July 19th through July 25th

This week we spent time on a "Staycation" with Bryan's family. Each day we visited some local sites and enjoyed fun being together. It was a busy, fun week...but oh so hot. The heat definitely didn't bring out the best in all of us by the end of the day but we did manage to have lots of fun throughout the week.

Sunday, July 19th

Sunday dinners at one of the grandparents house is a week tradition. We enjoy getting together with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents for food, games, FHE, and catching up on each other lives. It's a great way to stay close as a family.

Monday, July 20th





Today we went to Casade Springs and toured the pools and scenery. We had a picnic in the canyon and then stopped off at Aspen Grove's BYU Creamery for some ice cream. On the way home, we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls and cooled our feet in the ice cold water. It was fun to go to Casade Springs...I haven't been their for many years but remember going there as a child. I remember the smells of that park...similar to Yellowstone. I scanned a childhood picture of me and mom and younger sister there. Fun memories.

Tuesday, July 21st



Second on the Staycation schedule was boating at Pine View Reservior. This was my kids favorite day of the whole week I think. Ben loved playing in the sand and water and even went out on the tube that Uncle Shaun pulled behind his boat. He loved it and couldn't get enough! Natalie wasn't sure about any of it at first but we talked in to going in Grandpa's fishing boat and then the big boat. She even decided she try the tube too and loved it! It was fun day in the sun and we all came home tired and a little sunburned.


Wednesday, July 22nd



Today was a bit of a struggle for us. Still tired from a big day of boating, Ben and Natalie were a bit on the grumpy side. We visited the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway and then the Church History Museum at Temple Square. We cooled off with a drink from McDonald's as we watched some of the construction going on downtown. We then watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and ate dinner at the Lion House Pantry. The heat definitely got the best of us today but all in all we enjoyed the day.

Thursday, July 23rd



Today we enjoyed some cooler temperatures as we traveled up to Snowbird to ride the tram. At the top of the mountain it was about 20 degrees cooler than in the valley and it sure helped with yesterday's moodiness. If was beautiful scenery, there was even still some snow drifts still melting up that high. We hiked down a bit and rode the chair lift back down. I was nervous to ride with my 2 kids alone, but Grandma Cindy jumped on with us and my kids didn't think twice the height. Again, gorgeous views and a nice cool breeze. After a picnic lunch, we toured the Living Planet Aquarium and got to see their new addition with fish and frogs and snakes from South America.

Friday, July 24th





To celebrate Pioneer Day today, we had a family breakfast and Grandpa and Grandma Cindy's church bowery and then played some water relay races at their house. The kids loved the games and it was a fun morning. Later in the day with headed to Nana and Grandpa's to have a BBQ and fireworks with some other cousins.

Saturday, July 25th



For our final Stacation event, we went bowling at All Star Lanes and then out to lunch at Mountain Mike's Pizza Place. Everyone enjoyed bowling and eating pizza together. We even managed to get a few strikes and spares...Ben won the game of course!

July 12 through July 18th

Another theme for the week...places we frequent.

Sunday, July 12th



Church of course. We've lived out here for 7 years and have been in several wards and a couple of stakes and 3 different buildings. The rapid growth in Herriman meant frequent ward and stake splits or boundary changes. We've been in our current ward for a few years now and have been at this building for a couple of years. We love our ward and friends and neighbors.

Monday, July 13th



The local library. This is a temporary location until a full size library is built in Herriman. We usually make it here once a week for a fresh load of books, movies, and CD's.

Tuesday, July 14th



The grocery store. Herriman's growing by the minute and we're lucky to have a few more things close my. This is a neighborhood Smith's and we love to shop here. It's clean and organized, we usually see someone we know, and the produce is great! My kids love riding in the truck carts or pushing the mini carts around if we can find one.

Wednesday, July 15th



Target. It seems like we end up here at least once a week. I love the dollar section in the store and can usually find something great in it. The kids love checking out the toy aisles, and usually beg to buy something. Unfortuntely they often win!

Thursday, July 16th



The park. When weather and time permit, my kids love to make it to the park. There are several in the area and we rotate which one we visit. They love the parks with swings. We discovered a "secret park" last summer that's enclosed in some open space behind some house. You have to walk there and it's not visible from the road...hense the name "secret park". It's one of our favorites, however when the weather's hot we love the splash park!

Friday, July 17th



The neighborhood...we love our friends and neighbors and love hanging out in the front yard visiting with everyone hanging outside as well. It's great to live in a community with lots of great families around to rub shoulders with.

Saturday, July 18th

Nana and Grandpa's house...we clean an office building for extra money on Saturday's. Fortunately it's near my parents home and the kids can play there while Bryan and I clean. My kids can never get enough of Nana and Grandpa's house...there's always lots of toys, treats, juice, games, movies, jumping on the trampoline and time with Aunt Sissa!

July 5th through July 11th

When I began this 365 blog I thought it would be fun to have themes for some of my weeks but have yet to do any. So finally, now that it's July, I am having a theme week for my pics of the day. The theme this week is "Summer Favorites"!

Sunday, July 5th



Our first summer favorite of the week is summer clothes...sundresses, sandals, shorts, and swimsuits! Natalie loves skirts and sundresses and here she is in a super cute one...I love the yellow orange color. She's not always interested in dresses but when she wears them she's often twirling and dancing. If's she's not in a dress or skirt and the mood strikes her to dance, she'll ask to change clothes to accomodate the mood..."I need a skirt so I can dance, Mom!"

Monday, July 6th



2nd Summer Favorite...swimming pools and sprinklers! Today, I helped a friend clean and organize her pantry and kitchen cupboards. The kids were so good that when we finally got home about 4 hours later, I told them they could choose something fun to do. Our dinosaur swimming pool and slides was their choice and it was a perfect way to cool off and relax!

Tuesday, July 7th



3rd Summer Favorite...Snow Cones. Last summer we bought a little electric snow cone maker and a few flavored syrups and have enjoyed making homemade snowcones ever sinces. Natalie even asks for them in the winter if she sees the little machine in the cupboard. It was our bedtime snack after a hot day!

Wednesday, July 8th



4th Summer Favorite...playing outside after dinner and later bedtimes. "The sun's still awake Mommy, so why do we have to go to bed?" This is a frequent question at our house during the summer. We often head outside to play when it cools off a bit and it's hard to bring them in for a usual bedtime. Oh well...staying up later and meant a little bit of sleeping in which is also unusual at our house so I'll enjoy every minute I get!

Thursday, July 9th



5th Summer Favorite...family walks on "the path". If we're not playing outside then we're going for walks around the block or up the path...the path is a paved trail up a gully down the street. It's full of weeds and bugs and our kids love racing us up the hill...just watch our for barking dogs in the houses nearby! They love picking these giant dandelion type weeds and making big wishes!

Friday, July 10th



6th Summer Favorite...playing in the water. If it's not the pool it's the neighborhood splash park, squirt guns or even the hose is a favorite toy!

Saturday, July 11th



7th Summer Favorite...fresh fruit and garden veggies. We've had a slow start with our garden due the lots of rain, cool weather and hail. But we have enjoyed fresh lettuce and peas and are looking forward to tomatoes, zuccihni, pumpkins, and carrots. A friend and neighbor let us come over today and pick fresh raspberries. They were delicious! I loved just standing in their garden smelling the raspberries...very fragrant. I was a fun treat.

June 28th through July 4th

Sunday, June 28th




Sunday's are difficult days for me to remember or think of something to photograph for some reason. So I asked the kids to help me think of something to take a picture of for today...here's what they came up with...cute, huh? Actually they really are cute, sweet kids that I'm so thankful to have in my life!

Monday, June 29th



The kids decided to get out all our Little People stuff and make a Little People city. It was fun to watch them set it up and play...and sometimes fight! When I was a kid we had lots of Little People sets and played with them often. My Mom has even kept them all these years and the grandkids love playing with them at here house or checking them out and bringing them home.

Tuesday, June 30th



This is one of my kids favorite "non-toys" to play with...the laundry baskets. I have a pair of deep laundry baskets that I love...they're actually called "lampers". Anyway, Ben and Natalie both love using them as houses, boats, cars, ect. when they're not full of laundry.

Wednesday, July 1st


We invited Trent and Jamie and their kids to come to the splash park with us today. It was a hot day and they all had fun cooling off in the water and playing on the playground.

Thursday, July 2nd



Ben was in charge of the picture today...this is what he chose. He had been playing with his Star Wars costume earlier in the day and laid it out carefully then took a picture. He loves playing Star Wars alone or with friends and can sometimes get Natalie to play with him too.

Friday, July 3rd

The yard is making a nice comeback after the hailstorm about a month ago. I hopefull that we'll actually get to harvest something is the weather doesn't decide to provide any more catastrophe's!


Saturday, July 4th



We had a great 4th of July holiday today. We went swimming at Uncle Steve's pool in the afternoon and then headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Cindy's for a BBQ, S'mores, and fireworks. We had a fun day and were all tuckered out by the time we got home. The kids are usually in bed by the time fireworks start...this was the first year we actually let them stay up to watch them. We enjoyed seeing them go off all over the valley as we drove home that night. Natalie wasn't so sure about the fireworks at first...she asked me "Mommy, when is it going to get happy?". She wasn't so sure about the loud noises and bright lights but by the end of the night she was on the front row with the other kids.

June 21st through June 27th

Sunday, June 21st


The day finally arrived...we left for Disneyland at 5:20am! We met up with my parents and Jeff and Amber in St. George and then continued on. We ran into traffic after Las Vegas and it took FOREVER to finally reach our destination. It took 2 extra hours to get there. It was a long 12 hours in the car. When we finally got there, we were all ready to go to bed!

Monday, June 22nd



Here we are at the beginning of the day...waiting for the gates to open. We got there early and were surprised at how light the crowds were at first. We walked onto pretty much all the Fantasyland rides. We had a really fun day taking in several rides and characters. Back at the hotel...Ben and Natalie crashed.

They fell asleep while I was reading them stories. They were so tuckered out it left me wondering if we could survive 3 more days!

Tuesday, June 23rd



We spent some time in ToonTown this afternoon and ran into a few charaters. Minnie was signing autographs on her front porch.

Wednesday, June 24th



Everyone was together today...Trent and Jamie arrived Tuesday night. We got to the park early and were lucky enough to be the "opening family". We got into the gates before everyone else and got to help count down to the opening of the park. We took in the Fantasyland rides together and even got Ben and Natalie on the Matternhorn. Later in the evening, we met up for the parade. Disney thinks of everything and had a game patrol for the kids while we waited. Although it was just simple games like Duck Duck Goose and Simon Says, I'll bet my kids remember it over other bigger things.

Thursday, June 25th



We were fortunate to meet Mickey today at California Adventure. This is the first time in our 4 trips to Disneyland with the kids that we have done autograph books. The kids were so glad to add Mickey to their books.

Friday, June 26th




We headed for the beach on our way out of town...so relaxing after the hustle and bustle of Disneyland. It was a bit cool and overcast and we didn't have much time to spend there but the kids loved the sand and Ben and Bryan built a great sandcastle together.

Saturday, June 27th



We almost forgot to take our traditional family photo in front of the flower Mickey at the front gate. This was us leaving after four fun days at the park. It's always nice to go home but a bit sad to leave and not know when you'll make it back. Ben's already talking about next year's trip. For know we've got loads of laundry to conquer and the lawn needs to be baled. Back to everyday life!

June 14th through June 20th

Sunday, June 14th



Today's the last Sunday before we leave for Disneyland and since I'm bad a remembering to take pictures on Sunday, I'll post another photo from last year's trip.

Monday, June 15th

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House today. Such a beautiful temple. We're so blessed to have 2 new temples so close to us.



Tuesday, June 16th



We're celebrating my Mom's 60th Birthday and Father's Day for my Dad while we're in California. I made these "Exploding Boxes" to give them one night with a tribute inside..."60 Things We Love and Celebrate About You". All my siblings put together a list of 60 things we love about each of our parents...humorous and serious. I found a pattern to make the boxes a while ago but finally got around to using it for something. I inspired to make more!

Wednesday, June 17th



Natalie felt like making her own lunch today...a PB and J sandwich...with butter on top. Ben did it once Mom, so why can't I? Yum, Yum!

Thursday, June 18th

Today is our 11th Anniversary...it's been a wonderful 11 years. This a picture from our wedding day. Our newlywed days seem like another life...days living in our apartment in Poplar Grove, still in school, no kids, driving Bessie and the Geo and working at different jobs and internships. 11 years later we now have 2 kids, a house, a new car, careers... and life is good. I can't wait to see what another 11 years will bring! Love you Bryan.

Friday, June 19th



Last minute T-shirts for the trip...all the cousins have some. They turned out pretty cute. Jamie found some on Etsy for $20+...we made them for about $5 each. A Walmart t-shirt and some Avery Iron On sheets and a few minutes later we had some Mickey and Minnie shirts!

Saturday, June 20th



More rain...it seriously feels like we moved to Seattle or something! Intermitten down pours and cool temperatures has us feeling so ready to head to sunny California tomorrow! Disneyland here we come...please have sun!