Camping trip

We spent the weekend camping up by Payson with Grandma Susan, Grandpa Don, Mary and her kids, and Amanda (Aarons girly friend).

Carson was so excited to see Manda!

Megan and Amanda!

Here is Manda taking it all in. I guess we haven't scared her off yet! The kids love her and we were thrilled she joined us.

Carson loved filling up his dump truck with rocks, wood, and dirt!

The boys spent hours shooting their bb guns.

Carson being his normal silly self!

Walking to the fort

Carson with his favorite person on earth, his daddy! He makes it very clear he loves him the most!

The kids in their fort! Thanks Amanda for being such a great sport and helping them build it!

My most amazing and bestest husband ever! (being a dork)

Protecting the fort with their guns and swords

The worker bee! She stayed busy for a few hours building the fort from the ground up! Definately not a girly girl!

Eating lunch! We had lots of fun rides in the Rhino.

We had a great time! I need to find some pictures of the rest of the gang!

Love the Lake

We are so excited to have a boat again. It's been a few years and we are thrilled to get out on the lake this summer!
Two of my most favorite guys! Aren't they cute

Our neighbor has jet skis so he joined us at the lake where we had a blast! Here is Rylan thrilled to drive the jet ski!

I think they are having a good time!! =)

Out for a little swim! Isn't it beautiful

Aunt Kamala with Carson going for a ride!

Megan attempting to ski!

What a great time!

Summer time Fun!

Every Wednesday we head to the movies for Summer Movie Fun! We have enjoyed meeting up with the cousins. We eat way too much popcorn and candy and fight over who we get to sit by but love every minute of it! Here are a few of the girls!
The boys that would look my way!

Thanks Tawna, Jade, Taya, and Granny for making it a fun summer!

Knotts Berry Farm!

So this year instead of having birthday parties and gifts we offered to take the kids (two at a time) on a trip with mom and dad. We woke them up at 4am and told them to get in the car and off we went. So after Megan's birthday and before Austin's we took them to Knotts Berry Farm. They were completly surprised and had no clue where or what it was! We had a great time and I hope they remember this more than any party or present!
This picture is in front of Mrs. Knotts Chicken Dinner Restaurant we ate at. It was really good and had great history.
Cute kids having a blast!

Had to get a picture of this ride cause we got stuck at the top of this and then went backwards down it! It was freaky. We bought the DVD that is hilarious if you are ever over and want to see it. Mom was the most freaked out but did ride it later to get a feel of the ride the right way.

Of course, the log ride!

On the swings!

This was a fun one where our feet hung!

Aren't they cute! Megan just turned 10 and Austin will turn 9 on the 15th of July! Love their beautiful eyes!

I think mom and dad enjoyed themselves as much as the kids did although we were way more tired on the drive home! Fun Times

Palmyra, NY

So I finally got around to posting about the rest of our trip! We drove from Niagara Falls to Palmyra, NY and had an amazing experience there. We didn't really know what to expect, but were so glad we decided to go. We learned so much and had our testimonies of Joseph Smith and the first vision grow so much by being there in the grove. It was fun to hear all the details of things that happend in the homes and the history behind them. So intersting and amazing!!

This is at the top of Hill Camorah! It's not just a hill, it's quite the climb, but beautiful! ( I guess Richard has a hard time taking the picture with one hand and smiling at the same time)

This is the view of the hill from the top!

What the plates looked like that were burried in the hill!

This is the sacred grove! It was truly sacred. I can't even descride the most amazing feeling that you feel walkig through the grove where Joseph Smith saw the first vision. I want to take my kids there someday!

Sitting in the sacred grove just taking it all in!

This is the log home Joseph Smith and his family lived in. It was small and cozy. I didn't take a picture of his bedroom upstairs where he was visited my Angel Moroni but I did video tape it for my kids to see. It looks just like I had imagined it.

This is the sacred grove from a distance. The fence Joseph would have crossed the morning after being visited from angel Moroni several times as he headed out to work the fields with his father.

The Palmyra temple (sorry forgot to rotate the pix before I inserted it)

Here is the temple from the Smith's home. It has a window that overlooks the sacred grove . How awesome. Next time I want to attend the temple instead of just look at it!
The Smith Home! It has great history and was restored beautifully!

This is the fireplace inside the living room where the plates were hidden on occasion.

This is an actual page of the manuscript that Joseph translated the plates onto. Wow!

This is part of the printing press where the Book of Mormon was printed in downtown Palmyra! It was amazing to see how they had to make each page to print and then sew the pages together to make the book. They had two of the origional Book of Mormons there.

On our drive in NY. What a fun trip with lots of great memories made! Thanks Babe for 11 wonderful years and for planning such a fun trip.

Our Niagara Falls Trip!

At Ripley's Believe It or Not!
This is part of the view from our Hotel room which was on the 33rd floor!

This is as close as we got to the falls. We got pretty wet! Oops cut off my head.

This is the Rainbow bridge that crosses from NY to Canada. We are on the Canada side. You can see the US Falls !

This is in the tunnel that goes behind the falls. It was pretty interesting and cool to be behind the rushing water.

Had to take a picture with the beautiful tulips. They were all over in all different colors!

I know, Richard looks thrilled!

Maid of the Mist tour that takes you on a boat right up to the falls. It's amazing how wet you can get from the mist. That is the US falls behind us

Another of the US falls.

Here is a beautiful shot of the Horseshoe falls from a tower.

We had a great time and enjoyed being tourists. I think we could have enjoyed going anywhere though because just being together was the best part. It was so beautiful!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!

Turning the big 10!