Richfield

 

 

We followed Sterling to the big metropolis of Richfield Utah for the Farm Bureau Mid-Year Conference. In preparing to leave, I searched the internet for fun things to do and to be honest, I didn't find very much so I was nervous about keeping ourselves busy.

 

Until we found the city park.

It was Amazing!!!

If you haven't played in one of these electronic games, you need to. I hear there is one at the Draper park. They are so fun.

 

 I knew Bryce was exhausted and we were going to a dinner party that night that was bound to last late into the night so I thought I'd set up a nice, cozy bed in the shade and Bryce and I could catch a little nap together.

 

What was I thinking? Seriously, how many kids have I raised? Have I not learned anything? A nap? At a park? While other kids are playing?

 

 

Seriously. We gave it a go....but look at that cute face. I think I actually did dose off but no one else did. :)

Who would want to sleep at a park that is this fun?

 Besides the park, we also went to the Fremont Indian State Park. Listen, if you have a 4th grader, you need to go to this state park. It is awesome and full of stuff they learn in 4th grade Utah history. We went on a self-guided hike and saw lots of petroglyphs and pictograms.

 

If you look close you can see the pictograms on the rock wall behind us.

 

There is a living model of a pit house we could climb into. 

 

We even got to try our hand at throwing atlatls.   

 

We also drove by Big Rock Candy Mountain. Its just a mountain. I guess different shades of color are highlighted in different lighting. But when we were there, it just looked like a kind of cool mountain. What really looked cool were the people rafting the river right next to it. So maybe next time we vacation in the booming town of Richfield, I might look into that. (Or when Camille is in 4th grade and we visit the Fremont Indian State Park)

Good bye Richfield. You were not as boring as we thought. :)

Apricot Ice Cream Festival

Apricot Festival

time again

 

Last year we added a bike ride around Utah Lake to the Apricot Festival. This year, we decided to hike Timpanooke trail to the tip top of Timpanogos mountain.

 

It was at my request. I wanted to do it to celebrate being 40 years old. And it was beautiful!!!

The wildflower fields were the most beautiful I have ever seen.

 

 I felt strong and was really enjoying the hike. It was challenging but not too overwhelming.

 

Until we started hiking straight up the face of the mountain. At this point I didn't know if I would make it. I mean, I knew I would but I didn't really know how.

But I did make it and it felt sooo good!

 

After the hike, which took us 8 1/2 hours including the detour, we had about 10 minutes of downtime before starting to get ready for Apricot Festival.

 

After burgers and dogs, Sydney arranged minute-to-win-it games. Everyone had fun and the grand team winner was Grady/Bronwyn family.

 

Final challenge to determine the grand winner. We were one oreo away!

 

Our traditional photo.

No idea what next year's morning activity will be but its bound to be exciting!

July birthdays

July is a very happy birthday month for our family.

In addition to my birthday and Parker's birthday, we also celebrate birthdays for my mom and my brother.

 

Parker lit his own birthday candles. He got a few toasty fingertips in the process.

 

Parker is turning into quite a capable and charming young man. He is very funny and loves to entertain people with his physical antics. He is a pro at riding his ripstick and his bike. He is a very loyal friend and is always looking for ways to help others. The most recent example of his loyalty happened last Sunday.

Parker wanted desperately to ride his bike home as fast as possible. It was fast Sunday you see and he was starving. But Bryce followed him out the door. Parker tried to get him to go back to the church but he wouldn't. So Parker went slow so that Bryce wouldn't be alone. I'm sure it was tough decision for him to give up that 10 extra minutes with the fridge on a fast Sunday but he did it and didn't really seem to mind. He sure loves his brother.

 

And then there was my birthday. My 40th birthday. I celebrated with friends earlier when we went to ifly. That was fun. The party with my family, not so fun. (Just kidding). 

 

Every month we have a family dinner and celebrate the month's birthdays. I walked into my mom's house and mom and Sarah walked in from outside. I started to make fun of them for wearing black on such a hot day and being all matchy-matchy. They just smirked at me. Then I turned and noticed Dallin and Tom were both in black. My mom said, "You DO know why we are wearing black, don't you? We are mourning the passing of your youth."

 

Here is the group of mourners. Don't they look sad.

And if that weren't enough, Tiffany arranged for this lovely birthday cake. Rude. :)

 

It actually was a very great, very fun birthday. Its nice to be appreciated, even if it is for the passing of my youth, which I don't believe for a minute. I think I'm just hitting my stride. Look out world!

Baptism day for Camille

 

We are so proud of Camille's decision to be baptized. She is such a beautiful girl, inside and out. She wasn't even nervous. She was confident and happy through the whole process. I love to watch my girls with so much trust and faith in their father, as he holds their hand and baptizes them. And I know its the beginning of increased trust and faith in their Heavenly Father. It was a beautiful day, full of family and friends.

 

 

 

4th of july

As per our annual family tradition, we woke early, early, early on the fourth of July and drove into Provo to see the hot air balloon launch. Unfortunately this year, there was too much wind and the balloons didn't even layout or blow up. That did not deter us from the second part of our tradition - hiking up Y Mountain. This year we were joined by Uncle Grady and his family, who recently moved to Lehi from Arizona.

 

 

Everyone did a great job on the hike. Even Bryce hiked the whole way!

Here is a link to last year's hike 2012 which also links to previous years.