Lake Powell

Ryan and Kristy invited us to go to Lake Powell with them. We always have such a great time with them, this year was no different! We drove down Tuesday afternoon and headed out of the slip on Wednesday morning. We found an awesome spot that had some nice late afternoon shade. Food was great, company was great, kids were great! The only thing that wasn't so great was the weather as we were heading back to the Marina on Saturday night. The weather was great until the Marina was in site then out of nowhere we had a crazy wind storm that shook things up a bit! Thank goodness it all turned out okay but it was a little scary for about an hour. Otherwise the trip was perfect! 

Taeya, the birthday girl had fun being buried in the sand. 

Anastyn loving the sand too!

Aspen (Ryan and Kristy's neice), Anastyn, and Taeya 

This was the closest we could come to getting Anastyn too ski,  she's a little more timid than Taeya was at this age.

A day trip to Rainbow Bridge is always on the to do list!  The good thing was it was a little overcast so it was great hiking weather. 

Dad and Anastyn - thankfully Anastyn let dad hold her for a change!

Taeya getting ready to go skiing!

Anastyn not so happy about having to go wakeboarding with dad, of course she was happy once they got up.

Much happier now!

One of the cutest girls I know!

Gordon enjoying a little surfing.

Aspen, Daylen, Dally, Lizzy, and Taeya

Braxton, David, and Shelley - Kristy's sister and her family.  They were a very relaxed couple and so much fun.

Cute little Gage!  Wish I could have squeezed him more - he didn't really like me:(

Taeya has developed a love for knee boarding! She did great. 

Family shot on our way back to the Marina - right before the wind came.  Look how calm the water is at this moment, it changed dramatically 15 minutes later!

Lizzy and Anastyn - Anastyn fell in love with Lizzy and followed her everywhere.  They especially enjoyed collecting shells together. 

Happy 6th Birthday

Taeya had her 6th Birthday while we were enjoying the sun in Lake Powell! We love love powell and so does Taeya. She has spent half of her birthday in Lake Powell. Kind of fun. We love Taeya so so much. She is so much fun to be around. She is kind and loving. She is a touchy feely girl - loves to be hugged, kissed, cuddles, praised, etc. She is a great big sister, at least most of the time! She loves to play with Anastyn. Anastyn is often stubborn and wont show Taeya too much afffection but when she does she loves it!! Her second home is at the Bailey's. I'm pretty sure she could live there and never have a need to go home. She loves playing Lalaloopsy's with the girls and she idolizes Brynn.  She could play all day long! She doesn't watch a ton of TV so she doesn't really have a favorite show, but she does love to read.  She is getting to be an awesome reader.  She does get a little obsessed with playing with my phone and the Baileys ipad at times!  Her favorite colors are black, white, and pink. She is happy and enthusiastic!  She still hates to go to bed.   But she s so excited to start 1st Grade.  At her 6 year check up she weighed 51 lbs and is 48 inches tall.  I say to myself every day, "what would I do without my Taeya.!" She is one of a kind and I love her so much!

I made cupcakes before we left and frosted them at the lake so we could celebrate!

Blowing out the candles - I love Anastyn helping her!

We went into Page before leaving the slip and grabbed a few presents for her to open. 

Ryan and Kristy gave her the Lalaloopsy and she was sooo excited!  Her first big loopsy!

Hello Kitty Party

The older I get the lazier I get - Taeya really wanted to have a Hello Kitty party but the summer has been so busy and between girls camp and lake powell I just didn't really want to put a lot of energy into a big friend party, she had a friend party last year so that's how I justified not having one! We will be in Lake Powell for her actual birthday so to celebrate and get her Hello Kitty party we had a party at my mom and dad's with the cousins. I think Taeya was happy with her party. Let's face it, all the kids really want is lots of presents right? We got Hello Kitty balloons, plates, cups, napkins, cake and party favors. We had hamburgers, chips, potato salad and watermelon. I turned a yummy chocolate costco cake into a Hello Kitty cake and also made some home made ice cream. I think it was a success! And she got lots of presents! 

The birthday girl - "call me maybe!"

Taeya and her cake - I think I did pretty good at trying to keep it simple.

Blowing out the #6 candle.

Taeya and her daddy - one of her biggest fans!

Anastyn and Asilia enjoying their dessert.

Taeya and Nana

Garrick, Jayne and Kelly - Jayne was not going to smile!

There's the cute smile!

All the party guests and the presents.

We bought Taeya a new bike for her gift - she insisted on a beach cruiser like Brynn's!

Family Photo

Girls Camp

I had a great time at Mutual Dell for girls camp this year. Thanks to Gordon's mom and Alyson I was able to stay the whole time! It was so much fun to be so involved. Susan and I did run home on Wednesday morning for a quick shower and to grab breakfast but other than that we were up the canyon the whole time. Thank goodness they made an exception to the no fires and we were able to have small fires. It wouldn't have been the same with out a campfire! I am so blessed to be able to work with such an awesome group of girls and leaders. It has been so much fun! 

 

This was our group of 5 mile hikers!  They did awesome.  From Back to Front, Left to Right: Ashley Blackhurt, Julia Isom, Me, Luci Hollinghead, Elyse Larsen, Gretel Beal, Savannah Alger, Amara Allinger, Kiersten Schloer, Claire Isom, Brynn Bailey, Michelle DaSilva, and Brianna Sanchez,

On a side note the girls had a blast while I was gone, I doubt they even missed me.  Granny took them to Wendy's to play one day,  to the Zoo, to McDonald's and to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  They were way spoiled and loved every second of it!  Thanks Granny!

Provo Beach Resort

Daylen turned 8 years old and to celebrate he had an awesome party at Provo Beach Resort. This was our first visit to the place and we had such a fun time. We stayed all day long and the kids still wanted to stay longer! We bowled, played in the playset, ate dinner and cake and ice cream, went on the merry-go-round, went surfing and did the ropes course. The favorite was definitely the surfing. The ropes course came in at a close 2nd. What an awesome party, we had such a great day!  Thanks Kristy and Daylen for having such a fun party. Wish we could've stayed forever!

Zach, Daylen, Asilia, Aspen, and Taeya - the kids were so great to take turns and wait patiently for their turn.  Anastyn was really sad she couldn't go swimming and didn't quite understand why she couldn't.  This was a long hour for her but a short one for everyone else.

Look at that smile - she loved it!

During the ropes course Skyler and Anastyn did a little bowling, but mainly she enjoyed her sucker and walking around. 

It took Taeya a few minutes to warm up to the ropes course - she was a little afraid at first.  But after she got the hang of it she had a blast and didn't want to leave.

Taeya and Zach

Birthday Boy Daylen!

Swim Meet

Thanks to Gordon, Taeya was able to do swim team this summer at O'Neal Aquatics. She went twice a week from 8:00 til 8:40 am. Anastyn was still asleep at this time of the day and so Gordon offered to take her and really enjoyed it. Taeya did great, she learned alot and really enjoyed it. She had her first swim meet. She was so excited and we loved watching her.  She did awesome!

Proud Daddy and Taeya

All ready to dive in.

Freestyle was first

Then Backstroke

Then Butterfly - she is working on this stroke!

Kangaroo Zoo

We had so much fun at Kangaroo Zoo when the Whitmer's were in town that we decided to go back with our little bounceback passes. This time we brought the Bailey's and the Cooks with us. It was really fun again. I'm starting to think my kids only like to go places for the snacks.....they sure loved the Doritos and icees! 

Taeya, Rachel, Kira, Alayna, Brynn, Holly, and Anastyn

Cute Anastyn - even with a Dorito face!

Floor Sleeper

90% of the time when I go to check on Anastyn she is asleep on the floor. I don't know why, but she just loves it. It's not always on her pillow with a nice blanket over her, sometimes its on Ferdinand our giant bear, sometimes it's just sprawled out of the floor, but it seems to be on the floor more often then her bed, silly girl. There are often clues to what she was playing with instead of trying to go to sleep also.  Sometimes books covering the floor, sometimes toys, or cars, and sometimes old binki chains and lotion! I move her to her bed before I go to sleep and most of the time she stays in her bed! I love this girl! 

4th of July

I've decided that the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love the time of year, I love that there is always a million activities to do, I love the time with family, and I love the fact that I live in a free country, and I am so thankful for the people who fought for that right. This year was a great 4th of July. We started the day off at the Provo Parade. I think the last time I went to the parade was when Taeya was 1 so it was time to go again. The girls had a great time. Gordon woke up early and did a long bike ride. He wanted to do the alpine loop but due to the fires in Alpine and AF Canyon the canyon was closed. He found another long route and met us at the parade shortly after it started. 

After the parade we grabbed some lunch and headed to 7 peaks for a few hours. This was the first time visiting the water park this year and we all had a great time. Taeya loved the slides, Anastyn was a little timid so we stuck with the pools! 

We had a BBQ at my moms after 7-peaks, Gordon made us yummy fries, we ate delicious food and just hung out. All the kids love being at my moms house and playing in the backyard and in the dress-ups, they never get bored. After the BBQ we headed to the Stadium of Fire. Gordon found a Daily Herald Deals for tickets so we didn't spend much and had a great time. Our seats were over on the east side, they weren't ideal seats but it didn't really matter. I thought the Beach Boys did awesome and it was fun to sing along. Anastyn got really sleepy at the end but they people next to us left early so she was able to lay down and relax at the end! What a fun day! I love being with family. 

Anastyn, Karsten, Taeya, and Kierra - notice the girls playing on the phones!  Sometimes I hate that phone! 

Yay! Dad made it.

Taeya and Kenzly

The whole gang - minus, me, Gordon and Kimball (he got a little lost for the first part of the parade:)

Anastyn loved the princesses

Here we are at 7 peaks - so much fun!

Gordon and the girls at the Stadi.um of Fire

Taeya and I

Gordon and Anastyn

Gordon and Taeya being silly!

Sleepy Anastyn - despite the look on her face I think she actually enjoyed the fireworks, they were just a little loud!

We wanted to do Taeya's hair like this for the 4th but we didn't have time so we did it for the Sunday after the 4th instead.  We got alot of compliments - it took way too long though!