Christmas Meadows

We had a very nice and a very cool weekend up at the cabin. It was so refreshing to be out of the heat! We took a fun little hike with the kids in Christmas Meadows in the Uintahs.

Here we are crossing a bridge with John & Sam.

Jack and Rob throwing rocks in the river, a must when we are at the cabin.

Jack is being very brave and climbing back over the river.

This kid loves to jump. He jumps over things, off everything. We have a few spills on this hike but this is one that he completed without falling.

My Knights

Jack is very into swords and fighting right now. I found these great foam swords at the store where he can do minimal damage to furniture and more importantly unsuspecting recipients of his fighting. This weekend at the cabin he and Rob were very brave knights and fought many dragons and tigers. There were some nice ones that they let come up to the house, but they kept all of the mean ones away. Notice how their swords are nicely tucked away under their arms I love it!

Temple Square

We had a nice evening stroll around Temple Square tonight. The temperature is hot, hot, hot, but it wasn't so bad with the Temple, & the Joseph Smith Memorial Building providing some pretty nice shade. As you can see behind Jack he flowers are gorgeous as always, and we had fun relaxing and running around on the grass.

My Own Tiger Woods

This weekend Rob called me outside to the garage and as I was walking out he said just so you know I had nothing to do with this. I thought oh no what could that mean. I come outside and Jack has found the flag from our bike trailer and set it up in the garage between cement pads, and is trying to "make it in the hole". As you can see he is quite proud of himself when he made the ball stop at the flag. Afterwards he asked me to call him Tiger Woods, and I am not kidding!

Here is an action shot.

My Mom has told me that when I was younger she would nap with my sister and I would organize her shelves. Well I wasn't napping and I am not sure that Jack is organizing, but I thought it was funny.

Boating at Pineview

My sister Nikki and her husband Matt bought my parents boat from them and we were able to go with them up to Pineview Reservoir to enjoy it this week. One night we stayed up in Eden so we were able to get on the lake early and enjoy some smooth water, it was fantastic! The initial shock of the water temperature makes you scream a bit but then you sort of get used to it. Jack loved being on the boat and loved playing in the water.

Henry David

Here is Nikki driving the boat, I believe she is pulling Matt on the water ski. So much fun! Thanks Ashtons!

July 4th

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Emily & Ryan stayed with us for the whole weekend and that was great fun. It was fun to have room for them to stay with us this time!:) We had a great day Friday with the family and we started it by heading up to Mueller Park Canyon. Two times in two days is pretty good for Jack and I. We hiked on the Elephant Rock trail and didn't come near the top but I think that we made it half way. It was beautiful and cool and we took some fun pictures as you can see below. Since I was 13 my family lived right next to Mueller Park and so I spent a fair amount of time there growing up but in the 3+ years that Rob and I have lived in Bountiful he has never been up, shame on me, so it was great for Rob to finally make it.

Bob & Shannon looking picture perfect!

Not such a bad picture of me.

Em on the hike, who looks this good hiking???

Back from our hike and ready to eat! Ryan is a great cook so we usually try to take advantage of him while he is in town. We decided to make something traditional, that wasn't hamburgers or hot dogs. We went with pulled pork and it was delicious thanks Ry!

We ended the night in Centerville watching the fireworks show. At first it seemed like a budge crunched show, but they came through and it was very enjoyable. Jack liked them at first but them he got a little scared and would hide behind Rob or I and peek around us to watch them. Thanks Christiansens for a great weekend. We did have everyone here, I just didn't get any pictures of it.

Mueller Park Canyon

I grew up just next to Mueller Park Canyon and probably didn't spend as much time there as I should have, but I still went a fair amount and hiked and played around. We went up there with the kids and hike for a short while on the Elephant Rock trail and after a couple of quick falls by Jack we settled in and had a nice time. Here are the kids at the halfway point sitting on some tree roots eating a snack.

We got a fun picture of the light reflecting off of Ellie's binoculars.

Nikki and Annie Kate checking out some of the plants. We were trying to look for animals and we saw a beetle and we actually saw a snake!
Even baby Will was enjoying his hike! (Mom, remember you can not see the video from your Mail mode, you have to go watch it out on the actual website).

Like Father Like Son

Here are my two boys. Even though Jack has my blue eyes and blonde hair he is A LOT like his Daddy. Rob spends most of his day working on his computer and below if you look closely that is chocolate ice cream another one of Rob's favorites, and as a little boy Rob was obsessed w/firetrucks and firefighters, and honestly I didn't even pose this picture Jack just wears the hat around!