Baby Eric is 6!

Can you believe it? Eric is 6 years old! We had our first ever friend party and we thought it went pretty well. Eric chose a Star Wars theme, so we gave the kids Clone Trooper Academy badges and had four different games for them to earn marks. Flight school, Target Shooting, Speed (a relay race where they could only step on cardboard Millenium Falcolns), and Endurance (we passed a 'Death Star' balloon around the circle ala musical chairs style).

This is the target Alec drew for the Target Practice.

We stayed up until midnight getting everything ready. The kids loved the R2D2 and Ewok cupcakes. Pathetic compared to the types of cakes I had growing up. I should take a class someday. Some of my fondest memories of birthdays are the special cakes my mom always made.

Happy Birthday to our wonderful son--We love you!

Brown Family Vacation

The Brown clan on vacation near the Big Saddle--the place where my Great Grandfather used to drive his cattle.

Last week we took a family trip with the Browns. Keeping with the general national economic theme of the past year it was a simple, economical camping trip this year. Wait. . . that wasn't keeping with the national theme at all. We should have taken an expensive vacation that we couldn't afford and then pay for it using a loan from the Chinese, which Eric and Lily could pay off in 75 years. Oh well, there's always next year.

For our trip we spent several nights camping at Jacob Lake (lakeless) near the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We made several short hikes, ate great food, and spent a lot of time playing games and talking with each other free from technological distractions. A wonderful time was had by adults and children alike (excluding the night that I spent suffering from a serious case of the flu).

For the kids the highlights of the trip included playing in the back of Grandpa's truck, eating homemade ice cream, swimming, and generally being spoiled rotten by Grandparents, Uncles, and Aunts. For us adults the main highlight was just being able to relax and enjoy the company of family for a few days. The Grand Canyon was amazing (I always think what's the big deal about a hole in the ground, regardless of how big it may or may not be, until I'm actually standing in front of it--pretty cool). We also got to visit the place where my great grandpa used to drive his cattle to graze in the summer, and we got to play some killer frisbee golf in the forest. The worst part about the trip was that we eventually had to pack up and come home. Oh well, there's always next year, right? And this time Eric and Lily's future selves will be footing the bill--Italy here we come!

A view of the north rim of the Grand Canyon from a location near Big Saddle.

The three Grand kids in pajamas and hats made by Grandma Brown

Mmmmm . . . homemade ice cream.

The north rim of the Grand Canyon.

Hiking on . . . Mars? No that would be the toadstools hike in the Grand Staircase National Monument. Mars has more vegetation.

Cherry Pickin' in the Summertime

On our recent trip to Utah, we were able to spend some quality time with the Lewis family, canines included. Kip and the kids were pretty thick.

We also took full advantage of my parents' cherry trees, much to the delight of our digestive systems.

If only the kids loved working as much as they loved cherry picking.

And our thanks to Steve, who had given the wood floor an overdose of Pledge the week before. The kids took a few falls before we outlawed socks, but the super-slick floors also made possible an exciting round of kid-bowling (see below)!

Roomate Reunion 2009

I was so lucky last week! We met my BYU roomates/my second set of sisters at Alec's uncle's cabin for a couple of days of laughing our heads off.

We are lucky that our husbands are good friends as well. This is Liz's husband Brandon--who Alec couldn't wait to golf with again.

The pic above makes me wonder what it will be like in a few years when we get together and our kids start having crushes on each other. We already have 10 kids between the four of us, although Liz cheated and had twins.

Alec brought a blowgun and actually killed two lizards with it, which fascinated the kids. Yes, we are teaching them to respect nature unless it is creepy and/or crawley. Thanks for coming such a long way (especially you, Melissa), and for taking me back to the days of laughter and Life cereal. The only problem is, now I want to do it again next month...