Wait JUNE, wait, Come Back!!!!!

I simply can't believe June is already over. July isn't going to go any slower either. Man, I love summer. It's so easy going. We stay up late and the kids sleep in until 9am pretty much every day. I wake up earlier, but just have lots of quiet time in the morning. It is wonderful. So far summer has been fabulous. We kicked it off with that great memorial day trip and here is some of our other adventures.

Family Reunion
This was a very extended family reunion for Grandpa Baxter's family. The kids just had a blast exploring around Mutual Dell. The highlight was this awesome zip line.




Ok, so that was fun. A few days later my kids and Nate decided to officially kill my birthday. . . by destroying my huge birthday balloon. :) I told them all that my birthday would live on as long as the balloon did. I think that balloon would have lasted until next year. So, my little family took matters into their own hand. The balloon did well until Nate got to it. Then it was over. I am still mourning the loss.




Antelope Island
What to say about Antelope Island. The first time we went was last year. I think we went on a warm spring day in April or May. It was beautiful. No smells or bugs. This year we wanted to go again but didn't get around to it until the second week of June. As we drove over the pass from the main land to the island the most atrocious smell hit. I thought I was going to barf. I held my breath over the entire pass. Now, once we got over the pass the smell was significantly better and we were able to have a pretty good time. Bugs were plentiful, but it was fairly harmless little flies. We didn't get any bug bites, although we did put on bug spray. The water does look a little gross. Lots of little floaties. I didn't mind putting my feet in it, but I did not want to touch it. Nate was less afraid and got down and dirty with the kids. He always does. I love him. :)




Nobody told the kids that fully submersing themselves in this water could be harmful to their health. We just let them play. They had a great time. . . and I learned to take my trip to Antelope Island before May is over. . . probably in late April or Early May.

Just a fun little side note trivia. At the end of June we have officially gone through 5 bags of Popsicles and about 200 otter pops. Early in the summer I decided to make Popsicles and microwave popcorn the snacks of choice. They are cheap and I don't mind feeding them to the neighborhood kids. On the down side, our yard constantly needs picking up due to hundreds of popsicle sticks and otter pop wrappers. Don't worry. The kids do it. I also make them clean their room every day. They are beginning to not like me. HAHAHA.


Waterfall Canyon
Waterfall canyon is a beautiful hike. It is fairly challenging. Mostly uphill with many large rocks to climb up. It is well worth the effort. Unfortunately for us, this is the hike that we dropped our camera in the creek. Thus, I only came out with one picture from the entire hike. I know, we are still in the parking lot. . . but I promise we made it to the top.
Miraculously, after dropping our camera in the water, it still works. I brought it home. Took the back off of it and let it dry out for almost 2 weeks. The day I decided to brave it and put it back together I prayed that it would work. Now is not the time for us to have to buy a new camera. I closed my eyes and flipped it on. I almost jumped for joy that it still worked. It doesn't have even one problem. I personally attribute this to a blessing of tithing. God is good to us. I am grateful.


Just the Boys
Nate takes Ben on a special camp out every year. I can't say enough about how much Ben looks forward to this event. This year they rented a kayak and went to a breathtaking little reservoir east of Ogden. They had such an good time. . . until they got stranded on the way home. The road was closed because of a terrible accident in which five people died. They had to wait about three hours before they could get through. Other than that though, they had a blast.



Random Ramblings
If you didn't already know, Nate scored a job in Taylorsville. He started this week and it is going well. Consequently, we have decided to move closer to the family. I think we have settled on Lehi as it is half way between family and his new job. We are hoping this job will be a longer term situation and we can settle down for a few years. We are planning on moving sometime the last week of July. Hopefully we will find a place by then or we may have to live in my parents motor home for a few weeks. :) We can't wait to be back close to our family and friends. It's really exciting. It has been 8 years since we moved away to get Nate into school. We have gone through lots of wonderful growing adventures during that time, but I am ready to move on. :) I am ready to come home. I was thinking that might never happen so I am just thrilled with these current events. I can't wait. :)