She's all grown up!!

Havyn came home from school today and told me that she pulled her tooth out at lunch. It was loose but I didn't think it was that loose. None of the other kids lost a tooth this early. So sad...she's all grown up now!!

Backyard Bobcats

Tonight we had a couple of cute little visitors in the backyard. We watched them for a little while during the day light and then about an hour later after dark they came back. After dark, one of them got inside the trampoline netting and played and lounged around. We have some small balls inside the trampoline netting that he would bat at and chase around. They were pretty darn cute! I posted these pics on Facebook but wanted to post them here for those family members who haven't joined the Facebook world.

Taking a break on the trampoline

San Francisco

I just returned from a girls trip to San Francisco. I went with my mother-in-law (Donna) and two sisters-in-law (Andrea and Heather). I had an awesome time!! It was the funnest trip, full of lots of site seeing, food and laughing. We laughed a lot...these ladies are fun to be with!!!

On our first night there we took the BART (subway type system) into the city. We walked around Union square and china town and then had dinner at the House of Nanking. This restaurant was recommended to us so that is why we went into the city to eat there. The food was pretty good the sanitation not so much. When we asked for straws for our drink...the lady brought some back. She had a glove on one hand and put the straws in our drinks for us with the opposite hand. It didn't really matter which hand she used because she wore that glove the whole time we were there and touched everything with it. That wasn't too bad though. From where we were sitting we could see the kitchen and the entrance to the bathroom door. We watched as the dishwasher came out of the kitchen, with wet rubber gloves up to the elbows, went into the bathroom (with the gloves on) and came out a few minutes later with the same wet gloves on. Luckily, we had already finished our dinner. We had some good laughs!!!

On our second day, we went to Fisherman's wharf where we roamed around and shopped. We also had lunch there. Donna and I had seafood. It was pretty darn yummy!!! After lunch, we rented tandem bikes and rode them to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was really fun. San Fransisco is a really pretty city and the bike path went right along the water. After our bike ride we went to Lombard street which is the crookedest street in SF. We ventured around to a few more places and headed back near the hotel. We went to dinner and a movie before calling it a day.

The following day, we had tickets to Alcatraz. I've always wanted to go there so I was pretty excited. We took an audio tour around the prison. It was interesting and is definitely a cool place. After getting back from Alcatraz we had some lunch and did a little more shopping before heading back to the hotel. We sat with our feet in the hot tub and talked and laughed some more before eating again and seeing another movie.

It was a really fun trip and really nice to have a break from every day duties!! I think that we should do a girls trip every month...who's in!!??

Chinatown

Union square (shopping area...too ritzy for me)

Fisherman's wharf

Yummy seafood...Heather and Andrea were repulsed

I didn't really have to go to the bathroom...but I thought these bathrooms were pretty cool with their cleaning cyclesGetting ready to leave on our bike ride

The best tandem team

All of us in front of the golden gate bridge

Almost trolly time

Lombard street

The bay bridge in the background

Alcatraz

Cool staircase

Carlsbad caverns

Yes, we are still alive...just busy with life! We recently took a trip to Carlsbad caverns. It is an amazing place. It was a lot bigger than I had expected. Every evening during the summerish months they have a bat experience. At dusk all the bats that live inside the cave come out to feed on insects. It was a crazy thing. While you sit there the ranger talks to you about the bats and facts about the cave and then all of the sudden bats just start pouring out of the cave. It was very cool to see but after the first 100,000 bats it gets old. The next day we went back to the cave so that we could go inside. You have the option of taking an elevator into the cave or hiking in. We opted to hike in. The hike in, and the exploring while in the cave, turned out to be about 3-4 miles (all inside the cave). I can't imagine how awesome it would have been to be the one to discover this huge cave system.

These aliens were visiting from Roswell

Ranger Taylor

There were a few signs like this that made me laugh. The hike was paved and just a small incline most of the time.

The mouth of the cave before going in

Starting the decent into the black hole

Almost too big

Taylor obeying the directions "please do not touch anything!"

I love Hawaii! :)

Madison

Fabulous pic of Havyn

Happy 4th of July!!

The 4th of July in Blanding is always great! I think I say that every year which must mean that it is true, right? I love Independence day! I love singing patriotic songs! I love seeing all the red white and blue! I love seeing hands over hearts when the flag passes by! I always get emotional. I love this country and I am so grateful for all of those who defend our freedoms!

Waiting for the parade to start

Taylor and Madison acting too cool to hang out with the little kids on the curb

Some of the men...I believe the majority of the time they were talking about the movie "the other guys."
All the girls

As I was sitting at my parents office waiting for the parade, Erin walked around the corner wearing the same shirt....oops! Twins!

Cole enjoying a monster turkey legAlly and HavynThis was not taken on the 4th but I had to include it because I loved it so much....all the girls cuddled up on the couch with grandma - priceless!