A Special Visit from Kim, Ez, and Luke

We were thrilled when we found out Kim, Ez and Luke were headed our way for a visit the girls talked about it for over a week....next time I will tell them the day of. It was Kim's 10 year high school reunion and it was a good excuse to come visit. They got here on Saturday shortly after lunch. We had a good time catching up while the kids slept, they got settled, and Kimber got ready for her reunion. I stayed with the kids while Kimber went to the reunion and Matt and Ez went to run some errands. After KImber got home we grabbed some KFC and had a picnic dinner while the kids played. Later that evening we turned on a movie and Gracie quickly found her cuddle buddy. It brings such a smile to my face to see the girls with my sisters. 

Now the other 2 made them "beds" on the floor 

Sunday we got up and off to church in good time. After church we came home, put the kids down for naps, and the adults enjoyed our quiet time while eating lunch and visiting. Then we turned on a movie and more than one of us got a nap while the kids slept. Later that evening Kim and Ez headed to dinner at Ezra's aunts house and we spent the remainder of the evening just relaxing. Monday morning I woke up to find Hallie and Grace cuddled watching a show...I sure love them and how much they love and take care of each other. 

 Then we got ready and headed to get Nic and the kids before continuing on to Salt Lake to meet up with Kim. We got to City Creek and the kids were so excited to play in the splash pad they wasted no time getting wet. Kim, Nic, and I enjoyed sitting on the side and taking the sites in. I don't know many things better than the laughter and joy of a child. And when these 5 are together there is plenty of that to go around.

For quite a while they were the only ones on the splash pad and it was so nice. They played games, chased each other, and just laughed and played.

 Once it got a little more crowded we got everyone changed and went to do a little shopping. At Ruum they gave each of the kids suckers and balloons they were pretty content and let us shop in peace for the most part. Here we are with our treasures!

 Then it was off to the food court to fill our bellies and play at the play land. The girls decided they wanted Chinese and ate quite a bit before heading for the play place

 Just as we were getting started playing Gracie yells,"Mommy take my picture" and I was happy to oblige.

 There became a competition to see who could find the tallest place to stand. This was Hallie's highest spot

 As we collected our stuff we decided to get a group picture. While I stood ready with the camera this is what happens behind the scenes to get everyone ready. I just love the realness of this picture. Gracie kept asking Nic what we were doing

 But we ended up with pretty great results. 

 I have to mention Nic's kids and their "homeliness"(Nic's words not mine). Nic forgot swim suits and changes of clothes for the kids. Nic bought Riggs some new clothes and He and Kinley are both wearing them since they were dry and clean. Good thing we love them homeliness and all. On the way to the car we stopped at the Disney Store to buy a few more things. It was such a fun day perfect mix of kid and mommy entertainment. I miss Kim and Ez and of coarse Luke. I took for granted that they were only an hour away but now we try to take advantage of any time we have with them and today was a total success can't wait to do it again.

Happy Pioneer Day

 Over the Brower Reunion Chris had asked if Matt and I would be willing to take him and his roommate boating before summer was over and we were happy to oblige. We thought Pioneer day would be perfect until we found out that Matt was supposed to work. After working a few things out Matt was able to work until about 2 then he came home and we loaded up to go. Chris, his roommate(Mike), Brit, and Preston joined us. The weather was great and the lake although a little choppy was still nice. Since it was so hot we had to pretty quickly have a swim break. 

 With our tubes both out of commission it was kinda nice that it wasn't even an option and we just skied, wake boarded, and knee boarded. The later it got the nicer that water was. Here is Brit trying wake boarding. 

 After each person trying something the kids wanted to swim and why not swimming is a lot of fun!

 I love this man of mine

 The water was even good enough that I decided to ski....Im pretty picky about my water.

Chris got really brave and was determined to figure out slalom skiing. He got it after dropping one ski and went quite a ways. I really like helping people learn something new they get so excited and its fun knowing you had some part in that. We serious skiied until we barely had enough light to load the boat. The last run of the day Matt knee boarded and we found the perfect water for some whips....a perfect end to a great day. This was one of my favorite days on the lake this season. There were so many great things about this night. 

We dance, sang, swam, skied, laughed, wake boarded, and knee boarded. Here's to more days on the lake just like this one!!!

Bear Lake 2014-Brower Reunion

I was really excited when I found out it was Matt and I's turn to plan the Brower "reunion." I was hoping we could plan something that would be fun for everyone including us. It's no secret that I haven't had the best time at reunions in the past and I was hoping to change that. Matt's family can be a lot of fun and I was hoping to bring out the best in everyone. It wasn't even a thought that our plans would include a lake and the boat but beyond that we had to do some serious searching and discussing as far as what everyone was willing to pay and how far from home it would be. We ultimately decided on camping and Bear Lake. Growing up we didn't boat at Bear Lake so it was even a new experience for me. We found a great campground that would accommodate us well  so we set a date and made our reservations. After buying all the food for Lake Powell I decided it was much to overwhelming for me to do all the food by my self for 3x the people so after talking to Matt's mom we decided Matt and I would be in charge of dinner and paper products....which was still a lot! And Thursday the time finally came to pack up and head for our much anticipated trip. We met up with Nick and Brit at Smith and Edwards to grab a few last minute things and to pick up Kaylee to ride with us. Then we grabbed a quick bite in Logan before heading up the canyon to the lake. We got there about 2pm unloaded and set up camp before taking the boat down to put it in the lake. 

The weather was perfect and the water pretty smooth. Hallie immediately asked for a swim break...no surprise there. And then most of the Bennetts tried some skiing. 

With plenty of swim breaks of coarse

It was a fun night but shortly before dark we loaded the boat and headed back to camp to eat some dinner and meet up with the Browers and Sonerholms that had arrived while we were out boating. We were excited to see everyone and settled in for the night. After we got some dinner we headed down to the showers to clean up before going to bed. That night Gracie didn't sleep well. I think she kept waking up and forgetting where she was so when the sun came up needless to say I was wishing for more sleep. We had decided the night before that we would head up to the Minnetonka Cave and do a tour. So after breakfast we loaded up and drove the 40 minutes to get there. We were more than a little disappointed to find that the tours for the next couple hours were sold out and we didn't want to wait. So we loaded up again and headed back to camp for some lunch before we launched the boat. On a brighter note Gracie got a good nap in on the drive to and from and it was a pretty scenic route. I love to watch my girls sleep just so peaceful.

 After eating some lunch we launched the boat and I was frustrated when the wind was blowing like crazy. So we decided to make the most of it and do some wake boarding. We took Tiff and her family with us to launch to boat so we took our time and let everyone have a turn on the way back.

 Sweet Emily is scared of the water but wanted to try it and she did so well

We went back to shore and rotated people out a couple times to try and let everyone have a turn. The wind continued to blow so when dinner time came we pulled the boat out and called it quits! When we got back to camp the Pugmires had arrived and we got dinner ready. Right before dinner a cowboy and his horse came to invite us to the rodeo the following evening and was nice enough to let the kids sit on the girls loved it.

 That night we had dutch oven chicken and potatoes. And for dessert cherry and peach cobbler. 

 After dinner we had a Brower lip sync program. Matt and the girls did Love is an Open Door from Frozen and then called it a night.

Saturday we decided we would get up early and 1 person would go buy tickets for the cave for everyone while the rest of us would boat until lunch and then head to the cave. Grandpa was the nice person to get us all tickets. It worked well and we got good water for most of the morning. We played a little to long and were really rushed when it came to lunch. We quickly changed our clothes for a family picture into the really cute shirts that Joy got for us and that I designed....they turned out really well. 

Then grabbed a quick bite before getting on the road to the cave. Once at the cave we had a few minutes to potty and get drinks. The girls were both really excited about going into the cave. 

The Before

 The After

 As we stood at the opening of the cave listening to our guide talk about the rules Hallie completely lost it. I pulled her to the side so I could see what was going on and she was terrified to go into the cave. No matter what I said she was still upset. As I stood there trying to figure out what to do the thought came to my mind to pray with her. So I asked if she thought we should say a prayer. She agreed and asked if I would say it. I asked Heavenly Father to watch over and protect us and to calm Hallie's nerves so that she would be able to enjoy the tour. After that she dried her tears and only asked to hold my hand and was fine the rest of the tour. What a awesome moment in both Hallie and I's lives to see God hand in what might be such a trivial thing compared to the rest of the world but to my sweet Hallie it made all the difference.

 My poor attempt to take Hallie and I's picture in the cave

 Hallie and Daddy with the 3 sisters 

 During her explanation, our tour guide, said one of the rocks looked like Snow White but Gracie was so upset when she couldn't find Snow White and she just didn't understand why

 A lot of the rocks looked the same to me after the first half of the tour. By the time we got to the end both girls had had it and were ready to go but we still had 444 stairs left to climb back to the car. There were times I just wanted to sit down and rest after carrying one or both of the girls but we made it and it was for the most part enjoyable. We got back just in time to get dinner ready. This night we had walking tacos when your camping I think food just tastes better. The wind continued to blow so Matt and I decided not to put the boat back in and to enjoy the last couple hours of our vacation. The kids got to swim for as long as they wanted and Matt was so good to play with them while I laid on the beach and relaxed just taking it all in.

When the sun started to set and it got a little chilly we headed up to get ready for bed. I took the kids to get them changed and when I came out they have  had all the kids lined up ready to sing happy birthday to all the kids in celebrating year round birthdays.

 Then we had a fire and cooked some popcorn and smores. We enjoyed the last few minutes of visiting with everyone before people started to go their separate ways.  

That night Matt started not feeling good and was up most of the night back and forth to the bathroom and just plain feeling crappy. By the time the sun came up he had finally fallen asleep but I just couldn't settle back in so I decided to get an early start of getting what I could packed while everyone else got some sleep. But I had to take a second and admire the beautiful sunrise. I don't think I have every seen a more beautiful sunrise than one that comes up while we have been camping on a lake side so quiet and beautiful.