Fun times in June and July

The sandbox continues to provide lots of fun! 

My dad sent me this picture one night. It was a Veteran's Day concert I was in at the University of Utah when I was in high school (probably in 2002 or 2003). Not sure why they were playing it on TV, But it was fun to see me in my choir robes =) 

Brett is growing a lot right now and he is getting dangerously close to catching up to me! 

Our county library system hosts a OWL camp each year for kids 11-17. Alana got to go to the first year camp this year and Brett went to the fourth year camp. They go all out and decorate like crazy. They sort the kids into houses and then have classes throughout the day with magical creatures and potions, and herbology. It was a lot of fun! 

The kids helped me clean out our books. We went through and had lots to give away that we aren't enjoying anymore. I put them on my front lawn and told the Relief Society to come grab what they want. Most of them were gone and it was fun to see people come throughout the day. 

Sean is keeping his full beard from Trek =) 

Brett at OWL camp. 

During one of the hard trek days I told Grace and Alana I would take them to get a manicure when we got back. Kari came too and it was so fun to get pampered a little! 

Sean and I attended the St. Marks graduation dinner this year. He is no longer able to be a guest attending there because of some licensing issues and the cost of a license for him to co-sign notes with the residents. He misses it and it was fun to see some of the residents he has helped to teach. The dinner was at the aquarium and we got to go see the penguins. There were two babies that were so cute! We both had butternut squash ravioli which was really yummy! 

Brett and I made some hand pies one Sunday from our Harry Potter cook book. They were delicious and a lot of fun to make together. We started a bit late and ended up being late for a BBQ hosted by Brian and Jill, haha! We made it though and had a great time eating hamburgers and playing games with Jill and the kids. 

I was on the treadmill one morning and Oreo snuggled up with all the stuffed animals in the basement. Can you spot him in the first picture? 

He is under the table =) 

Alana got a phone! We had an emergency line on our account because thats how it worked to get the plan we have and we knew she would need a phone eventually. We also had an old phone that wasn't being used. So we went to the AT&T store and got the line on the phone. The plan was for her to get a phone in middle school, but with me going to work full time next year and with the girls wanting to walk home or go to the park after school, I wanted to be able to talk with Alana easier. This is the first selfie she took to send to her friend Grace. 

We went to Jurassic Jungle with Kaden, Lexi, and Rebecca. The kids had a lot of fun playing together and then we got ice cream after. We love these cousins! 

We went to the zoo with Kari, Eli, Grace, and Graham. One favorite was the Colobus monkeys, especially the tiny baby who kept bouncing all around the adults! 

There was a whole new area there about native Utah animals. It was really cool to see! 

The polar bear is my favorite!! He was swimming right up to the glass again this year! 

Lizzie in the log:

Lizzie in the log and everyone else on top of the log. 

Graham and Lizzie on the Rhino. 

We rode the carousel twice, ate pizza, saw lots of animals, and had lots of fun! 

We also made wild flower seed bombs with clay, soil, and seeds. We need to put them out on the trail by our house. 

I am thankful everyday that we live next to the Ellis Family. I know that Heavenly Father directed both of our families to these houses so that we could be friends. I couldn't ask for better friends for each of my kids and for Sean and I! 

The Saffron family dropped by for dinner on Thursday night. We haven't seen them since November so it was so good to get together! They are expecting a baby next November and wanted to share with us the gender. They had some cute toilet paper rolls that they filled with baking soda and food dye. Then Alana and Lizzie poured vinegar in and they foamed up pink! We are so excited for them to have another little lady in their house. 

They brought their dog Luna with them and she was such a fun little house guest. She LOVED the guinea pig and really really wanted to play with it! Oreo was so polite and happy to have her here. 

We didn't have a family vacation planned for the summer this year. With Trek in June and the girls camp for Alana and FSY for Brett it didn't make a lot of sense. We also have a big cruise scheduled for October too. A few years ago Neil and Rebecca's family went to Snowbird for a little summer get away. I looked it up and was able to get a nice room for the night of July 4th. We dropped Oreo off at my parents house on July 4th morning and then we drove up to Snowbird. It's only about 30-45 min away just up Little Cottonwood Canyon. We arrived right at 11 and the kids found a pond to skip rocks on while Sean and I went to find the kiosk where we could get our passes. I bought us each a two-day unlimited passes and all the activities started at 11. We went on a few trails and played at a playground and then went to the Snowbird Center area and rode the 

Mountain Coaster. It was looking like it might rain so one of the ladies told us to quickly go do the alpine slide before it rained. We got to ride a little lift called the chickadee up to the top and then we rode the slide back down. We did rock climbing, had lunch, and did a bit of shopping. It started to lightning and thunder so the activities closed down, so we went to find our hotel. It was quite the hike and adventure to find the reservation desk, but we eventually made it and got checked into our loft room. At that point it started pouring rain and hail. Sean and I went to get our car with our luggage, but had to wait a little for the rain to die down a bit. We got our luggage and chilled for a little bit before going back to try and do activities. The lighting was still going on so we went to our dinner reservation early. We ate at a restaurant called 1971. That is the year the resort opened and the restaurant is themed very cute with all 70's decor and fancy comfort food. The kids got chicken, pizza, and macaroni and Sean got some butternut squash soup and I had an oriental chicken salad. The food was yummy and the view was beautiful. We tried to do a tram ride after dinner, but the lighting said no so we headed back to the room. After a while the lighting and thunder had cleared and we went swimming. We had the pool all to ourselves and the water was so warm. The water in the hot tub was almost too hot for me which is saying something! 

As we were trying to find the reception desk we came in from the back of the hotels because we were on foot not car. We wandered around some basements and joked about these long dark halls and haunted hotels. It really wasn't super clear how to get there, but after a little hike and some rock climbing we found it. I guess next time we will drive to the entrance instead of walking up there =) 

Heres the main level of our hotel room. 

The view from our balcony! 

The hail!

The pool! 

The 1971 restaurant:

I didn't actually take a picture of the upstairs. There were two queen beds and a bathroom. The girls and Sean and I slept up there and then Brett slept on the fold out sofa. 

After swimming we got together to read our scriptures and ended up having a really awesome conversation about missions and service. I am so impressed with the questions the kids ask and the amazing insights they have. I am grateful for Come Follow Me that prompts these great discussions on vacation. We stayed up late talking and then crashed. We all slept really well and woke up at about 7:30 the next morning. 

We sat and enjoyed our balcony for a few minutes. Then we got dressed and packed up so we could go on a hike. We grabbed hot chocolate and hot apple cider on our way out of the hotel. Sean found a trail that looked good and we started going. It was pretty steep and the kids did a great job. Lizzie started to get super tired near the very top and Sean gave her some dragon rides. The views were beautiful! 

After our hike we did a bit of shopping and got some breakfast smoothies and cinnamon rolls. We did more alpine slide and mountain coaster. The kids did the bungee trampolines and bounce house and climbing wall. We took the tram ride up to the top of the mountain and it was so cool! It went so fast! I could feel the altitude get thinner as we were going up. There is a really cool building on the top of the mountain with a cafe and restrooms. The views were beautiful all around and we could see snow. There were also butterflies flying everywhere! So many and they just kept flying around. We took some pictures and ate at the restaurant. The kids got pizza and I got a caprese sandwich and Sean got some lamb meatballs. It was my favorite meal we had at snowbird. After lunch we hiked down to the Peruvian ski lift which is a little lower than the tram. There was an old tunnel from one side of the mountain to the other that we were able to walk through and see. They had all kinds of pictures and historical items. The kids played in the melting snow and built mini snowmen. Then we rode the lift down. I rode with the girls and Sean with Brett. I felt nervous when they would sit too close to the edge that they would fall right out! 

After we got back down on the bottom we did the climbing wall again then rode the mountain coaster again. We walked up to the 1971 restaurant again and had dessert. We ordered the raspberry peach crumble, the chocolate fondue, and the milk and cookies. It was all delicious and we had more than enough! After dessert we walked up to the zip whipper. It is a fun tower where you have 30 seconds to climb as high as you can and then the machine pulls you the rest of the way up and lets you drop. Alana and Sean decided to go and after they went Lizzie decided to try. When Alana was going her second time, Brett decided to try as well. I enjoyed watching them all! 

We rode the alpine slide back down the hill and then went to find our car. We wanted to skip a few more rocks on the pond before leaving but a worker directed us away from that trail because there was a moose laying in the grass by the pond. He's hiding in this next picture. 

We drove back to my parent's house and picked up Oreo, then went back home and unpacked. It was a wonderful trip and we had so much fun!  We all agree we would like to do it again!