Bear Lake with the Hansens

Okay, so believe it or not, Johnn and I had never been to Bear Lake. Shocker huh! So we were very excited when our good friends Josh and Amy invited us up for the weekend.


First night there at the rodeo. It was very entertaining, even though most of the participants didn't do too well. My favorite part was the horde of kids chasing the calf trying to get the ribbon off his tail but were too afraid to grab it when they got close.


We stayed at the Shaw's cabin, which was very nice of them to take us in as strangers, & Michael thought that their riding lawn mower was pretty cool. The best part was that when we got home he tried to ride on our regular lawn mower. It was hilarious!


Me & Michael



Jaxson & Michael on the 4-wheeler. Doesn't that look like a happy face? Michael does not like getting his picture taken. We just tried to get his picture taken at Kiddie Kandids and it was a joke.


The boys picking fresh raspberries. The raspberry shakes at Bear Lake, I would say, definitely lived up to my expectations.


Michael


Jaxson


With how low the water is, you would go in up to your knees for a few feet, then back to your ankles before it started getting deeper. It was perfect for the little ones.


Josh & Amy... going, going, gone!


Thanks Hansens for such a fun trip.

Flaming Gorge

Okay so I am finally posting pictures a month later, but that's what happens when you are busy moving and don't have internet. Anyways, we had a blast with the Miles family up at Flaming Gorge over the 24th of July. I could not believe how high the water was. Your legs dragged in the water on the rope swing and most of our beach was underwater. We had a great time. The kids did a lot of tubing and playing with these great dump trucks. We definitely need to get Michael one for his birthday. Johnn had school so he met us up there half way through. Without him there I didn't take very many pictures.

Living the High Life

We had such a fun 4th of July weekend up at the cabin. The weather was perfect and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. We had a blast 4-wheeling, hiking, making smores around the bonfire, playing games, and simply hanging out together. We were so glad that the Elggrens were able to drive over for the weekend now that they live in Colorado. We are looking forward to more cabin adventures with them now that they are not as far away.

The hikers- Notice there is no Johnn in the picture. He stayed back at the cabin to do homework. Sorry honey, but I am proud of you for going back to school to get your MBA.

Cute CJ and Brooke

We had such a nice walk over in the national forest, which borders the back of our property. The kids collected every different kind of flower that they found to look up in Nanny's flower book. They are getting to be pretty good with a lot of the names, probably better than I am at it already. The picture with my parents and the tree is what they did for their wedding announcements when they got married. I wish that I had a copy of it, because it was so cute.

The Whitmores

Michael loves 4-wheeling. I love that he will climb up on them and make engine noises. He is such a boy. He Just learned how to push that gas, which he is super excited about. I also love that he grabs your arm to hold around him.

4-wheeling pictures. The bigger one on the bottom left of the Elggrens is where they came in and clearcut the forrest a few years ago. It's so sad to see when you know just how beautiful it used to be, but new trees are starting to grow. For now there are just a bunch of cows there that the kids like to chase.

I just thought this was so cute. Nanny took Michael out on a 4-wheeler ride and he fell asleep while they were going. It was his only nap for the day since he refuses to sleep when there are fun things going on. The poor little guy gets so tired, but he cannot miss a minute of being at his favorite place.

Somethimes I just don't know how I ever functioned without a digital camera. We were trying really hard to get a good picture of the three little ones (Michael, Noah, and Claire), but I seriously took 30+ pictures trying to get one. I couldn't imagine having to pay to get a role of film developed only to end up with a few good pictures. These are a few of my favorites. Michael kept taking his hat on and off, Noah was worried about protecting his can, and Claire was more interested in everything else around her than looking at the camera. They definitely are cute little cowboys, even though we never got a picture with all three smiling at the same time. I might need to try a little photoshop magic, but they tell the story this way.

This Is the Place Heritage Park

The train is one of our favorites.

Petting zoo- Michael definitely isn't as shy with the animals & cute Tyler just had to pick all of them up.

Pony rides- Michael did much better this time around. Last time he would not even get on the pony, but this time he wanted he rode and even wanted to go again.

Playing in the schoolhouse

Moab... yes again!

Moab twice within a month, what a rough life we have. We definitely have a vacation packed summer where it's rare to be home for a full week at a time. We have been having so much fun playing. This time we went back down to Moab with the Miles clan. We were sad that half of us couldn't make the trip due to a funeral, knee surgery, and a biopsy- all not fun things, but we still had a fun time. This was Johnn's parents first time to Moab. No joke. Pretty amazing that you can live in Utah for so long & not see Moab. It's almost like living here and having never gone skiing. We were more than happy to show them around.

Dead Horse point

Canyonlands




Michael loved the big sand dune. Johnn carried him most of the way up, but he could have walked up the whole thing. He kept going up and down. He loved finding rocks to throw and crushing clumps of sand in his hands. Plus we got to act like kids too. We had jumping contests and Johnn had fun jumping over our kid.



Fun in the hot tub.


Mill Creek trail. It was a fun short hike that I have never done before. They loved crossing the river and Richard and Miles enjoyed cliff jumping at the waterfall. It was a great hike to do with the kids on a hot day while the guys went biking.


The group, minus me, at Landscape Arch- longest standing arch in the world.


Playing at Sand Dune Arch


Our picnic area in Arches was great. You can't really see the tables, but they were right under this cave in the wall. Someone before us had dug out holds in the rock so the boys, and Michael, just had to go up and check it out.


Delicate Arch, always a favorite.

Buzz Lightyear Ride- Disneyland

So I was checking my e-mail & remembered that I sent our Buzz pictures at the ride. Yes I look serious, but check out my score. That's right, I slaughtered Johnn. Take that honey ;) Mikey loved moving the joystick so we would turn all over the place. I think we went on the ride 5 times since the line was always short & the kids (and the adults) loved it.

Newport Beach 2009

Michael loved the beach. I was hoping that we would be past the eating sand point this year, but nope, he still likes it... crazy kid. He also almost always has a car or truck... or in this case a bus... in his hands. He loves pushing cars around making noises & I now have a train that I'm pretty sure will always have sand in it. He could play on the beach all day long and be in heaven.

Sunday afternoon at the tide pools

I love Nats & Dave's belly pictures and can't wait to meet the little one due in October. There is also a picture of Andrea above feeding Meg at sunset, it's just to pretty not to post so forgive me. Also above, CJ and Brooke swing dancing on the beach. Aren't they cute!

Fun in the sand. We enjoyed a full week on the beach, minus one day that we went to Disneyland. I didn't take my camera so I will post Disneyland pictures once I acquire some from everyone else. Michael loved all the rides. Talk about a great family vacation. I love the time we spend there all together as a family. It is so fun to get to spend time with the Elggrens since they live out of state. They, however, moved from Arizona to Colorado last week. Although it's not next door, we are excited to have them a few hours closer and are looking forward to meeting them at the cabin over the 4th.
The kids enjoyed catching crabs and jumping the waves. We also had fun rollerblading and biking on the boardwalk, boogie boarding, gaming, and simply relaxing.

Newport Temple on Sunday. Notice my little fam is not in any of the pictures? Michael fell asleep in the car on the way there and Johnn stayed with him. He never minds having a good excuse to get out of pictures.

Miller Family Photo Session

My Super 90 Year Old Grandma

Tomorrow is my dear Grammy's 90th birthday. Talk about an amazing woman who has lived an amazing life. She is the youngest 90 year old that I have ever know. She is so sharp and definitely knows what she likes... and what she does not like, and isn't afraid to tell you exactly that. I am so lucky to get to work with her. We do the books together for my Dad's office and always have a great time. She loves numbers, chocolate, and naming all of her grandkids (little family joke).
We all got together and threw her a little party last night. It was so fun to see my cousins that I rarely see and to watch some old family videos of when my Dad was just a little boy & of my grandparents BBQing in the sweetest fifties attire. Miss you dearly Papa Hack.

The Miller cousins with the birthday girl.

At the end of our Happy Birthday song she stopped us all and said, " none of you can say 'and many more'". It's her party so we obayed, but I hope that there are many more birthdays to come.

Grammy with her four boys.

She let the great-grand kids help her blow out the candles. Just a little side note, look how cute little Ellie looks (far right) with her new haircut. She decided to cute it herself the day before so it's a good thing we have a hair stylist in the family.

Memorial Weekend in Moab

We had such a blast in Moab for our annual Miller family Memorial trip. The weather was ideal, slightly overcast most of the time, perfect for hiking. We did have a couple short downpours, but we timed them almost right, I say almost because we had quite an adventure crossing the street to the diner. We hiked to Corona Arch, Delicate Arch, Sand Dune Arch (not that I would call that one a hike), and went up Negro Bills Canyon. We also went over to take in the beautiful views at Canyonlands. It was a great long weekend, and I was so proud of all the kids for being such good hikers. We can't wait to go back nect month with the Miles clan.