Montana in July - Lazy Days

The time we spent up in Montana for a week flew by. While there we sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed being together as a family. It was good times indeed. Have fun looking through the pics...

Playing games by the river out front of the cabin.

Tucker loves Paula... so much he has to be in the hammock with her.
Tucker REALLY loves Allen, so much that he doesn't knock him off. :)Ella and HER Uncle Tony... she loves this guy.

The family photo in 2009. This is the best one we got... it was a long day.
Grandma and her girls.
Ella and the Grandmas.
Ella on the 4th in her Patriotic dress and earrings.
Watching fireworks down by Seeley Lake.
Conner posing by the river.
Conner and Sam playing planes by the river.
Easton and Preston hanging out by the river.
The gang going tubing down the Clearwater river. Good times.

Easton's Kindergarten Program

So, I'm not going lie, this was a pretty normal program. What makes it interesting is my kid. Ok, that was biased, but seriously - Easton is one of the funniest kids I know with how he acts and the things he does crack me up.

Take this clip for example, he has to wave the flag for the July song, and during the whole thing he's waving, but it's a distracted wave. Maybe he's thinking about what he wants to eat for dinner, or who to play with, or... what are the words to this song. Regardless, it's amusing (to me anyways) how he just stares at me video taping this like expecting something.

Enjoy this as your children prepare for kindergarten... too funny.



BTW, at the end I pan away because the baby in front me was waving arms frantically to the song and it was cute. Sorry for the sloppy camera work.

Ella's Dance Rehearsal

This is Ella at her dance rehearsal this summer. She's quite the character, but I'm wondering if she doesn't dance because there's people there or because she would just rather look around than dance. Either way, she's stinking cute.

Enjoy...

Getting ready to jump in the air, or kick her feet.

"Tee hee hee... I'm cute."

Catching Up on the past Couple Weeks

Hi all,

Just thought I'd hurry and do a quick post to catch everyone up a little bit.

Two weekends ago, on Saturday, we went with our friends out to the west desert to four-wheel with them. It was nice of them to invite us to tag along, and we're glad they did because we had lots of fun.

This is Ella and her friend, Bentley.

Michelle and Jodi soaking up some rays in the dust.

Playing a game of desert baseball.

Just waiting to light the fire... always top priority for boys in the wilderness.

Sunday - Mother's Day we had Michelle's side of the family over for dinner. Her Grandma June is in town and her aunt, uncle, and some of their family also came. And, of course, Michelle's parents and brothers and their families came.

All of the great-grandkids with Grandma.

Dance pictures day is also a good one... too bad I was up in Ogden and couldn't make it. Looks like Ella might be enjoying this a little too much. ;)

What a little super-model, strike a pose.

Ella and her little BFF, Peyton.

Saturday, May 16th, Ogden Marathon
This was my first attempt at a marathon and now that it's over I can definitely say that I'll do another one. I finished in 3 hours 53 minutes which averages out to an 8:53 min/mile pace. I made my goal of breaking the 4 hour mark on my first one. What a beautiful day to do a marathon too, couldn't have asked for a better day.

The last 100 yards - Easton coming out to urge us on.

Me, Shawn, and our kids for a little post-run pic.

My training partner and runner in crime, Shawn. I owe him for getting me through this.

Well, now you're up to speed. Go and post something about your life so I have something to read.

Hawaii: Days 5 & 6

Day 5: Whale watching between Maui and Lanai

We started out towards Lahaina in search of whales this day. Did a little shopping before and checked out the Banyan tree again. Then off to the pier...

Grandma and the kids getting ready to board the boat.

The whole gang getting ready to leave port.

A competition of males fighting over a female... puh-lease. There must've been at least 7-8 whales in this fight all around our boat. The guide said the female was using our boat as a distraction to "diss" some of the guys.

This is how whales say goodbye.

Probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen were these huge animals swimming so slowly, but gracefully, through the water. We also saw at another spot a pod of dolphins trying to play with, or at least follow, a mother and her calf. It was an awesome day. Sorry the pics don't do it justice.


Day 6: Easter

We started the day when the kids woke up and we took them out to the patio/lawn area of our condo and had them look for their eggs. I think we did a good job hiding them and there might still be a few that other people find after us.

Conn posing for the camera with his early loot.

Cap'n East with his matching shirt and egg. Ahoy.

Ella likes to find new things. Especially candy and toys.

Then we went to the Easter egg hunt that the condo unit put on. There were a TON of kids we didn't think would be there. They didn't do that many eggs so you had kids scrambling, racing, and snatching candy out from other's noses. However, our kids got their share and made it out OK.

The boys showing off their painted snake tattoos. Those would last approximately another 7 minutes before they were washed off in the swimming pool.

Dad and Ella - she wasn't so sure about going out and finding candy. Can you tell she's shy in public?

All in all, another great day in Hawaii. In fact, it's kind of hard not to have a good day there.

Hawaii: Days 3 & 4

Day 3: the road to Hana

We decided that since this was the day it was raining that we'd all hop in the mini-van and go drive around the island of Maui. On to the Hana highway, over about 56 bridges and 600 bends in the road, we went to rainforests, waterfalls, and awesome beaches as we explored the east side of Maui.

This was on a little hike into a rainforest. There was lots of mud on the trail, it was a tough hike.

East and Ella posing with the grandparents... cheese.

Conn, East, and Gramps.

This is at the black sand beaches... it was cool.

This is me and the kids at the seven sacred pools (you can see them in the back).

Day 4: relaxing at the beach and pool again...

Chillin' in the pool.

Playing in the sand, making castles, talking to grandma and grandpa.

I'm cute.

Hawaii: Days 1 & 2

Day 1: We're There!
Arrive at the airport around 2ish in the afternoon. We wait in line FOREVER at the car rental (Thrifty, FYI) and then pick up the rest of the family at baggage claim. We jam everything into the back of the van and then we're off to Costco to stock up. Can I just say that Costco may be the coolest store ever.

Once we get to the condo and unload we take a stroll around the condo area, check out the pool, and then go to the beach. We chilled out that evening, eat a pizza and enjoy just hanging out.

Day 2: The Beach
Once settled in we decided to just take it easy this day. We spent most of the day on the beach and at the pool. Here's us boys having some fun with the boogie boards.

Waiting for the waves (FYI, that's Lanai in the background)...

Chewed up and spat out on the beach...

Easton on the attack...

I think this night we had pizza again from a local place down the street that is REALLY good. Pizza Paradisio in case you're interested.

To be continued...