4th of July week

We had an eventful week leading up to the 4th of July.  Here are some highlights. 

Steve got another fan put in by the formal dining room and living room.  Nice work Steve!  Silly Piper trying to hide in our room as we go to bed.  Pretty Lily in the back yard.  The Evans made us a 3D printed hockey stick holder so Steve installed it in the garage.  He also installed a handle bar in Dave/Joann's shower. 

The boys are selling firewood again this Summer.  They went and cut trees down up in the Uintas, then came back and started chopping the wood.  Steve actually let Nyles use the chainsaw this time to actually drop and cut the trees down.

We ordered and put up another sunshade as the other one tore.  The backyard.

Steve took the boys up to the Uintas.  They took a small grill and cooked up hotdogs.  

Rob came up as well.  They also went fishing.

Friday, July 3rd, I went w/ Pauline up to Burley for Anna's baby shower at my parent's place.  Steve stayed home the boys and cleaned and cut firewood.  That afternoon Jeff invited them over to go swimming at the pool.  Cute Piper chewing on her bone and laying on her bed.

Anna opening gifts after we had lunch and played a few games.  Those who came: Anna, Becky, our cousin Angela Buhler Cockrell and our daughter, Barbara, Ava, me, Pauline, Rose, Sophia, mom and Calley.

All 5 of us Sisters and mom.

Pauline and I visited w/ mom and dad a while, then drove home late afternoon.

On Saturday the 4th of July, 4 jets did a flyover across the State of Utah.  They went right over our house in the morning.  A little later, we then drove down to Lehi to Thanksgiving Point to the gardens.  As we were walking in, they flew over again.  It was so awesome!  The refuel jet was w/ them on their way back, and we only saw 3 jets instead of 4 coming back.

We went to Thanksgiving Point's Imaginaria, celebrating 250 years in America after signing the Declaration of Independence.  They went through the history of America w/ fun facts along the walkway.  There were also fun statues and replicas of historic places.  We're so grateful for the beautiful country we live in.  For the freedoms we enjoy, especially religious freedom.  We're grateful for those who came before us to make this all possible.

American 250!

Cute Hudson by an Army truck.  Flags on the lawn.  The Statue of Liberty.

Mount Rushmore, Liberty Bell, Lincoln Memorial.

Then a fun slide.  Though it was getting really hot and they weren't sliding very well as the water and bubbles were drying out too fast ;)

Showing gratitude to our veterans.  I wrote Dexter's name and put it up, Steve put his mission buddy's name Eric Seamons on the wall.  Cool cake. 

Cool ship, space, and the boys jumping for a bit.

Arches and pretty flowers.

Then Saturday night, we watched the Sandy Parade, as Nyles was in the marching band w/ Alta High School.  He practiced all week from 8am to noon.  They allow middle schoolers to join for the week during the Summer, which is awesome.  Nyles rode over to the parade earlier w/ our neighbors, the Hamiltons. 3 of their kids were in the parade (Anna on the piccolo, Jacob, who is also in middle school, plays the trombone, and their oldest son James, who helps direct the band).  We met up w/ other neighbors the Marcinowskis to watch the parade.

At the parade.  They threw out a lot of candy.

Carter, Hudson, and Timbo.

Here comes the marching band.  They were basically last, but definitely the biggest and best band!

Anna on the piccolo and Nyles on the flute behind her 2 rows.

Nyles in the marching band, in the Sandy parade.

The kids did a few quick activities right after the parade, then we went to Sam's club to pick up a watermelon for family dinner the next day, and a few other things.

Since it's so dry this year, and we've already had so many fires this year, the state of Utah banned all fireworks, except by organized cities.  After getting groceries, we came home.  I made sugar cookies in the shape of a star.  We then added whip cream and fruit to make mini fruit pizzas.  

Star fruit pizzas, yumm!

Sunday was fast Sunday.  There was a worldwide fast for religious freedoms.

After church and lunch, we drove up to Silver Lake.  A large American flag in the canyon.

Going up beautiful Big Cottonwood Canyon.

It was a beautiful day up at Silver Lake.  Pretty flowers along the way.

Steve and I went to Silver Lake when we were dating, so it's extra special to us.

Beautiful views, a duck, and a beaver in the lake.

The beaver was hilarious and HUGE!  He came strolling out of the lake w/ moss dragging from his body.  He saw people and then turned around and went back in the lake.

Big beaver coming out to Silver Lake.

A hawk and more ducks.  Cute Steve.

Butterfly, baby ducks, and the hawk.

The boys just had to climb up the rock wall.  After we were done, we drove up Guardman's Pass to go to Midway, since we were having family dinner there.

Beautiful views going up to Guardman's Pass.  

This is where Steve proposed to me (October 3, 2008).  It's also a special place to us :)

Hudson and Nyles fell asleep on the way down.  A few deer as we got closer to Melanie's house.  

Family dinner.

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4th Week of June

We had a busy last full week of June.  Here are some highlights.

Monday morning, June 22nd, we drove Nyles and Conor down to FSY at Snow College in Ephraim.  I took the day off work so I could go w/ them.  It's been a while since I've been down there, so I wanted to see it.  Plus, they're now building a temple in Ephraim, and I wanted to see that as well.

Dropping Nyles and Conor off at Snow College, at the dorms.

After we dropped them off, we went to McDonald's to get some lunch, then explored Snow's Campus.

I showed the boys some of the buildings I used to use as a Snow College Ambassador.  

We also found my old apartment (it looks exactly the same from the outside 23 years later).

We went to the Bell Tower and the Student Center (where I used to meet prospective students as an Ambassador and give them tours of the campus).  The boys found the Badger.  We also found the Ephraim Temple, which is only a block from where my old apartment is and across from the stadium.  It will be dedicated on October 11th, which is super exciting!

We then drove home (pretty scenery).  Our neighbor Sarah Nelson gave Nyles a treat and thanked him for his talk he gave on Father's Day.  Tuesday night, Steve took the young men's up to Silver Lake for their activity.  They saw a few deer and a moose.  It's so pretty up there.

We went swimming at Dave and Joann's place.  

Steve is working on teaching Carter and Hudson how to swim better as the rec center was a bust.

It was a little cool, but we managed to swim for a while.

Steve took Diane to get her cataracts done on Wednesday.

Hudson was drawing a dinosaur while we were at the chiropractor.  Steve put in a new ceiling fan in our living room.  Steve took Dave to his heart ablation procedure on Thursday.  He was gone most of the day w/ him.  I was thankfully working from home and kept the boys busy doing things like puzzles.  We had the sister missionaries over that night, and they shared a message w/ us.

Saturday morning, at 5am, Steve met Phill off the freeway and drove down w/ him to pick up Nyles and Conor at Snow College, finishing up FSY.  They went and had breakfast at McDonalds afterwards, then they drove back.  They got home around 9:30am.  Nyles said he had an awesome time and can't wait to go back!  We're grateful he was able to go and had a positive experience.  He said he learned he feels the Spirit through music.  I'm definitely the same way.

Nyles and Conor and their FSY group.  

Pretty Day Lilies in bloom now and pears.

Dave's older brother Mike McGrath, passed away Monday morning.  Dave called us right after we dropped the boys off at FSY.  They had his funeral on Saturday afternoon, which we went to.

Rob's birthday was on Sunday, so we had him over for dinner.  I made chicken noodle soup and brownies for dessert.  Steve and Rob also went over to Nathan Hong's place (a guy they did Trek w/ last summer), and they had pie.  We also played a few games (Sleeping Queens and Flip 7).

Happy Birthday to Rob!

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3rd Week of June

Here are some highlights from the 3rd week of June. 

Pretty Daisies in bloom in our front yard.  Carter took a street hockey class for 2 days.  He loved it!

Steve took the boys up to the Uintas to cut some firewood so they can sell it.

It's so beautiful up there!

The firewood they cut.  On Tuesday, Mark Gasper came down from Idaho to visit.  

That night we went to the Jordan River Temple and did a session together.

On Wednesday, they went up to Lagoon for the day.  Rob met them there also.

Apparently, it wasn't busy at all, so they were able to ride all the rides they wanted to, as many times as they wanted to (aka hardly any lines).  They got soaked multiple times on Rattlesnake Rapids.

They had a lot of fun!

Good times!

Peacock w/ its babies.  On their way out.  Mark drove back to Idaho after they were done.  

Hudson back at home w/ his snake in bed.

Thursday evening, we went up to Deer Creek to go camping for a couple of nights.  

The boys wanted s'mores of course.

We got some solar-powered lights as well, which were fun to light up our campsite.

S'more time!

Getting ready for bed.  Piper likes to sleep by Carter on his bed.

Hudson up on top w/ the new window Steve installed.  Nyles on the bottom bunk.

The boys the next morning.  Hudson in the hammock.  Eating breakfast.

We then drove up to the cabin and helped clean and get the cabin ready to list to sale.

We stayed several hours, then came back and went kayaking/paddleboarding on Deer Creek.

We had a fun time!

The boys wanted to jump in and swim for a while.

We drove over to Heber to get a treat.  We had a BEAUTIFUL sunset on our way back.

Then more s'mores, though we had to make them from the stove as we couldn't have campfires the 2nd night.  There are fire restrictions already.  Ironically, there was a fire that started in Eureka, UT over night (we could smell the smoke all night) and smoke was blowing our way.

We played a few round of Sleeping Queens, Hudson's new favorite game.

We came back Saturday morning.  Hudson and Carter had a water balloon fight w/ Beau Evans.

We had dinner w/ Dave and Joann Sunday night for Father's Day.  Diane's house is coming along.  Nyles got an award for being on the honor roll again (all year actually).  Awesome job!

Father's Day was Sunday, June 14th.  Nyles spoke in church and Carter and Hudson sang w/ the Primary.  Dave and Joann came to our church building to watch/listen.  Diane also was able to listen in via Zoom.  We had dinner that night at Dave/Joann's place w/ the family.

A link to Nyles' talk.  I like what he said, "The Lord expects effort from us. He doesn't ask us to sit still. He asks us to move forward with faith." We're so thankful for all our fathers here on Earth, and our Heavenly Father.

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