Discovery Gateway

One of our first outings when we arrived in Salt Lake was to take all the children and all the cousins to the Children's Museum. We loved it. It is fairly new so everything was in great working order. It reminded me a little of Sci Trek in Atlanta, only way better. There were so many on-hands activities that the children could do and it offered learning moments for every age group. We definitely will be doing this adventure again in future vacations.

Easton had a blast playing in the ball center. There were so many gadgets, vacuums, chutes, tubes and interesting ways to move the balls around. Grandma watches as Kaitlyn experiences the balls.

Everyone got into the act as we worked together to create motion with the balls.
Easton got to climb a rock wall. He did awesome as he manuvered up the cliff. Easton does a little shopping. He loved going through the "real life" store shopping, working the register, and restocking the shelves.The older cousins used their creativity to create a claymation motion picture. They worked hard taking a bazillion photos to create their 3 second masterpiece!
Here is the finished Claymation product. Even though it's short, remember that it took a lot of working moving each piece and setting up the scene for the next shot.Creating parachutes out of muffin frills, cups, and pipe cleaners was so cool. There was a lot of experimenting to get the right combination of supplies so that your parachute was light enough to travel up the narrow wind tunnel. Some really went sailing and others just didn't move.This was a cool ball obsticle course. The kids had to arrange and rearrange the track so that the ball that was released would be guided into the hole at the bottom of the track. A lot of trial and error and the cousins were successful.

Superior Lumber Company

One of our stops we took as we drove across country was in Rock Springs, Wyoming to visit my Aunt Joan and Uncle Daron. What an event it was. We got lost trying to find their home after getting off the freeway. I could see where it was, but just couldn't get to their house. After finally getting to their home, they weren't there so of course we headed to the Superior Lumber Company where they work and found them at last. What a thrill to walk through the doors--all my childhood feelings and memories came flashing back. We would often walk to the Lumber Co. from Grandma's house to visit. Grandpa would let us get a lemonade out of the drink machine and Uncle Sam always gave us suckers out of the top drawer in his desk. We would get to go in the back of the store where they kept the inventory and lumber. There was a slide that was used to slide inventory to the storage area that we would always slide down. It was always a fun, exciting ride. Grandpa loved having his grandchildren visit and he always made us feel special and important. The Superior Lumber Co. is celebrating 100 years in business this year. A legacy of hard work, honesty and dedication has been left for the next generation. Aunt Joan explains to the boys how to measure nails by the pound and use the large metal hook to scoop them up onto the scale.

Uncle Daron is restoring an old Model T in the back of the store. It was cool to see the progress that he has made. What a hard worker he is.

The infamous slide! Landon sits on a paper bag and gets ready to sail down. I remember it being much longer as a child. It was downright scarey, but when you finally got up enough nerve to push off, it was an awesome ride.
Easton was a little cautious about going down the first time, but after that he kept going and going and going!
Aunt Joan gives Easton a ride on the dolly. Thanks for the special VIP tour that we received.

Our 2000 mile drive

We started our 2000 mile drive to Utah on Saturday, June 28, 2008. Mom, Dad, Dallin, Landon, and Easton headed out of Suwanee, Georgia at around 11:30 am, a little later than planned. It always takes us longer to actually leave the house than we plan. We always say we are going to load the car the night before but that just never happens. Oh well. We spent our first night about an hour west of St. Louis.

Our first dinner was at a lovely Bob Evan restaurant. Nice and air conditioned. The boys enjoyed breakfast for their dinners!

Don't you love this freaky looking cloud? The picture doesn't do it justice--it looked electrifying!
A picture of the arch as we drove by. The Mississippi river which runs by the arch was overflowing and the tops of trees were just peaking above the river.
Another very freaky cloud. We debated about stopping before we ran through this storm or trying to outrun it and continue through it. We decided to press on, thinking that it would be better to get through it and possibly beat it, than hang around and see what damage it could do.Sunday morning we took a detour off Interstate 70 to visit Liberty Jail in Liberty, Missouri. We took a wonderful tour and learned about Joseph Smith and the others that were held captive for months. We felt the spirit there and gained an appreciation for what went on there and the suffering that these courageous men went through.A replica of the Liberty jail. Stephen and Landon looking inside.We loved seeing these really huge windmills throughout Kansas and Wyoming. They are definitely larger in person! Wyoming found us at the Lincoln Memorial at a cool rest stop. I used to stop here every summer with my family when I was little and have our lunch. By the time we reached this reststop after leaving Rock Springs, Wyoming where my grandparents lived it would be lunchtime. We never talked to mom from Rock Springs until we reached this stop because she would be crying and sad after leaving her family. It was an annual thing for her. She would cheer up after eating lunch and sitting at the picnic table for awhile. She was always fine after this stop in the trip.

We reached Bountiful, Utah around 7:00 pm Monday, June 30 after a nice drive. The kids were great. They played a lot of ps2 games and watched a lot of movies. We were all glad to get out of the car and see Grandma and Grandpa and all the Aunts, Uncles, and COUSINS!!! We will add more posts about our vacation so keep checking back.

Old School Nintendo

This is mainly for Janelle and Bren and maybe some of the cousins. For Christmas, I asked for an NES. I did get one and it didn't cost as much as you think. We play it all the time. It is so much fun. I have Super Mario Bros. 1,2,and,3. I am very good at them. On #1, I have gotten to world 8-2. It is so hard. On #2 I have have gotten to world 1-3. On #3, I have gotten to world 3. We love it so much. It is very portible, so I'll bring it to Utah this summer and we can all play it. See ya on June 31st. Bye!

Scout Camp!

I had the opportunity to be at Woodruff Scout Reservation for a week. It was so fun! It is a huge camp with about 700 scouts. While I was there I got to learn how to water ski, which was awesome. Now when we go to Lake Powell this summer, I can do it. Tubing is still the best though. I got up on my fourth try. Then, I gradually got better until I could get up for over a minute. I also earned four merit badges. Woodcarving, cooking, personal fitness, and art. Those were all pretty fun and challenging. I didn't take very many pictures but here they are.

Kung Fu Panda

Easton went to see this movie with friends. Here is his review:

It was funny. My favorite character was Po because he was funny. He was fat and chubby and he sat on Tylong's face(the bad guy). The story took place in China. Po was the dragon warrior. Close to the end he had to open the dragon scroll. My favorite kung fu move was the wooshy finger hold. It's awesome. At the beginning of the movie Po sold noodles. He lied to his Dad that he had the noodle dream. He was about to take over the store until he told his Dad that he was lying. I think you should see this movie because it's funny. It's good for ages all ages, boys and girls.

Our Great Dad

Father's Day is a great day to honor the Dad's in our lives. We celebrated Stephen's special day with a yummy breakfast of Waffles covered with fresh peaches and whipping cream. It was yummy. After church we again celebrated the day with Stephen's all time favorite, chicken Parmesan, noodles, homemade breadsticks, Le Seur peas (These are from Stephen's childhood. They are basically puke green, soggy, squishy canned peas. The brand is Le Seur(sp) and the kids call them Sewer peas. We all get a laugh, except Stephen. He takes his peas very seriously. He only gets them on special occasions.) For dessert he requested a Grasshopper pie made from mint chocolate chip icecream. It was a tasty dinner. We thank Stephen for being a good Daddy. He loves his kids and wants the best for them. He takes good care of us and teaches the kids values. We love you!
Here is Stephen and the children with his Dad. His Dad is a quiet, but strong leader of the family. He is a spiritual man with a very strong testimony of the gospel. He has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh with his grandchildren.

My Dad

Father's Day has come and gone and I didn't get a chance to post a message about my Dad. I really am one lucky girl to have such a great Dad. Here's what I love about him:

He taught me to finish things. Dad is a doer. He always has a list of projects that have to be done. We all know that he isn't happy unless he has something to start or finish!

Dad always made me feel special by taking me to lunch. I can't count how many times I was able to eat lunch with my Dad whether it was at work or some other special occasion. He always paid and we just had fun talking. Dad was a good listener as well as a good talker. He still takes me to lunch when we get together.

My Dad is a super-duper handy man. I remember helping my Dad fix things around the house. I helped finish a basement and an upstairs playroom with him. I would hold the paneling so it wouldn't move while he was cutting it. He always made me feel so important and needed for him to get the job done. He taught me how to fix leaky faucets, change light fixtures, cut trim, oil doors, and many other things. Thanks for teaching me how to work. I'm the handyman in my house now. When something needs to be fixed I can figure it out. Sometimes I even ask my Dad for fixing advice now over the phone.

Dad taught me the value of education. I didn't always get the best of grades, but I knew that school was important and getting a higher education was not optional. Somehow he instilled in me the desire to finish college. It was just the next step after high school. I never questioned if I would get my degree or not.

Dad took care of my cars. He made sure the tires were inflated to the right amount and safe. He made sure my oil was changed and it the car tuned up on schedule. He even made sure my windshield wiper fluid was full. And every once in a while he would surprise me with a full tank of gas!

My Dad likes to eat rolls with his butter. There's a family joke in our house about a time when Dad was putting huge pats of butter on his roll. The butter was hard and he couldn't spread it so he just placed chunks on his roll. We called him on it and he just said, "What?!? The kids just laugh and have told that story so many times.

Dad taught us to appreciate music and singing. Even as a very small girl I remember listening to him sing in his cool quartet. He had a little group that would come to our house and practice. It was so fun to sit and listen to the beautiful harmonies that they could create. I loved watching my Dad perform at church functions. He always looked like he was having so much fun. What a treat to be able to see my Dad perform with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The kids loved trying to find him on tv during the Spoken Word program on Sundays. My children definitely have an appreciation for all kinds of music because of the music my Dad has shared with them. Just yesterday we were listening the Elijah Rock on the Tab CD while we were cleaning the kitchen. How many kids do that?

Dad has always been committed to the gospel. He has always set such a great example of one who loves the Lord and knows the church is true. He's not a perfect dude, but I think he's pretty awesome. Going on a mission with Mom really set the bar high for the rest of us and gave us some more experiences to build our testimonies on. I loved going to Palmyra and listening to Dad tell us some of the ins and outs of the sacred places.

These are just a few of the great things I love about my Dad and have learned from him over the years. I am thankful to be his daughter and thankful to have such an amazing Dad. I love you, Dad.

New Paint

A couple weeks ago we had our trim painted on the house. The doors and shutters were also painted. I took pictures to show you how a new color has changed the look and feel of our home. For those of you who have seen our house you will really notice the change. We changed all the trim from white to a warmer tan green. The pictures make it look greener than it appears in real life. The trim and doors really needed painting since the paint has been peeling off for a few years. The humidity and rain are really hard on paint here in Georgia.

Girls' Camp

Last week I spent the week at Girls' Camp. It started Monday when the High Adventure girls go up a day early. We spent the day at Calloway Gardens, a beautiful resort and golf course with the 4th year girls and the JC's. (Junior Counselors) It was 97 degrees and of course, humid. We rented bikes and drove through the trails on a prepared treasure hunt. It really was a fun activity for the girls, just toooooo hot. I was seriously wiped at by the end of the day. We spent some time at the beach/lake after biking and then around dinnertime we drove up to our campsite, Pine Mountain. This is an area in Pine Mountain National Forest. Theodore Roosevelt hung out in this area because it had therapeutic hot springs that he used to use. We moved into our cabins and got ready for the rest of the girls to come up the following morning. It's always fun the first day with just the older girls. They're definitely different than the first years! Camp proceeded without much incident the rest of the week--we went home Friday morning. The girls got along great and there really wasn't any of the typical girls' camp drama. We have some great girls. There was probably more drama going on with the stake leaders than with the girls. They did have an issue Wed. when there was no water/showers or toilets for almost 24 hours. They almost sent the girls home early, but they finally got it up and running. The girls laughed about learning how to go to the bathroom in the woods! That just happened to be the day that I went home. I usually plan to go home midweek and then come back the following day. It helps me and my family! I have great leaders that take turns coming and going. We had to have four chaperones sleeping at camp each day and it all worked out. It was a great week and we're done with camp for another year! Woohoo!














Here I am with my good friend, Michelle. I'm looking a little rough!















These are the 4th year and JC's before we left the church on our adventure. Notice all the headbands they are wearing? We made these for the girls to wear. We called ourselves the Suwanee band of sisters. I had them recite the Band of Sister's camp statement before we left which was a pledge of camp behavior and how they would treat their fellow campers and leaders. We do something like this every year to help remind them to be NICE! It was cute how they wore the headbands all week and it really banded our ward together.

Cranking the Wheel

Do you ever do this? As you are driving and taking a sharp turn you turn the wheel as tight as it will go. When this happens I always think of my Dad. He explained on numerous occasions that it was not necessary to crank the wheel as far as it could go. That puts undo stress on the turning cables (or something like that). I've had many cars in my day and not one time has my steering wheel warn out. But every time I crank the wheel too far I am "fondly" reminded of Dad. It's a nice memory that brings a smile. It's great to be a big girl and make my own decisions about how to manage the steering wheel. I find my self teaching the same thing to Ashton and Dallin. The crank of the steering wheel has come full circle.

It's Not Loud

I was talking to Ashton last Sunday about the bright, orange color of her bedroom walls. I told her that we would probably repaint the walls when she left for college because I wanted to tone them down. She was a little upset and said she loved her walls and loved that they were bright. I said they were too loud. Easton was hearing the conversation and he said, Ashton's room is not loud, you can't hear it." I told him the color of the paint was loud and he still explained that her room wasn't loud. Ashton and I got a chuckle out of that comment. He was so serious. It took me a while to explain what a loud color was. Not sure he really understood the concept.