Our first stop on our Utah summer getaway trip was grandma Jo & papa Bill's house. What a fun surprise to find 7 darling little puppies! The kids were so excited, they played with them constantly. Those poor puppies were malled and loved and even dropped. They didn't know what to think of all the little kids!
Ava kept trying to carry the poor little puppy. No matter how many times I tried to explain to her how to hold the puppies she went back to this grab and carry. The puppies were such troopers.
We celebrated Ava's 4th birthday with her cousins and grandparents there. The cowgirl hat was one of the gifts from grandma & grandpa. She of course loved any accessory that could add to her favorite pink dress-up outfit. We couldn't keep her in clothes, every time we turned around she was in her favorite pink dress up!
Grandpa decided the grandkids needed to have a tree house to play in so he set out with the boys to get everything needed to build it. It turned out the girls were grandpa's best helpers. The boys were too busy playing football, shooting baskets, or heading off on adventures. Oh well! The girls sure loved the tree house and had lots of adventures of their own up in the tree.
The start of the first week we were there Ethan and his cousins went to BYU football camp. The last day of the camp they got to play in Lavell Edwards stadium and meet head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Josh, Ethan, and Zach with coach Grant. He was such a great coach the kids loved him!
We headed up into the mountains for a fishing trip. Grandpa was very patient and made sure that every grandkid got to catch a fish. Ava loved fishing with grandpa! He made it pretty easy for her. As soon as he knew he had a fish on his line he'd say, " Ava come here and help me reel this line in." Miraculously she'd have a fish!
Kate was our best fisherman that day. She caught 3 fish all on her own before anyone else even caught 1! I was laughing at my little miss priss who gets disgusted if her brother touches the tube of toothpaste with his toothbrush. Somehow she was not disgusted by dead fish! She was so proud of her fish she wanted to hold every one of them; dead, bloody and all!
Ethan was so patient. He fished and fished and never gave up. It finally paid off right before we went home for the night he caught his fish. A beautiful albino trout!
On our drive home I spotted a baby Moose. It was pretty far away but I was able to get a shot of it with my zoom lens. We couldn't see mother anywhere though.
Grandma was so excited to have her grandkids home to ride horses! So excited that she signed them all up to be in a horse show. The boys were entered in the walk/trot division. They all wanted to ride the pony and we laughed that Zach (the tallest of the entire bunch) ended up on the pony (the shortest, smallest horse)! No one seemed to care though, they were all so proud of themselves!
I was not expecting our kids to do very well in the show I just thought it would be a good experience for them, but to our surprise Ethan's number was called and he was awarded the 5th place ribbon! There were probably 12 or more kids in his division and they awarded 6 ribbons. Not too bad for his very first horse show ever! I think it had a lot to do with grandma's horse who does really well in the arena, but either way Ethan was beaming from ear to ear and we were proud of him too!
The girls were entered in the lead line division. I made tutu's for the horses to dress them up really cute. The girls had so much fun getting all dressed up in their cowgirl outfits and feeling important that they got to be in the horse show.
In the lead line division everyone gets a blue 1st place ribbon, but of course the little girls didn't know this. Kate & Madelyn were the first 2 in the lead line and so they got their ribbons first. When Kate saw that it was a blue ribbon her face lit up and she screamed to her cousin, "Madelyn, I got first place!!" I just smiled and agreed and quickly lead her out of the arena before she realized that everyone got the same ribbon. She was so pleased.
Her cousin Madelyn was just as happy about the 1st place they received!
On the 4th of July we went to the Oakley parade festivities to cheer for the girls as we watched them dance on their float. Of course the boys were happy to collect candy as well. They got a little competitive with their candy collection that we had to put an end to it after two of them went down in the road in front of an on coming float!!
Ava was right on the front of the float happily shaking her pom pom and doing her dance moves. This was a big improvement from last year when she sat and frowned through the entire thing.
Then we saw Kate next. She was too busy dancing to give the camera any smiles. She is my obedient child and was simply following instructions from her dance teacher who told them not to wave at their families but to keep on dancing. She certainly did just that!
After the parade we went to the rodeo grounds for the Jr. rodeo. Ethan could hardly wait to ride another calf. This year was much better than last year as the calves were actually calves (not steers) and we had all the protective gear for him to wear including a bull riders vest and helmet. I was much less nervous! He managed to last a couple more seconds this year. Click play to watch below, but don't blink or you might miss all the action!
After all of the 4th of July festivities we went to Ogden to see grandma Janet & grandpa Lou. The first outing was the Hogle zoo. The weather was perfect and we were able to see so many of the animals.
The next day we went to the Hill air force base airplane museum. It was neat to see the huge airplanes up close and hear grandpa Lou talk about them all and tell stories about the ones that he flew.
I heard so many stories from Lou that I had never heard before. We all urged him to write them down for his family so that we'll have those great stories to tell grandkids for years to come. Hopefully he will! (hint, hint!)
Grandpa Lou and Ethan in front of the largest helicopter in the museum. Grandpa Lou flew this in Libya.
Later that evening we went for a hike to waterfall canyon.
The kids were troopers and made it the entire way. Okay, Shane was a trooper and carried the girls, mainly Ava through most of the rocky steep parts! We were glad that we have such a strong dad! We were so happy at the top. It was beautiful and the mist from the waterfall cooled us right off and refreshed us after a nice hike.
Enjoying dinner and grandma & grandpa's beautiful backyard! You can tell they work hard, it is always so beautiful!
The kids enjoyed swimming in the hot tub.
And of course it wouldn't be complete without roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores! We had such a fun time in Utah visiting with grandparents and family. Too bad we had to come home to the horrible heat of Arizona summer...YUCK!!! We wish we were still there!
Our first stop on our Utah summer getaway trip was grandma Jo & papa Bill's house. What a fun surprise to find 7 darling little puppies! The kids were so excited, they played with them constantly. Those poor puppies were malled and loved and even dropped. They didn't know what to think of all the little kids! 
Ava kept trying to carry the poor little puppy. No matter how many times I tried to explain to her how to hold the puppies she went back to this grab and carry. The puppies were such troopers. 
We celebrated Ava's 4th birthday with her cousins and grandparents there. The cowgirl hat was one of the gifts from grandma & grandpa. She of course loved any accessory that could add to her favorite pink dress-up outfit. We couldn't keep her in clothes, every time we turned around she was in her favorite pink dress up! 
Grandpa decided the grandkids needed to have a tree house to play in so he set out with the boys to get everything needed to build it. It turned out the girls were grandpa's best helpers. The boys were too busy playing football, shooting baskets, or heading off on adventures. Oh well! The girls sure loved the tree house and had lots of adventures of their own up in the tree.
The start of the first week we were there Ethan and his cousins went to BYU football camp. The last day of the camp they got to play in Lavell Edwards stadium and meet head coach Bronco Mendenhall. 
Josh, Ethan, and Zach with coach Grant. He was such a great coach the kids loved him! 
We headed up into the mountains for a fishing trip. Grandpa was very patient and made sure that every grandkid got to catch a fish. Ava loved fishing with grandpa! He made it pretty easy for her. As soon as he knew he had a fish on his line he'd say, " Ava come here and help me reel this line in." Miraculously she'd have a fish! 
Kate was our best fisherman that day. She caught 3 fish all on her own before anyone else even caught 1! I was laughing at my little miss priss who gets disgusted if her brother touches the tube of toothpaste with his toothbrush. Somehow she was not disgusted by dead fish! She was so proud of her fish she wanted to hold every one of them; dead, bloody and all! 
Ethan was so patient. He fished and fished and never gave up. It finally paid off right before we went home for the night he caught his fish. A beautiful albino trout! 
On our drive home I spotted a baby Moose. It was pretty far away but I was able to get a shot of it with my zoom lens. We couldn't see mother anywhere though. 
Grandma was so excited to have her grandkids home to ride horses! So excited that she signed them all up to be in a horse show. The boys were entered in the walk/trot division. They all wanted to ride the pony and we laughed that Zach (the tallest of the entire bunch) ended up on the pony (the shortest, smallest horse)! No one seemed to care though, they were all so proud of themselves! 
I was not expecting our kids to do very well in the show I just thought it would be a good experience for them, but to our surprise Ethan's number was called and he was awarded the 5th place ribbon! There were probably 12 or more kids in his division and they awarded 6 ribbons. Not too bad for his very first horse show ever! I think it had a lot to do with grandma's horse who does really well in the arena, but either way Ethan was beaming from ear to ear and we were proud of him too! 
The girls were entered in the lead line division. I made tutu's for the horses to dress them up really cute. The girls had so much fun getting all dressed up in their cowgirl outfits and feeling important that they got to be in the horse show. 
In the lead line division everyone gets a blue 1st place ribbon, but of course the little girls didn't know this. Kate & Madelyn were the first 2 in the lead line and so they got their ribbons first. When Kate saw that it was a blue ribbon her face lit up and she screamed to her cousin, "Madelyn, I got first place!!" I just smiled and agreed and quickly lead her out of the arena before she realized that everyone got the same ribbon. She was so pleased.
Her cousin Madelyn was just as happy about the 1st place they received!
On the 4th of July we went to the Oakley parade festivities to cheer for the girls as we watched them dance on their float. Of course the boys were happy to collect candy as well. They got a little competitive with their candy collection that we had to put an end to it after two of them went down in the road in front of an on coming float!!
Ava was right on the front of the float happily shaking her pom pom and doing her dance moves. This was a big improvement from last year when she sat and frowned through the entire thing.
Then we saw Kate next. She was too busy dancing to give the camera any smiles. She is my obedient child and was simply following instructions from her dance teacher who told them not to wave at their families but to keep on dancing. She certainly did just that!
After the parade we went to the rodeo grounds for the Jr. rodeo. Ethan could hardly wait to ride another calf. This year was much better than last year as the calves were actually calves (not steers) and we had all the protective gear for him to wear including a bull riders vest and helmet. I was much less nervous! He managed to last a couple more seconds this year. Click play to watch below, but don't blink or you might miss all the action! 
After all of the 4th of July festivities we went to Ogden to see grandma Janet & grandpa Lou. The first outing was the Hogle zoo. The weather was perfect and we were able to see so many of the animals.
The next day we went to the Hill air force base airplane museum. It was neat to see the huge airplanes up close and hear grandpa Lou talk about them all and tell stories about the ones that he flew. 
I heard so many stories from Lou that I had never heard before. We all urged him to write them down for his family so that we'll have those great stories to tell grandkids for years to come. Hopefully he will! (hint, hint!)
Grandpa Lou and Ethan in front of the largest helicopter in the museum. Grandpa Lou flew this in Libya. 
Later that evening we went for a hike to waterfall canyon.
The kids were troopers and made it the entire way. Okay, Shane was a trooper and carried the girls, mainly Ava through most of the rocky steep parts! We were glad that we have such a strong dad! We were so happy at the top. It was beautiful and the mist from the waterfall cooled us right off and refreshed us after a nice hike.
Enjoying dinner and grandma & grandpa's beautiful backyard! You can tell they work hard, it is always so beautiful!
The kids enjoyed swimming in the hot tub.
And of course it wouldn't be complete without roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores! We had such a fun time in Utah visiting with grandparents and family. Too bad we had to come home to the horrible heat of Arizona summer...YUCK!!! We wish we were still there!
