Sanding

We have put Josh to work sanding the deck to get it ready for a new coat of paint. This kind of sanding is not as relaxing as the kind of sanding we were experiencing a month ago.

Zucchini cake

Thanks to Brad's parents and my parents for donating their zucchini so that my kids could have chocolate zucchini cake. I didn't know it was possible to kill a zucchini plant, but we managed to lose all of ours this year.

School starts again

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days...
Two off to school.
The other two have a month before they start again.

Sparklers

Sparklers and Pioneer Day
I discovered that I could take cool pictures with my camera.
I hope you can read these.

We had lots of fun!

Pioneers

Today we celebrate when Brigham Young, feeling under the weather, looked out of the back of his wagon and proclaimed "This is the Place, drive on". I have participated in a number of Pioneer Day related celebrations during my lifetime, but I never can forget being at the unveiling of a placque that has the name of my ancester- the FIRST of the pioneer party that entered the Salt Lake Valley a few days before the rest of the company. It was my sweet grandmother and I who attended the ceremony, and even though I was about 12 years old, I understood and I felt great amounts of gratitude for that man and all others who were coming to Zion. I am certainly blessed to be a part of a great heritage.

Be patient

I am playing around with my blog design.

Girl's Camp

Valesca had a great time at Girl's Camp this year. She was especially excited to be a youth leader. Glad to have her back home, showered and not so sleep deprived.

Homemade Ice Cream- YUM!

After seeing this on Studio 5, I got up the courage to find our ice cream maker that we received as a wedding gift, blow the dust off of it and try making ice cream again. I am pretty sure that it has been over 10 years since I have done this.

It turned out absolutely wonderful! I think I might try a few more recipes since I actually had some success.

ksl.com - Blueberry, White Chocolate, and Mascarpone Ice Cream with Honey grilled White Peaches

Gotta Love those 11 year old scouts

Noah is off to scout camp!

Family Vacation- 10 days of FUN!

Here are a few snippits of our vacation...

Castle at Disneyland

San Diego Temple in scaffolding

Things we found at Coronado Beach

Our Knight at Medieval Times

Bellagio Fountains

Trampoline Bounce House

On top of the Stratosphere

Legoland

Teacups

Astro Orbitor

Disneyland

We just returned home from a 10 day family vacation. We had a great time! Here are most of the activities we participated in: visited Ann's grandparents in St. George, spent 2 days at Disneyland, a day at Corona del Mar beach, attended Medeival Times dinner and jousting tournament, 1 day at Legoland, 1 day at Coronado beach, visited San Diego temple, church in Carlsbad, several days in Las Vegas doing the following: Laser tag, Adventuredome theme park 2 different days, fountains and gardens at Bellagio, aquarium at Silverton Hotel, top of Eiffel Tower,, Go-carts, blacklight miniature golf, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum,ate at Planet Hollywood twice, some 4-D shows, Popovich Comedy Pet Show, roller coaster at New York, New York, Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Retreat, Sky Zone (all-trampoline-walled playing field) where we jumped for a while, and rode to the top of the Stratosphere Tower. Las Vegas was quite hot while we were there...the car kept telling us that it was 117 degrees. We all got a little sunburned, our feet hurt, we were sleep deprived...but we had a wonderful time!

Has it really been 20 years?

Twenty years ago TODAY was Ann and Brad's very first DATE! A family picnic and then fireworks at Sugarhouse Park. See where just one date can lead...