Summer Week 7 - Emi's Spa Birthday Party

Thanks to the many who helped, we were able to pull this "high maintenance" party off: Jan, Mary, Kandace, Taylor & Keni! According to our cute, little guests, it was worth it.

Facials with photo shoot, pedicures, made homemade lipgloss and bracelets, finished off with eye kandy and smoothies. When waiting their turn, the girls would sip waters and look through preteen magazines. The girls were so much fun!

Summer Week 5 - Paris

. . . Idaho, that is. And what a great place to celebrate the 4th! Did you know that they can shoot what we call "illegals" in Utah? The whole sky was scattered with twinkling lights and loud cracks and bangs - a Carrie Heaven.

Matt and Sheri brought their family down from Oregon and we all met up in Paris at the vacation home John and Sydney bought with her sister Jeanne and Mickey. I think they've owned it for at least 17 years now. Tim and Johnny were the only ones married at the time.

The holiday began with a running race, a short 9 miles. Tim decided to run it - his only race of the year.



It was a really, great time. Good food, good friends/family, plenty to do, and time to just visit.

The Magic age of 12

I can't believe that my oldest is 12 years old. He is now in Young Mens and was ordained with the Aaronic priesthood! We loved that so many people were here to support him and his giant step into pre-adulthood. Eli is very respectful and will serve his Heavenly Father and Savior well. We have to wait 2 weeks until he gets to pass the sacrament. I am really looking forward to that, as much as everything. This week he will get to participate with the YM/YW in baptisms for the dead. With all these new activitie, he is really taking the "plunge".

A Happy Ending to Week 3 - DINNER PARTY!

Our first dinner party was graciously hosted by Daren and D'dree Grange. Our theme of the evening was "Puerto Rico" - Ole.

Let the fiesta begin. D'dree got us each an apron and we all settled in the kitchen for some food preparation. We had an appetizer of deep fried plantanos (sp), and our main course consisted of a mango chicken and authenic rice and beans. For dessert we had Tres Leches, of course. It was all fantastic. Our hosts finished the evening off with a pinata filled with the perfect prizes. When we realized the items were a little more valuable than penny candy the gathering got a little heated.


There are a few people missing from these photos and I will be in charge of the camera next time to ensure that they are very much represented at our Harvest Dinner Party.

Summer Week 3 - Swimming Lessons, etc

This was the beginning of swim lessons; now she does this stuff all by herself, at the deep end!!

I feel like summer is ruled by swimming lessons but I don't want to give them up. And we have the best swim teachers, ever, but they are in Fruit Heights.

Eli goes to swim team at Layton Surf n Swim - 7am - 9am

Elle's swim lesson is at 10:30 am

Emi's swim lesson is at 1:30 pm

Gas is taking every dime (thank goodness for grocerysmarts - my little plug)

And drive/wait time is taking up all my blogging time.

But the results have been FANTASTIC! Both Emi and Elle moved up in their classes. Elle can really swim! She moved up 2 classes. Yippee!

We also caught up with dentist appointments, 12 year old checkups for scout camp, hair appts., yearly female visit, and the Stake Primary Party "Around the World". We ended with our first dinner party! Up next. . .

Summer Week 2 - Las Vegas

Another "Use or Lose" Timeshare. We tried to pick somewhere we could drive to (basically afford) but would be warm enough to swim. If there's a pool, our kids are in heaven. We haven't been Las Vegas fans in the past but we are singing a new tune after this visit. Tim's parents, John and Sydney, came with us. We had a great time and there was plenty of "family friendly" things to do (we have a huge list of things to do for our next visit). The best part was where we stayed, the Tahiti Village, right on the strip but south of the airport. It was close enough to everything but away from the crazies and night life. The pool was perfect. Different levels for all ages/sizes, it had a beach and lifeguards. I could actually read my book while laying out. We began the first half of each day, poolside.


We were all sad to be coming home. 6 days wasn't long enough.

Summer Week 1 - Park City

We stayed at our Marriott Timeshare in Park City for the first week of June, use it or lose it kind of deal. Tim went to work from there every day. It was very relaxing. A little cold to swim but the kids didn't seem to mind. We ate at the Bandit, on old main, one night. The western bbq food was fantastic and they gave you plenty. We highly recommend the french dip, the most tender, flavorful, meat ever, on a bun. The onion rings were perfect, not over done with too much batter but crispy and cooked just right. The girls LOVED the ribs (as you can tell by Emi's photo) and the dessert was humongous, enough for the whole family. My mom stayed with us for a few nights and then Landen joined us. It's been a several years since Tim and I had been up there. We use to go for drives and look at the architecture for hours. We always thought we'd move there (we were young and big dreamers). It was nice to be back.