the 1st by going to Balloon Fest down in Provo. It was sure fun to see all of those balloons inflate so close to us. Danny even took the kids close enough to touch one.

 It was even more fun to watch them all take off and float around above us.

On Saturday, we got to go to Stadium of Fire. We had extra tickets so we invited a friend(and their families) for each of the girls. it was a lot of fun, as always. We aren't huge Tim McGraw fans, but the fireworks show was spectacular.

 On the 4th, we opted to set off our own fireworks. Danny brought home a huge pack and the kids loved it.

We are so grateful to live in this country where we enjoy so many freedoms.

First Steps

We have another walker in the house. I love watching him take those first steps with his arms wide and that big smile on his face.

Family Hike

We sat down a few weeks ago and planned out some fun family activities for summer. One of the things the girls wanted to do was to hike up to the Y. Danny and I had done this hike when we were dating and we knew it was a difficult one, so we have been putting it off for years now. We finally conquered it on Friday. We knew Tyler would not make it, so we borrowed a second baby carrier backpack and Danny and I each wore a kid on our back. We thought we were in trouble when about a minute into the hike both girls were struggling. We didn't think either would make it to the Y. They kept pushing through each of the 10 switchbacks until we finally made it to the bottom of the Y. We tried to talk them into going to the top, but Alyssa was done. So we split up and I took Ashley on the additional 3 switchbacks to the top of the Y. She was so happy to have made it.

Alyssa was perfectly happy to have made it to the bottom. I don't think she moved from this spot until we were ready to head back down the mountain.

There is Alyssa at the bottom and Danny walking up the Y with Tyler.

Danny and Tyler eventually made it to the top, as well, and we took this picture. Camden was so happy to be out of the carrier, even if his only surrounding was dirt. I was too exhausted to care that he was eating it, which is why he has a dirt mustache in this picture.

Going down was almost as hard on our bodies as going up. We were all very dirty and tired afterwards. But at least we don't have to do that one again until the boys are old enough to ask for it(and hopefully by that time they can walk it themselves to give mom and dad a break).

Tyler's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Tyler's 3rd birthday last week. Instead of having a big party, we decided to go swimming, something Tyler loves to do. It was even better because the outdoor part of the pool was open again for the summer. After swimming, we went home and had cake, ice cream, and presents. Tyler loves Spiderman and Toy story. We went with a Spiderman cake because it was easier to design. It was my first attempt at making a cake with fondant. The only disappointment was that my writing icing smeared and the fondant didn't taste very good.

After cake, Tyler opened his presents. He loved getting new toys and clothes.

We got to celebrate his birthday again on Sunday with extended family. He received a few action figures and they immediately became his friends.

He loved having so much attention on himself. He is 29.2 lbs and 36.4 inches. Both about the 25%. He's a little guy, but oh so cute.

Island Park Getaway

The girls finished school on Friday, May 27th. We left almost immediately for Island Park for a Memorial Day weekend getaway. The kids did really well for the car ride. We pulled in a little after 8 that night, unloaded the car, and went to bed. On Saturday, we introduced the kids(and ourselves) to geocaching. We didn't come on our trip prepared with prizes to trade and Ashley was quite upset after our first find, to realize that we didn't actually get to keep the treasure. The first treasure we found was called angry birds, although nothing inside of it was related to angry birds anymore.

Our second find was a book cache. We just looked at it and celebrated for finding it. The third treasure hunt came up empty handed and Ashley finally understood why we can't just take the treasure when we find it.
On Sunday, we decided to make the Sabbath a delight by heading to Yellowstone to enjoy the beauty of God's creations. It was a beautiful day. We explored different parts of the park than we had last time we went(two years ago). We still saw geysers...

but we also saw some pretty amazing waterfalls.

Tyler's favorite thing to do was to throw rocks into any body of water.

We came across this pay phone and asked the girls if they knew what it was. They didn't. Oh, how times have changed in the last 20 years. I didn't even know that these still existed.

 On Monday, we packed up, cleaned, and headed home. It was a fun getaway.