Back to School

But all that summer fun is coming to an end. It is time to go back to school. First Grade came on very suddenly and I wasn't ready to get pictures of Samantha's first day so we are going to just pretend that day #3 was really her first day. Here she is with the sun in her eyes...

And there she goes.... Oh wait she forgot to give me a hug and kiss goodbye. She is so sweet.

And there she goes for real...she is such a big girl now. She has to walk all the way around to the back of the school (past a bunch of these lines you can see) and line up with her class to go in and have breakfast and start the day.

Catching up.

So here are some things we did to make it thru the 100 degree weather.

(1) Getting wet helped.

(2) Staying indoors with the AC and some company -while scrapbooking- was fun too.

(3) And of course lot's of camping.

Summer's here so it's Family Reunion time.

So you know how family reunions can be pretty boring for the younger people...well I thought they did a really good job making this one fun. The first part was an overnight campout with all of my Mom's Dad's family (The Anderson's). We played cards, had a horseshoe championship, played frisbee golf and had a blast with the kids tetherball/tennisball game.

Then for the second part of the reunion we go further back in time to include the Larson family as well. So we all packed up and went to the Fountain Green park where they had some major fun stuff for all the kids.

We made necklaces.

And we played on the playground. But then we only had time for one more activity each. So this is where my girls personality differences showed. Sammy wanted to get her face painted. Isn't it cute. I totally love this picture!And Erica wanted to climb up and and slide down the BIG blow up slide. She was so brave. It was really high.

Say "Chuck-e-Cheese"!

Samantha turned six years old last Sunday and so we had a fun birthday party for her at Chuck-e-Cheese. She totally loved it, as did her younger sister. They both can't stop talking about it. However I totally forgot to take my camera and so I don't have pictures yet. I'm gonna have to borrow some from other people. But they did have this cool machine that would take your picture for one token and then skecth it out for you. It was actually really cool and they all turned out so cute! I think everybody that came got at least one sketch done. So here it is for your veiwing pleasure.

Happy Birthday Sammy! We love you!

The Air Show

We sure do love the Air show..always have. But Jake and Whitney provided us with an opportunity to see it from a different point of view, with fewer people, in the much cooler shade, and with much better food! They let us all come over to their house and use their grill to cook steaks, kabobs, pork chops, hot dogs, and whatever else we could think of. And the view was still awesome. Most of the planes flew over toward us but one of the F16 jets totally suprised us and flew right over us from behind at a very low altitude. It was Sooooooooo loud but totally awesome! My pictures never do these shows justice but I got a few decent ones.

Hiking in the heat

Wow don't you just love this warm weather? It sure made for some nice hiking down in Zion National Park. It got up to 96 degrees but it felt nice in the shade and even better in the evening. It was a long drive but well worth it. Look at these views.

The girls were really good sports hiking up the steep hills and riding in the shuttle buses. But their favorite part of the trip for sure was swimming in the river (or more accurately-playing in the mud by the river).

It seemed to be a special vacation for some reason and we had a lot of fun just the four of us on our own.

Oh and it was pretty cool to be able to visit Aunt Lisa at her new job. She is a great bus driver.