bowl-a-rama

technically jack doesn't really turn four until tuesday but we celebrated a little early so we could have all our friends and family come up and celebrate with us. we are so lucky to have so many great people in our lives and that they are willing to come all the way up to anthem for our jack. we had a great time and we just wanted to say thanks to everyone. happy birthday jack we love you very much!

friends and families are the best

as stated before this summer was pretty busy for us. the last two weeks of summer where the craziest. we were lucky enough to have two family reunions, john's side and then my dad's side of the family. to start the reunion tour off i went up to st george and got to see my aunt marcia, uncle rick, aunt mimi, dennis, cousin laurie and kids and cousin mary and kids. we had a good time just hanging out trying to visit while 10 crazy kids ran around and had fun. as is tradition when we go to st george in the summer time we went to what we call the dolly parton pool (because it has two domes shaped like huge boobs) and the main street little river.


the second leg of the trip we went up to willard bay in northern utah for the workman reunion. it was so much fun to get to go camping and hang out on the lake for three days. uncle bert brought up his boat and jack loved cruising the lake and "going super fast." but his absolute favorite part was playing in the kayak and putting sand in the bucket. so lucky that boys are entertained fairly easily. we were pretty much in the water the whole time i didn't really take any pictures. on this trip i had a first, my first time tubing behind a boat. i was really pumped to go, i get on the tube go for about 30 seconds and of course the boat died. we were stranded in the middle of the lake for a good 30 minutes. though my ride wasn't long it was really fun. i was going to experience another first on the trip, water skiing. john and my borther in law kevin talked uncle bert into letting us take the boat out early before any of the kids woke up. so i get up at like 6 something in the morning freezing my butt off and get into to the boat so we can launch it. boats in the water, kevin trys to fire it up and it won't start. uncle bert messed with it for a little while and still nothing. life experience number two didn't happen. don't be fooled we all still had a great time at the reunion and i loved having a chance to reunite with family we hadn't seen in forever.

see the smiles on our faces we had a blast (sorry i stole this picture from your blog.)

during the reunion i was lucky enough to be able to go out with my girls becky, buffy and sarah from our condo days. we all live in different states now and it was really lucky that we were all in utah at the same time. we went to the gateway to shop, have dinner and do what we do best, talk! it was so nice to have the girls night and be with them all again. i haven't and i'm sure i never will be able to find friends as great as them again. i really miss my girls.

the last leg of the tour was up in jackson hole wyomming for my dad's side of the family's reunion. we drove from st george up to pocatello idaho and stayed the night, because of this i was lucky enough to get a chance to see my melinda. it had been about three years since the last time i got to see her and that i might add is way to long. melinda is my one friend that no matter how much time passes since the last time i saw her i instantly feel comfortable and fall right back into the ways things are when we are together no awkwardness at all. i got to see her beautiful boys and her super cute house. i love my smellin head you are one of a kind and i will have you for my friend for the rest of my life.

melinda and tyler's newest addition to their little family, ezra. super cute and super good baby.


melinda's other boys river in my arms and joseph with the drink cup.



after visiting with melinda in idaho falls we drove over to jackson hole. that has got to be some of the most beautiful parts of this country i have ever seen. if i wasn't so attached to say target and having serious medical facilities for jack i would move there in a heart beat. it is so green and amazing. once we got to jackson there was a ton of everetts there to greet us. i love it in jackson hole and it was awesome because my dad did all the cooking pretty much so we were "forced" to hang out with each other and get to know each other better. i have so many cousins that i don't really even know so it was great to be with them.



jackson hole decided to give me a really early christmas present and rain everyday we were there. it cleared up long enough to have a few adventures and cook dinner. it was so nice to be in weather that reminded me that there are other seasons besides summer. while we were there we went to jenny lake and went on a hike, swam at the community center, did the bungee trampline and much more. i owe my parents a huge thank you for arrange this reunion and letting jack and i tag along for the ride. you guys are the best and i cherish all the trips you have taken me on. i hope to be able to do the same for my little family.



proof that they really do like each other and get a long well for the most part.

you can't really see the mountains in this picture but they were beautiful. this is right before we embark on a little hike.

jack loves him some grandma. you can see the mountains in this one. it was a beautiful day.

jacks favorite part of the hike was climbing on the rocks.

half way through the hike when i was still able to carry jack. we didn't have our daddy with us to help me carry the turkey so my dad and heather were kind enough to help me with that. jack couldn't really see the rocks in the trail and kept tripping which is why he needed to be carried.


riding the boat over jenny lake to the hidden falls hiking trail.

some of our group up at hidden falls

jack and i relieved to have made it to the falls and great for the little rest and beautiful surroundings.

back at our lodging jack had a blast playing "baseball" and dumping rocks into that parking cone. again i'm grateful that boys are so easily entertained.

so all in all our last two weeks of summer were awesome, great and wonderful and i'm ready for the next go around next year. i'm one lucky girl because i have the greatest froms a girl could ask for and the best family.

why is blogging so hard for me lately?

this summer has been crazy, fun and very busy. but i find myself at a loss as what to post and what to say about what we did. to start with our summer vacation has ended because our sweet boy jack has started his second year of preschool. happy to report that jack did great, he didn't fuss once and wasn't apprehensive about taking the bus to school. my how things change so fast. my toddler has grown into a boy and i don't know when or how that happened. he has become more independent and adventurous. he now snatches the utensil from my hands says "i can do it." he is a lot better at playgrounds and going over, under and through things. he swings from the monkey bars and i'm getting a lot better at letting him do it. i still worry but i'm trying to let go. i'm so happy to have such a fun, loving and sweet boy. here's to another fun year of preschool.