First day of 2nd grade...

It is hard to believe that the start of another school year is already here, and yet at the same time it is exciting to get back into the routine of school. Kendyl has been so excited to begin 2nd grade and was anxiously waiting to hear who her teacher was going to be.


We met her teacher at back to school night last Friday and she seems really nice. It will be hard for anybody to be better than her teacher last year, but at least she already has friends in her class and Kendyl came home from school today very happy that her teacher was still nice.


We walked her to school this morning and helped her find her class dot. There were lots of friends and people we know, all excited to start school. Here's hoping to a great 2nd grade year for Kendyl!

50th Anniversary Party...

Steve's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year, and while we were all in Utah they had a big party.

Herb and Karleen now...

...and Herb and Karleen on their wedding day 50 years ago.

Here is all of us at the reception. It was a great party with lots of family and friends. It was wonderful to visit with people we haven't seen in a while or since we moved from Paradise. We all commented on how nice it was to have a happy occasion to celebrate too!

The kids had fun wandering around with cousins--Ryder just wanted to wander around freely!

We were so busy visiting, that we hardly took any pictures of the party. Thanks to everyone who came!

Bowling...

While we were in Utah, we went to walk around BYU and go to the bookstore. It was fun to walk around campus and point out different things to the girls and tell them stories of when mommy and daddy went to school here. We hit the bowling alley on campus with some of the cousins and had a great time.

We've taken the kids bowling before and they have fun...it is not as easy to do "real" bowling as it is on wii, but putting up the bumpers sure help!


I was a little worried trying to bowl with my pregnant belly, but I did just fine. Actually more than fine...I beat everyone else's scores! Who knew pregnancy could improve your bowling score?!

Kendyl had fun, but was having a hard time not getting strikes and spares on every frame...again the difference between "real" bowling and wii. ;-)

Brityn liked using the ramp and bowled a pretty good score.

Nice spare!

Last of Aspen Grove...

There really are so many fun things to do here, that it was hard to fit it all in one post, plus I was scared to overload one post with so many pictures.



The kids swam everyday with their groups and we tried to make it to the pool when they swam.

Ryder loved swimming and was always upset when he had to get out!

Kendyl loved going down the slides and being free to swim on her own. Brityn also swam everyday, but I guess I didn't get any pictures of her with her new life jacket on. She mostly stayed in the kiddie pool, but thought her life jacket was awesome!

Smiles with daddy!

Brityn on the bear statue.

The girls wanted to play badminton, even though it was windy.

Even Ryder wanted a turn, but I didn't want him getting whacked with a racket. :)

Good form Kendyl!

This is us watching the closing show where the kids all performed a song and cheer.

Kendyl and her cousins.

Trying to stay warm and out of the wind.

One really fun tradition that they do on the last night is to have a family dance. The kids get to run around and have fun and they loved watching and making fun of the rest of us! Ryder loved the music and danced the whole time.

Kendyl thought it was so much fun dancing with all her cousins! Brityn liked dancing at first, but I think there were too many people so she opted to sit and watch.

It was a very fun reunion for everyone and the girls have been talking about the "next time" they go to Aspen Grove already!

More Aspen Grove...

On one of the nights at Aspen Grove they do a "Frontier Night" where they have all kinds of games and activities you can try and it is centered around their little pioneer village. They have steer roping, hoop throwing, pellet shooting, ax throwing, panning for gold, shooting for a sheriff's badge, story telling in an indian teepee and a train ride.

Ryder and Steve checking out the fun.


They had a gigantic horse that Brityn thought was the best thing ever and all she wanted to do was 'ride it'!


Kendyl was eager to try her hand at shooting a pellet gun. I don't know if I was excited about her excitement though.


They had these cool tire swings that someone had made into a horse swing. The kids all had fun riding these 'bucking broncos'!


All of us on the train ride. It was kind of crazy since there was no track. I'm surprised no one got run over, but the kids loved it and rode it several times.


Steve loves a good volleyball game and there are lots of tournaments you can sign up for to compete against other families.


Yea, the Hardys' took 2nd place, but made some friends with a polynesian family.


Another playground that all the cousins loved to play at.


Some friends of ours were at Aspen Grove in June and they thought it would be fun to leave us a little treasure hunt. So we followed the clues and they led us to the bridge...


...where we found a "grumpy old troll" hiding! It was really cute and the kids were excited to figure out the clues, and then they all wanted to hold the troll! :) Thanks Tiffany!


Ryder was a pretty good sport the whole week. He wasn't too happy when we dropped him off at his group (sort of like nursery) but once he started playing he did great. He very much wanted to explore on his own though.


Playing on a train at the pioneer village, he just had the biggest grin on his face!

So cute!

Here's Brityn having fun sportin' her sheriff's badge.

Kendyl had the chance to try her hand at fishing. She didn't catch anything, but thought it was pretty neat to try.

We all went down for free time at the rock wall. They even had these 'baby' harnesses for really small kids.

But Ryder was having none of it!

Kendyl wanted to climb again she loved it so much!

She is a good little climber and did awesome!

She went even higher the second time! :)

Steve got his chance on the 'difficult' course.

There was a tricky part where the rock jutted out and there weren't any good hand holds.

But Steve was able to navigate his way around it...

...and made it to the top! He was even more proud of himself since none of his brothers or brother-in-law could do it (and they each tried several times)! Way to go Steve!