Friday, August 12, 2011

Family Visit to Utah


We began our Utah adventure with a trip to East Canyon Reservoir with the Madsen Family.  We stayed in a yurt right next to the lake.  It was quite civilized.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do much because I was having some problems with my pregnancy but the kids had a great time swimming in the lake and riding in the boat.  We had delicious food and had a great time visiting with our family.  We played some fun family trivia games and the little kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins, especially Chris and Aaron.  Sadly, my camera broke so I wasn't able to get very many pictures but it was a great visit.


After the Madsen reunion, we headed to Camp Black at Brighton.  The kids had a wonderful time staying in the bunk room with all their cousins and we loved walking around the lake, hiking, playing games, eating together and just having fun with our awesome family.
Silver Lake is absolutely beautiful!


I spent a lot of time walking around the lake because I wasn't allowed (by the dr.) to hike this year. 
 Each trip brought new sights. 
I felt like this guy was posing just for me!


The kids loved playing outside the cabin

Don and Emily



My cute kids ready for a hike to Lake Solitude
 
Here are the hikers.  We were joined by Julie and Bob Johnston's family as well.  It was great catching up with Uncle Bob and Aunt Julie and my cousins:  Jen, Rob and Michelle and their families! 




On Fiesta night, we had a fun music class with Emily, ate delicioso Mexican food and the kids knocked apart a pinata!







Dance party with Grandpa
While I was walking around the lake by myself while everyone else was hiking, I ran into two moose.

I took a walk with Caitlin, Courtney and my nephew McKennan around the lake.
Afterwards, we had a campfire with songs, skits and family history stories
Dave told us a cowboy story!  It was great! 
Paul was the waterfall in Bob's skit.  He loved spitting out water at the other actors!

Don was the rabbit in Bob's skit

We had a treasure hunt around the cabin.  Em and I have so much fun writing the clues!
Hunting for treasure
Grandma tells us a story

Cute kiddos on a walk
We ran into Rachel with Jaclyn so she got a pic of me with my girls


One of my best friends, Susan, and I always try to get our families together for an outing each summer.  This year, we took them to Cascade Springs, one of my favorite places in the mountains.  It's where the springs come up from the ground and cascade down the canyon.  We enjoyed the springs and then took the kids and had a picnic lunch.  Yum! 























We took the kids to the Blue and White Game at BYU Stadium.  It was so great to be back on our old stomping grounds!  We also ran into Paul's best bud from Law School, Mike Royal!  They were in town dropping their son off on his mission.  We thought it was funny that he was sending his youngest on a mission while we are still expecting babies!!!


One of our favorite things to do each summer is visit Grandma Madsen.  Little did we know that this would be our last visit with her before she died.  She always had great conversations with us and wonderful advice.  We're going to miss her!




Monday, July 4, 2011

4th of July Fun!

On the fourth of July, we celebrated our nation's freedom our usual way--with our neighborhood tractor parade in the morning, the pool party all afternoon and fireworks that evening.  It was a great way to spend the holiday with neighbors and friends! 









Rachel, attempting the dollar dive.  She did grab the dollar, one of very few who got it!













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