13 inches

Zion

Amber and I took the kids up to Zion last week. The clouds had been threatening to burst all day, but we got lucky and stayed completely dry. Well, except for when we walked under the Weeping Rock.....and when Ty fell in the mud....other than that, we were dry!

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Genevieve was very interested in listening to the people chat in their native tongue while on the bus. I really wish I knew what she was thinking. I kind of wonder if she thought she was going a little crazy.

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I brought some baggies for the kids to collect treasures in. It was funny to see what they thought were treasures. Like an old battery and a rubber band. However, that rubber band turned into a fantastic slingshot that kept little Ty entertained for quite some time!

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I learned an important lesson that day.....

Don't pick up a cactus. Even if you think you're being smart and only touching the roots, or what appear to be roots. It will cause you a little pain.

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It was a great day!

Exploring

My brother, Jason, and his family came to visit us last week. When they got here we dicided to take all the kids for a walk down to the river behind Grandma's house. We thought they could use a little running time seeing that they drove here all the way from Illinois.

It was our first adventure......

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This is Genevieve's little buddy Joe. Who seems right at home down by the river.

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This is the position Spencer stayed in the entire time we were by the water. He loved it down there!
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I'm not so sure this girl is in her best mudding attire.
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Tyler's slow motion throw.
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Sticks, mud, and water.....lots of fun!

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Tommy seemed pretty proud of his muddy hand!

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ECHO-O-O-O-O

Genevieve loved hearing herself.
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I think you all know, but just in case you forgot....

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I LOVE THIS GIRL!

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I just wish I could photoshop her skirt down.

Straight to Kinky in two hours

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Look who got all dolled up for church today....

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She wouldn't take her eyes off of He-Man for a picture.

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I got a little freaked out when I saw these tight curls after only two hours. Wayne and I had a great laugh! Now I just needed to tame these wild things!

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This is as good as it gets.....

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I love all the expressions this girl makes.
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Are you DONE taking my picture yet?
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I LOVE HAVING A GIRL!

And he's off....

Hayden was a little bummed about not being able to do the triathlon last week with Tyler. So, a friend told me about this 1k for kids. You should have seen Hayden's face when I told him about it. He was so excited! It was finally his turn! We only had a week to get him ready. Unfortunately we were pretty busy that week and so he "trained" only once with Dad.

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That night he wrote this in his journal:

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I did a 1k. Hadre thin I expeted. I wokt a letl bit thin I jogd. I finshd.

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Translation: I did a 1k. (It was) harder than I expected. I walked a little bit then I jogged. I finished.

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I'm so proud of you Hayden for trying something new!

A Chilly Birthday

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We had a blast celebrating Wayne's birthday on the ice. Tyler and I went ice skating for one of his school field trips a few months ago and had so much fun. We really wanted to come back with the whole family before it closed for the season. Plus he needed to skate for one more hour to earn the Ice Skating belt loop for cub scouts. Anyway, it took Tyler and I a minute to warm up while Wayne took right off like a pro. Hayden walked out like he thought it was going to be a piece of cake....he woke up from that dream pretty quickly. It took him some time and a few tears of frustration to finally figure it out. Then he was off with Tyler while Wayne and I stayed back with Genevieve. We took her around in the stroller for the first 30 minutes or so. Then she decided that she NEEDED to get out and skate herself. So, I rented her some skates. She surprised us....she was not afraid to fall and really didn't like having our help even though she totally needed it. And boy did she throw a fit when we came off the ice for a picture.
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After skating we headed home for some birthday cake and presents. It was a great night!

Happy Birthday Wayne!

Swimming, Biking, Running....oh my!

Look who did a triathlon!

He swam 2 lengths of the pool, biked a mile and ran half a mile.

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I love the photo of him running. Did you notice Wayne in the background? He looks so proud. And, just so you know, he does know how to swim, but he was a little nervous about doing it in such a deep pool. So, he chose to wear a life jacket along with some other kids. We'll work on the swimming more this summer so he'll be more confident for the next triathlon in November.

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Grandma and Aunt Kayla came to support our boy.

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I couldn't be more proud of Tyler!

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Tyler loved his number..... He's nine years old and if you add up the ages of our family it equals 77. We know this because Hayden had to do it for his homework last week. Cool, huh?