Kings Canyon

Two days after we got back from Bear Lake we packed up and headed for Kings Canyon. Its a 14 hour drive and we were so tired by the time we got there, but the scenery and company is totally worth it!!

Parker, Ela and Nixon playing at the river. We thing the love connections between Parker and Ela is so sweet. Ela has a little sister for Nixon, but she is only 6 months old so next year he will have a play mate too!!

Our home for the week. I love our tent its so roomy. We have three big mats we lay out in the back and have one giant sleepover all week long. We place the boys in the middle and Nathan and I each get a side just so we can each take care of one if they wake up in the night.
This is the part of the river we camp by, we take the boys here during the day to cool off!
Nathan is really proud of his fire here.
Who doesn't love a nap in the Hammock.
Parker jumping off the little rock in the river, He was nervous and only did it once, but we were proud of him for doing it once.
Nixon on his motorcycle.

Our family!!! This picture was taken after driving 14 hours in a car-then sleeping in that same car for 3 hours before the sun came up.

Bear Lake 2010

Have you ever been to Bear Lake before? If not you are missing out, BIG TIME! Every year my family drives to this beautiful place to spend time as an extended family, and we have it down to a science.We rent boats
and Jet Ski'sand play in the sand

and play with family

and float on the island. This is the place of choice for my mom and my two aunts. All of the girls usually go out and spend and hour or so with them between boat rides and eating junk on the beach.




I was able to catch this great photo- I'll be honest I was trying to get something else but the moment passed and I was lucky this was the thing the camera caught. Two tsunami tubes= so much fun!!!



My dad, his brothers and My Grandma and Grandpa-the original family
Our family now-except for my cousin Landen who is on his mission.



We seriously spend 3 straight days in the water, we are at the beach all day with the boats, jet ski's ad floating on the Island. THEN, after dinner we go swimming in the pool, OK most of us prefer to sit in the hot tub.
And then once or twice during the week we head into town for a shake, I'll be honest though, Raspberry shakes are not my favorite. But you have to try it at least once!

Bear Lake 2010

We pulled out the sumo suit for this year's Bear Lake trip. The family was excited and nervous to give it a try. On the last day, on the last boat ride of the day we finally got a good run of it. As always we would make the person model the suit before jumping in the water. Its always good for a laugh to see the person in the suit.

My Cousin Justin


Me
My cousin Nicole

Nathan

My Uncle Curt
My Cousin Jamie

My Cousin Mindi

I am happy to report that we were all able to hold on and get up out of the water this time. Last year we were not so lucky. Some of us were even able to do trick like do 360's in the suit or skim across the the water, making the people in the boat laugh. My 360 ended up being only a 180, I couldn't figure out how to get all the way around with out letting the water in my arm hole. Maybe next year!!

Nicole- this is you!!
To skim across the water you have to be strong enough to hold on with one hand, This is my uncle curt!

Nixon

We love our baby Nixon, he makes the funniest sad faces. Who can't feel bad for this face?


He is talking so much now. It seems like he learns new words every day. He loves to swing and play with his brother. If Daddy is around then I can't do anything right, only daddy can. He joins in on our make believe play, he always uses a high pitch voice to play the "characters". He is such a good brother, more often than not if Parker wants something Nixon will give it to him-we try to make Parker give him a fair trade. Nixon loves to be sung to at night. Jesus wants me for a sunbeam is his current favorite. And in case you haven't seen him for 6 months, his curly hair is to die for and he knows it. He will pat his head and say pretty when I ask him to let me do it.
We sure love Nixon

Cascade Springs

We went to Cascade springs this weekend as a family. We had a good time. We went up the Alpine Loop side, but came back a "back way" to Heber. The Heber way is defiantly quicker-The next time we go we will have to go the "back way."

The big blob in the middle of the trees is a Moose that we saw along the trail. It was really fun to see the wild life up close.
We are hoping to find more family Hikes to do this summer to continue our family hiking traditions during the summer! If you have a good one let me know.

Solvang Century

Nathan headed to California two weeks ago to do the Solvang Century. That's 100 miles on bike. We are so proud of him. It was 7 hours of biking. He said the view was definitely worth it. They drove all around vineyards, and green country in California.




Our rides up the canyon will seem so silly now, but I will make him carry they boys in the trailer and hopefully it will slow him down a bit! He is looking forward to his next ride in a month or two.

Makes you think

On the news last night was a story of a lady whose 16 month old son drowned in a tub, arrived dead at the hospital and then by the Tender Mercies of our Heavenly Father was allowed to come back to life. I was sobbing reading this story. Her two youngest boys are pretty close to Parker and Nixon's age and I couldn't help but put myself in her shoes. They were in the tub together when it happened. As a mom we can all relate to being distracted at some points, this story will make you slow down and hold your babies tighter. http://stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

Kitchen Helpers

Nixon has discovered sinks. He loves the bathroom and kitchen sinks as if it were a new toy. He tries to spend hours with the running water and sneaks back to the bathroom whenever someone leaves the door open. Does anyone remember the commercials of the little kid brushing his teeth and a fish is swimming in a pond outside. As the kids leaves the water running the fish's water goes lower. So the fish has a talk with the boy and he turns the water off while he brushes his teeth. I think I might need to hire a talking fish!!