Utah Trip Part 1

After talking with my family, we decided to DRIVE out to Utah to visit. The kids did awesome on the 25 hour drive. Rob and I drove all through the night, and we couldn't have had better kids. We have had a great time out here. We went to Hogle Zoo with my family.

Max really thought this elephant was real as there is a speaker inside it that makes noise.

Max hatching.

Kate and Lexi. Kate has a really bad eye infection in her right eye. She developed it on the drive out.

We had a surprise party for my sister, Mary. Here Max and Paige are watching a balloon fly up in the sky.

Kate at the party. She is teething.

All my siblings, in order from oldest to youngest. Sara, Matt, Mary, me, Danny, Rachel, Ben, Sheri, Holly, Paige and Tiffany.

My family with spouses and kids. Adam, Sara's husband, is the only one missing.

We went to St. George for Rob's 10 year class reunion. Here Mark is having the kids race to Grandpa.

Max sharing his popsicle with Kate.

Kate deciding if she likes the popsicle.

Robert wrestling with Doug.

We went to Fiesta Fun to do the bumper boats. Max was in awe over the cars. Here he is watching the cars with Mark, Courtney and Megan.

Bumper boats with Grandpa.

Getting another snowcone with Grandpa as his first one fell out on the grass.

Max and Kate with his Madsen cousins.

Cheering for cousin Ben during his cross country race in Cedar City.

My family came to St. George for a few days. Here Max is playing with Grandpa Milar at the pool.

Going down the slide.

Grandma Madsen has these 5-gallon buckets in her pantry. Max likes to make forts with them.

Grandma and Kate. Kate is actually smiling! She has MAJOR separation anxiety. She screams when anyone but me holds her.

Utah Trip Part 2

Max and his cousin Jack. They had a fantastic time playing together.

Davis and Kate.

Max has been taking swimming lesson from Alisha, my sister-in-law. She has done a great job teaching Max how to swim and float.

Diving for rockets.

We went to Red Cliffs for a hike. I had to carry Kate the whole hike- she hated the hiking backpack I brought. Max loved playing in the sand.

We found a tiny little frog.

Relief for my arms- Kate sitting in an iKea bag.

I took the kids over to the St. George temple for some pictures. It is tricky to get my kids to cooperate, but here are some of the better shots.

Max reading scriptures on the temple stairs.

I really wish my camera was in auto focus, not manual, for this picture. I didn't realize I hadn't switched it back when I snapped this. I will have to take them back over.

We are going to be going to Salt Lake on Tuesday, and staying there for a couple more weeks. It has been a lot of fun being out here with family.

Family Fun

Side Note: The pictures are not in chronological order, or any order for that matter.

On Sunday, Rob and I decided to take the kids over to Pinnacle Mountain to walk the Kingfisher Trail. It is a scenic loop, with lots of opportunities to take photos. If only Max would have cooperated! A nice couple took this picture of all us. It was the only picture, so while we are not all looking and smiling at the camera, at least we are all in the photo!

I took a picture of Rob with the kids.

And Rob took a picture of me with the kids.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that Kate loves to roll a ball back and forth. I will shamefully admit, I thought rolling balls back and forth was only a "boy" thing. However, I could not be more mistaken. Kate was all smiles as we played "pass." Kate also loves eating Max's tractors/cars.

I have been wanting to get out and explore all the things Little Rock has to offer. A couple of weekends ago, we decided to go to Heifer Village. It was very interesting. To sum up what they do, Heifer provides sustainable resources to those in need. Here I am showing Max and Kate a mosquito net.

Max turned two on June 24. He woke up at the crack of dawn (seriously- 5 am). Rob was up getting ready, so I decided to make Max's requested breakfast of oatmeal pancakes first thing. I also had Max open a few presents before Rob left for work. Max had a fantastic birthday. He was so excited with his gifts and the activities for the day he did not take a nap. We gave him a doctor set, books, clothes, puzzles, tractors, and a bat. He was thrilled.

I took him to the zoo for his birthday. Here he is posing with a tractor on a big rock found at the entrance.

Max and Kate both love watching the penguins. Typically, the penguins are in the water and enjoying looking at the people!

Make a wish!

We go to the pool a lot. I was worried that Kate would not like the water because of her arm, but she has loved it! For a long time she would not splash the water with her left arm, but as of 2 weeks ago that has changed. YAY!

Ron, our neighbor, came with us to the pool one evening. Max loves hanging out with Ron.

Judy, Ron's wife, also came up to the pool. Kate was surprisingly calm while Judy held her. Kate has "stranger danger" and cries when anyone but her parents hold her. You can see Max on the diving board in the background.

Max LOVES jumping off the diving board. Every time we drive past the pool, I hear him in the back seat saying, "Bye diving board. See you soon!"

We went to a Travelers baseball game with some tickets from Rob's work. It was hot, but the kids had a fun time.

We have a lot of family fun. It seems like the weekends always fly past.