Lake Ohatchee

We hit the lake with the Tyson family this week.

You know you are in Wisconsin when you are boating on a lake called Ohatchee, or anything that sounds like it.  Leslie is a trooper, she was out on a rocking boat full of little kids, and taking over the wheel half the time, and she is going in to have a her fourth baby on Monday, if not sooner. More of a woman than I am, I must say.

We had so much fun, and our kids defiantly have a love for boating. I grew up with a love for being dragged, pulled and flipped behind my parents boat, so I guess it is just in the genes.

And it just comes naturally to Wally apparently. Watch how this sequence went down.

Wally's first time in water skis.

A little pep talk.

HIT IT!!

Pull through!

He's cruising! Look at that form! He, he!

That's better. His facial expressions were cracking us up!

There is the confidence we know and love. One handed!

Over the wake!

And he is down! What a run!

We did not get home until late that night, and when we pulled Wally out of the car he woke up and said while half asleep,

" I didn't know that skiing was so fun!" I told him Grandpa will be so proud of him, and so are mom and dad!

Wally learned everything he know from the little this little pro... Sam.

 The rest of the kids also had a blast. Del and I keep laughing at how this smile did not leave Georgia's face the entire time she was out on the tube.

Dad with the kiddos.

Walker didn't last long.

Jared and his kiddos. Oh, plus Georgia, because we couldn't get her off the tube.

Our boat host and hostess.

Gotta love those curls.

Start them young.

Surfing

Ella

The Tyson family

We love you guys!

Denver, Colorado

Rocky Mountain High!

We made a stop in Denver for a few days on our way home from Utah, again this year. Del had hired a new rep there, and wanted to do some interviews, and that is always good news because it means I will get to see my forever friend, Christy.

Bryce and Christy are so great, and open their cute home to our crew so warmly. It was fun to get to know their baby girl, Ivy this year, and I must admit that I am a fan of Denver, so it is nice to spend some time there. It is so beautiful... and the air is crisp.. the landscape is stunning, and the drive through the mountains is breathtaking every single time!

Christy and I like to just take care of the kids, catch up, and hang out. It is low key, and that is nice sometimes.

I recruited Wally to take a picture of me and Christy on a little shopping trip to the Castlerock Outlet Mall.

We got a good laugh out of it. Wally kept pointing the camera lens off to his right. So Christy and I would hunch down, and shuffle to our left, and when we would get centered, Wally would veer off to the side again. But we did manage to both make it into the picture.

A big time treat. A stop at the candy store.

Georiga and Walker loved Bryce and Christy's dog, Ruby. Maybe a little too much.
Briggs playing in the background.

We had a nice visit, and then we hit the road again for the long drive home. We were almost convinced by everyone we talked to on this trip that we need to move to Denver. I guess you never know!

We decided to follow my parents lead and stop at the Hilton in Omaha for the night. It was good to stay in a decent hotel, instead of the last minute roadside motels that you usually end up in on an I-80 road trip.
Especially when the hotel gives you a free upgrade. Yay!

Omaha at midnight from the car.

After many a windmill, and cornfield in Iowa, and an almost accident that spun the car in front of us off the road, we made it home safely!  Back to the heat, humidity, and power outages! Real life, here we come!  But it is good to be home.

Heber Valley

Our dear friends, the Tyson's have a family cabin up in the mountains surrounding Heber Valley in Utah. They were kind enough to let us use it for a couple of nights while we were in town.

Our children were in love with the concept of being in the mountains. It makes Del and I kind of sad that something that we took for granted as always just being there in our childhood is such an anomaly to the kids.
We invited my family to come up one evening, and we went dinner at the Dairy Keen in Heber, and Del's family come up to stay for one night.

My favorite part of the whole trip was when Del and I took a group of the cousins, and all of our kids out for a walk right at dusk, to look for deer. They were so abundant in the trees, they could not help but run across the road right in front of us. That was a pretty, and peaceful walk. The moment of peace at sunset felt good.

Unfortunately, my camera died the first day we were there, and I had packed the wrong charger in the camera bag. So I did not get any pictures of Del's family's visit.

I spy with my little eye!  Do you see what the kids see? A deer in the upper right hand side of the picture. Unafraid of the ruckus being made on the trampoline.

The Dairy Keen train. We really like the Heber Valley. So beautiful!

We took the kids out in the morning for a little hike. You would have thought we had taken them on a death march with all the complaints we got on the way back. They had been wild and crazy, climbing on everything, and running ahead, and on the way back, it was all uphill, and nothing seemed as wonderful. But, we made it, and it was nothing a little lunch didn't cure.

Thank you Tyson family! You have an amazing cabin, in an spot in the world!

Salt Lake City

We are blessed that we are able to go back to Utah in the Summer and see all of our relatives. Our kids look forward to this trip all year, and there is always so much to do and many loved ones to see. We go until our energy runs out, then start again the next day. It makes great memories for our kids, and that is worth all the travel hours, and stresses, and fact that we always seem to get sick.

We decided to try to save ourselves some grief this trip back to visit family by having me fly with Walker, instead of make the long drive.
It did not quit work out that way, because as soon as we were strapped into our seat belts, Walker went bananas on the airplane. He screamed, he kicked, he growled at people with a glassy eyed glare, until finally, he collapsed in defeat, and slept. And the entire plane let out a sigh of relief. That was just setting the stage for the rest of the trip.
Chasing Walker, almost taking Walker in for stitches three times, and weeks of rocking Walker turning into wrestling matches. But we did survive, and Walker and I made the drive back home with the rest of the family.


Some of the fun included arts and crafts in grandma's backyard.

Good ol' Copperton Park with grandma, grandpa, and the cousins while dad backpacks in the mountains.

Going to the temple with Del's family to do sealings for family names. It was such a neat experience.

The Eccles Dinosaur park in Ogden.

Play time in the backyard.

Dog piles with the cousins.

Visits with Grandma and Grandpa Clark.

Lots of pestering cousin Owen to play ring around the rosies.

Breakfast with the family.

Complete with tickles from Uncle Randy.

I love Walker's look of interest in the tickle fest in the background of this picture. And sorry Dallin, you are kind of front and center in this picture.

After a week and a half spent in the Valley, we headed up to Heber to enjoy some cabin time in the mountains.