Frame Family Va-K to St George

Lots of swimming, lots of sun, plenty of kids and plenty of fun!
We chose St George as the "half-way" point from here and Los Angeles where Craig and Sue now live.... forgetting that St George in the beginnig of July isn't the ideal vacation spot... I think the pool temp was hovering near 90 while the air was over 100, super refreshing! At least the spray was at St George's downtown squre. We stayed in seperate condo units at the Sports Village and played all day together hiking, swimming, games, and dinner together. We even snuck out with just the "Mom's" for a movie. Fabulous fun and lots of sapped energy, but so glad to see cousins loving cousins

4th of July

Nothing like running the races in Salina to really make it a true 4th of July. I should race farther than the 50ft we try with the potatoe sack, but the kids LOVE this day, and truthfully as hot as it might be, so does the Mom :) Foot races for each age group, sack races, greased pole, more races at the pool, and the coin dive to follow, BBQ at Grandma Birds with food fun and family, and then cap it all off with the highest candy-to-float ratio of any parade you've ever seen.... whew, what a day! Thanks Grandma Bird for still putting up with us invading your space and following us to the races even at 89... we love you!!

Cutest Grandma's Ever!!

Memorial Day Weekend

To kick off the summer before life got so crazy, we took the kids to St George to swim and see Zion's. Neither Gi or I had ever been there and figured it would make for a fun day trip. The kids loved the swimming, it had been such a LOOOOONGG cold spring, we were all excited to see the sun, and the hiking in Zion's was really pretty. It will be a lot of fun to go back in 5 years when everyone can hike and we don't have to wait for the youngest stragglers.

Young Womens Stuff

What would summer be without the added bonus of days with the girls in our ward. With a baseball theme for Camp, and service for Youth Conference, we had a lot of fun, a lot of late nights and overall an exhausting June :) Gi had travel the two weeks in between to Arizona and even a road trip cross-country to Tennessee... I dont know that we saw one another for the month of June, but family trips and events made up for lost time in July :)

Seven Peaks

The kids earned a day at Seven Peaks for reading 500 minutes the last month of school. Gi ended up in Tennesee the only week we could go, so here's to crazy for taking 4 kids and a double tube to Seven Peaks. The kids had a ball though and we survived the day!

A visit with Dad...

There are some treats as Jerry Seinfeld once put that should be used as Door Stoppers, not treats... his was referring to the "crap" orange peanuts that unfortunatley were one of my dad's favorites. Pink Pepto Mints, Orange Slices, Lemon Drops, Hostess Sno Balls... we all decided that his choice in snacks was to keep the rest of us at bay. As long as he ate the "crap" candy then he wouldn't have to share. (I've tried this trick with my own kids as licorice, since none of them like it :) He wouldn't have gotten these treats past my Aly-girl though, she dove in with both hands after we opened them up to share and couldn't get enough of them. Double fisted she wouldn't even chew a full piece before she was dropping and grabbing for more.

We wrote our notes to Dad on balloons, the grandkids love to see the notes float up to Heaven where he can read them. Its always a bittersweet event to be all together, but missing him... and boy some days I miss him. Those bear hugs like no one else gives, the forver fan in the stand, his quirky jokes that he loved to laugh at... Miss you Dad xoxox

Green River Sand Dunes

Digging Holes

Climbing Mountains

Reag's in the Sand... boy she's tan :)

The Water Crew

Lovin that Background scenery...

Some traditions are just staples in life, and spending a spring Saturday covered in Red Dirt at the Sand Dunes past Green River are one of our favorites. I remember taking a "sand bath" as a kid, washing and scrubbing and finding yourself sitting in an inch of sand as the tub water drained... well this year was no exception. As we were headed in with a few of the smaller kids and grandparents in the backs of trucks, Uncle Widge got his heavy diesel truck stuck. Gary, my cousin, driving his much more agile and lighter Toyota decided quickly to choose another path... as he did his front end dropped and the rear wheels sunk. In an effort to move us forward just another few inches, he gunned it, the back wheels spinning, the 5 foot WAVE of sand cascading right onto our heads in the back of the truck ;) Haven't had that much sand in so many places... well ever, but thanks for the fun memory of how it feels to scratch your head and find a good inch of sand there.

Kids had a ball chasing lizards, climbing our own family staked "Sand Mountain", digging holes, sandy Sloppy Joe's, and four wheeling fun. We don't see our Quarnberg cousins nearly enough, but sure love when we finally get to. Thanks Aunt Pat and Uncle Widge for starting such a fun tradition.

End of School Festivities

Bailey's end of year "Car Show" and drive-in and her school program, add in Chance's Kindergarten Graduation, and the chaos of summer is just about to begin... You'll know that as I update our blog in July for events that happened in May :) Bailey had a singing part in her music program and Chance pulled of some incredible disco finger moves in his dance perfomance of Jack-be-Nimble. I may not be a concert pianist or a professional choreographer but helping accompany Bailey's program and teach Chance and his buddies a 30 second dance reminds me of the many reasons I feel so blessed to be a stay-at-home mom and actually be able to be there for all the events of their lives... even in 1st Grade and kindergarten.