Sam's Welcome Home Party

When the Vietnam vets came home from war they were not treated very well, it is a big mistake in our history, because all vets deserve our love and respect for all they do to protect our freedoms, no matter how controversial the war may be. Because of this there are many communities who are trying to fix this and give these vets the welcome home they deserved.

Bonnie planned a surprise family celebration for Sam to give him the recognition he deserved for his service. Sam has some very funny, and very heart wrenching stories from his time spent in Vietnam and it was a great celebration where he could share and be celebrated for his service and sacrifice.

Hannah and I were not able to be there because we had to be at a team building ropes course for dance, but we came as soon as we could in time for a family picture. Thankfully Rob's cousin Traci took some pictures that I could steal.

The light was so pretty at the end of the night we had some fun trying to figure out the jumping pictures. I think we have some work to do.

Sunday Snapshot - January 25th

It is always fun to have Grandma and Grandpa Davidson visit, so when they stopped by today we made them join in on the Sunday Snapshot fun.

They were on their way back from my sister's house and were not going to be able to make it back up for Samantha's birthday. Sadly, they were heading to Arizona for my Uncle's funeral and it was very hard knowing I couldn't make it work to go down with them.

They had put together a very special present for Samantha's 12th birthday, and of course she was thrilled to be able to open it over a week early.

They gave her a beautiful "Armor of God" picture, a bag for her temple trips (it is cute and I really want one of my own), and a bracelet that had charms for each of the sections she had completed to earn her Faith in God Award.

She loved every single thing and can't wait to use her Temple bag.

And we are all thankful to live where we get to have Grandma and Grandpa pop in for a visit so frequently, it is always fun to have them stop by.

July 4th, 2014

Let me just start by saying I have a really bad attitude about the 4th of July in Utah county, and I have that bad attitude for two reasons:

1. There are only two options for fireworks or activities, Provo's Freedom Festival/Stadium of Fire or Fireworks at Thanksgiving Point. No where else in the county does a firework show and I really don't want to pay a fortune to watch fireworks, or fight the gigantic crowds, and then be fighting traffic at 11:00 pm when everyone is trying to get back home.

2. Fireworks from the stands are so EXPENSIVE!!! This is really a State issue not just Utah county, and really I blame my sticker shock on how spoiled we were in Kansas. There we were able to get a bunch of fun stuff for really cheap so we didn't need a city fireworks show, but never again am I spending money on fireworks in Utah.

And now that I have got my complaining out, onto the fun we did have......

The girls got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Morris' house on Thursday night. Our weekends are packed for the rest of the summer so this was the only chance they had for a sleepover.

They had a blast but stayed up way too late and woke up really early the next morning. Samantha was really tired and had to get up at 5 am the next morning to hike timp, I am pretty sure she learned a very valuable lesson about sleep and going to bed at a decent hour.

Rob, Hunter, and I headed out in the afternoon to pick up the girls and everyone took a spin around the block on the motorcycle before we headed off on our adventure.

See that girl, she is EXHAUSTED!!

We hit the outlets to get Sams some new shoes (she is two sizes smaller than me now) and then grabbed some dinner before heading up to Sundance to ride the lift. We had talked about hiking into Stewart Falls but decided to give Dad and Sams a break since they were hiking Timp the next morning.

It was nice and cool at Sundance and the view was beautiful as always.

We came home and lit off a few fireworks before crawling into bed. Despite my grumpiness about how lame this day is in Utah County I think we made it pretty great.

I have big plans for next year, I think if I start planning now I can make it happen, at least I hope so.

Easter Sunday

The kids woke up Easter morning to their baskets, I debated giving them to them before we left for Blanding, but decided to just bring them along. Thankfully church was at 11 so our morning was not as rushed, although it was still a bit rushed trying to get pictures in.

After church we dyed eggs and got ready to head out for an Easter egg hunt.

We ended up at Dry Wash. The kids had fun hunting for eggs and then playing in the water. It was cold but they were not afraid to wade in the water and climb the rocks.

It was a fun day. We are excited to have Grandma and Grandpa closer, but we will miss spending time in Blanding.