This is the Place Park - Family Fun Day

On Friday we went to This is the Place Heritage Park for their annual fun day as part of the days of '47, Pioneer days events. We went to the family fun day last year, but this year was way more jam packed with crowds of people than last year! It was spread out more across the park, but not really that much better organized. We spent 4 hours there and didn't really feel like we did much because of how long it took getting around.

Right as we went through the main gate into the park was the craft pavilion. We met up with Wendy, Roman, Reagan, and her girls at the craft area. Kaylee and Gabby had fun making crafts even though it was insanely crowded. They excavated dinosaur eggs, painted little boxes, made a butterfly magnet, and bags to keep all their stuff in.

The kids were ready to spend to whole day in the craft pavilion. There was really only one thing that could get them away...the train.

They didn't tell us as we got ON the train that we would have to get OFF at every stop and if we wanted to get back on at that stop we would have to go to the back of that line to get back on (there were 5 train stops). At the first stop was a pioneer home with bounce house toys behind it. The lines took forever and the kids (and me) got sick of waiting so we went and got some popsicles, went through the pioneer house, and got back in line to get on the train to the next stop.

At the next stop we went into the general store and then Reagan and Wendy saw a sign for old fashion pictures. So, we decided to go ahead and get old fashion pictures taken. While I was waiting for Kaylee and Gabby's turn I snapped a few pictures of my own.

By the time we were done with pictures Wendy (who is 8-1/2 months pregnant) was really ready to go. We took the kids to the playground for a few minutes before heading out.

Flashback Friday

Shortly after Paul and I got married in February 2002, I thought it would be fun to set up my new brother-in-law David with my little sister Brenda. It turned out to be an interesting (and somewhat entertaining) date. I'm just sad that I only got to hear about it, and not actually be there. Anyway, I don't remember what dance this was for, but since it was around Valentine's day it makes me think Sweethearts or something. Needless to say, they didn't hit it off, and there was no second date. Brenda got married and moved to Taylorsville. David went on a mission to California, and then joined the Army.

Homemade Rootbeer

Kaylee absolutely LOVES homemade root beer. She used to refuse to drink any soda, or carbonation of any kind...and then my little sister Brenda made Root beer (I think it was last summer) and she has loved it ever since, but she drinks it with a cup of water to help with the fizzyness in her mouth. On Sunday Brenda made Root beer for our 4th of July BBQ and Kaylee loved being able to help. It was hilarious watching her stir all the way to the bottom to make sure she got it mixed really well. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as we did.

Independence Day

I love the 4th of July. It is my favorite holiday because you come together as family, there's a BBQ, fireworks, and all sorts of fun! My family celebrated Independence Day on Monday, the 5th of July.

Our celebration started at about 3:00 with a slip n' slide water party put on by my little sister Marla. They had all sorts of fun splashing, sliding, and playing. Well, almost everyone had fun. My little dog Falkor was in on the action, but I don't think he had the word "Fun" in mind.

Roman went surfing on the Slip n' Slide, and then they moved the slip n' slide to the bottom of the playset slide to see if they could slide all the way down.

After the water party wound down and things got put away the kids helped my dad make some homemade ice cream...YUM! They were responsible for pushing the ice down into the ice cream maker machine.

To finish off our day we had a nice fireworks show put on by Paul. Paul's brother Chris and his family even came to join in our fun.

Weekly Review - June 27-July 3

Sunday, June 27 - We went to church for our last time in Hawaii. We had been asked to speak, and after the meeting was over the whole congregation sang "Aloha Oi" (Until We Meet Again) to us and we got handmade farewell lei's. Kaylee had several of her friends, and people she knows signs a paper with a farewell message.

Monday, June 28 - We finished cleaning up our house, had our final check-out inspection, and said good-bye to our little house in Hawaii.

Tuesday, June 29 - A few weeks ago when I went to the zoo with my friend Nicole I bought an annual zoo pass because I figured that it was a great price, and we could go a bunch of times. Then, four days after I bought my zoo pass, I found out we were moving back to Utah within just a couple of weeks. I wanted to get one more use out of my zoo pass (that I had only used once) so I went to the zoo one last time.

Wednesday, June 30 - Happy Birthday to me! For my birthday this year Paul signed the last of his paperwork to be completely out of the Navy. Paul is no longer employed by the US Navy. We hung out with my friend Nicole, she was so nice to let us invade her house. They also kicked us out of their house with their car and without our kids to go out for dinner for my birthday. It was such a sweet birthday present. After we were back from dinner Zach (Nicole's hubby) took us over to the airport for our overnight flight back to the mainland. We flew from Honolulu, HI to LA and then hurried across the airport to our next flight to Salt Lake City. We left Honolulu at 9:15 P.M.(local time) and got to Salt Lake City at 9:15 A.M. (local time). Kaylee slept for a total of 2-1/2 hours on the flights, and Gabby slept for a total of 5 hours on the flights. What a night!

Thursday, July 1 - We made it back to Utah...a lot sooner than we expected, but we were thrilled to see family again. My Mom, Wendy, and Roman picked us up from the airport and we went back to my parent's house. Wendy and Roman stayed to play pretty much all day. I was pretty out of it because I hadn't slept at all on the flight the night before, but the kids did surprisingly well on very little sleep.

Friday, July 2 - After a good night's sleep we got going on unpacking our bags. Marla, Kaylee, and Gabby had fun raiding Marla's ducky stuff. They each found a pair of ducky slippers to wear, and Gabby found a few other accessories to wear too.

Saturday, July 3 - My little sister Marla loves setting up water fun for the kids during the summer. She set up a little kiddie pool at the bottom of the playground slide, and set up a slip and slide.

Flashback Friday

Since it's the Friday before the 4th of July I found a pic from the 4th of July in 2006 at my Aunt and Uncle's house. My uncle got out the horses and let a few people go riding. My cousin (or my cousin's husband however you want to look at it) Andrew was so nice that he took Kaylee riding with him. Even 4 years later Kaylee still talks about going to Uncle Don's house and riding a horse. She loved it! (Thanks Andrew!)

One Year = 1...2...3...4...houses and counting

This year has been an incredibly crazy year. Just within the last year we have moved around quite a bit. I think it's crazy how much we have moved...so, I thought I would do a quick recap.

A year ago we were in our house down in Spanish Fork trying to get it to sell so we could finally move over to Hawaii where Paul was already transferred to. We lived in our house in Spanish Fork for 3-1/2 years.

Finally in September of 2009 I got an okay offer on my house, but Paul was out to sea for a 6 month deployment. So, in October 2009 I moved into my sister Wendy's basement in Draper. Paul got back from his deployment but we put off moving to Hawaii so we could be in Utah for my brother's wedding, as well as a few other things that postponed our move. We lived in Wendy and Spencer's basement from mid-October through February 1 of 2010.

On February 1st we were finally on our way to Hawaii. We had to drop off my car in California to be shipped to Hawaii and then flew from there. The movers had packed up all of our belongings at Wendy's house at the end of December and it arrived bout the same time as I did. We moved into military housing. Paul discovered that he still had sleep apnea and the navy ultimately decided to process him out of the Navy. So, after being in Hawaii for less than 6 months we greeted the movers and got ready to head back to Utah. I lived in Hawaii from February 3 - June 30, 2010.

Next stop...back to the house I grew up in. Since we weren't expecting the navy to process Paul out so quickly after taking months of doing nothing about his sleep apnea. We are staying at my parent's house while we transition back from Hawaii, Paul is getting registered for school, and finding a new job. So, for now here we are. This also leaves us knowing that we have yet another move sometime in the not to distant future. (Look in the front living room window for a lovely picture of Marla pressed against the glass).

Never a dull moment around here...I will update when I add another move to my recent moves list. I NEVER imagined I would have to move so many times in such a short amount of time.