Summer in UT, 2013

Being able to go to Utah was a huge relief this summer.  It's so hot here in AZ, I never really feel like taking the kids anywhere.  It's especially tedious with a tiny one to nurse and I just feel so hot and thirsty I think I'll never get hydrated or cool off!  What I sometimes forget is, it gets really hot in Utah, too.  Only everyone just toughs it out and goes out to play anyway.  But at least there was plenty of fun to be had.  We went to a reservoir one day with the Johnsons and had lots of fun.  

It was hot and I felt bad for baby Camille, but every time I dipped her toes in the water she would scream bloody murder.  So I finally got her to sleep in the stroller and covered her with the cool, wet skirt from Brynn's swimsuit.  

 We also went to an outdoor concert Marty's brothers were playing in (Wasatch Winds - I wish Marty could be in it with them!).  They were playing at the amphitheater next to the Timpanogus Temple.  That box up there is where Marty and I got engaged eight and a half years ago!   His step-sisters helped him decorate with twinkle lights, a fancy table and settings, nice music, and even a keyboard where Marty sang me a song he wrote. :)


So anyway, we took the kids up there and told them the story.  They were cute and funny and acted like that spot was an ancient relic ("Maybe these marks on the railing are from the lights Daddy put up!!").

 Our family has changed a bit since then.

 My snuggle-buddy.

With cousin Reese, just a few months apart in age.

We got to stay at Greg and Nickelle's new beautiful home.  S'mores!!

A red white and blue breakfast on the 4th of July.

 Brynn lost her 3rd tooth!  She'd been wiggling it all morning and I'm not sure why it was annoying me, but I said, "Just PULL it out, already!"  So she did.  I was so proud of her!  I remember my teeth barely hanging on and refusing to touch it or let anyone else touch it.  And yes, I crimped her hair that morning with the same crimper my mom used on me when I was that age.  Only that was the 80s. :)

 And we blessed our sweet Camille while we were up there.  We had been determined to do it in our AZ ward, which we LOVE, but then Kris Anne started putting together a big family gathering for Georgia's baptism so we decided as long as everyone was there....

 We went to a cabin in Brian head with all the Johnsons and had a blast.  It was nuts - 14 kids ages 10 and under.  But they all did exactly what cousins should do; they played the day away with pretty much no conflicts.  They just disappeared together and let us grown-ups hang out.  They seemed to take really good care of each other, too.  Awe, I can see Grandpa Johnson holding Camille in this picture!

And of course we went to Bryce Canyon!  Grandpa's most hallowed place on Earth, and quickly becoming Buddy's favorite place, too.

 It was dreadful weather, cold and rainy, and we had to cancel our hike.  But we acted like true Utahns and spent the whole day there anyway.

 I'm not sure what silly thing Daddy was doing to get the kids to laugh in the above picture, but I'm pretty sure Bryce is imitating it in the one below. :)

 Big, full rainbow across Bryce Canyon - does it get any more beautiful?

 I'm starting to think Bryce has convinced himself that this actually is his canyon.  That's the only thing he ever refers to it as, "my canyon."  He's got a big poster of it in his room and talks about his canyon often.  Then when we went there this time, it made such a difference to him to actually know how to spell and recognize his name.  So of course the first time we saw this sign, he pretty much freaked out.

 We were there 5 days, four nights.  It worked out perfectly for everyone to pretty much take food duty for one day.  This was our breakfast - a yogurt parfait bar and toast!

 One afternoon I stayed home with the babies while Marty and most the other grown-ups took their older kids on the ski lift.

The last full day we all went to Zion's.  That day I dressed for cold weather and got hot weather instead.  We brought along the stroller and it was a total joke to get that thing folded out, babies in and then babies out, folded in.  Ridiculous.  Finally, Christy and I wished our husbands luck and took our babies back to the lodge to nurse.  There may or may not have been scandalously high-priced drinks and fries involved.  There were a lot of good moments, but it was just kind of a hard day with that many babies (four babies under a year).

 Here is weeping rock.  A perfect hike for little kids.  Not so much for a double stroller.  Marty and I took turns waiting around at the bottom.