Aunt Berit Visits

My sweet sister-in-law came to Utah with her new husband, Darren, for a family wedding and we were lucky to have spent some time with them. All the kids love their Aunt Berit and she is really good about keeping tabs on them. Even Emma, who doesn't know Berit very well, warmed up quickly.

Emma & Stephen got a surprise visit from Berit and we went to the park to play!

Swinging and laughing

Berit, Darren and the kids.

We are so happy Berit has found happiness again and we can tell that Darren takes very good care of her. We love you Aunt Berit!

Ragnar 2011

Greg & I checked this item off our "bucket list": running the Wasatch Back, a relay of 2 teams, alternating legs so one van of 6 can "rest" (that's a joke!) while the other van of 6 runs. The race begins in Logan and ends in Park City, approximately 192 miles. After months of training and running, we met up with van #1 for the first exchange on June 17th. We had a blast! Our team "Don't Touch the Banana" was a great group of people and our van #2 was especially fun. It was a great chance to do something with Greg as a couple and cheer each other on. We all did great and we accomplished what we wanted to do: FINISH! (Oh, and get the really cool window sticker for the car :) )

"Don't Touch the Banana" team

Van #2 Rocks!

Greg running his 1st leg

Looking Good & Feeling Great on the last day!

Following the race, the runner's high remained long enough to want to do this crazy event again next year!

School Days

School is officially out now, although we are currently attending summer school to keep us out of trouble for a few hours in the morning. Stephen had a great 4th grade experience and is ready to tackle 5th grade. (I'm not ready for him to be a 5th grader though!) Stephen mastered his multiplication and division facts, researched and presented a report on Utah's tiger salamander and a county report on Washington County, learned about weather and water cycles and Utah History. Stephen kept busy every Friday after school in the school choir and having fun on several field trips. 5th Grade here he comes!

Fieldtrip to This is the Place State Park

Pushing & Pulling Handcarts

Receiving Soaring Eagle Award

Final Choir Performance

Temples

Stephen is currently obsessed with everything temples and has an incredible memory for trivial facts such as dedication dates, places where temples are located and new ones being built. So on our trip to Las Vegas we detoured to a few temples along the way. He was so excited to see them. His goal is to see all the temples in Utah. Go for it Stephen!

(In order of visitation: Manti, Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada & St. George, Utah)

Decade Birthday

Stephen turned the big "10" on May 24th. It seems like we've been celebrating for an entire month. We first celebrated in Las Vegas at Cheesecake Factory, which produced big smiles all around (even though they spelled his name wrong), next was his official birthday with pancakes with sprinkles (Emma LOVED that) and finished with a party with cousins. Since his birthday is around the end of school, he had lots of fun that whole week too! Happy Birthday, Big Guy!

Check out that birthday cheesecake!

Mom's pancakes not as yummy as that cheesecake, but still produced lots of smiles!

Stephen participated in a flag ceremony at a school assembly on his birthday!
"Wow! Just what I wanted!"

Las Vegas at Night

Las Vegas is a place that never sleeps or shuts down for anything! The evenings were pleasant and the shows spectacular.

The Volcano at the Mirage

The Eiffel Tower

Walking (always walking) to the next attraction


The beautiful Bellagio Fountains

Viva Las Vegas!

In May we took a little family vacation and met up with Grandma & Grandpa Cassat in Las Vegas. We had such a good time together in a busy, crazy place! G&G hooked us up in the beautiful Bellagio hotel (think Ocean's Eleven!), the kids did great on the long drives and we were able to celebrate birthdays. The weather wasn't wonderful but neither was it horrible. After many weeks of rain in Utah it was nice to see the sun shining even if it was windy or chilly some days - we even enjoyed a few warm hours at the pool just before a cloudburst hit.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:Visiting M&M World

Out on the Strip!

Visiting Ethel M Chocolate Factory & seeing a cactus garden

The whole family at the Flamingo Hotel Observatory