Is this a good activity?

I was reminded of my favorite comedian, Brian Reagan and his skit about the Sun Stare, on Saturday when the Elders Quorum of our Ward planned an activity.  In the morning they did service, "a very good activity".  In the afternoon they had a BBQ and a 10 ft x 100 ft Slip N' Slide, "the questionable activity".  We had a lot of good laughs.  The kids really enjoyed the slide but didn't get very far on their own.  Hence, the use of the water balloon launcher to launch people down the slide.  It made the ride so much smoother and a lot faster.  The "Men" of the ward all did a train, I guess you could call it one right after another going down the slide.  They were hilarious to watch.  I know they all have a few bumps and bruises from the slide though.  Apparently, we aren't as young as we all think we are.  All in all though we all had a great time.  

Sawyer really liked this little kiddie pool.  

Sawyer was our official hose holder.  He would not leave the hose alone.  Good thing he only really squirted himself.  He would look around like "Who just did that?"

Yep, even us adults used the water balloon launcher.  I was awful when I tried to run and slide by myself.  I am a little bit of a chicken.  The first time I went I was laughing and screaming.  I forgot to close my mouth.  Always close your mouth!!! I got a mouth full of grassy, soapy water. 

We decided to re-purpose the kiddie pool.  It actually did much better than we all expected.

Great ride for all the little kiddos

Arachnophobia

The other morning when Travis was putting out the garbage he noticed the first creepy crawler on the side of our house.  EWWWW!!! I probably would have fainted had I discovered it first.  Seriously, I was getting nauseous when we were trying to catch it.  Travis was so bold as to try to have me hold the bottle while he used to lid to scoop it in.  "Are you crazy?!" were my exact words I believe.  We wanted to identify the spider.  Apparently, it is a female Hobo spider.  This other spider was found inside our house.  This is after Travis sprayed outside and inside our house.  I think we need another round of spray.  I wouldn't want Sawyer finding one of these "little" friends.  By the way these photos don't do justice to how big these spiders actually are.  YUCK!!!! 

County Fair

"No rest for the weary" is the slogan from this past week.  We started off with my parents coming and visiting. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the activities we did.  We had a lot of fun though, fishing, miniature golfing, shopping, cooking, and they watched Sawyer for us while we went to our friends wedding.  Just a side note, I beat both Dan and my mom in mini-golf and they golf all the time.  Somebody needs to work on their short game. hahaha.  To conclude their visit we went out to Clarkston to watch the Martin Harris Pageant on Thursday.  It was a really good production.

We couldn't just laze about this weekend there was too much going on.  We started Friday night off with going out on the town as a family.  Saturday I started the day off by going on a great morning run.  When I got home we all jumped in the car and headed off to hit some yard sales.  Travis had to work a bit so Sawyer and I hit up the local farmers market.  I am so happy I live in an area that has a Farmers Market.  We picked up some squash and zucchini since our plants died.  We also got some of my favorite little potatoes perfect for cream sauce and cheese.  They were Golden Yukon, Red and Purple potatoes.  I was so excited to make Sunday dinner. 

The Cache County fair was this past weekend as well.  I don't know what it is about a county fair but I just love them.  The interesting people, the food, the excitement, the activities, the exhibits- mainly the people.  I love to people watch.  We went in the afternoon but came home for a bit to rest up for the big PRCA Rodeo later that night. Sawyer was such a good little guy during the rodeo.  We didn't have to take him out once.  It has been a while since we have been to a rodeo.  We had great time and really enjoyed getting out as a family.  

This is a funny angled picture. Oh well. 

This song kept playing in my head the whole night.  I just love it.  

Lovin' Summertime

Wow, we have been busy lately.  We wanted to take advantage of our Pass of All Passes again at Seven Peaks Salt Lake so on the way down to Candace's wedding we hit up the water park.  Sawyer did much better this time around.  Travis and I decided we needed to rent a tube and experience the park to its fullest.  I have decided after this experience though water slides are enjoyed much better with a companion on the tube with you.  Being a lone rider isn't all it is cracked up to be.  The slides were a lot of fun and the lines weren't ever very long which was a huge plus.  Sawyer kept making friends everywhere he went.  Sawyer fell asleep in the lazy river this time instead of the wave pool. Silly boy.   

He sleeps in this position a lot.  

I went to change first and this is what I came back to. 

I didn't  get any pictures of Candace and Jeremy's wedding but is was a lot of fun on Aug. 6.  I headed down to St. George, yet again, for another hot wedding.  Actually the weather wasn't as stifling as I remember St. George being. If the weather was like it was on that Saturday I would actually consider living there.  St. George really is a beautiful area. There were so many people to the wedding. It was so much fun getting together with family again.  

Sunday we headed down to Minersville for church.  It was such a hot day, can you tell by the pictures of Sawyers cheeks?  We played in the shade for awhile with Travis' cousins and their nieces and nephews.  Sawyer loves to swing.  Later that afternoon was Sunday dinner with the Yardley's.  I love that tradition. Once a month all the Yardley's in Beaver get together for family dinner.  As a child it was blast, and it hasn't changed much.  It was an exceptionally large dinner with all the wedding guests. We ate, talked, and laughed til our hearts were content. 

I love this "Oh" face

What a strong little guy.  He was pulling me back and forth. He thought he was so cool.

Entertaining himself on the long ride home.

We made it home late that night.  We were all exhausted.  It has been a crazy busy summer but we wouldn't have it any other way. 

Southern Utah Vacation

Warning: This may be a long post!!! Get ready for picture and event overload.  

This year we decided to go down and spend the entire week from July 23 to July 31st down in Southern Utah visiting family, going to county fairs, enjoying Beaver's 24th of July celebration, and enjoying great outdoors. It was quite the eventful week for us.  It all began on Saturday the 23rd, which was the day Beaver celebrated the 24th since the 24th was a Sunday.  To begin the day we ran the Beaver Switchback 5k.  By we I mean, my mom, Mariah, Vanessa, and my cousin Greg.  We all decided we should show a little pride in the fact that we all ran the Wasatch Back together and wear our shirts from the race.  There were so many people who ran the 5k.  I have been running this race almost every year for the past 15 years and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  I love it!  I remember when there used to only be like 50 participants.  Now there were probably close to 150.     

 After the race we headed down to the parade.  It was a great parade and we had a nice bit of shade which always makes it a little more enjoyable.  When the parade finished we headed to the city park for the kiddie races and to mingle.  We really thought Sawyer would do good in the races this time, unlike the 4th.  However, the distance-20 ft- was just too much for the little one.  He didn't make it, he sat down and started crying.  What kind of child am I raising???  We would have video of it but Travis forgot to take the video camera off standby.  Silly Daddy! I love mingling at the park.  It is the one time most people come back to visit their families.  There is always family and old friend and classmates to talk to.  For the past few years we meet up with the Smith's, Mariah's inlaws, and go out to eat after the park.  It is nice to sit down someplace with air conditioning and eat good food.  

Travis' tradition on the 24th is to go golfing instead of to the horse races, like I used to like to do. However, after going golfing the past few years, golfing provides a front row seat without the smell of cigarette smoke and beer for the horse races.  We convinced my mom and grandma to come golfing this year with us.  We rented golf carts to zoom around the course on, which was a good thing because I didn't want tote the baby carrier all around the course.  Sawyer did good though.  He slept for some of it, as you can see below.  

What a good photographer, I caught the ball in the shot. 

 We always have an Ira Yardley Family BBQ on the evening of the 24th at my cousin Alisons house.  There is usually an intense volleyball game of inlaws vs. outlaws that ensues.  It gets pretty heated.  The inlaws claim they win every year but I beg to differ, we have won a few times too.  We ended the day watching fireworks at Mariahs and lighting a few of our own.  It was a blast, literally. Sam, Mariah's youngest was so enthralled with the fireworks.  The next day he kept asking for more, and the next day and the next.  

Sunday we decided to go to church down in Greenville, well Lori Anne suggested we should come down.  Greenville was the ward I was in growing up.  I love that little ward.  There is so much love and history there. It hasn't changed too much in the past 17 years.  People still sit where they sat when I went there. I felt really bad, we took someones seat.  I forgot about that unspoken rule.  It was fun though to see old friends.  We headed down to Minersville after church.  Sawyer had been acting kind of funny all day.  He just wasn't hungry and he is not a kid who turns down food.  He was a little fussy too.  We found out on the way home what his problem was.  He got sick all over his car seat.  I almost got sick cleaning him up.  It was awful.  I do not do throw up.  I didn't realize I have such a bad gag reflex.  I felt so bad for the little guy.  We actually were headed back to Mariah's to eat dinner with the Missionaries.  I really hope they didn't get Sawyer's sickness. 

Monday Mariah, my Mom, Debbie-Mariah's Mother In Law, and Megan, Mariah's sister in law, went to St. George to go to the Tuachan to watch "The Little Mermaid".  It was amazing.  I highly recommend it.  There was actually thunder and lightning all around us all during the play.  Fortunately, it only lightly sprinkled on us for about 5 min.  The Tuachan actually had fireworks after to celebrate the 24th.  What a great day Mariah chose to have us go.  

Tuesday was an awful day for us ladies.  Sawyer passed his evil bug onto us.  I hate going on vacation and getting sick at someone elses house.  Honestly, though misery loves company so it was kind of nice to have others who were sick with me.  We just rested most of the day.  The men went fishing on the mountain.  We decided we needed some fresh mountain air so we drove up there. The boys were fun to watch reel in the fish.  They brought a lot home.  Thank goodness they didn't cook them that night though.  EWWW! 

 Wednesday we all felt a lot better.  Thank heavens!  We decided to go cool off at the pool.  I love the Beaver City Pool.  The boys loved playing in the water.  Sawyer just cruised around in his float tube.  Sam was quite the adventurous little fellow.  We played for a long time.  After swimming who doesn't need a little ice cream.  I seriously crave ice cream and macaroni and cheese after swimming, we used to always eat this growing up.  We headed out to the good ol Beaver Dairy Queen.  I swear it is the best one I have ever eaten at. All the boys took naps afterwards.  Sawyer slept for 3 1/2 hours. I thought he needed some company so I laid down beside him and slept a long time too. Travis and Jared decided they needed some more fishing time. 

Mariah and I decided we needed some chinese food.  The fishermen were on the way to the food so we picked them up on our way to Milford.  I love the Station Chinese food.  

 Thursday was going to be our big hiking day.  We got up and packed our bags to head to the mountains.  We were going to hike some trail that I actually helped clean and maintain when I worked for the Forest Service.  Travis' Aunt Tammy and Uncle Dave and their two boys came with us.  I was a little worried about how the little kids would do but they were champs.  I was really worried about thunderstorms, they come up fast and their wasn't much shelter on the trail we hiked. We didn't get any though.  It was perfect weather, cloudy and a little breezy.  

Before we left for the hike though, I had to run to the store to get some stuff for lunches.  When I got in our car I realized it smelled like cigarette smoke.  I thought that is odd, was Travis smoking in our car? I didn't think too much of it at the moment.  Then on the way back to Mariah's I realized there were some ashes on the middle console and our I-Pod was missing.  Yep, we were robbed in little ol Beaver.  Lesson learned always, always lock your car door.  

Mountain goats

Apparently he was a little hungry.

I just love these mountains. 

 Friday morning we headed over to my Grandparents in preparation for the best little county fair in the nation, Piute County.  It is such a great little festival.  My mom's family all tries together for this time of the year.  It is fun to have all my cousins and their kids around.  In the afternoon we had the water balloon launcher out.  Spencer would ride up and down the road and Travis and Rowdy-two adults, would try to launch a balloon at him.  I wish I would have gotten some pictures.  

Sam is a crazy sleeper.  We put him to sleep in a bed and this is where we found him in the morning.  He had crawled across the floor and ended up backwards in Sawyers carseat.  This can not be comfortable. 

 Saturday started out with another 5k, the Brayden Blackwell Memorial Race.  I love racing.  Tiara and Jordan ran with me with year.  I didn't get to race last year and it felt oh so good to be back.  I tried to convince Travis to come run with me but he decided fishing with Rowdy would be a better activity.  The race went great though.  It was actually a 3.2 and I ran faster than I did in Beaver and Junction is higher in elevation than Beaver.  

The parade was a lot of fun to watch.  It is probably one of the most generous parades I have ever been too.  We left with a ton of candy.  After the parade they have boothes and games up at the park.  Travis convinced me that we should do the horse shoe throwing competition.  We then convinced Grandpa and Rowdy to do it too.  We lost to them our first round.  Grandpa and Rowdy did really well though.  I was pretty pathetic.  It was pretty much embarrassing.  

We headed home to have a little light lunch.  While there the skies decided to open and drench the dry valley.  There was so much rain and lightning.  I loved it.  I love summer storms and the smell of rain after. Poor Sawyer was taking a nap and some thunder woke him up.  Normally he is like me and can sleep through anything but this thunder was window rattling, ground shaking stuff.  

We headed over to Uncle Todd's for a BBQ.  It was amazing.  Steak, fresh caught Alaska salmon, new garden potatoes, salad, and rain in the background along with great company, couldn't ask for anything more. The kids got soaked.  They just couldn't resist the puddle and dancing in the rain.  Sawyer even joined in.  He was so funny with the dripping water from the roof.  I wish I would have gotten a video.  It was a little too wet to go over to the rodeo with all the kids.  Travis and I couldn't miss our favorite part of the fair though. The after rodeo dance.  There is a live band and tons of people.  It is so much fun to just go and spectate, and swing dance.  Lets just say a few, I mean a lot, of the people have been tipping a few back before they get there.  It is always a lot of fun to go to though.  

Keeping the hooligans tied down.

Enjoying some homemade ice cream

 Sunday was Travis' birthday.  Unfortunately most people headed home early so we had a small party.  It was still pretty fun though.  We played some games with the kids.  I sent Travis on a scavenger hunt to find his presents because Travis likes to shake his presents and try to guess what they are.  It is a little disappointing when he actually gets it right because I have a hard time hiding that he got the right answer.  We had some cake and ice cream then made our way back to Logan.  It was nice to go and visit family and friends.  We always have a good time down south. 

Sam didn't want to let his balloon down to get popped.

We played the balloon game and mine just got popped. 

While Travis was opening another present Sam had started opening a present.  His excuse, "I want to help."  All day Sam kept asking if he could open the presents. 

Happy Birthday To You! 

This is how Sam decided was the best way to shoot the balloons.