These are two of my favorites from our latest trip to the desert! Westin has no fear, scary and awesome at the same time! Yes I know no blog entries since the fall.  Thanks to my friend Jana...I have been reinspired. I'll try to do better!

Well nothing beats a day at the beach with family and friends!!!  So off we went on Labor Day, we spent 10 hours at the beach!  A couple of families from our ward came, and all of our local family.  We had 19 kids total and 15 adults, the lifeguards just loved us...... The kids rode their boogie boards all day ( note to self, next time bring Mckenna's Board shorts) and they all had board rash to show for it.  We brought all day food, gaga and Sarah brought donuts.  We had a great time.  Neil, Ryan, Clint and Tony all got out in the waves for some fun as well!  We have gone to the same spot with these families for a few years, and we will definitely do it again!!!

I was cleaning out the pantry, Wil decided it was a good place to defend his breakfast!

This was great fun! Our friends that we camp in the desert with,  now have their own track! Yes I did help them find a bigger home with 3 acres, and so they have enough room for their 6 boys to run,  play, and now ride.  We went over last Saturday and spent all day riding motorcycles and swimming.  Sure beats the hot desert in the summer, Thanks Tony!

Three of my four went back to school!  The summer is to short and I am lost without my tribe to entertain.  I do enjoy the beach, swimming, sleeping in and not rushing around, trips to the mall to stay cool, pool parties, and spending time with our friends.  The good thing is they like going to school, they are so happy with the Teachers they have, and they are learning lots!

There's nothing like a day at the Beach!  We met our friends Marian and Lisa with all the kids for a day of fun.  As a bonus Juli showed up with her kids!  Everybody had so much fun, even the little boy with the tight blue shorts, (that was mean) that Marian thought was Juli's! It just made for more fun.  We stayed for 7+ hours and I can't wait to do it again.

Next Summer stop Gymcheer USA!  Mckenna, Jay, and Westin went to camp at gymcheer.  They had a blast, and all mastered the kartwheel!

  I think the highlight was the sponge pit!

We spent quite a bit of time swimming at "D's" this summer.  He lives close and as an only child, I think he enjoys the chaos we bring!  Mom Lisa just gets a kick out of Wil and wants me to make her one....:)

I was thinking, next year instead of going to Lake Powell, we could just camp in Lisa's backyard next to the pool...save  a little gas? 

Moving on.... When we got home from Lake Powell, the kids just wanted to play, play, play with friends.  So we had friends over to slip and slide.  

Ice Cream at the Marina is always a must!  

When the kids are full they lean over the 

water and feed the HUGE CARP! 

                                                      Fish eat ice cream?  I know weird....

I am getting the hang of this..... 

Another favorite at Lake Powell is the water toys.  Bampa brought the infamous Water weenie!  This weenie has been ridden multigenerational now!  They did love being towed on the other toys as well, but the water weenie takes the cake.

So moving along quickly we head for Lake Powell July 1st.  It is the kids all time favorite vacation, and I love to relax on the lake as well, when I can get out of the houseboat! It is a lot of work for the grown ups, but so worth it for the kids.  A week after we got home Wil asked if we were going to Lake Powell when I got on the Freeway.......!!! "Not for a while" I said,  It is to far far away ( Wil language).

Okay.....so I am trying really!  We are back in school so I thought I would try to catch up some.

I decided to start with the beginning of the summer.  Mckenna was invited to perform at The Ford Theatre in The Festival of New American Musicals!  New Broadway performances open in major cities, ours was called "NORMAN'S ARK" It was directed by Peter Schneider and written by Gerome Cass and Glen Roven.  They are some heavy hitters in the Broadway Network, so it was amazing for Mckenna to be a RAT in their show.  I attempted a little picture pleaser for you all to enjoy (I'll get better, just you watch me!) 

Yea I finally have entered this decade by posting my first blog whatever...

Sure it may look amateur to you all now,  however I'm sure in no time at all

I will be able to say with confidence

 " Ummmm My blog is better than yours.... I invented the internet....and blogging..."

Okay well maybe not! So we all gathered for a special family picture (minus Neil he's asleep)

for this special occasion of first post.  I hope you all like it!