Pioneer Day!

July 24th is the day we celebrate Pioneer Day!  In our church, we recognize this as the day the Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.  Luckily, in Utah it is also a state holiday, so Gerald had the day off.  We celebrated this day by going to the This is the Place Park.  What a perfect pioneer day activity!  This village is set up to look and feel just like a historical pioneer village, complete with pioneers weaving, making tools at the blacksmith, and much much more.  I thought for sure that this place would be packed full of people for Pioneer Day, but we were pleasantly surprised to find it full but not too crowded.  We had a great day remembering those who came before us and having fun as a family!

Everyone loved the train!

 

The candy cannon was certainly an adventure!

This splash pad was probably the kids' favorite part of the day.

Playing pioneer games!

This ship was a representation of the boat some of the pioneers traveled on.  However, Blake was convinced it was a pirate ship and kept shouting "Ho ho ho!"  (His version of Yo, Ho Ho!)  He is certainly a jolly pirate, ha ha!

Weeeeee! All the way home!

We left our fun time at grandma's house Friday morning with the goal to be home before Gerald got home from work that day.  We left early enough that we could stop at some locations along the way.  This was partly because when I'm driving alone it's best if I break the trip up with some stops, and also because I have wanted to stop at some of these places for ages but we never seem to take the time to stop.  So it was the perfect opportunity!

First we stopped in Cedar City and had a picnic lunch at the park.

Then we continued on to Cove Fort.  I've always wanted to stop with the kiddos and do the Cove Fort tour, and I am so glad we did!  We had a really enjoyable time!

 Finally, we stopped at another famous Utah destination that I've always wanted to see: The Red Barn. 

I've heard that this place has the best ice cream to we stopped to sample some for ourselves.

 

 It was delicious!

What a fun, memorable trip home.  We made it just as daddy was getting home from work, so perfect timing.  I am glad to make these fun memories with my kids.

Week at Grandma's House

In July, we decided to have a girls and kids week at my mom's house.  Tuesday morning, we sent Gerald off to work and then headed to Mesquite!  On the way, we stopped and picked up sweet Madi!  

We met Grandma in St. George, and went out for a delicious lunch followed by a trip to the mall.  My mom wanted to do some crafts with the girls this week, and she had the idea to help them each make a cute earring holder.  The only problem was, Katelee had trouble the last time she got her ears pierced and we ended up letting them grow in.  So, she didn't have any earrings or pierced ears!  So, grandma offered to pay if Katelee would get her ears pierced again!  :)  Katelee was a bit nervous, but she did want to get her ears pierced so she was brave and faced her fears!  

Getting ready to get pierced!

Blake's face while he was watching sister get her ears pierced.   Ha ha, this kid is such a ham, he cracks me up!

Two beautiful cousins, both with pierced ears!!

After the mall, we headed to grandma's house.  Melissa and the rest of her cute kids joined us the next day and we had a fun week playing in grandma's pool, doing crafts, playing, talking, watching movies, and just generally having fun! 

Sadly, I ended up getting an icky stomach bug the 2nd day of our trip, and so I spent a day just lying around trying not to get anyone sick.  Lame.  :(

Still, we made some fun memories!  Like the water fight I helped start with the kids when I was trying to convince Trey that I am a fun and cool aunt - ha ha!  It was all fun and games, even though my cell phone ended up in the pool - on, no!  Fortunately, it dried out just fine in a sack of rice and all was well.

The two girls, Katelee and Madi were allowed to sleep in their own room upstairs together.  The second night of the trip, those two mischievous girls literally got up in the middle of the night and snuck downstairs to the room that Melissa, Wyatt, Trey and baby Josie were sleeping in, with the plan to draw a mustache on Wyatt's face! (Where do they come up with these things?!)  Luckily, they chickened out at the bedroom door when they realized they would probably wake the baby and the rest of the house if they tried their trick, and they went back to bed.

Even though they didn't pull off their trick, that didn't stop them from talking about it and teasing Wyatt about their idea.  So, I told Wyatt that I had an idea.  I used a page of foam sticker and asked Wyatt to draw a mustache for each girl.

Once all the kids were fast asleep, I cut the mustaches that Wyatt had designed out and stuck them on the girls.  Of course, I had to get pictures.

The next morning, Wyatt was so excited to see the hilarious evidence of our prank!  And when we showed the girls, they laughed and laughed as well.  Ha ha, they got what they deserved!  ;)

We really had such a fun week together at Mom's house, and look forward to seeing each other again!

Friends

As a parent, I pray that my children will make good friends, and also that they will be a good friend to others.  Katelee has a gift for friendship, and has always been good at making and keeping friends.  Recently, Katelee has made a really great friend in our neighborhood.  His name is Drew, and I love how these two interact with one another and what good examples they are to each other. 

Drew, Katelee and Blake playing at the splash pad at Thanksgiving Point

 Despite the look on his face in this picture, Blake was having a great time!  I just couldn't get a single picture with him looking at me, with the exception of this one.  He was too busy having fun!  :)

Yesterday, Drew told Katelee about his summer-long dream to have a lemonade stand.  With a little help from their moms, these two entrepreneurs worked hard and pulled off a very successful business! 

What a blessing to have good friends!