Lazy Days of Summer

The Summer of 2009 started off with a visit to the hospital.

A long one.

Because of this our summer travel was limited to

things close to home.

Day trips and short trips.

Any time spent with family is a good time.

No matter where you are.

So we'll hit a few highlights.

First stop.

Cowabunga bay.

If you look REAL close

you will see my 3 kids on top of that tower.

Next on the summer list...

A new car.

For me.

WE had been shopping for a older car for Bailee,

to no avail.

We couldn't find anything we really wanted to spend $ on.

So she got my car (which btw she loves)

and I got a new car.

A minivan!!

Yes I know, A van?!

But I'm going to own it 100%

you can't travel better and we love it.

I am a 40 year old mother...

can't change it, so might as well ride in comfort.

Not to mention I really jewed the guy down on the price. ;)

Then it was off on a day trip to

Promontory Point.


on our way out, we found a great rocket display
by ATK.
It had 30 or so rockets to walk around and look at.
A nice little stop.


For those of you who don't know
Promontory Point is home of the
Golden Spike monument.


This was a great lesson in the history of the railroad
and a lot of fun to see.
Took a great picnic and saw a snake.
Didn't download the snake Pict's. Sorry.



Here the two railroads met.
They also have a great reenactment
of the two steam engines coming together.
Blowing their horns and all.



What would summer be without the

July 4th Celebration

Here we have Ben doing pyrotechnics.

You have to have your own fireworks

after the big show in downtown Riverton.

Which I might add were awesome as usual.

The family and some little friends
watching the family works.
In their jammies no less.
Who says we don't have class?

(if you look close you can see the phsyco dog having a fit)
-fireworks aren't his thing-

The 4th of July wouldn't be the same
without...

The Riverton Parade

Here we have a rare smile from Benjamin.
His energy level depletes in the heat.
Hopefully next summer he'll be back up to par.

Bailee catching some candy and some fun.

Brooklyn and friends

standing as close to the white line as we allow.

Must Get Candy!

Next, we were off to

Palisades State Park.

One of our favorite camping spots.

Usually spent with fireman friends and their families.

A little downtime in the trailer

after a hot day in the sun.

This is Bailee's favorite pose of Ben...

She thinks he looks like a concentration camp survivor.

Sad for Ben :(

I will admit the heat took it's toll.

He decided that he has officially outgrown the top

pull down bunk

Next year it's all Brooklyns.

Palisades is all about the water.

Canoeing, kayaking, swimming,

platform diving, catching minnows and

fishing.

Bailee just had to get a pose in,

so she could have a new profile pic on facebook.

Brooklyn paddling the kayak.

My kids love these things.

One fun game we all tried.

Jump off the swim platform and see if you can

land smack dab in the middle of the tube.

Caught a great picture of Brooklyn...

Not landing in the middle.

She's about to do a faceplant.

Ben did everything possible to stay out of the water.

Very unlike him, however he is so skinny

he was freezing ALWAYS.

So one of our Fireman buddies and his sister dump him.
We also had a great time with my two of my sisters

in August.

We had a rapid, wild ride floating the Provo River.

Pictures MIA.

Let me just say. It is fun and scary at the same time

Then we had a day out 4-wheeling and shooting.
Somehow the only one I got a picture of on the wheeler

was Brooklyn.

Didn't even get a picture of the other wheelers.

GO FIGURE.

Shooting is always a blast.

Hit a few targets and go through the 22 ammo.

WE also shot Lincolns dads old pistol.

It was a blast.

Bailee doing her Charles Angels impersonation.

Ben and Cousin Alex

All business, no posing for them.

Brooklyn giving it her best shot.

Well there is a piece of our summer in a nutshell.

What began in the hospital....

Ended the same.

Benjamin made it to ONE day of high school.

Then off to the ER in the middle of the night.

Looks like more surgery.

For now we look back on the past three months with

gratitude and love for some time well spent.

I've decided to have a goal for the new school year.

Have a happy healthy son.

Wish us luck.

Birthday Brooklyn

Since absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that

I took a hiatus from blogging for the end of summer.

In this absence a lot has happened.

So I will play catch up tomorrow.

Today it's all about Brooklyn

She celebrated her 10th birthday

July 29.

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

and chocolate ice cream was the order.

Ten flaming candles.

Blow! Blow! Blow!
For her birthday we offered up all kinds of suggestions.
None were taken.
The only thing she wanted was a.....
Bedroom Makeover!!
Big Time!

(her room had been pink, pink and more pink since birth)
She informed us...
Pink is not her color of choice anymore.

So off to the store to pick some bedding.
Then she wanted to paint 3 walls, each a different color.
I came up with something less invasive
but colorful none the less.

And she loves it.
See for yourself.

View 2

The only thing left to do...

Sew the cushion for the window seat.

It is polka dotted and matches the sheets.

Actually the cover will be made from a spare set of sheets.

The wall not shown has her white dresser and a green mirror.

It turned out darling.

Here she is below giving us a smile of gratitude

to finally be done with the baby pink. ;)