FINALLY! (Catching up on Summertime Adventures)

We're back.....finally! I am so sad to see summer go this time, but looking back at the pictures of all the fun times makes it a little better. We had a really busy and really fun summer (minus the quarelling with siblings that seems to get so much worse when we're with each other all the time....that is the only reason I'm happy to see summer go and school begin!) Here are some of the highlights of the past couple months!I know I already posted a picture like this previously, but considering the amount of miles that these kiddos are putting on that truck.....this is a daily event at our house now. Isaac pushing that thing up and down the road, filling it full of stuff, riding in it, etc. The girls push him around in it and ride their bikes along side him.....we LOVE our long driveway road!

DIRT + WATER + A BUCKET?!!? How can life get any better? Spending the day at Bear Lake was definately a favorite for Isaac.

Emma and Madison make some really beautiful (really sandy) mermaids. Between the trips to Bear Lake and sand box in the front yard, I getting really used to having sand EVERYWHERE in the house!

I don't know how this picture got here--in the middle of the Bear Lake pictures--but it's cute anyway. Kelly filled our freezer full of ice cream bars and the three sugar-hounds caught on really quick. I found them on several occasions just like this (no "Mom, can we have an ice cream?".....not even a guilty look on their faces)......I guess they know that if they cover their faces in ice cream and smile really cute, I'll just take pictures instead of getting mad at them for eating five ice creams a day.

And more Bear Lake fun in the MUD!

Emma taking a ride in Isaac's little swimming pool.

Madison spent the whole day making this sand fort--it was quite the event when Emma decided to knock it down after all that work......I was too busy breaking up the fight to take pictures of that one.

Isaac with his sand, water, and bucket again. That's all he needs to be happy.

What a good Dad, building sand castles with the kids while I soaked up the sun all day long. He got his reward, too--and I got mine....the kids always love him more than they love me, and I got a pretty good sunburn that day.

This is at the Dinosaur Park in Thermopolis, Wyoming. I'll bet you've never heard of that town before! On our way to Cody (to visit Grandma and Granpa "D") we stopped in "Thermop" and stayed overnight. They have some fun hot springs to swim in and this really cool Dinosaur museum. You'll notice in these pictures that Emma was not in the best of moods. Every time we told her to smile so we could take a picture she turned her back. But hey, she has a cute back too, and the dinosaurs were so cool! And even though we forgot to take pictures while we were visiting with Kelly's parents and his brother Dave and Dawnell and family, we really did have lots of fun (that's why we forgot to take pictures--we were having way too much fun). How lucky we are to have such great family, both near and far!

Here we are posing for a cute family picture at a rest stop on our LLLLOOONNNGGGGGG way home from Wyoming. When we drove into Franklin I begged Kelly to stop and let me out so I could walk home. Nine hours in a car with three whining kids and no DVD player....wasn't the greatest part of the trip.

Don't let them fool you--they look really cute and happy in this shot, because it was taken about twenty minutes into the trip. I should have taken another picture 8 1/2 hours later, but by then our car was such a junk pile that I couldn't find my camera. Plus I was too busy just breathing. Did I mention that the driving part WASN'T the hightlight of the summer?

Madie and Emma with "Luann" and "Brookie" the jaguars. The newest additions to their stuffed animal zoo.

Here is Emma rowing her boat on the lake by the cabin where we went for the Nielson Family Reunion. The cabin was a few miles away from the entrance to Zion National Park (which would be 8 hours in the opposite direction of Wyoming, I might add....lots of driving we did this summer!). We had so much fun at the cabin with cousins and auts and uncles--I am so grateful for my family! I just feels so good being with them, seeing how everyone has grown up so much, and what awesome people they are becoming. There were three cousins of mine that had just gotten their missions calls right before the family reunion, and a few that had just returned home....it is amazing to think how many people around the world who will be influenced by just our family. It was a great trip, and well worth another long drive! Plus, Zion National Park is just the most beautiful place!

Isaac eating Watermelon (very intensely), still at the family reunion.

Here is Isaac and I hiking 3 miles up and 3 miles back down one of the "moderate" hikes at Zions. (Actually a whole bunch of us went, so luckily a couple of my cousins helped me cart Isaac around). It was very beautiful and a really fun hike, but whoever names the hikes "moderate" must be a much better hiker than myself (which isn't too surprising). I was glad we stuck with moderate verses "difficult" or "intensely difficult". That could have resulted in disaster.

Kelly and the girls on the "River Walk" hike at Zions. Wow, it was so beautiful there!

Madison, Emma, Isaac, Seth, and Grady at Downata Hot Springs. I think they spent the majority of the day playing right here at the little baby Splash Pad......which was okay by me because the pool was totally crowded full of people. Thank goodness for such fun cousins to play with all summer long!

Same cousins, swimming in the backyard at home. Emma, once again, was not in a picture taking mood......

Now she is (in a picture-taking mood)! Bring out the ice cream, and we're all smiles!

Well that covers most of our summer, since we were mostly MIA as far as blogging goes. There was one more trip that we took with just my immediate family up Ogden Canyon to a really nice resort by the lake. My brother brought his boat and we had a great time! I need to get pictures from my sister since my camera was out of batteries for that whole trip. But I wanted to mention it so we would remember--it was one of the most fun weekends of the whole summer, so thanks Mom and Dad for that fun trip!

And thanks to my cute family for a really fun summer! I wish these summers wouldn't pass by so fast! But here's to the start of another school year and some fun FALL adventures to come!