Lava Hot Springs

This was Colby and the kids first time to Lava... We planned on driving up there and grabbing dinner in town and then running to set up camp before it got too dark.  Colby pulled into town drove the 3-4 blocks that it is and was like "What? There is nothing here."

Exactly!

So we ended up doing dinner at one of the three places available - Fat Jacks.

(I have no idea what Jaxon is doing in this picture.)

Right next to our campground was a little play area for the kids - which was PERFECT!  I really liked the place we stayed, it's called Smith's Trout Haven.

My friend Melissa and her family live in Idaho Falls and met us here to camp and play for the weekend.  They have two girls that my kids just adore.

See?  This is Kyah with her buddy Reese.  They are only 2 months apart and are super cute together.

The kids were caught all playing under the table together - I love surprises like this.

Jaxon is such a good big brother.  He adopted Gillian the whole time we were there, he followed her around and made sure she was okay.

My cute friend Melissa, as chance would have it her husband and Colby served in the same mission for about a year together.  They were never companions, but had a great time reminiscing over the camp fire.

We spent a chunk of Saturday at the pool, because really what else is there to do in Lava?

All in all it was a great little trip.  Good food, good friends and occupied kids.

July 4th - Part II

It was Harley' turn this year to have the kids for fireworks, so Colby and I packed up and headed to Brigham City for fireworks with his family.

Everyone eats dinner and then head to the park for games and lounging about.

I was entertained by this little girl for most of the evening.  Isn't she the cutest?

Brigham City puts on one heck of a show... this is my second year up here and the fireworks are awesome.  You might get rained on by quite a bit of ash, but the show is great.

The pool even opens up after the fireworks for a late night swim...

Colby and I wished we had brought our suits.

July 4th - Part I

I love the 4th of July!  I think we are so amazingly blessed to live in this country (problems and all). 

I love to take my kids to the parade and this is the ONLY one we go to - it's perfect!

West Point does it right, it's only half and hour, kids get enough candy and we're home just after 9.

Does anyone else out there cry when the flag goes by?

This picture makes me want to have a mini freak out... I can't believe how big she's getting.

This is what both my kids do at the beginning of every parade...

They just have a hard time with those loud sirens.

Garden Update - Week 4

The corn

The brocolli

The cucumbers

The tomatoes - that we had to stake because they were falling over.

The peppers

The watermelon

The canteloupe - which is a miracle because we thought it died at least twice.

The garden

The strawberries - which as of yesterday have a net over them so hopefully the blasted birds will stop eating them before we get too.

Poppy Fields and Camping

We did our first camping trip of the summer.

It was a quick over night trip and some might not even really consider it camping,

but it works for us. 

We just went up to Mantua and to our surprise they have a huge field of wild poppies that were in FULL bloom.  It was absolutely beautiful!  I love poppies and it was A.MAZ.ING!

Kyah woke up earlier than anyone else, so to allow others a few more minutes of precious sleep I took Ms. Kyah for a walk - hence the super cute hair. (She had been awake for about 15 minutes.)

I wish we had brought our nicer camera - because these photos don't do justice.

Love!

I let her pick one - we weren't supposed to pick any, but for a girl who can't see a flower and not pick it, one was still not enough.

Kyah waiting impatiently for everyone to wake up.

Oh good - her favorite person's awake!

Jaxon - 2.2 minutes after he woke up.

Can you tell?

Rach and Andrew came up to.

They are our camping buddies.

My cute little family.

Roy Pool

We LOVE the pool, we are a family of sun worshippers and pool loungers.

So, when it's 100 degrees in Utah on a Saturday - what do you do?

Go to the pool!

(Really everyone did - by about noon the pool was at maximum capacity.)

If you put goggles on Jaxon he has no fears... this is him swimming in 7 foot water.

Kyah loves any chance she gets to play with Colby.

I love it.

They laugh so hard together, I wonder have they ever lived with out each other.

It was a lovely day.

Everyone came home slightly redder and a lot tanner.