Utah summer 2009

Where do I begin?!?!

This summer in Utah was so much fun and we were so busy! Here is a list of some things we did:

Running the Provo canyon, mountain biking on South Mountain, Canyoneering the Subway Canyon in Zions National Park, wake boarding and tubing on Deer Creek, four-wheeling to Daniel Summit, swimming, riding the zip line, lots of great food and eating out, shopping, and time with family, friends, and more family!

What a great summer we had!!

This will be a summer we wont forget and it was great to see so much family and spend so much time together. Thank you especially to both our parents for helping out so much, watching the girls sometimes, planning fun events, and putting up with us! We love you and we are so grateful for you!

I tried to post some pic's below, but I have so many!

Tyler is getting so big (almost 5), isn't she so pretty!

Yup, that is me, repelling in Zions

Zions is so beautiful!

Silly Austin

The rock is so red and really cool how the sand and wind can shape the rock and make it have these grooves and lines in it.

The subway canyon in Zions, for good reason, looks just like a subway tunnel

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Just the girls!

Mya, Tyler, Kai, and Afton

(and congrats to my sister for adding one more girl to this mix, born today!)

Tara with Bella, then Austin with Kai, and me with Tyler on the tube at Deer Creek

A giant inflated slide at my Aunt Karen's house for my cousin David's birthday.

This is Ginny, Devan, Sam, Massiel and Kai

Can't forget Tyler and Kai's favorite thing... the zip line! So much fun!

Since Devan and Ginny are living at my parents house, we got to spend a lot of time with them and the girls just adore Ginny!

Look what I caught them doing at Grosi's house.

The zip line again!

Kai LOVED getting her hair cut and wanted to do it again, right after she was done... so exciting, just like a girl!

Four wheeling to Daniel Summit with the Lewis family. We were all together for 3 whole days!

Lewis family pic!

Great Weekend!

This 4th of July was great! It all started off with my 5K run in Tumwater which was the first running race I had ever entered. My goal is to run at least the half marathon (maybe full marathon) in Seattle in November, so I thought I would start at a 5K level and work my way up. Well, my goal was to just finish this race and not to come in dead last, but to my surprise, I did more than finish, I actually came in 1st place for Women! Now, don't get me wrong, this was no HUGE race with thousands of runners or anything, but regardless, I was pleasantly surprised and a little proud of myself! I actually got a nice plaque and ribbon. I guess this means I will keep training and move on up to a 10K. I do like running, but I don't want to get obsessive about it, so I will continue to run for enjoyment and stress release and I may enter a race here and there for fun.

NEXT we had a huge neighborhood BBQ in our court and it was a blast! We had so many people here and lots of food, fun and games! The kids played on the trampoline and in our new little blow up pool. We had pinatas, sparklers, basketball games, rodeo golf and we ended the night with an awesome firework show put on by Austin. It was a great 4th of July!

Tyler's Dance Recital

Tyler had her first dance recital tonight and she did so great! I can't believe how fast she is growing! She looked adorable and and had no stage freight. She remembered her dance pretty good and it was just so sweet. We were so proud of her and she said it was a lot of fun, so that is what matters. I was a little mad though that she would not let me take very many pictures. I wanted to take some in front the my neighbors beautiful flower garden, but Tyler really does not like getting her pic taken and she would not have it and since we were late, I did not have time to argue with her, so I got a few at the recital and I did get a professional one that I will post after I get it. We love you Tyler, and great job on your first dance performance!

THE SUN!

We have had the MOST beautiful weather! I tell you, it can rain in Washington, but when the sky is blue and its not raining.... it is the most beautiful place on earth! We have been outside every day just soaking up the sun and playing, playing, playing! We went to the pool last week and the girls had SO much fun and yesterday I had a great girls day on our lake. Just my two girlfriends and I left all the kids to their Dad's and went out on a little trolling boat to our lake. We were out there for 4 1/2 hours! and had not realized it when we got home... (thankfully we have wonderful husbands, and they were not mad, just happy we enjoyed ourselves). It was so peaceful, and beautiful and quiet and just wonderful! I had such a good day and a much needed girls time. 

And also on another note, I was outside working on my computers on my deck because it was so beautiful and all the sudden, I heard this tiny baby kitty cry. I was looking around and saw this little kitty that came out of no where! She was hurt, with a tooth hanging out and her nose was scratched, but she was so adorable. I was not sure to what to with her since, Amiga is NOT kitty friendly. But he kitty was too small to survive on it's own and I wanted to find a good home for her, so I went to my neighbors house and she instantly fell in love with her and took her to the vet to keep cleaned up and is keeping her. Tyler and Kai love this kitty and Tyler named her "Bear". They go visit the kitty every day at the neighbors and it's Tyler's Kitty away from home.  

SO... here are some pic's of last week swimming and Bear, the Kitty

Another Project

We FINALLY got some yard work done. Our yard is so difficult because of the hill, the septic system, and a trillion rocks that its just so expensive to do anything! But this year we promised ourselves to do one part of it, then next year we will do another section and so on. BUT, since the girls got a trampoline this year for Christmas we needed to get an area ready for that. Here are the dramatic before and after pic's. We love it and have been out there every day this beautiful weekend just jumping on the trampoline, playing in a new sand box and soaking up the sun! The girls just love the trampoline and that is all they want to do. It's the first thing Kai asks to do when she wakes up in the morning and from a nap. We had such a fun weekend playing at home with each other and our friends, what a great holiday weekend!

BEFORE!

After the tractor got it ready for gravel.

AFTER!

Silly Girls.

Austin will build a retaining wall with bricks over on the right side where the side of the hill was dug out.... plus a few other things we are still doing with gravel for a swing set etc... It looks great, but still has a lot of work left to do, but a great start!

Mosaic Tile Floor

After we built our addition onto our house, we had a new landing area outside our garage door and entryway into our new playroom and it was our vision to do a mosaic tile floor with Austin's mom, who is extremely talented in mosaic tile art.  So, she came to visit for a few days and we all did the floor together like mad to get it done while she was here. She is very artistic and talented and we could not have done it without her.  Here is our journey from beginning to end!

This is what it looked like BEFORE!

This is where the old landing and new entryway meet.

The hardi-back is in place and we drew on our design.

Time to mosiac the tile peices. Just like a jig-saw puzzle

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Now the tile is done and "glued" down. Needs to dry overnight, then we will grout.

This is our design. A sun with N,E,S, W points and a moon in the middle of the sun.

Austin is grouting.

The finished product! We love it and it looks so great! Thank you to our talented mother-in-law and lots of hard work. The picture does not do justice of how beautiful and meaningful this looks. This was a special project that we will love and enjoy forever!