4th of July

We spent the 4th of July weekend at Snowbird. Mercedes and Aspen had a good time on the trampolines.

One side of the top of Snowbird.

The other side (Heber below) of the top of Snowbird.

The day after the 4th of July we hiked up to Timp cave. Both girls were good hikers, but halfway down Aspen crashed and fell asleep on Scotts shoulder. My knee and hip flexor was killing me from a combination of the Ragnar Relay and the Hobbler Half Marathon Relay.

At the park up Provo Canyon we got together with the Holker side for a fun get together.

I made Aspen put her 4th of July headband on for this picture. She refused to keep it on. Shortly after this picture we found her soaking wet, she had rallied a group of girls to go down to the river with her.

Disneyland again....

Aspen loved the characters in Goofy's Kitchen. We had visits from Goofy, Cinderalla, Chip and Dale, among others. At one point Aspen couldn't find her napkin; she sat up, looked around and said "I think that squirrel took it!" (referring to Chip)

We went in January, the rainy season, and we weren't disappointed! It rained and rained. The first 2 days they closed the park at 6pm! There weren't enough people in the park to keep it open. We were there! We wanted to play! We were impenetrable to the weather with all of our rain gear. The only down side was a 3 year old in the middle of potty training. Layers of rain gear make it a bit difficult to be quick getting undressed.

Spring Break 2010

For spring break we took a little trip to St. George; where the weather was a little warmer. It was a bit nostalgic for Scott and I considering that's where we lived for 2 years after I graduated BYU and where Mercedes was born. We drove by our first home we bought, with the 1/3 acre yard. The house where my symptoms started and 3 weeks later I was on a Life Flight; never to sleep in my home again. The memories are definitely bitter-sweet.

We took the girls to the Dinosaur Farm, which didn't even exist until recently.


We took them up to the "Dixie" on the hill where we would boulder and bike.

Aspen loves to jump!

We took them climbing; Aspens first time, at Green Valley Gap. The picture of Scott's "heel hook" at sunset hanging on our wall was taken there.

Mercedes is so cool! She climbed all way to the chains.

Aspen was happy to get just a few feet off the ground

We went on several bike rides; St. George has a great trail system. We took the girls up through Snow Canyon. It was Mercedes first time riding off-road.

We had a great time, and the best part was the girls were best of friends. There were no toys to fight over!

Moab

We went to Moab over Presidents Day weekend; which is always fun, but a little more enjoyable when its above 40 degrees! Scott spend Saturday biking with friends while the girls and I prepared for Valentines Day. We hiked to Delicate Arch on Valentines Day which was pretty cool. Both girls hiked the entire 3 miles although the last 15 minutes back were punctuated with "I really need to go potty!" Fortunately we all made it to the bathroom in time.

Presidents day was also Aspens 3rd birthday. She'd been dying to have her birthday party all weekend. She picked out a Little Mermaid cake and got The Little Mermaid movie, a Barbie from Mercedes and some Tinkerbell Fairy dolls. My days would be grey without her!

Eight is Great!

Mercedes had her 8th birthday and her baptism on the same day. She was baptized 10 minutes after she officially turned 8. Am I that old?! It was such a wonderful day; reflecting on my little girl and her 8 years of life. I look back at pictures of when she was a baby, so sweet and innocent and the hardships she had to go through when she was so young. I hope we haven't wrecked her too much.

2 months


4 years



4 years

7 months

10 months

3 years

About 6 months

Birthday Cake!

Her favorite birthday gift was this outfit from her uncle JT, pettiskirt and all. She was so excited to wear it to school the next day that she woke up at 2:30 am, took a shower, got dressed, played with her new toys and waited until everyone else woke up. She was one tired girl after school!

After the bapstism.

Cute girls!

We love our Magoo!!

Snow Crazy

Finally some decent snow! We just had to go sledding; so we packed up and went up the canyon. Two nights later we were out on the golf course in the dark picking our lines down the hills. Some of my best holiday memories are centered around sledding. Zipping down the ski hill road at Maverick Mountain, in the dark after all the skiers had gone home on our runner sleds. The next morning all the men would set up shop at the cabin and repair all the runners. Those things can be deadly at 30 mph, but fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Aspen has perfected the "cheese" face.

This picture is priceless.

Puppy Love

I vowed I would never have an "indoor" dog. Unfortunately our .1 acres does not allow the free range that the ranch I grew up on did. Do doggies go to heaven? Are they part of our eternal families? I hope the see Toby (the rottweiler mix ranch dog we had as kids) and Chella (our first dog as a married couple who would climb, moutain bike and even kayak with us) and our current dog; Neico (who I hope hangs around at least til the kids graduate). He's only 7 months old but I can't imagine evening rough-housing without him.

Here's Chella sunbathing in Red Rocks, NV while Scott and I climbed.

Neico sharing his crate with Aspen. She'll climb into it and then call Neico in and then they curl up together.

Mercedes using Neico as a pillow.