Summer is Over

At least for us...basically. We went on one last trip to Yellowstone last week with my mom--that's right, just me, my kids and my mom. It was so much fun. I loved being able to spend time with my mom all by myself. We had so much fun talking! Imagine how in heaven I was being able to talk for hours while driving....The kids were awesome. We took stuff for them to do and they did great! We got to see a few new things too. We discovered parts of Yellowstone that we have never seen before! We met lots of people from all over the world, but our favorite was two little gals from Taiwan that we met while walking to our van. They asked if we knew where a little general store was--which we didn't. We tried to help them out, but their english was a little choppy, so it was a little difficult to communicate. Later, as we were driving back to the main road, we spotted them walking with a little sign that said "fishing bridge." I told my mom to pull over and get them. Their destination was 16 miles out of our way, but it was so worth it! The girls thought it was amazing to meet "chinese" people. They spoke mandarin and were teaching the kids how to speak it. We laughed the whole way. The girls favorite part of the trip was swimming at the hotel and our little "Kamping Kabin" at the KOA in West Yellowstone. We thought it was funny that there were all these cool things to see and all they cared about was getting back to swim. Funny kids. We got to see a bear, some elk, some ENORMOUS buffalo, and little chipmunks. It will be a very memorable vacation. THANKS MOM!

Pictures to follow soon....

Our Awesome Vacation

Bear Lake was AWESOME this year! We had a lot of fun. Got a lot of sun--which means lots of red bodies! OUCH! Other than sunburns we had a great time. We got to go out on Jamie's brother, Jason's, boat all day Thursday. Ray and Abby tried to wake board, which looked easier than it really was. I wish I would've had my camera with me. I was proud of both of them! I wouldn't have dared, even as much as I love the water. The other two days were spent swimming, riding 4 wheelers and just relaxing. It is so beautiful up there. I love it. It is a vacation that I look forward to. This is the 3rd year we've gone and it's so nice of Jamie and her family to invite us up there to spend some of their vacation with us. THANKS BARNES FAMILY!!!

Starting Over

I decided to start blogging again so that I can keep everyone up on what's going on in our family. I can't believe it's July already. Two more days until we head up North to go to the fireworks at the stadium. Carden will be two this month. He is growing up so fast and is so much fun. He is definitely all boy. He loves motorcycles, trucks, trains, planes, dirt, bugs, climbing, moving, throwing...Yep, ALL BOY!!!

Life is busy as ever around here. A month of summer has come and gone. Emma had summer school all during June and is all set to start 1st grade. She's doing great with her reading and can spell all sorts of little words. She's excited to go to school with her sisters and be able to eat school lunch. (Although I'm not at all excited to pay for it!)

Abby turned 8 in January and will be heading into 3rd grade. She has lots of cute friends and spends a lot of time with them. She's had a fun summer so far! She got to spend a week at her grandma's house and got really spoiled! It's always fun to be with grandma!!!

Whitney had her birthday in June and is now 10! YIKES!! (Am I old enough to have a 10 year old?) She is so much fun and is such a help to me. She'll be in 5th grade this year and hopefully continues being an A student! She gets cuter every second!

Ray and I are still up to no good! He is still the manager at Arctic Circle and I'm still doing daycare. We're hoping to be able to buy a house next spring or summer and make our home in Lehi more permanent. We love it here! We have a lot of great friends and love our ward.

So, this totally sounds like a Christmas letter, but I thought I'd just start with the basics and go from there! I am excited to do this again and hope it keeps you all posted on May family events! You can also go to www.flickr.com/mrsglitter to see more pictures!