Summer trip to Redding!!

After hours on a bus, a short stop in Utah, we re-packed and headed to Redding to meet our new niece Emiline Milan Rogerson. We were lucky to be there for her blessing and to be with all of those cousins :) Max and Chance are definitely outnumbered by the 12 female cousins. We got to paint and roof, play at the lake and the pool, and in the creek, see cousins and walk up the hill to Great Grandma Dunn's house too. It was such a great time seeing Grandma and Grandpa Rogerson, we're so glad we got to go visit!

4th of July

Salina's festivities make for the best memories of my life, and now for my kids. Carnival games, races, snowcones, cotton candy, swimming, dive for coins, BBQ, and the parade just to name a few. I've probably missed this event once or twice in my entire life (once when I moved to New Jersey, and again when we moved to Oregon). Outside the out-of-state excuse, we just love to go, to be there with the old neighbors of the community, and especially be with Grandma Bird. 90 years and still climbing to the top step of the bleachers to watch the great-grandkids race. Happy 4th everyone, I hope your day was as memorable as ours!

Nauvoo... oh what a trip!

It starts on the bus.... it ends on the bus.... but oh the in between! I loaded up with 13 of my YW, 10 YM, Bishop, YM Pres, and one YW counselor to embark on the trip of a lifetime. Some of these kids may not appreciate all the spectacular sights we got to take in on our 8 day whirlwhind trip, but you couldn't ask for a better experience. Broken A/C, late nights, emotional girls and LONG Days on the bus. I can't re-tell it all, but here are a few of the highlights:
Independence (Some of the RLDS or Comm of Christ sites are there too), Liberty Jail, Far West and Adam-Ondi-Ahman, (too Muddy to make it to Haun's Mill) and finally crossing the Mississippi to Nauvoo (and all that that entails, too much to list :) But Carthage Jail and our temple experience for both Baptisms for the youth and a session for the leaders were amazing! As well as the slew of Sr. Missionaries serving there that do such a great job making the experience what it is. Just as you think we'll be heading home we stop at the tabernacle where Brigham Young was sustained as 2nd prophet, then to Winter Quarters not far off. We see Chimney Rock, Register Cliffs, Guernsey Ruts, and still... as if there could be more (We sneak in a dance with a stake in Wyoming) before our final days jaunt with handcarts to Martin's Cove. What an amazing experience, exhausting, entertaining, trying, and even a little whining about the humidity and lack of air conditioning. (As if the pioneers could be heard laughing at the A/C problem). We saw, we did, we played, we cried, we just had a great time and I was soooo ready to be home to see my kids and Giegh. What a great dad to man the for for an EIGHT day excursion. Help from Mom, and friends, but mostly just Dad... couldn't have been more ready for the bus to roll back into Nephi. What a Great trip!

Student Award Ceremonies

Bailey and Chance both finished with flying colors the 2nd and 1st grades respectively. Bailey was awarded "Best Writer" by her classmates, and Chance was given "Best All Around Student" by his teacher who said he just tried very hard and did everything well. Both had end of the year fieldtrips to the Zoo and the Discovery Museum, but independent as they are both becoming, we were not invited to fringe on their turf with friends ;) We sure love these two, I can't believe another year has come and gone.

Tumbling Tike

Reagan's Tumbling Review was this week and as her class did summersaults down the mat, she rolls with the best of them. We even called her "flipper" for a while earlier this year because she didn't want to walk through the house, only flip, especially if she had her ever-wearing tu-tu on. Anyway the next round down the mat were cartwheels, and I had no idea her class was all doing these. Here comes Reag's, both hands above her head high, toe-pointed, hands go down, body goes.... well not really over the top, more of a side hop with both feet while hands are planted firmly on the mat. She then finishes big by standing tall again, both hands up high as though she's won a gold medal for her performance :) This goes on ALL the way down the mat. Not one complete cartwheel bless her heart, but no lack of effort or sense of accomplishement on her part. We're so proud of you Reagy-Roo!

A refill run to Nashville

In high school my friends and I would often go for a "refill run" to Walkers or Conoco to get a nightly beverage. Not sure my parents ok'd that much soda, but for the most part, the social out of going, chatting, and coming home seemed a safe enough bet for keeping out of trouble. Well fast-forward almost 20 years (yikes I'm getting old) and Adrienne and Molly and I all live in 3 different states with 16 kids amongst the 3 of us. They come to Utah most summers and we meet for lunch at a park, but finally decided it was long past due for a real visit. So earlier this year we planned a few days to fly to Nashville to see Molly. She and Shae are stationed near the Clarksville Army base, and ironically after our trip was booked he was deployed to Irag. So at least we'll get to break up her "single-mom" stint with our visit. Hope it helps!

Adrienne and I would meet in Chicago and fly on to Nashville together, that was the plan. Mine as a little "delayed" as the airport would call it, I ended up landing Saturday instead of Friday, but finally caught up with the girls for dinner out and a laughter-filled evening at the Grand Ole Opry! What a great show, longest running radio program in the country. You can't argue that truth when Little Jimmy Dickens appears on stage in his 90 yr old glory. All 4'11" of him, he was a hoot! We laughed and drove home to stay up til 2 am laughing and catching up like we finished high school yesterday. The next day was more of the same, throw in our old ritual of Sunday night brownies even some 7-layer dip and some pretty kickin taquitos.... more chatting til 3 am, and then a bit of shopping on our way back to the airport on Monday and you can call it a trip. So fun to be together, to talk about family and lives as adults, and then flip right back to highschool humor and old friends we all remember. It was just fun! Thanks girls, can't wait for the next go!