Weekend in Moab

We planned a quick trip with some friends of ours to Moab to enjoy the desert heat of 100 degrees...well this was the only time we all could fit it in and it was well worth it!  People thought we were crazy wanting to be in the heat, but we were well prepared with lots of water, sunscreen, hand held misters, a cabin with AC and a swimming pool.  It was great! 

Our family at 'Delicate Arch'

Tanja and Brad with a amazing view of Dead Horse Point.

 This was our last stop before heading home, but it was a good way to bid good-bye to the desert heat. Dead Horse Point's look out points were so amazing.  The kids liked climbing on the rocks and doing funny things.  These pictures make it look like they were really far in the canyon, but they were surounded by easy rocks to get back to the main trail.

There was lots of lizard chasing.  Carter was determined to catch one before we left.  Those little tricky things are fast and blend into the ground so easy.  It was funny to see the older boys (Matt and Brad) get into the lizard catching action.  Matt is hanging over the cliff to catch it in the picture above.  But with all our diligant efforts we could not catch a single lizard.  Sorry Carter!

The Gemini Bridges were suggested to us by our neighbors to check out.  Now, I must add that these bridges were acessed by him by a atv not by suv.  He gave us a trail map that said the 8 mile road was well maintained and an easy trail to ride on.  I noticed as we were driving up the canyon and wondering if we should turn around because the road was very scary and not really made for a SUV that the map we were following was a atv trail.  But it was too late to turn around because it was a one way road with no where to turn around.  I think Ashlynn and I were the only nervous ones in the car.  Matt had fun driving the curvey, rocky, sand pit road and I could see small rocks falling down the mountain as we were going up.  Scary...!  We were all hanging on to anything we could in car to keep us from flying around in the car, even with our seat belts on.  Well, we did make it to more desilate desert where there was nobody in site.  It was the 6 of us and all the other things that live in the desert. (snakes)  We stood silent for a few seconds and you couldn't hear anything around you, it was dead silent.  It felt like we were standing in a sound proof room.  It was so neat!

Well, enough about the expereince.  These bridges are made from arches made in the mountain down below.  They are about 8ft wide and there is 6 foot space between the two bridges.  You get a little nervous if you step too close to the edge because it is a long way down.  You can't even get close enough to see the bottom of the canyon. 

This was our 3rd trip to Moab and we have never done this hike to the famous 'delicate' arch because the kids were too little to make the hike.  So, this was the year to complete it and we all did very well.  It is a 3 mile mostly up hill hike.  There was some flat slanted rock you had to manuver, but all in all it was pretty easy to manage.  As you got to the top there were places that we had to hang on to the kids hands to make sure they didn't fall off the edge of the mountain.  Matt had a cool mister in his water backback and it cooled you off with a slight cool mist.  Matt always has some gadget to save the day!  We also looked at other Arches in the park.

After a morning of hiking around Arches National Park we played at the campsite..pool, cards in the AC cabin and then went out for dinner in Moab because it was too hot to make a fire, or bbq.  As it cooled down at night to 80 degrees or so (I know still hot)..we were able to make a fire to roast some marshmellows and make banana boats.  We had a fun time in Moab and glad that the Dalton's were able to come along too.  Both our kids just love Brad and Tanja.  They each wanted to sit by them in the car and wanted to walk with them during our hikes.  It was kind of nice break for Matt and I. We were glad we made the trip despite others that thought we were crazy for going with it being so hot.    

Hip Hop Recital

This is Ashlynn's class.  She is the one on the right.  She was so fun to watch...she led the dance really well.  I love her dancing character. 

Carter(with the red and black shoes) waiting to start his performance because they started playing the wrong song.  So, the boys waited very patiently while everyone was cheering for them while waiting for the right song to play.  He did so good and we are very proud of him!  I think it takes a lot of courage to participate in a girl dominant activity, but he likes the things he is learning and he has awesome rhythm.  Way to go Carter!!
Also, we have to mention that Carter made it on to the All-Star baseball team.  Matt got the phone call on the way to the recital and told Carter while we were getting milk shakes after the performance.  Carter had the hugest smile on his face when he found out.  Yay for Carter!!

We love that Aunt Gail and Aunt Tracy could join in on the recital fun!  They made candy necklaces for the kids. 

 

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Ashlynn and her friend

Our little crazy family.

This is Ashlynn and Carter's dance teacher.  They have their classes on different nights but get to have the same dance teacher.  We love miss Hilary!

Our Father's Day...

We spent half of Father's Day in Moab (more pictures to come) and driving home and then when we got home we grilled some hamburgers and the kids gave their gifts to their Dad.

Ashlynn was so excited to have Matt wear the pin that came in the card.

We have been into funny t-shirts lately so the kids picked out funny shirts for Matt.

This is Carter's pick.  Very funny and a good choice.

Ashlynn's choice...Annoying Orange.

Opening the card with the button in it.

This was our last stop before we headed home.  Dead Horse Point has such beautiful views of the deserted Colorado river.  We ate lunch in our air conditioned car (because it was 99 degrees outside) and then headed home.

These two funny people wanted to pretend they were falling off the edge of the cliff. 

Matt living on the edge...

Happy Father's Day Matt! 

You are the best Dad the kids could have. You keep the humor in our family.   

Watch out! Hip Hop Dancers...

I love that each of the kids wanted to try something new this year.  They both wanted to expand their skills and take a hip hop dance class.  Carter is in all boy class...which was the requirement stated by him.  They both have learned new things like hand, head stands, kart wheels and tumbling moves likes back hand springs.  They are having so much fun with these classes.  Carter has now recruited a couple more boys to join his class.   They have a performance this week to show off their hard work. 

 

Ashlynn during dress rehearsal. 

Carter would not let me watch his dance during rehearsal because he wants it to be a surprise.  So I don't have picture with him in action. 

 

 

Can't wait to see their performance!   Love these fun kids!

Mets Baseball

Carter just ended his regular season of machine pitch baseball.  He was nominated to try out for the All-Star team that plays a game on the 4th of July.  We will find out soon if he made the team.  It is so fun to watch him play because he plays with so much heart.  He tries to do the best he can and he is one of the most consistent players I have seen at his age.  He just loves this sport!  We are so proud of him and glad he enjoys it.  Maybe he got some of his baseball skill genes from his Uncle Corey. 


We ended the season by having a BBQ at one of the players backyards to roast hot dogs over their fire pit.  The boys loved it and so did the two girls (Ashlynn and Isaac's sister).  We had a fun season and the boys felt good because they won their last game 15 to 5.  Every player got a hit in the last game.  It was such a great season!! 

 

Matt was their coach with the help of his friend Brad and another player's older brother (Bryce).  All the boys including the coaches had a great time.  I was impressed that Matt took the time to print up a certificate for each boy that resembled their contribution to the team.  There were also given a bag of sunflower seeds and new baseballs to get autographs of the team! 

The big 35...

Matt had his Birthday on June 3rd and we celebrated with his favorite dinner-his dad's sweet chili and yummy banana boats on the grill.  We had fun stuffing our bananas with all stuff that is not good for you - choc chips, almond joy candies, marshmallows and can't forget the sprinkles.  We then all took a turn trying out his new Gravity Inversion System that is suppose to relieve stress off your back and spine.  Happy Birthday!! We had fun celebrating even though you had to teach a lesson in Elder's Quorum at church.

Another School Year down...

The kids were on the Track this year that gets out with the rest of the traditional schools.  So, we have more time off from school for the summer.  I still can't believe that another school year has passed by.  Where does the time go...


After school was out for the year we celebrated with snow cones with friends.  Ashlynn got the snow cone maker for her birthday and it makes the yummiest snow cones. 

They were very delicious and refreshing to celebrate the start of summer break!

Field Day

Field day is such a fun way to end the school year!  I had the opportunity to take Carter's class around to all of the stations because his teacher needed time to get all the report cards completed.  It was a beautiful sunny day to just have fun with their school friends. 


I was able to snap a few pictures of Ashlynn having fun too while tending to Carter's class.  When I was looking for her I could see her waving and trying to get my attention.  I love that she makes notice of me while helping at school. Carter on the other hand doesn't want me around too long because it just isn't cool to have your mom at school.  But, he did mention to me that some of his classmates said that I was "nice."  Ah... what sweet kids.