Soapy fun!

The other day Taylor had a (GREAT) idea to squirt dish soap

on the trampoline and turn on the sprinkler...

Whatever...I thought, at least it will keep him occupied for awhile, right?

I just sat and watched and laughed at how much fun they were having!

Then of course, I had to grab the camera!

Oh...to be a kid again!

Old Friends...and has it really been 20 years?

When I think back to High School it really doesn't feel like it was really 20 years ago!

But it was, and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm OLD!

The proof is, one of the fun things we did while we were in Utah was attend

my 20th High School reunion.

I really did enjoy visiting with old friends and classmates.

I didn't pull out my camera as much as I should of, but I did get a few shots of some of my friends from Junior High and High School.

(There were a couple of my closest friends from HS that didn't make it to the reunion...bummer)

Me, Kimberly, Susan, & Kerri

Toni & I grew up living across the street from eachother. It was so much fun to catch up with her, we haven't seen one another since a year or so after high school, it was crazy for me to find out she has 7 kids!!! I never would of thought she would have that many, but she obviously loves it, and is a great Mom!

Our last stop before heading back home to Oklahoma was to visit my old roommate Angie

and her husband Dave, and their dog Grady. They were traveling in Michigan when we got to Utah, so we only got to spend one day with them, but it was a good one, for sure!

Taylor made a new best friend...

he would not leave that poor dog alone...he begged and begged for us to take him home with us!

It took a little longer for Maddie to warm up to him...

but eventually she did, and even fed him a treat!

I love visiting Angie and Dave, they always go way out of their way...

but the best part of it was...Dave always cooks something Fabulous!

We also had another one of my old friends Cheryl come hang out and feast with us!

I worked with Cheryl at the salon for a few years and we have stayed in contact over the years.

She always makes my hair beautiful when I go to Utah!

...and "Feast" your eyes on one of the fantastic meals Dave cooked up.

After dinner we all sat around the fire pit and roasted marshmellows...

and ate them...

...and talked and talked until the wee hours of the night.

Just like the old days...it was such a great time!

Thanks to Angie and Dave and their 5 star hotel!!!

Mountains.

Sundance.

One of the things I miss most about Utah is the Mountains.

We met up with with one my old friends I grew up with, and her 4 kids.
We took the 15 minute drive up to Sundance to ride the chair lift to the top.

The kids loved the ride up. It was gorgeous, I have really forgotten how

beautiful the mountains are!

Once we got to the top we walked around for a bit,

and took some pictures of the kids "on top of the world!"

Then we let the kids run around on the beautiful soft green grass...

love.love.love. the grass.

I have an appreciation for nice grass since living in Oklahoma.

(no offense, they just have bermuda grass...not so lush and soft and green and pretty...sorry!)

We then had a nice dinner at one of the restuarants there.

We had such a fun time with the Madsen's! Taylor and Spencer are 2 peas in a pod, and Maddie and twin's had a great time together! We really need to get together more often...it's really a shame they live in PA and we live in OK...too far!

Snowbird.

We had debated on going to Park City, but when we found out all the fun stuff they had at Snowbird, we decided to go there instead.

Taylor and I decided on the Alpine slide...

Maddie wasn't too keen on the idea, but I made her go anyway.
She ended up loving it, and wanted to do it again!
Taylor tried to get bucked off the bull...

he actually did pretty good!

Dale's choice was the zip line...along with everyone else!


After Dale's ride we took the "Persian Chairlift" to the top... and they weren't kidding when they said to the top! It was probably 30 degrees colder up there, and we weren't prepared in our short sleeves and shorts! Burrrr! The kids complained the whole ride up...the further we went up, the colder it got.

By the time we got to the top there was still snow on the ground...crazy!
After a few snowballs we got back on the lift to go down...

it was even colder on the way down!

Taylor wanted one last ride down the slide, so we let him go by himself!
He felt like such a big kid!

We had such a great time in the mountains!

First Day of School.

I usually like to be at school with Taylor his first day of school.

But ya know, he is a big time 2nd grader now,

and he wanted to ride the bus...it kinda hurts my feelings he's not so into his Mom

these days, I guess that's what happens when they grow up?

I guess I also should be happy about his independence.

So with a few quick snap shots of him getting on the bus...

he was off!

At least I still have my little girl...

she still loves me :)

Here she is in her "new" outfit she picked out for her 1st day...

(have I mentioned I love having a little girl to dress up?)

Her Daddy gave her a sucker so she wouldn't be sad to leave her Mommy :)

(ok, I made that up to make myself feel better)

Dad took the morning off to see his little girl at her 1st day of Pre-K.

I'm so excited about her teacher...she is one of a kind!

What teacher makes it a point to have a bench set up outside her room to get a picture with each of her students? I love it, and Maddie did too!

She wasn't even sad when we left :(

A kiss and we were off...

hmmm...now what to do with myself???

Vegas Heat.

Another tradition when we visit family in Vegas is to eat dinner

at the Green Valley Ranch Buffet. My Dad swears they have THE.BEST.

crab legs anywhere...he would know too! I myself have never

tried them, until this trip...

They were Ok, but I'm not a big fan of crab...

give me a nice piece of grilled salmon or halibut and I will be happy!

After dinner we walked the District (an outdoor mall...not sure why they would do that in Vegas)

The kids had fun trying to get a drink from the misting systems.

Of course Maddie (I really mean me) found a few things she needed...

good thing her Poppy was there :)

The only thing to do outside was go swimming.

We started out at one of the local pools...

the kids were having fun, but I hated it...too many people and I wanted to relax in the

water, not get dumped on!

So we left and spent the rest of the afternoon at my sister's in laws...

Much better!

The only problem was...Maddie was with her boy cousins, and thought it was OK to take her

suit off and put her cousins shorts on, with no shirt,,,just like the boys!

Silly girl...if she weren't so darn cute?!

Family & Friends.

We are back from our 2 week trek out west to visit family and friends.

We had such a great time!

I always love being able to spend time at my parents,

this time was no exception...I did a bunch of haircuts...and Dale installed 3

sink faucets! (they always like to put us to work :)

I love that the kids got to spend some quality time with their Grammie & Poppy!

Maddie sure loves her "Gwammie"

Some of the things my Mom and I love to do when we visit is:

Shopping...Shopping...and a little more Shopping,

and to rest our tired feet, we got a pedicure too...(we missed you Kendra!)

I also got to spend the afternoon with an old friend I went to Hair school with...

way back in the day :)

After spending a week in Vegas we headed up to Utah.

Our first stop was to visit with one my old Mission companions...we have such great memories from our adventures in Sweden.

We have always stayed close, and our lives have paralled one another's...we got married within a month of each other, and our kids are about the same age (boy..girl...except she had a third baby...girl, we aren't going there though!)

Stephanie and Ryan wanted to take Taylor and I fishing for frogs...

Taylor love.love.LOVED it!

Thanks Steph for taking such great care of us...We loved staying with you and your family!

We seriously need to live by eachother!