The Catch-Up Post....the longest entry to date

We've been busy over the last couple of weeks and it's time to catch up and document some of our good times. The fun began with our neighbors new find: three homeless ducks that are sadly now down to only one.
I guess you could say our neighbor kids have, literally, loved them to death(sad, I know). They brought the remaining duck over for a visit and my kids were happy hanging out with it for a moment and perhaps loved it a bit too much as well.RODEOS
Next up were a couple of Rodeos: Fiesta Days in Spanish Fork on Monday night, and The Days of 47,on Tuesday night. Our seats at the Fiesta Days rodeo were right over the chutes. It was awesome to watch and hear the cowboys gear up for their event and have a bit of dirt hit your shoulder as the horses and bulls bucked their way out into the arena.

We headed to the The Days of 47 rodeo the next night and ended up leaving after the half -time show. I think we were a little tired after getting home late from the rodeo the night before. We still had a fun time and how often is it that you get the chance to see two Bison and a cowboy on top of a horse trailer???

SWIMMING LESSONS

Between ducks and rodeos, Drew was also becoming a pro at his swimming lessons at the Legacy Center. It was two weeks of swimming bliss and he passed with flying colors.

On the last day, his teacher made a train with the class in the water, which was an obvious winning combination for Drew. Can life really get any better??

TOUR of SALT LAKE CITY

Next up was our tourist day in Salt Lake City. Lo and I decided to head to Salt Lake on Saturday and check out some of the sites we haven't seen in a while. We started at the Capital.

We wanted to check out the renovations that were done over the last few years and it was really impressive.

Drew even managed to get in one of his sweet dance moves on the stairs.

After the Capital we headed to the Trax station to take a ride in the Free Zone and headed over to the city library, which I had not visited yet. Drew's face will give you an idea of how happy he was to be riding the Trax train.

We went up to the roof of the library to look out over the city. There were great places to sit down and some gardens that they keep up there..... Who knew?
We had a great time and the only thing we had to pay for that day was our lunch at Hires Big H and the $300 in gas for our 40 minute drive.

IDAHO

Our next destination was Idaho. We went up for the 24th Holiday and spent some time at Grandpa and Grandma Moss's house. Lo, Jake and Grandpa were MIA for most of the trip due to their many tee times at various golf courses in the area, but we managed to all have a great time together and on our own.The huge beach ball was a hit. Sommer and Drew fought over and played with the ball a lot.

We also went on a fun hike near Heise. It felt like it was 150 degrees that day, but we still enjoyed pretty scenery and yummy ice cream that rewarded us for our hiking efforts.
My Mom took us over to the gardens at the college where the kids ran around and we took some pictures.
On Saturday night and after a fun BBQ, Jake showed us all a great time. He has his pilot's license and reserved a plane for a couple of hours. He was nice enough to take us up for a little flight over Idaho. He even gave us a chance to try flying, which made me way too nervous.
Jake and I went up together and then he took Drew and Lo up together. Lo was A LOT braver than I was when it came to try flying the plane-he loved it. They said that Drew kept asking for his turn to try flying the plane. Notice Drew's cute little head peaking out behind Lo and Jake.
He looked so cute and smooth with his shades and head set. We all had such a fun time. I did get a bit sick right before we landed, but other than that I was good to go. Jake flew us over our house and my mom said that if we could have seen her, she was waving at us in our front yard. It was really fun time.
I got a couple shots of the plane as Jake took off with Lo and Drew. Thanks for a fun flight Jake!

FIREWORKS

After our fun flight, we headed over to opening night of the Dance Festival . We actually went over at the very end of the show so that we could see the fireworks. We ended up finding a spot right under the fireworks show. In fact, we were so close that they had to pause the show for a moment until we moved out of the way just a bit. So, if you were at the Dance Festival opening ceremonies, and wondered why the long pause in the fireworks, you can thank my neighbors and family for that. It was a great ending to a fun trip to Idaho and a busy and fun filled couple of weeks.

Visit to Temple Square

Sunday, we decided to head to SLC and walk around Temple Square. It was a rather toasty day, but we still loved walking around and taking in the sights.

The tour guide at the Conference center made the mistake of saying that the kids could dip their hands in the fountains on top of the building. Drew's hands made it into a couple fountains and Sommer's went in every single one. She was lucky not to fall into the water half the time.

We had a fun and relaxing Sunday afternoon.

The Trooper has been a Trooper

Sadly, last week we said farewell to our dear friend- The Trooper. It has treated us right over these last few years. I have to say it did break my heart just a bit as they towed it down the road.

Drew was not to sure about letting it go either as you will see in the posted picture. He sadly and continually asked me where they were taking our blue car as they hauled it down the road.

That car has been on countless trips to Idaho, all over Utah and who know all the travels it saw in it's previous home in the ALBQ. We donated it to Kars4Kids, and we hope she(lo says it's a he) will find a good home.

DAD

On July 3rd, we found out that my Dad has prostate cancer. It is the last thing I ever expected or wanted the hear. I know that he will be amazingly strong through this ordeal and that we, as an entire family are available for all the help, support, and prayers needed at this time. He has an appointment scheduled on Friday at the Huntsman Cancer Institute to decide what will be required for treatment. I am freshly amazed by the power of prayers and fasting. We never know what we are going to experience in this life and the Lord is tender enough to give us tools to endure whatever comes our way. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, prayers, and concern in my father's behalf. We All Love You so much Dad!

4th of July Celebration Extravaganza

We had a great 4th of July holiday. Lo's parents rented a condo in Park City for a couple of nights that was just below the Olympic ski jump. It was fun to see it again and and remember all of the Olympic excitement of 2002. I took 'many a picture' over the few days we were there which you will get a sampling of in this post.

July 3rd we got settled in the condo and then headed out to hang out in Park City for a bit. We stopped by one of our favorite places to eat Main Street Pizza & Noodle where we enjoyed some yummy pizza. Next, we headed out on a trolley ride, which the kiddies always love and, I have to say that I think is pretty cool as well. We headed back to the condo to do a little swimming, playing, and relaxing. On the 4th of July morning we went to the parade, which was a good time. Sadly, gone are the days of candy throwing-I get that it is dangerous for the kiddos, but candy is why parades were the best growing up. A Karate group that was in the parade came up to Drew with a board and asked him to break it. Drew took a few punches and then finally broke the slab of wood on the third try with his awesome kung fu karate punch. (Thanks for the pics Mardi)


We then headed to a tasty restaurant for lunch, owned by some of Janyce and Lo's friends, and headed back for some more swimming. Later that night we watched the fireworks near the base of the Park City Ski Resort.
Before heading home, we decided to head up to Stein Erikson's lodge to look around for a bit. I had never been up there and it is amazing. It has the greatest views of the city and surrounding mountains. We all enjoyed a very fun 4th of July.

Freedom Awards Gala

As part of America's Freedom Festival in Provo, individuals are celebrated that have demonstrated exemplary values of "honor, strength, tradition, freedom, and family values of God and country "at the Freedom Awards Gala. Lo and I were lucky enough to attend and it started off this 4th of July holiday in a great way.

These individuals were incredible. As I listened to the stories each one of them had to tell it made me grateful for the opportunities, history and caliber of individuals that are part of our great nation. It was impossible not to feel inspired to want to do and be more. The people that were sitting at our table recounted some of the stories of the individuals honored in past years and their stories were equally amazing.

The individuals honored at the event this year were: William Farley, Jack Thompson. Major Brian Shul, and Immaculee Ilibagiza. I highly recommend this event to anyone and everyone. We will definitely be back next year.