My aunt gave this book to my Mom as a gift when I was younger. Up until the late 90's the Idaho Falls Temple was the temple that my relatives in Wyoming came to. So, if there was a youth temple appointment or a relative getting married we would have a houseful! Of course my brothers and sisters and I would give up our bedrooms and there would be people camped out on couches and on the floor. I LOVED it! It was fun to play with cousins and listen in on adult conversations and just to have a house packed full of people.

This week for us has been the week the relatives came.

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First, the Souths. Josh, Franci (and bun-in-the-oven), Kaylie, Anna, and Suzie. The girls all love each other so much - they say they're long lost sisters. But, just like normal sisters, things get a little dramatic with that many girls under one roof! (It didn't help the stress level that the AC was broken and our thermostat reached 90 degrees on Saturday!)



We cooled down at the swimming pool - all of our girls are little fish! Carly and Kaylie put the life jackets through their legs and looked like little sumo wrestler/swimmers. 



Kaylie and Carly are so similar and truly such good friends.



Anna is two years younger than Ellie, but love, love, loves her so much and wishes Ellie was her big sister.

 Matchy-matchy for church

We also went to Temple Square while they were here and Antelope Island to take a quick dip in the Great Salt Lake.

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Next, the Parsons - Kathy and Leon came the day that Franci left. They only stayed one night, so we only got to see them for a few hours. Leon just got a cochlear implant a few weeks ago (it's an implant that will help him hear again) so they've been coming up for doctor visits.  

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And finally, Sophie and Scotty. Ang, Jimmy, Conner and Kali are in Oregon for a cousin's homecoming. So, we get to have Sophie and Scotty stay with us for four days. Just so you know, four days is a lot of days for me to have FIVE kids!!  But I'm determined to make this a fun and happy adventure for all of us. (And it helps to know that Ang is going to return the favor sometime when Aaron and I decide to go on a vacation together.)

 I tried to get a picture of the kids watching Aaron pull out Carly's loose tooth. It was quite the show - Carly cried and cried for about 5 minutes BEFORE Aaron even pulled it - I wish I had it on video. And this is the 5th tooth she's had pulled! She was so scared, and it was making the other kids nervous too.

Park City

With our friend "Franz the Bear" in Park City

The girls and Loosey the Moose

If we ever leave Utah, I don't want to regret not taking advantage of all the great things there are to see and do around here. So, a couple months ago we went to Antelope Island, last weekend we went on a beautiful hike, and today we went to Park City.  We went to the outlets where Aaron chose out some Father's Day presents (and I got a few things too). 

The girls were thrilled with their .50 ride at the outlets.

Then we went to the Alpine Slide. Aubree didn't want to go, but it would have taken us an extra 40 minutes to take turns waiting with her at the bottom, so we weren't quite sure what to do. The guy in front of us heard us talking about it and offered his wife to stay with Aubree, since one of their kids didn't want to go either. So, Aubree stayed with two complete strangers (the mom and grandma) while we went up the chairlift and down the slide with Carly and Ellie. (I know we sound totally crazy and irresponsible, but we felt totally comfortable with the people and trusted them. We were more worried that Aubree would be nervous or scared.) But, it turns out that Aubree had a great time and enjoyed a slurpee with those ladies. (By the way, one of the kids in that group went to high school with my nephew, Brandon - small world.)

We found this tree by the slide where someone had carved an "A + C". How did they know we would find it someday?

When we went back down to Main Street where our car was parked Aaron said, "There's Will Smith". I looked up, and there he was. We walked right past him, although I would have liked to say hi or taken a picture or something. It was actually pretty exciting. The girls had no idea who he was and asked, "Is he famous?" "Has he ever been on TV?" ha ha!

Adam's Canyon Hike

Today we went on a hike just a few miles from our home. It was beautiful - the sounds, the smells, the flora, the views - absolutely magnificent!!! It reminded me of camping and just made my soul happy! I want my family to really appreciate our Heavenly Father's beautiful creations (including our amazing bodies that did the hiking).

I think this was the first real hike we've taken the girls on and they were awesome! It was a 3.5 mile hike (round trip) and a 1,300 foot climb and took us about 3 1/2 hours. Carly and Ellie walked the whole way on their own. Aubree did about 1/3 of it on her own and the rest on Daddy's shoulders.


Starting out. Look how ambitious and energetic they look! I love Aubree's face in this picture.
My camera (phone) does not do the landscape justice - it can't capture the smell of pine and wildflowers and the sound of the wind and creek and birds - it was just so amazing!

The one who made it all possible! He kept us going and was optimistic that we could make it to the end. He basically carried all the supplies (and Aubree) for a lot of the hike. What a MAN!

 The 40 foot waterfall at the end of the hike is around a corner, so unless you've done the hike before, you don't know where the hike ends until you're there. We had been told that just when you feel like giving up, the waterfall would be just around the corner. Well, the girls and I had each taken turns giving up about 10 times, so I didn't believe them anymore. Finally at one point the girls and I decided to sit down and rest and let Aaron go ahead of us, take a picture of the waterfall, and come back to show us. That would be good enough. Well, Aaron went about 50 yards and waved to us that it was right in front of him. This picture is proof that we all made it to the end of the hike!

The end destination. The waterfall was a lot prettier than the picture shows, but I don't know if it was an adequate reward for such a hard climb. It was about 20 degrees cooler in this little alcove and the wind was blowing SO hard - so we couldn't fully enjoy the view. I was really looking forward to relaxing by the waterfall and absorbing all the energy and eloctrolytes from the waterfall. (We had told the girls about the electrolytes and I told them how the last time Daddy was next to a waterfall he had done two back handsprings, a back tuck, and landed in the splits. They knew we were kidding but we all had a real good laugh!) The big reward to me was the beauty along the way and the family time and just knowing that we all finished it.