minnetonka cave

while we were up at bear lake we decided to do something that i hadn't done in years. we went to minnetonka cave. my kids had never been before and i remember loving to go here when i was a kid. well, can i just tell you that i didn't remember the hike being so steep. i kinda got a little bit of anxiety while inside. it is a good thing i had my family there to help me with all my little ones.

here are all the kids with papa perry and uncle nate. this is when we were walking on the trail to get to the cave. we saw some cute little squirels. the kids would put some peanuts in their hands and the squirels would come right up and sit in your hand and eat. it was so much fun. i wish that i would have taken a picture!
steph was such a lifesaver. ky was a little nervous inside the cave and so steph ended up carrying her most of the way. although i did help a bit.

here is when we got to the very back of the cave. they called this the bridal room. when you get here, they turned off all the lights to show everyone just how black pitch black really is. it was kind of a weird feeling not to be able to see your own hand in front of your face.

this is the only stalagmite (sp?, i am not sure this is exactly what it was, but i think so) that you can touch. the oils on your skin turn them black. i thought that it was going to be wet and really rock feeling, but it as satiny smooth and dry. it was really neat.

Yeah, we finally made it out of the cave. it was 444 steps in and 444 steps out. the kids did so good, i was really proud of them. there were just a couple of places that i got a little nervous with my kids, but they were oblivious. so much fun. if any of you get a chance to go, do it!

We love bear lake
we go every year with my family to bear lake, and we always have a wonderful time. normally we don't go until later in the fall, but this year we were able to get the condo in june.
Who needs swimming in the lake when we can just fill up the tub. here are all the little crazies after a long day at the beach. you should have seen all the sand and sea shells that came out of four little swimming suits.
paxton is getting so good in the water. this has been his year for being really daring and full of courage. normally i still put a life jacket on him, but we had a great spot at the beach this year that were like little mini ponds of nice warm water. it was so perfect for the kids. they kept saying it was their "hot tub".

Dubby too loves loves loves the water. he was pretty excited this day because his cousin kade had brought up a pair of brand new swim trunks that didn't fit him and gave them to dubby. he was so excited. they were sponge bob, can't get much better than that!

ky freaks me out around water, she is so daring. you have to always have an eye on her because she will jump in to any amount of water. that is another reason why this spot was fab.

Aunt stephy bought all the boys these matching swim shirts. they loved them and were so excited they they all matched. thanks steph!

well bear lake was wonderful. we had great weather and great fun. i can't wait until we go back in september!

My baby isn't so much a baby anymore...
gosh, this seems like it was only yesterday. me at the hospital getting all strapped up to machines, drips and all sorts of pleasant things. it was all worth it. look at this beautiful, sweet, little girl. she was the best prize at the end of a long 9months. just look see for yourself....ky was such a fun baby. i loved every minute of it. she has been the dream little girl. she loves to have her hair done and be dressed all up. look at that head of hair she came home with.

my little one is now two. she turned two on the 28th of june. (sorry i know i am behind again.) isn't this the cutest cake you have ever seen. one of my most tallented cousins...mindy, made it for us. it tasted as wonderful as it looked. thanks so much min.
getting ready to "spit" on some candles. ky is just learning the right way to blow out candles. she sometimes tends to leave some "special extras" after the blowing is done. it was pretty cute, this year instead of dousing the flames, she simply licked them. what a nut. she was shocked that they were HOT!

opening some of her loot. she had a great time and got all the best things little girls need. she got high heels, a pink princess chair, purses, tutus, new big girl panties (have yet to try and potty train, but we have the supplys for when we are ready), a potty, and big girl bed.

sorry it is side-ways. ky showing off her new heels.

it was a great birthday. thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us.

happy birthday day baby girl, i know you are not so much a baby anymore, but you will always me my baby girl. we love you and are so glad you are a part of our family

South Ogden days...

we went to the south ogden parade today. it was a ton of fun. i can't believe how many people were there this year! (above) ky and her cousin josh were having a great time. everytime a piece of candy was thrown they would run and pick it up with a surprised look. they were facinated that people would throw away perfectly good candy!
lets see how many pieces of candy we can get in our mouths while mom isn't looking!

My cute boys. they were so sweet. there was a little boy next to them that everytime he went to pick up some candy someone would snatch it right before he could. so paxton and wyatt would get a piece for them and then a piece for him. such sweeties huh?

following the rules! a police officer came by telling everyone that they had to be back by the curb. so the kids did what they were told. it is too bad that they don't listen to me that well!

My cousin robyn saved us a place on the street. so it was fun that we got to spend the evening with her cute family. they are so nice and welcoming to everyone. thanks so much robyn, we had a great time!

Sweet Shades...

ky loves her dora sunglasses. it doesn't matter what time of day (or night) it is. she LOVES them.
this is kysa's classic "cheese" smile. i love it! although sometimes it would be nice to have a picture of her big, beautiful brown eyes open. Oh well.

WARNING! there are a ton of posts. i know i have been a slacker.

Vegas!!!

I had such a great time in vegas with allans family. they were so nice to invite me to tag along with them. here we are at the cheesecake factory in cesars palace. i had never been there and lieren said it was great and i had to try it. she was right. it was delicious!
mary, me and des. after a long day at the show.

me, lieren and chan. this is in front of a really cool aquarium. i know you can't tell but it was really neat.

a girl at the hair show. she has some really awesome hair. it was all done with just some hairspray and a flat iron. needless to say i bought some of the hairspray!

going home from dinner!

***thanks so much mary, lieren, chandler and des, for a wonderful time in vegas. i am so glad that i got to know all of you. some of you for the first time. you have such a great family. i was really nervous about going in the beginning, but i am so glad that i went. mary, i got to know you so much better that i would not have been able to do had i not gone on this trip, you are amazing. thank you so much. lieren, what a spunky little thing you are. it was so much fun with you, especially during the long drives to and from. i know we are always going to be friends. des, you are so fun. thanks so much for spending that first day at the shows with me. thank you for making me feel so welcome and making sure i had a bed to sleep on :) i feel like i have known you forever. i hope that we are able so stay in touch. you guys are the best, thanks again!

Lieren and chandler Pearson

so this is allans cousin lieren and her husband chandler. i know that i mentioned that i had just met them at ricks wedding the week before this. chandler and lier had gotten married in st. george, but this is the reception that they had in chandlers hometown of huntington, utah. so let me back up my story. back at ricks (my brother in law) wedding lieren and her mom invited me to go to vegas with them. i was able to work it out that i was able to go. but before we went to vegas we made a stop in huntington to have THIS reception. it was so beautiful. chandlers dad and mom have a beautiful back yard where the reception was held. what a fantastic looking couple don't you think?
this is des, she is another one of allans cousins that i had never met. we totally hit it off. and spent a lot of time together in vegas. she is sisters with lieren.

cutting the cake. lieren was saying that she and chandler were so nice to eachother at their first reception and didn't smash cake onto each others faces, but she was a little more fiesty this time and they weren't so nice. it wasn't too bad though.

this is sierra and two of her three girls. dawn and eva. they are so adorable. the last time i saw sierra was at allan and i's wedding 7 1/2 years ago, dawn was about 18months old then.

des and her husband zeke. he was so nice and friendly from the get go. making me feel so welcome. i was so glad that i got to meet them. they are such a fun couple. hopefully it won't be too long until we get to see them again.

Aunt mary and antonio. he works for mary at her skin school in st. george. antonio went to vegas with us as well. he was a ton of fun! isn't mary such a beautiful woman?

me and des taking pictures of ourselves.

eva giving the bride a little smooch!

the girls. lierens colors were a plum color and gold. it was beautiful. des' husband zeke and sierra (the one in the glasses) did all the decorations. they did a fantastic job.
*desi *Lieren *Sierra *brooklyn (sierras other daughter) and *aunt mary

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Ronnow!

allans little brother got married a couple of weeks ago. the wedding was so nice. they had it at the botanical gardens in ogden. we are so excited for Rick and abby. she is such a cute girl, and we are excited to have her in our family! congrats again you guys!
rick and abby had dancing at their wedding so it was fun to get nice and cozy with my hubby. we don't get very many chances to dance with eachother!
my cute kids posing for me. can you believe it? they are all looking at the camera and smiling...too bad the picture had to be alittle blury! oh well, that is how it goes isn't it?
this was the night before bekkie moved back to oklahoma. it was a sad time for me. bekkie and i have become so close in the 2+ years that she and her family have lived here in Utah. i am sure going to miss you both bek and joey!

this picture wasn't actually taken at the wedding, but the wedding is the reason that carrie and gary came out from arizona to stay with us. i can't believe that i didn't snap a picture of them at actual event. carrie looked so pretty! i am so glad that they were able to come and stay with us. we love it when they are here!
this is allans aunt mary, his dad allan and his grandma ronnow. mary and grandma live in st. george. it was fun to visit with them at the wedding. in the seven and a half years that allan and i have been married grandma hasn't ever been out this way (to ogden) so this was a really cool thing to have them here.

this is allan's cousin lieren and her new husband chandler. they just got married about a month and a half ago. this is the first time that i met lieren. i know what you are thinking, "you have never met your husbands cousins?" i know, i thought the same thing. but we had a great time getting to know eachother. she and her mom, mary invited me to go to vegas with them to the hairshow. (see next couple of posts). how nice of them huh? lieren and chandler live in provo, but are moving in august to hawaii. lucky ducks. Chandler got a scholarship to play basketball for a school there. they are going to have such a great time. what a fun couple these two are, you could totally see how in love with eachother they are...oh, to be young and in love...those were the days!

What a great way to start summer!

we went with some of our friends to their grandmas pool in riverdale. it was so much fun. the kids loved it. they paddled around for hours and hours. but the best part was....
the slide. wyatt would only go down if i was at the bottom to catch him, but paxton was brave and went all by himself.

Paxton

Wyatt

Kysa