Road Trip

I just love road trips. Not.
They make me very tired. And grouchy. But, this road trip wasn't so bad. As the kids get older, it is definitely getting easier. I'll never forget the first few trips we took to St. George when Abby was a baby. She hated the car seat and screamed for most of the six/seven hour trip. Nowadays, things are much easier. We were headed to Park City for the Mendenhall Reunion, but we broke the drive up with an overnight stay in St. George.
Nothing is quite as wonderful as G&G's bed in St. George.

 

We crammed in a visit to Cafe Rio, Grandma Tobler's and Jimmy John's during our 15 hour stint in the George.

 

 

Nothing completes a Mendenhall road trip like a stop at the famous mile marker 196. As legend tells, this is the marker Mark ran into when he flipped John's truck on the way to Utah many years ago. It's a little reminder for us to never drive when sleepy. Ironically enough, they have made signs for drowsy drivers to pull over not even five miles ahead of this infamous marker. I guess it's a notorious stretch of road.

 

We made it safely to Draper to stay with the Koop cousins for a night before the reunion started.

Road trip, Cousins, all that good stuff

July was a fun, busy month for us, where did the time go? I can't say it enough times, I love this summer!!! We've had cousins come visit and we've gone to visit family in Utah. It's been a cousin-fest. I'm going to post pictures soon, once I regain my ambition to download. I feel so blessed to have family around us and family for my children to love and be loved by.

Football starts in full swing tomorrow(for both boys), and work is calling me again. But, I'm determined to keep my flipflops firmly planted in this summer for another two and a half weeks...

Why I Took the Summer Off- Week 4

This will go down in the family history books as the first time we taught a son of ours how to mow the lawn. Mark was so darn proud of James and his efforts. (Actually, there was a good amount of pride and a great deal of pure elation at the thoughts of free child labor). He did an excellent job and earned himself a nice cold can of soda and an extra hour of playtime on the Wii. (Deal!)

 

The 4th was a great day. We started out with the Ward flag rising/pancake breakfast. We moved on to our traditional neighborhood parade and bbq with a visit from the local firefighters on their truck. We took a nice, long nap and then headed over to Mom and Dad's to celebrate with friends and family.

 

The kids love that pool. Every year, Mom and Dad threaten that this may be the last year at this house, we just pray the tradition will live on forever!!

 

David had a bbq training session with his Dad. We expect him to run the show next year. (For the record, we served up 24 hamburgers and just over 40 hot dogs!)

 

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. David was seriously diggin' Parker's mowhawk, so he copied the do. Lookin' pretty good boys!

Abby and her betrothed. She's so excited, and she just can't hide it.

 

After filling our bellies with goodies, we all gather out on the front lawn to watch the fireworks. This year we watched a movie on the big screen and ate otter pops while we waited for night to fall and the fireworks to start. It was almost magical. The kids had so much fun.

 

 

 

I've decided the 4th of July is definitely my favorite holiday. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Why I Took the Summer Off- Week 3

 

My little pup is one happy guy. He's found a pack. We met three other dogs at the Rec Center down the street. Their owners bring them there every morning. We met them all one day on the grass and they "accepted" O into their pack. It sounds real official, basically it involved a lot of sniffing and a little growling from the alpha female of the group. His buddies include a German Shepard, a Boxer and Hungarian Pointer. He rounds out the grouping very nicely. We'll be going there every morning now I suppose...

 

Monday was a great day at the beach. We had many friends there to play with. Abby and Paige were having a stare-down here. Paige blinked first this time. Abby's unspoken dialogue, "you're not getting my cup or my flip-flops girl!".

 

Today we took a trip to the zoo. I haven't taken all of the kids there ever! We had a fun discussion on the drive down to the zoo. We passed my work, which the kids all recognize. James asked me, "Mom, do you do a good job at your work?" I answered, "Of course I do!" To which he answered, "So, that's why they gave you the whole summer off!". Well, it didn't exactly go down like that, I basically asked at just the right time and got what I asked for. I am so glad I asked, especially on days like today. We had a great time. We saw lots of fun animals and I even rode the Skyride without hyperventilating! It was like a dream.

 

David had a little playdate last week with an old pal. At 4pm they asked for breakfast for dinner. How could I resist such an opportunity to feed two notoriously picky eaters? They chowed down and didn't ask for food again for hours.

 

On Sunday Maren brought over a tasty lemon cake with cream cheese frosting. Um Delicious! We couldn't resist lighting a few candles, notice, that's my age in dog years. I am one lucky dog for sure!

Why I Took the Summer Off-Week 2

I'm smiling because I took the summer off of work to be with my kids. Excellent choice! These eight weeks are my favorite of the year, I couldn't bear to miss any of it. I'm looking forward to taking lots of fun pictures along the way.

"Are we goin' for a ride??" This time he hopped right in and just sat there for awhile until we finally came outside and took him on a ride. Now if I could just train him to drive the kids to football practice when it starts next month....

 

I had totally given up on this orchid, I'll admit, I did try to throw it in the trash, much to Mark's dismay. But, he never gave up on this Hawaiian beauty. It has not blossomed in like five years and bam, this is what we've got now. Mark's been whispering positive inspirational thoughts to it while sitting on the pot. It worked.

 

"Mom can you do the towel on my head too?"

 

I found David like this at 6:30pm tonight. Asleep with the finger on the remote, just like his Dad.

 

This girl is taking the cue from her Dad too....

 

We had a fun visitor stop by and give David a sweet ride around the neighborhood. I'm sure it only further reinforced David's future ambition to "be Tom when he grows up"..

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