Olivia's first Beach Bonfire

We had a great time last week at a Family Beach party. Emily had the great idea to have her Family, My Parents, us and Dave's Parents all meet down at the firepits for some yummy food, beach play and good company. It was just that!

Once again Olivia went straight for the sand, sifting it through her petite fingers as she looked for shells to devour. She won herself a place in someone's arms for pretty much the rest of the evening (which is always welcomed by her)

It'll be okay... in 6 days

Dont cry Liv, Daddy will be back from Chile in 1 week. (I dont know who's going to miss whom more, the kids, their Mom or their Dad)

July 4th

I happen to love, and I mean love, the 4th of July. It has always been one of my favorite Holidays. Im sure it has to do with the fact that I grew up in a home all my life with a Father that served and loved this Country for a living. We have always been taught what an incredible Country we live in and to respect and love it with all that we have.
We started out the morning attending our old Stake's annual production, which I always love to do, and had breakfast afterwards. It was a great way to ring in the Holiday. I especially loved seeing all of the little kids dressed up representing their individual state and honoring our service men and Woman. And yes, that always makes me cry.
Later, after naps, we went to the Wirthlins for a BBQ and some general good times. It was great to see the Byers too, its been too long.
We ended the night watching fireworks from atop the Disneyland parking structure... it was perfect!! Ella was really sad that fireworks cant be a standard evening ritual.




I still cant believe I let Brad take the kids on a ride on a motorcycle around the neighborhood, though I think Dave was more shocked than anyone. Those who know me probably know my feelings for these things... but the kids were so excited about their ride.It shows how much I trust Brad. Dave's hoping it means Im one step closer to a "yes" on a Vespa.

Swimming is for the Dogs

We have had the greatest mornings at the Dog Beach in Huntington. I wondered if Bjorn would like it or not, having never seen the Ocean before, but he jumped right in. He is such a great dog.

Bjorn loves playing with Charlie (my Parents puppy)






Olivia loved the beach too! I was worried she'd try to eat the sand but all she did was dig thorough it until she found a sandy shell, then she put that in her mouth. Is that any better? Didn't think so.


We took the dogs home and put them in the pool next. This was not quite the same response as the beach, sorry dog's.

Camping in Green River, UT

So the long awaited and highly anticipated Family Reunion started out in Green River. We got there, after a little over 6 hours, and set up tents right away. The kids were super exited to have the tent up in a camp site rather than just our garage (practice) I was just happy to have gotten it out of the garage so that I could get my parking spot back.

Back to camping.... it was a HUGE success. I was a little worried about taking this on with 3 little ones, one of which would be on the ground crawling the entire time. But there was literally not a single hiccup. The kids, all 16, were amazing. Not a single issue or argument broke out. They all slept well, played well, ate well, hiked well. It was incredible. The food was out of this world. We each took a meal and each one was superb. I think the camping food was the best I have yet to eat on this entire vacation. I could go on and on. Lets just suffice to say that camping was 100 times better than I could have imagined. And it was so great to see the cousins all play so well together. I am so happy that they all have and love each other. I never had near the bond that these kids already have. ( And I only had 4 Cousins total!)

Thanks to everyone for such a fun and memorable vacation. We had such a great trip with you all and wish we lived close enough to do it all the time.

e

Summer Vacation... Arches

After a 6 1/2 hour drive, with my sweet Liv crying most of the way, we arrived in UT for the Wirthlin Family Reunion. We have really been looking forward to this for months, its been years since everyone has been together and we couldn't wait.

I'll get to the camping aspect in another post but first.... Arches. It was very pretty and the kids had a total blast hiking around on all of the rocks. It was fun doing this together, I must say we're a pretty cool group :)










Its kinda' fun to bring Bjorn places that other Dog's aren't allowed.

Luke was such a climber. He was really into it and could have gone all day

The 3 babies of 08'
From left to right: Garrett October, Olivia September and Blake July.... cute, cute, cute. These 3 babies are all so easy-going and mellow. It made for a great camping trip.

see you in a few weeks

"We're on vacation in CA for a few weeks. Bye for now but come back soon to see all of the fun things we've been seeing and doing"- Olive