Summer

So our Summer was a lot of fun and our vacation even funner. We were gone for a little over five weeks. We drove out and went to St. George first. We went to splash pads, the lake, the farm. And we hung out with family a lot. I was lucky enough to see my friends to. The kids had a great time having sleepovers with their cousins. We also went to beaver for a few days. It was nice to escape the heat. Then we made our way slowly to Idaho, making a few day stops at families houses. We picked up Justin from the airport and went to McCall. We had a lot of nice beach days and boating. Both the girls skied this year. Justin couldn't be prouder. A boat is trying to sneak it's way into our lives a lot sooner now. Justin also did his first triathlon while we were there. He did the sprint and enjoyed it. He also learned from it and knows what to do different next time. After a couple of weeks of that, we finally made our way home. Thank you to all those that opened you homes up to us. It was so great to see everyone and we are looking forward to next year.

         

Tough Mudder

On Saturday, I headed up to Merrimac Wisconsin to participate in a Tough Mudder competition with some guys from work and church.  It was a blast.  It is a 10 mile military style obstacle course.  Here is a link to the course to take a peek.  The event was pretty crazy and I couldn't believe how many other crazy people turned up.  I think they had 8-10k people on Saturday and another 5-7k that are participating today.  I am not sure what possessed me to do it but I would definitely do it again.  I brought my little indestructible Olympus camera and got a couple of pictures.  Some of them are a little foggy because I couldn't get all the mud off the lens.  Enjoy. 

Blair, Glen, Scott, Jason, and Me

Blair and me before the Berlin Wall

Blair under the wire

Me after the barbed-wire

I didn't get a picture of the whole group at the end because my battery ran out.  I guess we'll have to see if they post any pictures from the event.

Nauvoo

Over Memorial weekend we took a small road trip to Nauvoo. I had never been so it was a lot of fun. Layla loved it. Even walking through the houses, when there was no prize! The kids had been asking when they would get to go on vacation(our friends went on "vacation" to Disney world). Luckily they thought that was good enough to be vacation. Justin's parents went with us and it was a lot of fun. Plus really nice to have 4 adults to 3 kids. I like those odds. Steve and Mary Ann, Thanks a ton for such a fun time and for all your hard work in our yard.(I was a slave driver the rest of their visit, making them do all our landscaping.)

                                                  On the Wagon ride through Nauvoo

                                                                   Petting the horses

                                                                        The Temple

                                                                     My little posers

                                                                     Isn't it Beautiful?

                          The kids play area. Isn't Urban the most dashing little pioneer boy?

                                                              My little homemakers.

                                                   Justin trying the stilts. I was way better at it than him.

                                                                        Ride that pony!

                         Layla was so into everything. Here she is marching with the missionaries.

       She got chosen to be the helper in all the demonstrations. Here she is oiling the wagon wheel.

Carthage.

Preschool Graduation

Hazel graduated from preschool at the end of May. It was a really cute program and Hazel did a great job. Not to brag, but her teacher told me that she put her in the front because she was one of the best. She was really excited about it and was singing the songs and doing all the moves at home. She was also really excited because G&G Walker were able to be here for it. Here are the pics.Grandma brought this outfit with her for Hazel. There was no way to get her to wear anything else. It didn't really match the shirts they made but she was happy. Whatever it takes, Huh?