Katie and Cameron's wedding

The reason we ended up staying so long in UT this year was because Brad's sister Katie got married on August 2. Here she is with her now-husband Cameron at the luau his family threw the night before their wedding.


They got married in the SLC temple, so of course I had to take this picture...


Casey, Haley, and Becky on the temple grounds.


Kim, Zach, Brad, and Dave waiting around for pictures.


Aunt Kathy, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Bruce


It was a GREAT day, and I was so glad we were able to be there. Cameron seems like a true gentleman and Katie was glowing all summer as she got ready for the wedding. She was truly a beautiful bride (for more pictures, go to http://blushphotography.blogspot.com/search/label/Bridals - her photographer was amazing!)

We love you Katie and Cameron!

More Bear Lake

After spending the good part of a week at Bear Lake with my family, we moved over to spend another week with Brad's family at the lake. It was very relaxing and fun to laze around with them on the beach and watch some of the kids waterski for the first time.

Casey and Luke - Cool on the boat!

A typical afternoon at the beach.

Lots of sand structures were constructed and destroyed. Here are Pep, Jess, Adam, Ellie, Tiana, Isaac (hidden) and Taevyn with their masterpiece-of-the-day.

We spent some quality time on the boat, too. Here is Brad's sister Haley with her tired daughter Livvy. I guess all the sun and fun got to her.

We had some children's water skis that are shorter and hooked together to make them easier to control. Brad spent about 2 1/2 hours floating in the lake one afternoon while he helped a bunch of the kids learn to water ski. There was a lot of success; every child that wanted to went out and was able to get up (with Uncle Brad giving them a hefty shove on the back after they called "Hit it"). Some of the kids even stayed up and went for a while on their own, while Brad got further and further away.

Pepper was the champion - he could have stayed up and skied around the entire lake if he hadn't been so concerned about abandoning his dad (you can see Brad floating off in the distance).

Jess was an old pro. She actually got up and did some skiing last summer, so this year it was old hat.

Ellie was very gung-ho to give water skiing a try. She jumped in with a big grin on her face and kept trying and trying until she was able to get up and stay up.

Emma was the smallest and possibly the cutest waterskier out there! She just popped up like she could walk on water and hung out like it was no big deal.

Isaac's competitive spirit didn't let him give up, especially after his kid sister Emma made it look so easy. This was one of his many tries and he did great!

(Becky, you will note that I did not include any pictures of you scurfing with the kids, even though the pictures were very cute. I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I made for you and your vanity.)

It is so funny that both Brad's and my families have a Bear Lake tradition. We both grew up spending a week up at the lake every summer with our extended families. Now, we get to spend two weeks every summer, and our kids think it is the best place on earth (which is quite possibly is!).

Cabin time

This year, we started off our Bear Lake Marathon at the cabin with my family. One thing I enjoy about my family's Bear Lake time is that we don't spend all our time at the beach doing water stuff (confession: I HATE to be wet). We also did some fun things up at the cabin...


Jami brought t-shirts and fabric paints and each of the kids made their own Bear Lake shirt.


I actually helped Luke make his "Beach Bum" shirt. It is so fun to have a child young enough to be the unwitting "butt" of my jokes!


Do you love Kate's "bikini"?


Whitney brought some beads for the kids to make bracelets and necklaces. (although, to tell the truth, Mike seemed to enjoy this activity even more than the kids. I think he would make a great Enrichment Leader...)


The guys all gussied up and trying to look tough for the annual paintballing match (ok Mike, I guess you can still carry your man card - YAYYY!!!)

All in all, I thought our Bear Lake trip was a huge success. I truly enjoyed hanging out with my family, even when the festivities went late into the night. We celebrated my 39th birthday by leaving all the kids at the cabin with their dads while my mom, sisters, and sisters-in-law went to see "Chuck Wagon" at the Pickleville Playhouse. I will not soon forget Juanito Bandito and his cheesy smile - his rap number was truly one of the funniest things I have ever seen!

Thanks everyone for making Bear Lake my favorite vacation. I feel so lucky to have a family that actually LIKES being together!

Beach time!

We did spend time at the beach, too, which was actually delightful. We rented some waverunners, and I saw my life flash before my eyes when I went on one with Jessica and let her drive. She is truly an adrenaline-junkie - she went so fast, I really couldn't believe it! I had to keep reminding her I am a mother of four, so I couldn't die that day!



Of course, my favorite part of any beach day is the Red Vines and gossip!



The kids all had a great time playing in the water with their cousins. (when I say playing, I really mean rolling around on the beach and getting sand in their nether-regions)


Chase, Monica, Jessica, and Makell


Jayce, Adam, Austin, and Tess


THE MEN (that's for you, Jen and Jami)

Luker turns 2!

For Luke's second birthday, we went to the park for a little party. It wasn't a huge hoop-la, but I think Luker had fun.




What an adorable two-year-old! Our family would be so boring without Luker!

Children's Museum

While Jess was gone at her horse camp, I told Pepper and Adam we would have "Boy Week", which meant we did what the boys wanted to do all week. Pepper's big request was that we visit the Children's Museum, so we invited Jami and Austin and spent a day hanging out in SLC.



Pepper liked all the ways he could pretend he was a grown-up. Here he is shopping at the store and delivering mail - you know, all the really fun things grown-ups get to do.



Adam was more interested in figuring out how things work. I think he could have played in the water structures all day.


Of course, it isn't fun until Mom humiliates you. We spent a little time in the area where kids can put on little plays, and I forced Adam to put on this costume. You can see by the look on his face how thrilled he was about that!

Jessica's horse camp

This year, Jess went to Meadow Vue Ranch, a working ranch near Island Park, ID that lets young people come stay for a week or two and ride horses non-stop. She had a wonderful time!

Here she is on her horse Vern. She rode and cared for Vern all week. (make sure you notice her sassy red cowboy boots, complete with spurs!)


Jess went to horse camp with her friend Braedyn. Braedyn's horse was named Magpie, and she told us Magpie had a reputation for being the brattiest horse on the ranch. Braedyn didn't agree, though, and fell in love with Magpie. Both girls were so sad to leave their horses at the end of the week.


Part of the camp experience included participating in rodeos on Wed, Fri, and Sat nights. Jessica's favorite rodeo event was Pole Racing, where she rode Vern weaving twice through six poles. Doesn't she look like a regular rodeo princess waving on horseback?


Braedyn's mom Julie and sister Lauren came with me on Saturday night to pick up the girls. We got to watch the evening's rodeo, and Lauren won her first rodeo trophy! They had an event for children 9 and under where they tied a ribbon to a calf's tail and let the kids chase down the terrified calf until one of them snatched the ribbon. Here is Lauren holding what we referred to as her "Poopy Ribbon." It was a proud moment for all of us!


After the rodeo, we ate a big barbeque steak dinner and then watched the girls do some line dancing to the live cowboy music. Just look at the valley stretching out beyond the ranch. It was a true western scene, the kind of place you can't believe exists anymore. During their stay at camp, the girls spent time trail-riding through those beautiful hills and even rounded up cows. We got to meet some of the friends they made at camp, and it sounds like they had an amazing week.

Sparkler Party

After the fireworks show, we pulled out the sparklers. The kids did the usual sparkler thing and wrote their names in the air. Here are a few pictures of their work:


"J" for Jessica


Monica


Adam writing as fast as he can.


Pepper


Makell, mid-"A"

July 4th Fireworks

Rather than fighting the crowds to watch fireworks, we decided to do our own in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. Grandpa got out the old door (a staple) and we started with snakes.


Before we started, Mike was quite concerned about the safety of setting off our own fireworks. However, it didn't take long for him to join Jeremy as the official Fireworks Guys.


Nothing beats a fireworks show in your own backyard. We all just had to pull up a soft, comfy chair, and there was no trouble finding a parking space.


(the kids weren't really as bored as they look in this picture)



Luker was terrified of the fireworks. This is exactly the position he was in the entire night.

July 4th Festivities

This year we went to the big July 4th parade in Provo. I usually try to avoid this parade because it is so crowded, so long, and so hot. But this year we were pleasantly surprised. We got up early to go to the Hot-Air Balloon show at 6 a.m. (ok, this was a disappointment. We had to fight a lot of crowds just to watch a few balloons float up into the sky - we won't do that again) but getting up early meant we got a great, shady spot to watch the parade on University Ave, and we only parked about a block away. Plus we were near restrooms - always good!

One thing that makes UT parades superior to the parades back home are the number of floats and high school marching bands. The year we went to a 4th of July parade in MI, we were supremely disappointed. The majority of parade entries were classic cars and random trucks decorated to advertise local businesses. We greatly prefer the floats honoring city pageant royalty, with Miss Small Town and her attendants dressed in matching sequinned gowns, smiling their pageant smiles and waving in perfect figure-eights. And any successful parade should have as many high school marching bands as possible, preceded by the sweaty flag-girl team made up of cheerleading wannabees with bad posture. This may sound sarcastic, but I am truly serious - I love these parts of a parade!





See how happy I am? That is because this year's parade was reasonably short (less than 2 hours) and shady.


That evening, my family all gathered at my parents' house for a barbeque. Mom had hosted a wedding in her backyard the night before, so we had a big tent to eat under. (Don't look at Jami - she is an embarrassment)