First Day of School - 2009

Here are my handsome boys - on their way to start the new school year. Blake & Ryan started 3rd grade and Darren in 7th. Wow!! Alli started a mommy&me preschool that same morning, but my camera was full after this shot and I didn't get one of her. Oops! Bad mommy!
Once I got Blake & Ryan dropped off, then Darren, then got to Allison's school, I called Jason at work to notify him that we all got to our destinations safely! I was grateful to have no drama like last year! Whew!

Pismo Beach

Ok, I promise this is our final trip for a while!
With only one week before school started up, we had the opportunity to join Jason's parents at Pismo Beach, where they were having a little R&R! They were at a resort, while we were just next door at a beautiful RV campground.

We loved the beach, the atmosphere, the scenery, the shops, the life of leisure, the campfires w/ s'mores, bike riding, swimming, etc. We thought it was amazing and can't wait to camp there again!



While there we celebrated my 29th birthday! (yes, again! -how long can I keep trying that?) My special day started with a bike ride to a restaurant called Penny's All-American Cafe for a delicious breakfast! Yum! We spent the morning riding around town and checking out shops. We lazed on the beach in the afternoon and at 4pm my in-laws surprised me with an hour massage at their hotel spa! Wow! Happy Birthday to me! Jason made us all dinner with BBQ steaks and a cake made in our motorhome convection oven. We weren't sure if that would turn out or not, but it did! Yum!



Beach Fun!




Right in our campsite there was this mommy duck with her babies. They just hung out there, undeterred by all the people. So cute!


One of the afternoons there we decided to rent a surrey, equipped with electric motor, yet not a very powerful one. This was just hysterical! We had that thing packed to overflow capacity. It made for some scary sharp turns but I tell you... we laughed the entire time!



One evening Nana & Papa treated us to dinner by bringing pizza to our campsite. Do you SEE the size of that thing??!! I have never seen such a gigantic pizza! It was a big hit with the kids!


And call me disturbed, but I couldn't help myself when my husband pointed out our lovely daughter's "exposure" while playing in the dirt. We laughed and laughed and she had no clue! She'll surely hate me for this one day, but don't all girls go through that drama with their mom at some point? At least my daughter will have valid reasoning!

Beach Camping!

Who doesn't want more vacation? After our 2 week road trip, we figured why stop now? We got home and spent one day doing laundry, shopping and cleaning, and then headed out for a week at the beach! What a great way to unwind after all that fun on-the-go travel! We went to Rincon, stayed for the week, and had a blast! This trip we brought the dog along and that created another element of fun!



How cute is my little family? S'mores by campfire at the beach? Priceless!




We all love the beach! It was so great to be right there with access to sand and water all day long!


If you click on the picture for a close-up, you can see our crazy dog, Holly, having as much fun as the kids! We loved letting her off her leash on the beach. She followed the kids out in the surf and body-surfed along side them. Have you ever read the book Marley & Me? That's our Holly... especially the part of her running out to do her business in the water, if you know what I mean. Many times we had to chase her off!
Another hi-light here was Ryan buying a skim board during our evening in Santa Barbara. We tried to talk him out of it as he had never even tried one, but he quickly proved his abilities! Talented boy!




Where's Blake? I guess he wasn't camera friendly that day.

Summer Vacation 2009

Be ready for the marathon of pictures and details from our road trip. We spent 2 weeks in July travelling to Yellowstone and back, with many stops in between. It was AMAZING! Hope you enjoy our pictures. Feel free to scan through and not read it all! But remember to click on pictures (especially the collages) to see them larger.


Well, here is our new motorhome!
We decided to really test its abilities by taking it on a road trip.


Our first day we left home and drove straight to Zion National Park. We were here for Spring Break but it was cold, raining & snowing. We really wanted to hike the Narrows, so we decided to come back when the weather was nicer. What better time than while on our way to Yellowstone? So glad we did! I think this was my favorite event of the whole trip! This is how the kids looked that first morning of our adventure...in the motorhome. Zzzzzz!!


Once we finally got everyone up and going, we headed out for our hike. We took the shuttle to this path, the first part of the hike that takes you to the water.


Here is where we stopped last time we were here. The weather was much nicer this time so we forged ahead. We were prepared with water shoes and swimsuits on. What's a little ankle deep water??


We quickly realized the water here doesn't stay ankle deep. No biggie. We didn't come all this way again to wimp out!


This was beautiful and we loved it! I love the picture of Ryan on the right, up to his armpits in the water!


My greatest blessings!


At one point, Blake decided he'd had enough. The younger 3 kids and I turned back while Daddy & Darren went ahead to hike further into the canyon. They loved it and said it was amazing! The kids and I got an ice cream and swam at the campground pool while we waited.




After dinner that night we did a little rafting in the river next to the campground. It was just a few feet away from our site. This is one of our favorite camping activites also, depending on where we are of course.



Here's the view from our campsite. Amazing!


The next morning we packed up and were off to spend the day at Bryce Canyon National Park. This is the first time we visited Bryce, and the boys earned another Jr. Ranger badge here!


Well, here it is. This is Bryce Canyon. The formations are called hoodoos. Yes, that's hoo-doos, just like it's spelled. We got many a laugh out of that. Still do. I'm always in awe of God's beautiful creations when I'm in a place like this.







One hike we went on while here was the Navajo Loop. We took this switchback path down, down, down, and down some more... the pictures just don't do it justice. I never thought I'd make it back up in my flip flops, but it all worked out. Blake was our super hiker this time and was first one to the top. I was impressed.




Aahhh.. they DO love each other!

We left Bryce that evening and headed to Salt Lake. On the way there Mom drove the motorhome for the first time. I got pulled over in Beaver, UT around 10pm because I didn't move into the fast lane while passing a police officer who was pulled off the side of the freeway. Are you kidding me?? He was so RUDE! But it's ok - when I got home and called the court the judge answered the phone and told me to have my bishop sign a note stating that I had done 15-20 hours of community service recently and all fees and record were erased. Whew!! Thank you to Scout Day Camp in June! I worked 40 hours! Anyway.. back to the vacation... we spent a quick night in SLC and headed out first thing to get to Yellowstone... it took us that whole day to get there.


YELLOWSTONE

We're here! We made it! It's amazing!

Our first day we started out just following the hi-lited areas on the park map. Mud Holes were our first Yellowstone adventure. Our favorite was the Dragon's Mouth, as it really looks and sounds like a dragon must be in this cave, spewing out water while roaring. Kind of creepy, but cool! We also saw our first bison here. He was just cruising along, taking a walk. Little did we know... there would be hundreds more to see over the next couple days.


This was at either upper falls or lower falls. Can't remember which. Oops! Still pretty!


Here we were at Mountain Hot Springs. They had a hotel, visitor center, gift shop, etc. Also a few tourist spots. We enjoyed the view of elk sitting in the grass next to our motorhome.



More pics at Hot Springs... my favorite is Blake holding a horn to his head... reminds me of the dog on "The Grinch!" I giggle every time I see this pic. hee hee


This was another stop along the way. There were many beautiful hot springs here.





Old Faithful! Here's the big one we were looking forward to. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain on us the entire way there, and for about an hour once we arrived. Finally it let up a bit, enough for us to walk around and wait for the next explosion.

And thar she blows!!! 120 feet



GRAND TETON NAT'L PARK

This was our favorite campground of our trip. It was just beautiful here!


The first thing we did was get our bikes out and ride around. We were on the go so much that this was the first chance we had to ride, something we usually do a lot while camping. We all missed it and were thrilled to finally be doing so. Here we are in front of the Marina, with the beautiful Grand Teton behind us!


The kids enjoyed splashing in the water at Swim Beach that evening.


This is Jason out by the buoy... crazy!!!


Daddy & Alli - so cute!



The second day we rented a motorboat. Darren was skipper as he just earned his motorboating merit badge this summer at Scout Camp. Good thing we went when we did, as it started to POUR rain when we got back in to dock. Whew!!



Have you ever seen such gorgeous scenery?


Gone Fishin! - Well, they tried anyway. They had no luck but enjoyed the attempt. Even Alli gave it a try with a perfectly shaped stick she found, and pretended with. We were glad the rain cleared up enough for them to give it a try.


Here are some fun pics - Blake caught dancing with his baby sister, the boys receiving their Grand Teton Jr. Ranger Badge (7th in their collection), Dad fixing lines on the fishing poles which is about all he did while fishing, pat-a-cake with daddy




CHERRY HILL, UT

After leaving Grand Teton, we camped here a couple nights on our way home. It was really nice. We hooked up with some friends, the Byers, who live down the road. The kids loved the water park and other activities in the campground too:
"Fun slides!"


Daddy & Alli coming down!



Lazy River - this was a blast! I think Alli enjoyed it most as she had the freedom to float around with her floaties on as the water slowly pushed her through the course. It was great!




Cherry Hill also had a miniature golf course. It was a fun evening activity, after the water park was closed.




BOONDOCKS
Here we met up with dear friends, Heather Carlson and Amy Gotcher. Heather's son Logan was having a bday party here and wanted Darren to come. It was a great place to beat the Utah heat for a few hours on our way to Salt Lake!






SALT LAKE CITY

TEMPLE SQUARE
The three youngest of our children have not yet been to Temple Square. I was so excited to bring them here!


A view from above:



Here's a view of the top of the Conference Center - it was a first for all of us.









We enjoyed an organ recital in the beautiful Tabernacle. I'm still always in awe of this building!


The next day we started our drive home. We stopped to stay at the Circus Circus campground in Las Vegas, and then home the next day. It was an amazing trip that we will never forget! Thanks for taking the time to view our pictures!