Eagle Lake

We just returned from a weekend at Eagle Lake in California. Going there every year has become a 4th of July family tradition. This is only the second time that Christian and I have been able to make it out so we took full advantage of all the festivities. One of our favorite things to do was ride on the three person tube and see who we could get to fall off. We got some serious air on that thing but only Christian managed to get thrown off.

Yes that's me about to fly out of the tube but I hung on for dear life and managed to stay inside.

Relaxing in the sun.

We made smores with gigantic marshmallows...

giggled around the campfire...

rode Kayaks...

Even Lucas went for a ride sporting his watermelon soaked cheeks.

This little man became a master of the orange flag.

We all loved Mark's boating techniques.

The Bro Boat was awesome!

And most importantly Mom got to bond with her grand babies.

At the end of it all we returned home to the best feeling shower of our lives. Yay for soap and warm running water to make me appreciate the little things. We were lucky to have my parents stop by on their way home for a visit. We hosted a dinner in their honor and it was delicious!

Botanical Gardens

While perusing Christian's computer for Eagle Lake pictures I stumbled upon a few older pictures that never got posted. These are from our trip to St. Louis for Sarah's wedding. Christian and I got to visit his favorite place the St. Louis Art Museum. I love this place! It's always fun to visit and this time we got a chance to see the African ceremonial cloths exhibit. We found a metal tree outside that looked like the crystal entity from Star Trek.

We looked at some favorite paintings and pondered the significance.

And after much searching I found my favorite Degas ballerina.

We went with the whole family to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens which was a real treat. I know others have posted pictures but hopefully this will be a fond reminder of the good times had by all.

In case you forgot it was a beautiful sunny day.

I love this sequence of pictures! Especially the big smile on Lucas' face.

I even found a picture of Jobin! We miss you baby bro!

Bret and I found a way to be politically incorrect while entering the Japanese Gardens.

We even found a way to make this doorway more exciting with human obstacles.

We finished the day off by feeding the fishes.

Also I found this picture of Lucifur during the crazy move to Pleasant Grove. I'm pretty sure this was taken just after he decided to stuff my camera deep into the crevaces of our couch where it wouldn't be found for months.

Pool Time!

I realize it's been awhile since I've posted so you get 3 new blogs to read today. I've been working way too much this past month and have barely had time to breathe so blogging was completely out of the question. I did however, take a much needed break this week for a few hours to invite family over and go for a swim. It was so much fun we've decided to do it again next week!

The water was warm and inviting and the sun tickled the smiles right onto our faces.

Stori smiled.

More than once.

Terri smiled.

Jack smiled.

Lucas smiled...

Steph brought her baby Harlow who fell asleep almost immediately,

but I'm pretty sure she was smiling too.

And despite Sheri's efforts Dallin wasn't all smiles at first...

But after some strawberry deliciousness he just couldn't help himself.

All smiles:)

Garden Traditions

It seems that every time my Mom comes out to visit we make a trip to Thanksgiving Point. It is one of our favorite traditions. It all started when Sheri was pregnant and expecting Dallin at any moment. We thought that if we let Bret drive her around Thanksgiving in a golf cart fast enough and we went over all the bumps maybe we could get Dallin to deliver. It worked... about 24 hours after. Ever since then we've returned to these lovely gardens to make happy new memories and take some classic pictures. This time we were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa come with us. We had a delightful time perusing the gardens and enjoying the fresh spring air. The tulips were still in bloom and everything was so green and gorgeous.

Grandpa enjoyed taking a stroll through the secret garden.

Grandma particularly loved the Hillary Tulips, which turns out are my favorite too!

Katie and Lucas snuggled.

Debbie and Bret found a nice sitting area to rock Dallin into a peaceful slumber.

As I mentioned this post is about traditions and one of our favorites is the golf cart. After dropping Grandma and Grandpa at the front of the park the cart returned to pick up all the stragglers. We all fit!... sort of...

and I know this picture is blurry but I love it. I took this as Katie and I took my Mom for a ride in the awesome red wagon.

Do you know why we're sisters?!