I am so tired. I just want a week to have no place to go and nothing to do besides house work and laundry. We have had quite the month. It seems like we have had some sort of activity, vacation or someone to visit every day. I should not say it seems that way… it was that way. Mid-month we decided last minute to go on the 2nd Lake Powell trip with the Hendricksons. Jon and I drove separate so I could stay in St.George for a week after our Powell trip to spend time with my visiting sister and family. I was seriously elated at the two weeks of fun planned. It started out great and then everyone started to get sick from the contaminated water at Loan Rock Beach on Friday night. It was horrible. I never got it… thank goodness, but I did get to take care of my family. We are talking two nights of all night vomiting and the runs. Jon is still not over it. I thought my kids were better and we tried to stay down to visit my family… but alas the vomit and extras continued. I was sick of my kids being sick at other’s homes. We drove home and are continuing to get well again. The positive side is Grandma Katie & Aunt Lacy + cousins arrived from California and the kids have had a good time with them. I will post this month’s pictures soon.
Riley starts 4th grade tomorrow. Preston starts kindergarten next week. Pyper is walking and climbing like a monkey. Jon has a construction job for the next couple of weeks and is working on his application for police school. I am just trying to stay on top of it all. Life goes on and so must we.... Might as well smile and enjoy it!!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

This is for my husband of 3 years today. I love you more each day… seriously I’m not just saying it!!
It has been non stop fun with Jon. He and I have lots in common. We hit it off as friends right away. Most of you know we met through a LDS widow’s and widower group. Even though we only knew each other a couple of months before we eloped in Vegas we talked about everything. We discussed how many more children we would want to have… How we did not want any pets…. How I would get to stay home and be a care giver to our children. To what we would do when the kids all left the house. Jon and I knew what we were looking for in our next partner. We knew we had found those special qualities in each other. Jon makes me laugh. He is sarcastic just as I am. His sweetness is what won me over. After each weekend date I always got a beautiful assortment of flowers at work on Monday. Once he even pulled off the road and picked me a flower with out any sort of prompting. Although the sweetness is not put on as strong now as when he was trying to land me, it is still there. He brings me home my favorite candy bar. He stops in and gets me a slushy drink. He calms me down with jokes or with just a look when I am upset. We can laugh about our fights when they are over or even while they are going on. Neither of us can stand being mad at each other for more then a day. He can manipulate me like no other! LUCKY ME!!

Lake Powell in June with the Hendricksons & the Olsens

We were at Lake Powell last week. It was so much fun. We did not go at all last year because I was pregnant and then had a new baby. So, it made this year all the better. Despite the bad wind one of the days, it was a wonderful trip for us. We did not mind the rain, but it was horrible for those in tents.

Here are the people who make it happen and have so for many, many years!Wayne and Caleen Olsen and Doug and Patsi Hendrickson. We love them!

Pyper loved the lake. She was held and kissed by many people. She got her daily dose of sand. She took her naps and was happy to be there. Her first tooth broke through while we were there.
Preston skied for the first time! It was very exciting!
This is Riley right after she finished skiing. She loves it out on the water. She even tried knee boarding for the first time.
Pyper loves Riley. If Riley walks by with out picking her up she gets upset.
There were lots of boys and dump trucks this trip. There would be as much as four of them at a time driving all over camp. They even made a road that circled around and through our camp. It was hilarious! Preston was not sorry if you got in his way and he ran you over. He had an attitude of “this is my road so stay out of my way!” ( Sorta reminded me of Grandpa Doug :0)… Of course I talked to him about it.) Here are three of them taking a quick break before heading out again.
Cory Ashby makes everything about the lake a blast. He is always cracking jokes and enjoying himself. He was the biggest kid out there. The last night we were able to enjoy a camp fire. Cory spontaneously started a race with all of the kids. I will also try and show a video of just a small part of it.

Just a cute shot