A Walk Down Memory Lane, a Wild Ride down the Slide, Sharing Hilarious Talents, and a Costume Parade. . . What a Day!

After packing up and leaving the cabin, Paul and I drove the kids to the Homestead in Midway where we got engaged over nineteen years ago. Ah, memories! We walked around the beautiful resort, peeked into the restaurant where Paul proposed and ate some delicious homemade fudge. Afterwards, we met the family in a park in Heber to play and eat lunch.

After lunch, we drove to Park City, rode the lift and took the Alpine Slide back down the mountain. The twists, turns and drops were exhilarating! Paul and I each had one of the little girls and we raced. Paul got off to a better start than I did (I began cautiously) so I could never catch up with him. Spencer rode with my Dad and Rachel sped down all by herself. We all enjoyed our wild ride down the mountainside!

Upon returning to my parents' house, we had our annual family talent show. My brother, Dave, and his wife did a great Irish dance and then Emily, Don, Dave, and Jaclyn performed a modern "bug dance." It was so clever, complete with an exterminator at the end who killed the bugs. Now we're really going to have to work on something for next year so we can top that one. I particularly loved the synchronized swimming spoof performed by my Dad, Mom and Rachel. It's hard to believe Dad would actually do something like it! I wish you could see the video. The facial expressions alone are worth watching. Unfortunately, I can't get it to load to the blog for some reason. I keep getting an error message. Boo hoo! We also had musical entries and Spencer roller skated for us. The talent show ended with a dress up parade/dance by all the grandkids. It was a really fun(ny) night!

Caitlin boogies to the Beach Boys during the dress-up fashion show portion of the talent show

You have to love Spencer's chick costume! It's one stylin' yellow housedress with a striking scarlet superhero cape! Super chicken?

From chick to chic. . . yes, that's our Rachel!

Paul gets in on the dancing action with Rachel and a little bit more hair than he normally has!

You can't miss Courtney's beautiful blue eyes, even if her hair has gotten much bigger.

Camp Black

As we do every year, my parents, grandparents, siblings and all our kids get together for our summer reunion. This year, my Mom christened it "Camp Black" (Black's my maiden name for those of you who don't know.) We began "camp" with a trip to the temple, swimming at the Scera Pool and dinner at the park. The next day, we headed to an enormous cabin above Heber which was equipped with ski ball, toys, a volleyball court, basketball court, and horseshoes. We definitely did not rough it like we usually do and I loved it! People also brought their bikes and shared them with us so the kids got to go mountain biking. We spent three relaxing days visiting with our family and bonding with one another. On Saturday, we went to Park City and raced down the alpine slide. Our kids loved it and so did we.

Sam (my newest nephew) gets some loving from my sister-in-law, Jaclyn

My brother, Dave, prepares to eat his dinner.

When we arrived, we were greeted by two deer resting on the volleyball court.

There were two more sitting in the trees nearby.

This beautiful fawn lingered around the camp while we were there.

Check out our view from the cabin's wrap-around porch. I love aspens!

Gotta love the alpine views!

My brothers, Brian and Mike chilling on the porch

Niece, Abby, shows off her toothless grin.

Niece Brianne is not crazy about getting her picture taken

Cute nephew Logan hams it up for the camera

I am just crazy about my nephew Gabe!

Here's his brother, McKennan, out on an adventure around the cabin.

Rachel and Mike shoot it out on the basketball court. We played a lot of games of Horse and Pig. Shockingly, yours truly actually won a few times. Paul had a real shootout with my bros. They were bouncing shots off trees and doing all kinds of crazy shots. It finally came down to Paul and Mike but Mike's trick shots FINALLY prevailed after it got dark.

My niece, Madeline has such beautiful red hair!

My sister, Emily and my fabulous mother

There she is, the leader of Camp Black!

I love this shot of Caitlin!

Nephew Jesse is in his own little world!

There's my handsome dad!

Smooch! Jana and Mike share a romantic moment. Awww!

Here's another one of our volleyball court deer.

Camille is the most kissable little niece! Check out those sweet cheeks!

Paul and Spencer bond over binoculars

Although we're outnumbered, the Black women are the best!

It was so much fun to meet Sam, Emily and Don's adorable new baby!

The volleyball court became one enormous sandbox for the kids and

kept them occupied for hours!

Our Courtney looks good in every picture. She is the perfect poser!

The kids made smores every night in the little fireplace my parents brought along.

Rachel enjoys communing with nature. She loved playing basketball and biking even though she took a pretty bad fall while mountain biking.

Here's another cuddly nephew--Bradley. Isn't he adorable?

I can't believe it's been 20 years!

Yes, it's true. I graduated from high school in 1989, twenty years ago! Several months ago, Cara called me and we agreed to go to the high school reunion together. I was looking forward to it but when Paul had to go to Switzerland on a business trip that day, I did NOT want to go without him by my side. Cara convinced me to go and with promises from other friends that they would hang out with me despite my being husbandless, I went. Special thanks go to Dale and Cara who picked me up and dragged me along with them as the third wheel. I'm glad I decided to go even though one former friend had to look at my name tag (with accompanying senior picture) to figure out who I was. Yes, I have changed and not for the better (aside from the college education, husband and beautiful children.) But I'm grateful to my long-standing friends who love me and were happy to see me despite my appearance!

Here are three of my best friends from high school--Cara, Kimberly and Susan. They still look as good as they did twenty years ago!

The night before our high school reunion, some of my closest friends from high school got together. We were in Show and Chamber choir together. I still think it was the best choir I've ever been in, despite being in several other college and audition choirs since then. We had dinner, caught up with each other, even received awards (mine was for being in touch with the most people from the group) and then sang some of our favorite songs. Most of us still remembered the music after all these years and we still sound terrific together! It was a wonderful walk down memory lane and made me realize what a tremendous impact this group had on me during my teenage years. We spent so much time together practicing and performing and forged friendships that have truly stood the test of time.

That's Rachel singing with us! She has an excellent voice and could actually sing a couple of our songs from memory because she's heard me singing them so often at the twins' bedtime.

Here we are (missing a few who left early.) It was such a wonderful night!

Old Friends visit Old Haunts

My good friend, Cara, and her beautiful family came to Utah for our 20th high school reunion from Oklahoma. Cara and I have known each other for ages and have been close friends since 8th Grade. Unfortunately, we don't get to see each other very often because of distance. Her husband is in the Air Force so she lives all over the place. . . and, well, you know where I live! The last time she and Dale came to visit me, I think I only had one kid! Despite that, we have kept in touch and still talk on the phone for hours. We've wanted to get our kids together for ages and finally did it. Sure enough, Taylor and Spencer hit it off and so did Maddie and the twins. We headed up Provo Canyon to Sundance, a ski resort--just a 15 minute ride from my parents' house--where Cara and I used to ski back in our youth. It was exquisitely beautiful up there. It made me realize why I miss the mountains so much. We took the chair lift to the top of the mountain. It was glorious! I don't think I can adequately describe the awe and gratitude I feel when I see such magnificent views of God's creations.

When we finished our ride to the top of the world, the kids played on the grass and we ate at a restaurant at the resort. Afterwards, Cara, who is an amazing photographer, took pictures of my kids which will be on the blog soon. For a sneak peek, click here: http://capturedbycara.blogspot.com/ and scroll down. It was so fun to be with Cara and her husband, Dale, who was equally impressed with the stunning scenery. I wish we could see each other more often.

Running around on the grass at the bottom of the mountain

Ah, the glorious views from the top of the world!

Dale, Maddie, Taylor, Spencer and Cara

Cute girls on the chairlift

Grandma and Grandpa have the best dress-ups

Even Grandpa gets a hat from the kids during one of their dress-up sessions
Rachel in her selected costume

Spencer dressed himself as an army guy and the girls as army girls.

Here they attempt to look menacing. Even in their "army" garb, they still are adorable!

My parents have always had dress-ups at their house. Over the years, they've accumulated quite a collection and it is the grandkids' favorite thing to try different combinations. Here is one such event!

I love to see the temple

The first day I arrived in Utah, my Mom and I took the kids to the brand new Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. I think all the kids enjoyed seeing inside the temple and I'm glad we were there in time for the open house.

Spencer's cute quotes of the week

On the way to Utah, we stopped in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During our final approach, Spencer asked, "Do they give you mini apples and mini soda there?" He's a mini punster already and he doesn't even know what's hap"pun"ing to him!

Yesterday, my sister, Em, and her family arrived. She has a whole bunch of dried roses hanging upside down in her old room from former beaus. When she came in the door, Spencer said, "Emily, I'm sorry but the flowers in your room are all dead."

Emily has a new baby, Sam, that we have all been very excited to meet. When Spencer saw Sam, he said, "Mom, he has no teeth." I mumbled something like "That's right, babies don't have teeth." Obviously he continued to be puzzled by this because this morning he asked Emily, "How can he cry without any teeth?"