Miles Family

The High Life- September 2011

2011-11-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

The old widow's cabin

Claire & Kate

Elggrens

Tyler & Corey

Elggrens

Whitmores

CJ, Brooke, & Nanny

Memorial Day in St George

2011-11-26T20:14:00.001-07:00

We found a hummingbird nest with 2 babies in our front yard.

Here's a little perspective so you can see how tiny they are.

The momma came back at night.

Hiking to Scout Cave with Nanny

Fredricks

Mikey and Hailey love burring their feet in the sand at the Snow Canyon dunes.

Meggers

Kate & Jane

CJ & Brooke

Lukers

Medusa hair

Nanny & Kate

pretty sure it's a boy.

I think this means the aliens came down and ate them?

Imitating the petroglyphs

Lake Powell- May 2011

2011-10-08T14:46:00.000-06:00

Johnn didn't have vacation for the biannual Miles' family Lake Powell trip in May. So what did we do? Michael and I said sorry and packed up and went without him. We definitely missed him, but still managed to have fun... I mean, it is Lake Powell.

Building a sand turtle. Also the only picture I got of myself form the whole trip, that's what spouses are for.

The slip-n-slide

Cliff Jumping

Teresa and Todd doing the splits and Todd's gainer.

Michael, Grandma & baby Hunter

The kids spent hours jumping from the counter to the sleeping mats.

Todd told me to get my camera ready then tried to tackle Teresa while she was surfing. She had no clue he was coming for her, but luckily for Teresa his aim was a little off.

Michael and Thomas

Easter 2011

2011-10-08T13:56:00.000-06:00

We started off Easter morning finding what the Easter Bunny left at our house.

Later, we headed over to Miles' for Grandma's money hunt.

Michael only picked up the blue eggs, but still got "lots of moneys".

My handsome 3 year old

Karen and Max

Willmore's Sealing- Oquirrh Mtn Temple

2011-10-08T13:38:00.000-06:00

The Miles Women

The Men

Uncle Todd and Caden

Deken and Caden

We are so happy that this day finally came for Deken, Lisa, and Caden (and baby Jordyn on the way).

Pines- February 2011

2011-10-08T13:30:00.000-06:00

Our Miles family winter vacation did not start out as we planned, or as we would have liked it to.

The roads were pure ice as we approached Island Park and the Kjars crashed. The trailer, which probably contributed to the accident, kept the car itself from rolling. Amazingly, no one was hurt.

The kids had a great time once we got there playing in all the snow, and there was a lot. They keep the roads plowed with some snow still as a base so that you can snowmobile to the grocery store or even to church, as we saw a few do.

We had a lot of fun times snowmobiling.

Caden

Hot tubing is the best thing after a day of playing in the snow.

Nancy's 60th- February 2011

2011-10-08T13:11:00.001-06:00

For my Mom's big day we surprised her for a fun family dinner out at Asian Star.

Grandpa Leo's 90th Birthday

2011-04-27T22:47:00.000-06:00

Caden & Camie

Todd & Max

That's about enough candles to set off the fire alarm.

Michael thought a cherry tomato was a grape...

he was not a fan.

What 90 year old wants a laptop for their birthday.

Grandpa Leo is pretty high tech now with his iPod and computer.

My Boys

Morgans

Haygoods

Branches

Josh & Grandpa

Kjars

Siblings & Spouses

Escaping to the warmth of St George

2011-04-27T20:58:00.001-06:00

We took off down to St George in January with our good friends the Hansens for a weekend away from the cold, snowy winter here in Salt Lake. Not quite warm enough for swimming, but we enjoyed the hot tub, hiking, and some much needed R&R.

Michael & Jaxson

the view from Scout Cave

Josh and Jaxson squeezing through the crack

the boys had a blast in the big tub

Wyoming January 2011

2011-04-27T17:19:00.002-06:00

Johnn, Michael & I finally made it back up to the Wyoming cabin in January. We got the snow-cat up and running and finished framing the basement. That means sheet rock this summer.

my boys in the snow cat

Let's just say it was a little chilly inside the cabin. When we got there it was 33 degrees, but we got it warmed up... eventually.

Mikey in his favorite red helmet. I am so glad that he likes to wear it.

We ran into a little road block that we could get by in the cat, but figured we would saw it down so that we can get cars up there this spring.

My picky little eater. Yup, he had a bowl of Swedish fish for dinner. At least he got some calories in him, but I'm pretty sure the nutritional value ain't lookin' too good.

Miles Family Christmas

2011-02-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Nativity

Opening Christmas PJs from Grandma

A St George Thanksgiving

2011-02-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

This year we did things a little differently for Thanksgiving & took off down to my parent's place in St George.

the bedheads

Mikey & Meg, as always holding hands

fun in the pool (way too cold for my taste, but these kids are fearless)

Claire was being grumpy when I came up to her with my camera. All I did was say, "Cheese" and that frown turned right around. It was too funny.

playing around at The Crack

The view along the trail to Scout Cave

DeMills

Fredricks

Jane, Ashlyn, Kate, & Corey

Lukers

Gingerbread Houses

2011-02-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Miller family has this wonderful family tradition where we do gingerbread houses every Thanksgiving. My amazing Mom spends hours baking and building gingerbread houses for all of us. She also spends the month before picking up all sorts of different candies from different stores. The creative fun we have & finished products are definitely worth it.

My gingerbread house

Trying to get a decent picture for the DeMills

take one

note: make sure all sharp objects are out of reach of the children

take two

note: make sure all big children are out of the picture. (Love ya Sneege)

take three

Workin' Weekends

2011-02-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

This last fall Johnn, Michael & I spent 6 weekends up in Wyoming working on our family cabin. A majority of the work was framing the basement (where, if we're being honest, Johnn basically did everything while I played with Mikey and occasionally was used to hold things in place for the master builder). I will say that being married to Johnn, I have gotten pretty good with saws and nail guns. Along with the basement, we also helped my parents stain the outside of the cabin. Then, we had one fun, beautiful day with the Fredricks where we got to get away from projects and enjoy our beautiful property.

Michael loves 4-wheeling as long as he has his favorite red helmet.

We saw this beautiful buck down by our stream. I'm hoping that he survived the hunt.

This is shows a little of our framing work. I took a lot of pictures on my cell phone, but I had my phone in my back pocket when we went 4-wheeling & when we got back it was gone. I looked everywhere, but no luck. And, yes, I am now on my 3rd iPhone. Michael put my first one in the toilet & it still halfway worked afterward, but then it was stolen when our house was robbed. The police recovered it, but even though our case is closed, we can't get it back from them. This loss was definitely my fault. At least I had put off getting the new iPhone, so I had an update available to replace it.

Papa Corey harnessed in staining the upper level.

Michael & Meg are the cutest little buddies. He just loves her. Everywhere they went they were holding hands.

We went on a fun walk with the Fredricks when they came up & found this neat tree.

Fredrick family tree

Wheeler Farm

2010-11-20T16:18:00.005-07:00

feeding the crazy ducks
Warning: they will bite

Mikey loved the pigs

Tractors around every corner... talk about a little boys dream.

Thomas

Taylor & Sam

Mikey & Whitney

Mikey

Taylor

Sam & Taylor

they loved running through the maze.
I need one in my yard to wear him out every day.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-20T15:52:00.003-07:00

Michael was not too excited about wearing his dragon costume out trick-or-treating, but he loves wearing it around our house. He likes to chase you around blowing "fire" on you... but in his case it's just spit.

the Miles'

Caden

the Kjars

the Millers

Disneyland October 2010

2010-11-15T10:00:00.007-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Disneyland with the Miles family. How many 3-year-olds get to spend their birthday at Disneyland. We had a great time. I am glad that we went in the middle of the week since it was still pretty crowded & it got more so by Thursday since it was UEA. As my sister-in-law Karen said, "You know what UEA stands for... Utah Enters Anaheim". We saw so many fellow Utahns there that we started making a game of it to see if you could guess who was from Utah. Overall, it was such a fun trip & my Mikey definitely would live there if we let him.

Plane ride.

Dumbo

Karen, Max, Teresa, & Camie waiting in line for Peter Pan.
It was the first ride we went on & Michael hated it. I was nervous that the whole trip might be that way, but this was the only ride that he did not like- go figure.

Mikey's second favorite ride was the Matterhorn.

Our race car drivers

The Parade

The boys at the train station.

Splash Mountain
(Sorry it didn't turn out too well taking a picture of the screen)
Grandma brought ponchos for us, but I ended up walking around in squishy wet shoes for the rest of the day.

Mikey's favorite: Buzz Lightyear
We went on this one so many times, good thing it is fun for adults too.

It's a Small World

Screamin'
(Yes another of me taking a picture of a picture.)

Seigers

Good Ol' Jungle Cruise

World of Color
We watched this 2 nights, Mikey slept through both because he was too worn out by that time, but Johnn filmed it and Mikey now loves to watch it on our computer.

Guess Who's Three!

2010-11-03T21:12:00.003-06:00

We were in Disneyland on Michael's actual birthday, but he has a month full of birthday celebrations.
He saw his cake when he woke up in the morning & I don't know if it makes me a horrible Mom or a really cool Mom that I let him blow out the candles and eat one of the cupcakes for breakfast. I made him have a banana too.

Mikey is all about trains. Our basement is halfway covered with tracks now. Thanks to generous family he is in three year old heaven.

The Miller side October birthday crew.

He even got a Thomas the Train scooter. I sometimes wake up to him now riding it around our hardwood floors.

Baby Luke & Baby Isabelle

2010-11-03T20:34:00.003-06:00

I had some fun snapping a few picture of the new babies at Luke's blessing last month.
Luke just loves when his Nanny talks to him.

Luke Fredrick & Isabelle Whitmore

Sports Court Opening Party

2010-11-01T10:50:00.002-06:00

Matt & Becky have been working so hard on their yard this year & we all went over to celebrate the opening of their new sports court.

Gotta love the U logo. That's a rare thing down in Utah County.

We had a ball (literally) breaking in the new court. The boys started out with tennis, then moved on to basketball, then volleyball. Got to love family style volleyball where you have about 10 adults/little kids on each side & just about anything goes. We had so much fun.

We also celebrated Caden's 1 year birthday while we were there. Isn't his Mickey cake so cute, good job Lisa.

Tending the Fredricks

2010-11-01T09:49:00.005-06:00

I had the fun opportunity to watch Jane, Ty, Kate, & Meg while Andrea & Paul headed down for a few days at the beach. I will say that it is quite the adjustment going from 1 kid to 5, but we loved every minute of it. Here are a few pictures.

Kate, Meg & Mikey

I was lucky enough to have the kids over Jane's 9th birthday so we made a party of it at Nanny's with some of the cousins. They loved the magic candles that keep relighting.

Tub time

Funny Meggers cracked me up. She insisted on putting on her dress ups over here pj's.
What a ham!

Mikey had such a blast spending time with his cousins. It was great for me because he would go to bed when all the other kids did, which was earlier than his usual time (& no they did not all sleep like this, although they would have liked to). He loves his cousin's new house and all their fun toys & having cousins around to play with. Mikey & Meg also worked on their animal sounds & to Mikey a sheep now says "mmmmeeegggg"! I love it.

Midway

2010-11-01T09:37:00.002-06:00

Michael loved Jaxson's tractor.

What good buddies.

We had a fun night up in Midway Josh, Amy & Jaxson up at their property in Midway. It was a short trip since Johnn left to go elk hunting early the next morning. Michael & Jaxson had a blast playing together & we ate delicious Navajo tacos and had a few intense rounds of boys vs. girls Sequence.

Labor Day in McCall @ the Banks' Cabin

2010-10-15T10:38:00.008-06:00

We were lucky to get to go back up to McCall over Labor Day weekend with Andrew and Lindsay & stay at her beautiful cabin. It was a fabulous trip. We each skied once in pretty choppy water, but we had fun trying to find good water and boating over to Ice Cream Alley. I loved waking up and getting to go for a nice run, spend some time on the lake and beach, eat some great food, curl up with a good book, and watch movies (such as Jaws). Thanks Linds for a great, relaxing weekend.

Lindsay's huge birthday cookie

My boys

Mikey still isn't sure he likes boats all the time, but he always likes playing in the sand.

Andrew & Linds

Zoo Days

2010-10-15T10:27:00.003-06:00

Miles Family Zoo Day

Baby Maggie's first trip to the zoo.
Love that she's sporting her giraffe binkie clip just for the outing.

When I was tending Hailey & Noah one day we headed up to the zoo and ran into Andrea and the kids. It was so fun & these little cousins have a blast together.

I love my zoo pass & we try to go once a week, so we definitely get our money's worth.
I tend Hailey every Wednesday so we often head up to the zoo on those days to get us out of the house. Michael loves his Hailey & I love that he can run out all his wiggles and extra energy.
I wish I had his energy.

Living the High Life

2010-09-22T16:51:00.049-06:00

We had a wonderful weekend up at the cabin when Alli and the kids were here last month.
The weather was dreamy & the company couldn't have been better.
And I only took a few hundred pictures to prove it.

Nance & the origional 6 kids

I had a little fun taking
pictures of the kids
in one of my favorite
clearings on the
property.
Gotta love the
pink cowboy hats!

The Fredricks got to add Luke to their family tree.

Darling Meg turned 2 at the cabin.
I found myself laughing through our little photosession
because this girl knows her poses.
Is she not the cutest little 2 year old cowgirl?

this is my favorite

We had a great time inside the cabin as well as out. I love when I asked Claire to give CJ a kiss for me she basically smothered him with kisses, smack on the lips. It was great.

Nanny & Papa with baby Luke

Claire & Mikey had a
great time with their
hats, guns, & horses.
Yes, Mikey still loves
to shoot all the stuffed
animals in the cabin.
Such a boy.

the fam at one of our "lakes"

Uncle Dave makes the coolest rock arches. The boys loved watching him...almost as much as they loved knocking them down later.

Gotta love the parental PDA.
I'm not joking,
I love it.
It's nice knowing my
wonderful parents
still have it.

Mikey found a new game with long pieces of grass and Johnn's ear.

Cute Brooke & CJ. Talk about a perfect match.

Mikey has decided that he likes his helmet now.
Yes is is wearing it inside & yes it is adult size.

The kids had a ball 4-wheeling down to the stream & catching grasshoppers to feed the fish.

It was such a fun weekend & so fun to be together at our beautiful cabin.

Flaming Gorge- August 2010

2010-09-22T10:48:00.012-06:00

We were happy to join the Miles family for a fun day up at Flaming Gorge.
They camped on the lake for several days, but we only went for a day trip since we have been playing so hard this summer and have up our vacation days & we really don't think camping with a two year old is all that fun... well, with our two year old anyways.
We had a great day playing on the lake & were happy that we picked a day when the weather decided to cooperate.

Dad & Caden

Kenna

We had a great time skiing, surfing, and tubing on the lake. After lunch we all headed over to the rope swing for some fun and cliff jumping. Even little Jackson went on the rope swing. Todd tried to do a back-flip and Teresa got all the guys attention by being the only girl to do it.
After a great day of boating, we finished up at camp roasting mellows over the fire.

Rope Swing

Miles kids

surfing

Visit from Elggrens

2010-08-24T19:08:00.008-06:00

We had such a fun week with Alli and her kids in town. When they come, we always have a party week & I feel like I need a vacation afterward. It was fun to go to a lot of local places that I don't usually get to, even though they are all so close.
Here is a look at our fun filled week.

We started out our first night at Temple Square. I don't know why I don't get there more often. It was beautiful and the kids loved it, especially the fountains & reflection pond.

Day 2 we headed down to Thanksgiving Point for $2 Tuesday...
along with everyone in Utah County & their kids. It was a mob scene, but the kids loved the animals at the farm.

Day 3 we headed up to our Millcreek cabin for lunch, games,
and cake for Ashlyn's birthday.

Nanny, Meg, Anu, & cute new baby Luke

I was tending Hailey while Nats was at work. She was so good and had a great nap in my arms. She refused to let go of my shirt. She kept us so entertained also because she went on a little laughing run where she was just belly-laughing at everything. Alli got some video of it that is hilarious.

The kids love playing in the stream. They really don't mind the freezing cold water.

That night we hit up Fat Cats for pizza and bowling for Ashlyn's birthday.
I always forget how fun bowling is. Johnn kicked my butt, as usual, but Nanny beat us all.

New Recipe Blog

2010-08-16T20:03:00.003-06:00

After years of talking about it, I have finally put it into action. My new recipe blog can be found at boycheesesandwich.blogspot.com
It is a work in progress, but check it out for some of my favorite recipes.
More to come soon. I am taking pictures of everything I make these days.

Lake Powell

2010-08-09T08:26:00.008-06:00

With the Miles clan we get to go to Lake Powell in May and August every summer. I love it because they are very different trips. In May, we pretty much have the lake to ourselves, but the water is freezing so I always have to give myself a little pep talk to get in the water. In August, however, the water is warm and I am constantly getting in just to cool off from the hot sun. We had a great August trip, but we did get a few of our typical May thunderstorms.

Teresa

Mikey still loves pushing people in... thanks Uncle "Tog" for being a good victim

Todd & Taylor

Chris & Whitney

I love how Mikey got his little plastic shovel and went out to help the guys did holes for our anchors. Always the helper.

Max loved the sand. Not sure if he ended up wearing more or eating more.

Taylor & Kenna

Max

Teresa, Ashton, & Camie got in this really great mud fight.

I loved how every time I tried to get a picture, they would smile for two seconds before more mud was thrown.

My sand turtle. Mikey helped me gather all the shells.

The kids had a blast dragging & tubing

Surfer Girls

Karen & I had this brilliant idea to try double surfing with the two of us. We figured that if we could get up with a little kid on the board with us then we should be able to get up with two adults too... it only worked in theory, but we had a great time failing.

We divide up our meals on vacation. This was mine & Karen's dinner that I think has been one of our best so far. We grilled everything. There was steak & chicken (marinated in my mom's best marinade), grilled pineapple, asparagus, salad, & homemade regular & sweet potato fries with ultimate dipping sauce. Followed up with homemade snicker doodles & chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
Yum!

helping our neighbors get their houseboat unstuck after the storm

Camie & Dad

Lil loved her bucket

Johnn made his own mud bath

Mikey was a little shy with the water at first, but by the end of the trip, we couldn't keep him out. He thought running through the water was really fun.

Becky & Lil

Teresa had this fun project for the kids to make plaster molds of their footprints

the kiddos

tubing

McCall 2010

2010-07-30T10:38:00.005-06:00

Oh, how we love McCall. It's one of my favorite vacations we go one. I love that I can get great workouts in everyday and also relax. My favorites this trip were biking around the lake (it's 19 miles & we started a little time competition that Scottie dominated), surfing, running through Ponderosa Park, laying out on the boat with a good book, attempting cartwheels on the logs in the water (I did manage to land one, then my feet slipped out and I ended on my butt straddling the log), watching the kids play, sunsets on the beach, watching old favorite movies at night, and Ice Cream Alley.

The Miles Family

grandkids

siblings: the original 10

the reds

cute sisters close up

the littles

Mikey still loves his trucks

"hands up, stands up"
Todd, me, Camie

"pull a funny face"

Mandy

our nightly ritual

bringing in the tubers

Camie & me

sisters: Kenna & Kylie

Camie had fun setting up some pictures of Johnn and me

Girls Trip- St George

2010-07-30T09:08:00.002-06:00

We had such a fabulous weekend getaway with all the Miles girls for our annual girls trip to St George. This year was a little different because for the first time we had all of us there and we stayed in my parents' gorgeous new house instead of the hotel. It was very hot, surprise-surprise, as is typical for St George in July, but very enjoyable. I always look forward to this weekend away with the girls. This year, for the first time, I also left Mikey home with his daddy so it really was a true vacation. We saw 2 plays at Tuacahn, shopped, cooked wonderful food,went to see Eclipse, sat by the pool, and hiked (early morning before it was scorching hot).
It was such a great weekend.

Tarzan @ Tuacahn
I highly recommend it. The costumes & acrobatics were amazing, as well as the music. Plus, Tarzan wasn't too bad to look at.

Cats @ Tuacahn
Teresa, Ashley, Kenna, and Camie with Old Deuteronomy during intermission.
This was my first time seeing Cats. I was surprised that there really isn't much of a story. It's basically a bunch of grown, adults in spandex pretending to be cats. I can see how cat people might love it. The music, however, was fabulous... especially "Memory". It gave me chills.

Caden

Kylie & Ashley

Island Park 2010

2010-07-29T11:35:00.005-06:00

Island Park is one of our favorite yearly Miles family vacations.

My boys on the lake.

We drove over to Big Springs to see the fish and Mikey and Sam saw a path and ended up taking me on a fun little nature walk along the river. I'm so glad that these little cousins have so much fun together.

Traditional Sunday afternoon drive through Yellowstone National Park

We saw lots of buffalo, elk, and deer. Then we also so a bald eagle, a fox, and even a coyote.
We were just happy not to be parked behind buffalo laying in the middle of the road this year.

Yellowstone Falls

Grandma & Grandpa

Lisa & Caden

My boys. Mikey was quite the little trooper. He got car sick and threw up chunky chocolate milk all over the car (great fun for us too), but he stayed happy the whole time.

the view from the green... if you ever wondered what a golf course in the middle of nowhere would look like, here's your answer. Gotta love the view of the Tetons in the back.

As you can tell, this is a really deep, raging river.... so deep we had to get out and pull our raft since it couldn't float in ankle-deep water. This is at the start where it is the most shallow. It gets deeper and wider as you go.

our raft

the other raft

Grandma, Kylie, & Max

Ashley & Sam

Mikey wasn't too sure about the raft. This is how he stayed most of the way until he fell asleep on me.

Wyoming Weekend

2010-07-29T10:44:00.002-06:00

We headed up to the cabin for a quick weekend getaway. Mikey loves the cabin & the play set. My favorite is in the main living room in the cabin, we have a bunch of dead animals mounted (2 elk, deer, mtn lion, coyote) and Mikey takes out a play gun and shoots them all. His little sound effects are the best. I am hoping, however, that this isn't a hobby that he will want to continue in the future. Johnn has shot his one elk & I think that was plenty for us for the rest of our lives.

Miles Family Lagoon Day

2010-07-27T09:34:00.001-06:00

Mikey was so excited for bumper cars....however, he picked a car that was stuck against the side so he didn't move the entire time. Still loved it though.

Lil

Oh cheesy smile

train museum = a 2 year old's heaven

chasing the geese

I don't know how he knows to sight a gun... maybe boys are born knowing these things.

Betty Crocker Moment

2010-07-26T09:14:00.002-06:00

Since my Dad loves carmel apples, I made these for dessert when we had my family over for Sunday dinner on Father's Day. It was a true Betty Crocker moment on my part & they turned out divine.

So, here's what you do. Dip apples in carmel, then white chocolate, then roll in topping of your choice. I did butterfinger, oreo, and cinnamon & sugar.

One word: Yummy!

A little taste of ordinary days

2010-07-26T09:09:00.000-06:00

Mikey's new favorite toy.

We love walking over to the playground, especially on days when we have our cousins over to play with.

Mikey loves biking with daddy.

I don't know what it is with this kid and shoes. He will put on any pair he comes across. I should take pictures when he tries on my high heels or boots, but I can't bring myself to do it. My uggs seem to always be a favorite of his.

I get Natalie's little Hailey to tend once a week, then on some days I get Lisa's and Andrea's kids too. I put them out on the swing to eat popcorn so that we didn't make a mess & couldn't resist snapping a picture. We have some cute kids.

Meggers: love the cheesy smile.
She plays so hard at my house that twice now she has grabbed her blanket and curled up and fallen asleep on my kitchen floor.

Night up Big Cottonwood

2010-07-06T09:04:00.000-06:00

The whole crew: Fishers, Hayfords, Landvatters, Wilsons, & Miles'

my boys

Azi

the women

Reese & me

"My phone's better than yours"

Heather & Linc

Linc & me

Memorial Day Weekend in Moab

2010-06-05T14:32:00.009-06:00

Three years ago we started this wonderful Miller family tradition of going down to Moab over Memorial Day weekend. The first year was a spur of the moment trip with just a few of us, but it has grown to be one of our major trips of the year, and we had the entire Miller clan together.
We had such a fun weekend.

We started out our first day hiking Negro Bills. It is one of our favorite hikes for a hot day (and it was 90+ degrees) because the hike follows the stream up the canyon to a natural bridge. The trail crosses the stream several times, but our favorite is just to walk up the stream. There are a few places that the kids use as water slides. It is always a favorite & never too crowded since it is outside the park.

Aunt "Broke" & the girls - looking like a pack of sardines.

It's a good thing we had all these strong kids to hold up the boulders for us.

Saturday, we got up early & went golfing. And let me tell you, I forgot how much fun golfing is. I hadn't been in 3 years so I was nervous about being rusty, but it was a blast.

Then we hiked Delicate Arch, always a favorite too. This year was actually the most crowded that I have ever seen it, but we still managed to find some sitting space and snap some pictures.

After Delicate, we headed over to Sand Dune Arch. The kids absolutely love this one with all the sand to play in, and us adults love it too as it is a cool, shady place to relax in the hot afternoon.

We tried to get a picture of all the grand kids, which as you can see, didn't go very well. We have a bunch of criers, wigglers,, and one escape artist. Michael took off every time we set him down for the picture. We should get an "A" for effort at least.

Entrance to Sand Dune. I had to laugh because Michael was still holding onto his hat (see the bottom right picture). The first hike we did up Negro Bills was windy at the top & his hat blew off. From that point, he would not let go of it because he was so worried about losing his hat again.

Michael loved scooting down the sand dune on his bum & got us to join him.

Cute Hailey- 8 months old

Preggers

On Sunday, we went to morning church in Moab then had a picnic & drove through Canyonlands in the afternoon. But, let's start with church. I think this is uncommon, but correct me if I'm wrong, but they printed a full page of Mormon jokes on the back of the sacrament program. It was hilarious! I'm not sure if it was the jokes that were the funniest or the fact that they printed jokes on the back of the program. I wish that I had saved it so I could copy them down to share. There were several funny ones about how many Mormons does it take to screw in a light bulb.

The answer: It depends....

If it is the Relief Society, four. One to bring a table cloth, one to bring a centerpiece, one to bring refreshments, and one to screw in the light bulb.

If it's the Elders Quorum, four. Three who don't show up & one to screw in the light bulb.

If it's the Aaronic Priesthood, one. They just hold the light bulb and the whole world revolves around them.

I wish I could remember all of them. We thought is was pretty funny.

So, after church we went to Canyonlands. They have so many amazing lookouts there, but I think that they had a drunk design the roads. They are the more bends than driving up a steep canyon, but here there is no need to have so many curves. I really was going to stop & take a picture of this flat stretch where the road turned back and forth every few yards across a wide open field, but I was getting motion sick just looking at it. If you have been there, you know what I am talking about. Drunk roads aside, it is beautiful.

Papa & Nanny with all the grand kids (plus Dan & Johnn as Claire & Mikey were needing a little extra TLC).

The Fabulous Miller Ladies

The 6 original Miller kids

Upheaval Dome

The entire Miller clan. We were so happy to have Dave skip out on studying for his medical boards for a few hours to come with us so that we could get a picture with the whole fam.

Ants on a log- I love Noah & Mikey's cute faces.

Jump!

Cute Alli & Dan

On Memorial Day, the guys got up early and went biking. The rest of us went to McDonald's for breakfast & came in contact with the grumpiest fast food worker I have ever encountered. If anyone is looking for a job in Moab that requires customer service skills, but lacks customer service skills entirely, there is a spot for you. Anyways, after seeing the "golden arches" we went on to see more arches in the park. We did the Windows loop, which was just perfect for the little kids.

Later that afternoon, those of us that weren't in a hurry to get home stayed and hiked Corona Arch. It has turned into another favorite hike of ours. It's the same length as Delicate Arch, about 3 miles round trip, but it seems only half as long since it is relatively flat. Michael loves that we get to cross the railroad tracks.

Sneege & Broke

Fredricks

Mikey & Mommy nap time

Corona Arch

We were stuck in traffic in Spanish Fork Canyon on the way home and this crazy old guy was out on the side of the road performing for all of us with his huge hula hoop. He was surprisingly, really good. We were joking about next year setting up a port-a-potty on the side of the road in the canyon and charging people to use it. I bet you could make so much money since the traffic is horrible & there is nowhere else to go.

Until next year!

Zoo Day with Cousins

2010-06-04T08:03:00.000-06:00

Michael had so much fun running around the zoo with Ellie & Noah.

Michael chasing the "ducky". All birds are duckies to him. We are working on it, but I just think it is so cute.

rhino

swimming tiger

How can you go to Lake Powell & not ski?

2010-06-03T22:54:00.004-06:00

So, yes, I went to Lake Powell and didn't even water ski. I know what you are thinking, it's almost sacrilegious. It's the first time that I've been there, when I wasn't preggers, that I didn't ski.

It really is my own dang fault for not skiing at the first of the trip. The first day is always crazy with finding a spot, securing the houseboat, & getting settled. Who cares that the water was choppy & really cold? I do. That's why I didn't go. I've been a little spoiled with great water. What can I say, I like my glass. Okay, so the water was also extra cold this trip, but I've skied in Lake Mead in March so I should be able to handle just about anything. (I wouldn't recommend that btw). I think I am getting wussier in my old age. I don't like to be cold.

So, then the fun begins. One kid starts throwing up, then as soon as you know it another & another are joining in the misery. That's right, bring on the stomach flu. I tell you what, a houseboat really is not the ideal place to have a bunch of sick people. It's not like you can stay away from it as you are all in such close quarters. Not to mention, tiny houseboat bathrooms that people were constantly running for. TMI. By the end of the trip, most of us had suffered through it, or we're still suffering through it. It hit the babies worst of all, which was so sad.

We did, however, still manage to have a lot of fun together in between the sick parts. I made it out surfing and on the wave runners a few times, but no skiing.

I snapped a few pictures on he wave runners the last day, but when I got home I realized that I really didn't take pictures this trip. I only took two pictures of Mikey the whole time & neither turned out well. I failed as a Mom. I'll have to take a lot when we go again in August to make up for it.

Yes, I really am wearing my Uggs out on the wave runner. Make fun all you like. I did pass some fishermen who looked at me like I was crazy. But let me tell you something about Lake Powell in May. It is COLD! It was so much more enjoyable with warm feet & I managed to keep them mostly dry.

Johnn cruisin' Face Canyon

The new sandbox

2010-06-03T22:36:00.002-06:00

Michael loves sandboxes, so I mentioned to Johnn one night that we should make a sandbox in our backyard. The next night when I got home from work, Johnn was out building this great sandbox. It's so great being married to such a handyman. Michael loves his "box" & has spent many hours in it the last couple months (shows I'm a little behind blogging, as usual).

The sandbox is 4 x 8 feet. I can easily fit in it... with the lid closed that would be a little scary, and way too much like being in a coffin. No thanks. But, I told Johnn not to be surprised when it gets hot this summer to see me out there laying out in the sandbox with my beach towel & a pina colada in my hand. I might need to go by a coconut cup & a little umbrella to go in it to complete the scene. But this is Utah, it's about as close to a beach as I'm gonna get.

Easter/Conference Weekend in St. George

2010-04-11T14:10:00.007-06:00

Easter egg hunt with the cousins.
Sorry for all of you that were snowed in on Easter.
Our weather was dreamy.

Dying Easter eggs

Swimming in the new pool.

Easter luncheon at Mike and Suzanne's house in Kayenta.

Our view from the balcony. Isn't it beautiful. I loved running every morning
with the fabulous scenery.
There are caves right behind us (shown below)
that you can hike to.
We just haven't found the trail head yet, as it is unmarked
and not official. But it is definitely on my To Do list.

The dining room. We were excited to get furniture in it so we didn't have to eat on a card table and folding chairs this time. I loved how it turned out. Now we just need wall decor.

Coolest lamps that my parents picked up in San Fran.

Love these.
We spent a lot of time shopping around town for decor
now that we have some furniture.

The cranes

More decor.

My Dad has gotten really involved in the decorating. We love it. Everything he picks out is an animal of some sort. He picked out a lot of great things,
such as the cranes and frog above....
but then there is "the cockroach".
Okay, so it's not really a cockroach.
It's a frog from TaiPan that looks more like a cockroach.
I wish I had a picture, but it's a little ugly.

"Mom, Buzz Stuck!"

2010-04-11T13:28:00.003-06:00

Mikey was watching Toy Story a couple weeks ago,

and ran upstairs to get me saying,
"Mom, Buzz stuck"

I went downstairs to find this.

He used my laundry basket
(after dumping out all my neatly folded clean laundry...
serves me right for not putting it away quickly)
to capture his Buzz in it like Woody in the movie.

I though it was pretty clever.

Then he decided to have himself "stuck"

Love my funny little man.

And he definitely loves his Buzz.
Johnn bought him a Buzz on their fun boys Saturday
(while mom was at the bead show).
Michael has wanted one for a long time.

He loves Buzz. He goes everywhere with him
& even gets to sleep with him.

The only trouble...

Buzz is not as indestructible as he may appear.
The first night he had him, Buzz took a tumble off the kitchen counter
and his leg broke off at the knee.

Thanks to my "Mr. Fit It" hubby, we got his leg bolted back on.

However, within 2 hours of Buzz's recovery, he fell down our entire flight of stairs.
This time converting Buzz into the one-armed man.

So, after another minor operation, Johnn was able to get Buzz's arm bolted back on.
His mobility will never be very good with that arm,
but he should be happy to be alive
with a 2 1/2 year old for an owner.

I know I will sound old saying this,
but they sure don't make toys like they used to.

Miller shower for Nikee

2010-04-01T15:43:00.004-06:00

One of the things that I love about our new house is having the space to be able to host fun things like this shower for my cousin Nikee. It was so great to be able to get together with the Miller side of the family since I rarely see them.

Grammy, Andrea, and Aunt Suzanne

Anna, Kate, Andrea, KJ, & Suzanne

Nancy and Nikee, our guest of honor. Doesn't she look fabulous? Hard to believe she's a few days from her due date.

"Broke" & Nats

Lisa & Jane

Silly Anna & Ellie

The cutest center piece!

Isn't this bunny mobile that Karol Jean made just the most adorable thing?

Grammy & Hailey

I love their faces in this one :)

Baby Showers for Mindy and Heather

2010-04-01T15:33:00.004-06:00

These are the cupcakes that I made for Heather's shower. Don't you think they turned out cute? I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures from the shower, but it turned out really well. Angela had darling decorations and the cutest diaper cake.

Shower for Mindy

We were so glad that we were able to give Mindy and baby Rachel a shower while she was in town. I have to say that baby girl stuff is so cute.

Aunt Sue, Nats, "Broke", Nana, Nance, & Aunt Pat

Lisa, Anna, & Hailey

Nana's Birthday

2010-04-01T15:24:00.003-06:00

We had a fun night celebrating Nana's birthday down in Provo. We had a presentation at the retirement home followed by cupcakes, then headed out for pizza.

Mikey is going through a phase where if he has a shirt or coat with a hood, he thinks he had to have it on.

Nance, Nana & Susie

Nana and Amy

Weekend getaway

2010-04-01T15:00:00.002-06:00

The first weekend in March... and yes I am a little behind with this whole blogging thing...we had an adventure heading up to "The High Life" cabin. It was a short trip, lasting only 24 hours, but it was great to finally get up there this winter. Mikey and I drove the snow cat up while Johnn took a snowmobile. The powder was so deep that Johnn buried the snowmobile and the snow cat barely made it up the big hill. But with some digging out and towing, we did make it there safely. Johnn spend most of our time there fixing the snowmobile, but my Mr. Fix It was able to come through. I'm starting to think that if Johnn can't fix something than it can't be fixed. He's kinda like duck tape :)

Michael thinks the big truck (aka snow cat) is really fun. He makes great engine sounds while we were riding in it. If you have ever been in a snow cat, you know that they are anything but quiet.

It's a little deceptive how deep the snow was. I stepped out of the cat into the powder on the side and figured that I would sink down a little, but ended up in waist-deep snow.

We were able to accomplish our main goal of the trip and leave the snow cat up at the cabin, which meant that we also got to bring down one of the the 4-wheelers that were stuck out in the snow all winter. The cat packed our track pretty well, but there was no way that I could 4-wheel out in that much snow so Johnn towed me with the snow mobile while I gave it gas. I have never fishtailed so much in my life, and after one near tip over, we made it down safely. We always say that half the adventure of the cabin is getting there & getting back. I am proud to say that we have never turned around an headed home without reaching our destination. We have walked in from miles out when we forgot the key to the lower gate, crawled the last mile up the hill in the deep powder because it was too deep to walk in, gotten the car stuck in yucky mud and hoofed it with 6 inches of mud stuck to our shoes, and even been tracked by a mountain lion while snowshoeing up in the wee hours of the morning. Like I said, it's an adventure.

This is one of the 3 moose that we saw.

St George... here we come!

2010-02-19T14:16:00.008-07:00

My parents bought a second home down in St George last week. It's something that my Dad has been talking about doing for a while now, so we are so excited that they found what they were looking for. This house is amazing! I realize that I am posting a gazillion pictures, but this is for my siblings who have yet to see it yet. We headed down with parents and DeMills and for the weekend (Fredricks and my Grammy stopped by too) to check it out and to help shop for furniture. As you'll see, we haven't picked out much yet. Considering that they closed on Wednesday and had mattresses and bedding by Friday, I think we did very well. Not to mention 8 shopping carts worth of goods from Bed Bath and Beyond (plus 2 more on a later trip). We are having fun helping furnish the place and cannot wait for all the fun times I know that we will have down there.

I love the entrance. It's an open aired turret that reminds me of a castle.

front gate

Gas fire pit and cooking area up on the roof. It has a beautiful view in the daylight.

Michael and Dave had some fun with the torches by the hot tub. We had to turn them up all the way just to see how big they would get. I think it gives a new meaning to the name "hot tub".

There are two outdoor showers.

Pool side BBQ

The glass doors slide all the way open, which I love. It feels like a home out of House Beautiful or the fabulous resort we stayed in down in Playa.

This is my favorite bathroom. The shower is open and the shower head it about 12 feet up. With the skylight above, it almost feels like showering out under the stars in the rain.

Master Bath
I know the picture is took in the mirror isn't fabulous with the flash, but I wanted to show how big it is.

It took me a few minutes to figure out this neat shower since there are three different handles. You get a regular shower, plus spray from the side and ceiling as well.

The fabulous kitchen.

Hailey in the bumbo.

I love that they painted the outlets in the kitchen to match the granite as well as the rock work.

Living room fireplace

Master bed

Casida

guest bed

Entryway. I love that very few of the surfaces and rooms are square. Everything has curves and fun angles.

Theater
I think this might be Johnn's dream room.

Caden's Blessing

2010-02-10T15:31:00.002-07:00

Lisa and Deken's first little guy, Caden, blessing.

Isn't he a handsome little guy?

Camie & Caden

Miller Family Pictures

2010-02-10T14:29:00.002-07:00

We got new Miller family pictures at the Capitol. Michael, as usual, didn't want anything to do with pictures, so I'm just glad that we were able to get a few where he wasn't screaming.

Fun in the snow

2010-01-20T00:11:00.005-07:00

First ski day of the year at Park City. Every time I forget how much I really love it. I wish I had the time and money to go all the time.

Miller sledding day

Miller gals: Alli, Andrea, me, Lisa

Our second ski day

It was so fun for us to get a chance to ski with both sides of the family.

Anna's first time on the slopes and Lisa's first time in 8 years. It was so fun for Anna to get to learn how to ski at the same time as Brooke.

Brooke & CJ's Wedding

2010-01-10T12:03:00.012-07:00

CJ and Brooke were married in the Salt Lake Temple on Dec. 19th. It was a beautiful day & we are so excited to have Brooke in the family.
While we were waiting for the newlyweds to come out of the temple, we decided to snap a few shots to test out my new camera (to replace my stolen one). Above are the first 3 pictures we took. I laugh because Natalie and I both pulled the same silly face. We must be related or something.

Most of the kidlins. We left Michael with my Mother-in-law & it was so nice not to have to chase him around. Sad that he wasn't in the pictures, but let's be honest, he wouldn't hold still for a picture anyway. In the top left are Lily (Brooke's youngest sister) and my niece Ellie. They are so similar that we just knew that they would either really hit it off or completely clash. Luckily, they get along great.

The Whittys

Introducing the new Mr. and Mrs. Miller

All the fellas

I love the look on CJ's face. It's like "Yah, those are my wife's legs".

RECEPTION

Bridesmaids

The reception at the Salt Lake Hardware building turned out beautiful.

I was so grateful that someone was smart enough to put Shrek on while we were setting up and taking pictures. Doesn't Michael look like a little stud in his tux?

Elggrens

DeMills

Cutting the cake

Congrats Brooke and "Sneege"!
We love you!

All full of excuses...

2010-01-06T11:20:00.009-07:00

That's right, I'm finally back and blogging. Now that I have a computer and camera again, no more excuses, for now anyhow. I was whining to my sister the other day when she was giving me a hard time for not blogging anymore that I just didn't want to do it because I was so far behind. I mean, we've had Michael's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, CJ's wedding, Christmas, New Years, and the all of my family in town, so it's been non-stop activities. I have just been overwhelmed. But now that the holidays are over, maybe I can just be whelmed... I think you can be in Europe (a little Clueless quote for you). So we are going to do a quick update, then on with life again.

So, we moved in to our new house in Sugarhouse back in August, and yes, I did take some pictures, but of course I never got around to posting them. Call me a slacker, if you must. So here are a few pics.

Also, my Mikey turned 2 in October. He loved his birthday and opening presents. I wish I had video to show you, but you will find out why I don't if you keep reading. We tried to get his picture taken at Kiddie Kandids twice, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Here are a few pics from his birthday.

Mikey has turned in to such the little man. He is tall for his age, average for weight, and his head is now officially off the charts. Yes, he's always had quite the noggin. He is talking like crazy, however, most of it is his own language. He talks the most when he is telling you off, which is hilarious because he will be so serious. There is never a dull moment.

Mikey mowing the lawn with his dad.

trying on my Uggs.

Then, after Mikey's birthday in October, we all got sick with H1N1. Let me tell you what, I have never been that sick in my life. Mikey was thankfully over it when I got it because I couldn't take care of myself, let alone a 2 year old. He was a champ through it though. I felt so bad because he would try to play and after a few minutes he would just lay on my wood floor because he didn't even feel good enough to move. I had one really bad weekend too where my fever just would not break for 4 days. I was sick over Halloween so I missed it completely, and therefore don't have any pictures. Mikey was a lion and looked so cute... that is when he wouldn't leave his costume on. Thankfully, we are all better and haven't been sick at all since.

Two days before Thanksgiving, our house was robbed in the middle of the day while we were at work. They stole all our small electronics including our computer, camera, video recorded, iPod, GPS, etc. Then they also took all of my spare keys. I apologize to all those reading this whom have heard me vent so many times about this, but I still feel violated. They were "kind" enough not to take our external hard drive, so we didn't lose everything, but I hadn't backed up our video camera in almost a full year. We lost all those videos of Michael which still makes me sick. You can't replace those first words and first dance moves.

Through our insurance, we have gotten our house re-keyed and new items to replace those that were stolen, but it was a real headache to get it all done that took a month of fighting trying to prove that we did in fact own all the items. We had just switched to a new insurance company, so it didn't look good that we were making a claim the first month, and they had to do all this extra background checking on us.

The police did come and dust for fingerprints and everything, but basically told us that our stuff was probably already sitting pawn shops and to kiss it goodbye. We didn't expect to hear anything, then one day Johnn got a call from the police that they had someone in custody that had possession of my old iPhone that was taken in the burglary. The phone is broken from when Mikey tried to flush it down the toilet last year, but they were able to pull the contacts off of it and track us down. The police are almost positive can't get a confession out of them, however, they do have them on breaking into multiple other houses so they will be going to jail. Still no clue about where our stuff ended up though.

In December, I hosted my first shower in the new house for Brooke and CJ with my Mom's family.
And Natalie and Dave blessed their little Hailey. I had so much fun making the cookies for this one because of the little girl "Zoolander" Haileys.

Johnn got the opportunity to try out the luge course up at Park City. He said that if he had the time and money, it is something we would definitely do all the time. He did come home with a few battle wounds. Johnn's scuffs weren't as bad as this guy pictured below that went with him, but they looked painfully. For the ice to break the skin through your coat and shirt, you must hit the sides pretty hard.

We had a lot of fun getting to know Brooke better and all her family at all the fun showers. I believe that the blondes now outnumber the brunettes in the Miller fam.

Grandeur Peak

2009-11-05T23:23:00.003-07:00

I absolutely love the fall as the leaves are changing. We had a beautiful Saturday morning hiking Grandeur Peak.

At the summit

Hansens

This is Michael smiling for me... it needs a little work, but it's a step in the right direction. I have dozens of pictures of his back because when I would pull out the camera he would run away.

Mount Olympus

2009-10-15T22:50:00.004-06:00

So we had this wonderful idea to go on a hike last Saturday. Johnn and I had both already done our workouts for the morning so we thought we would just take on something simple...

Then we somehow decided to hike Mt Olympus. Lets just say that we were and are still a little sore.

I have hiked this mountain a dozen times, but that was in high school & college, you know, way back in the day. We used to hike it for sunrise then run down in under 3 hours then go to school. It is a very different hike carrying a 2 year old. Thanks to my wonderful hubby for taking on that task.

It was absolutely gorgeous, but I forgot how steep that hike is. It took us 5 hours.

Mikey was actually amazing. He didn't walk very far but that was mostly our fault. He probably would walk half of it, but going Mikey pace, it would be a two day hike.

Mikey loved picking leaves off the trees and eating the snow up top. When he got fussy about 3/4 the way up, Johnn put a movie on his phone for him and he was so happy. Pretty posh hiking right? Get carried up with a blankie and a movie.

I highly recommend this hike to anyone willing to take on the 6 1/2 miles. However, I would leave the kid behind.

Silver Lake

2009-10-04T19:53:00.005-06:00

Okay, so here's the deal. Johnn and I have this tradition where we go up to Silver Lake every fall when the leaves are changing. It is always gorgeous up there & Mikey loves the "wa-wa", aka the lake. You know when you have a great plan, but it just doesn't turn out the way you expected. So here's what happened. We were enjoying the beautiful drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon, and were seriously 1 minute from the parking lot for the lake when Mikey threw up everywhere. That's right, not just the spit up but the projectile vomiting that just keeps coming and coming to the point where you wonder how that much stuff could come out of such a little person. Have I grossed you out yet? Michael apparently gets car sick like his mommy. I'm just glad that Johnn was there because there's not much you can do to help a child throwing up in the back seat while you are driving, and with his quick thinking, he was able to catch a lot of it in the towel that we keep under his car seat, which now has a new purpose. My plan was to take some cute pictures of Mikey by the lake, but instead he ran around like this.

That's right. You gotta love the diaper and sandals look. I swore to myself that I would never be one of those moms that took her kid places in only a diaper (if any of you reading this do, I am sorry, but don't). I now understand that there are certain circumstances where you don't have any other option. I didn't have an extra set of clothes since we are past the blowout and spill allover when we eat stage. We washed out his clothes in the bathroom sink and used the car windshield to dry them off. The good thing is after a half an hour they were dry enough to put back on & we were able to enjoy our walk around the lake fully clothed. And I was still able to get some good pictures.

Jackson Century Celebration Reunion

2009-10-03T15:01:00.004-06:00

Last weekend was the big Jackson Family Reunion up at the Heber Girls Camp property. I had never been there, but for a camp, it's about as posh as you can get. The weather was dreamy and the leaves were beautiful. It was fun to see several of my cousins and second cousins that I don't see very often and meet some extended family that I didn't know. Each family branch got different colored shirts and hats. Gotta love that we got the bright orange. It was so appropriate for my Grandpa's family. I think they will be great to have up at our cabin to wear during hunting season. We have some pretty hideous, white trash orange tank tops that we got from Walmart up there now.

The Miller girls on our hike. We were sad that Alli & Nats couldn't be there.

The kiddies

Andrea and Meggers

Our little hikers. That's Mikey in the lead. He led the whole way and did the whole hike all by himself. This was a first. I am so glad that he is going to be a hiker. He loved every minute of it.

Papa and the girls

Mikey absolutely loved it up there. I spent hours chasing him around all the trails through the camps.

Playing with cousins in the pavilion.

Playing in the bunk houses.

Weekend in Wyoming

2009-09-28T21:36:00.004-06:00

We had another fun weekend up in Wyoming, this time with the Hansens. I love the cabin this time of year as the leaves are starting to turn. It is so beautiful. We had fun four-wheeling, playing with the kids on the playground, doing puzzles, watching movies, and relaxing.

Josh, Amy, and Jaxson

My Boys

Utah Sate Fair

2009-09-28T21:26:00.003-06:00

We had such a fun day out at the fairgrounds. The kids loved the animals and the rides. The little farm that they had was so cute. Michael loved planting seeds and riding on the John Deere tricycle. He couldn't reach the pedals, but that didn't stop him. The deep fried foods didn't temps us, but my fair favorites are the frozen lemonade and the kettle corn.

Zoo Babies

2009-09-11T17:54:00.002-06:00

Okay so for those of you who haven't been to the zoo this summer, you need to go. With my zoo pass (thanks Chris) we go at least twice a week. This summer has been so fun with all the baby animals. The elephant is just about the cutest little thing ever. We watched her roll in the mud and push around the ball this morning at her debut, and it wasn't crowded at all. We also love the three tiger cubs, baby snow leopard, and the baby giraffe. Michael loves all the animals, but climbing on the statues and hanging on the railings are probably his favorite part.