SLO

For our last trip of the summer we went to San Luis Obispo. Noah and the other teenage cousins flew there alone the week before. I understand there was a high volume of donuts consumed. Noah didn't mind coming again (who would mind that!?) even if it meant driving this time. 

 We love seeing the Harris family & Papa & Nana. We took this entire crew on a little walk. 

In all the times we've been to SLO we've never spent the day at the beach. We found this really nice spot at Avila beach.  

 The weather was so nice, but the water is frigid. The kids didn't mind at all. It would be a triple dog dare to get me to go in there (and even then I probably wouldn't).  

Party car:

I did a terrible job of applying sunscreen so I was feeling the burn for the next few days. 

Ryan was in the middle of a big trial, so Leanne & I drove down to Santa Barbara (love!) to VIP it up at the Arcade Fire concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl (LOVE!). We also found Oprah's mansion, ate gelato for dinner and had a fun night away from kids.  

 I am not the hugest Arcade Fire fan, but they were really good live so maybe I am a fan afterall. 

 These two little guys are the BEST! 

 We came to celebrate Papa's birthday and this is the only good picture I took of the actual celebrating. We bought him some fishing supplies so he can start fishing off the pier. That's a very Papa thing to do. 

Idaho- (the abbreviated version)

I had a lot of things planned for us in Idaho, but Matt's kidney issues changed a few things. We left Matt behind on Sunday and drove straight through. I don't mind driving so it's not too bad.  

We hit Rigby Lake on Monday while the Ricks family was still in town. They have really improved it since I was a kid. One skill I would like to develop is putting up an umbrella. We couldn't get it stable no matter what we did. There is always wind in Idaho so it just kept blowing over. 

 

We haven't seen the babies since they were little babies.  Remi had these boys in the palm of her chubby little hands. 

The Playmill Theater is always a good time. A few years ago we saw my favorite, "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" this year we saw "Beauty & the Beast." One of the cast members was the nephew of my former bishop in our ward here in Vegas. Small world. 

The farm is the best place to get some driving practice in. Noah got to drive in grandpa's "outfit" a couple of times. It's a big rig, but he handled it pretty well. 

My dad's cousin opened up a soda shop--Sodavine--and Grandma took us to check it out. We loved our mixed drinks and pretzels. This will be a place we come back to. 

My poor dad was super busy with the harvest this year. He ended up having to bale hay this year so I spent an evening riding with him in his new baler. That was about the only time I got to really see him. They put up almost all that hay while we were there (in less than a week). 

I wasn't sure how long we would get to stay. We were going to go home on Saturday but decided to stay one more day for Emri's birthday party. She is the cutest little girl. 

 

And then there is this guy--Bodi might be the happiest kid in the family. 

We were making great time on our way home until this: 

We were stuck for a very long time just outside of Payson, I think. We drove straight through again and were welcomed home with this beautiful sunset. 

Overall I am happy living in Las Vegas. But my pitstop at the Lehi Costco kind of made me want to move back...good bread, the good string cheese, & the good Ranch dressing--all of which is not available at my local Costco. 

 And the best news of all--frozen hamburger can survive a 10 hour trip in the car. Hooray for decent hamburger--we hardly eat it anymore because nothing compares to McGarry beef. 

4th of July Blast

We planned to go to Idaho for the 4th of July. Matt's kidneys had other ideas. He went in for a lithotripsy on the 3rd to blast the "boulders" (technical doctor term) that were causing him excruciating pain. 

 He was feeling well enough the next day to join some of our friends for a July 4th BBQ. We got rained out for the fireworks we were going to do, but were able to see the fireworks on the strip from David's roof. 

U S A

We definitely had World Cup fever at our house. We had a blast cheering on the US team. 

Boy Scout Camp on the Beach

Ben just before we dropped him off for his first scout camp. He got to drive for 5 hours in his spiffy class A uniform. 

 He spent an entire week at Camp Fiesta Island in San Diego. Poor kid got to do lots and lots of swimming, kayaking, boogie boarding and just messing around on the beach. 

 

 He did complete some merit badges. The troop also went to the Mormon Battalion, helped pass sacrament in a San Diego Ward and toured the USS Midway. (One of Ben's favorite things)

I missed this guy while he was away and was happy when he came home safe and sound, covered in sand. 

His duffle was 90% sand, and 100% boy scout camp-ified. 

Watching it Live

We have been Ninja Warrior fans for years. My Google search timing was really good, because I was able to get us free tickets to go watch American Ninja Warrior film in Las Vegas. They were filming the weekend we were in Colorado so I had to get our tickets for 1 am. We drove home from Colorado, changed clothes, dropped Zack off at Emily's and went to witness ninja warriors in action. 

It was awesome. It was also windy, really windy and cold for Vegas in June (it might have been 75 degrees!). 

It was interesting to be part of a television audience. They handed out posters and flags to hold and wave. I wish they would have announced the ninjas when they started because all of a sudden they were on the course and we had no idea. There is also a lot of waiting around, but it was super fun. I am not allowed to say much because of the waiver I signed, but we did get to see them actually go to the Mt. Midoriyama. This was the first time anyone has ever made it there so we had to wait FOREVER for them to set up the shots. The audience was pretty much over it and the sun was rising by the time they finally finished up. 

Arches National Park

We took a slight detour on our way home from Grand Junction so that we could see Arches National Park. 

We made a few stops and didn't do any major hikes but it was definitely worth seeing. We also made a stop in Moab so the kids could experience Eddie McStiff's which we remember for having the most delicious root beer and pizza. Ummm, not any more.