Mantua Poppies

A'leese and Dale wanted to have their picture taken in the poppy field up in Box Elder Camp ground.

I loved this one of A'leese cause...well it's typical A'leese but if you notice she is choking poor Dale.

The poppies are always breath taking.

We took a lot of beautiful pictures.... and decided to use none of them because the lighting just wasn't GREAT. It still was fun being a small part of such a huge moment!

Off....on a Perry/Stokes Adventure

Grandpa sat up front with John on our way to the City of the Rocks.
Grandma sat in the back with the rest of us heathens.

The three amigos sat in the very back....

When we reached the road that drove straight down the state line we decided to get out and be in two states at once. We are so clever, aren't we? We were in Utah and Idaho at the same time.

Then of course we took sides as to which side was best... girls were on the Idaho side and the boys, Utah.

This was a really cool old cabin we found out in the middle of no where. I sure do love going for adventures. Notice it is two stories high. Someone had bought it and was diasembling it like a puzzle... cool, huh?

These two climbed to the second level of the cabin.

I took this picture from inside the cabin looking out the window. It almost looks like Grandma and Grandpa are in a picture framed on the wall.

This is a picture from the front of the cabin looking out towards the valley.

After that little adventure we drove for a long, long time to get to the City of the Rocks.

Then we had lunch and explored at City of the Rocks.

Natalie, K'Lee, John, and Johnny climbed all over the rocks.

The rocks were HUGE! I mean ENORMOUS!!

It was a super fun trip, hot, long, and full of adventure. I can't wait until next summer to do it again!

The family graduation party for Miranda and Johnny---- Yay!!! Class of 2011

It was Johnny's year to celebrate! The class of 2011 graduated in June.
And we threw a party for Miranda and Johnny right after the graduation ceremony. Miranda is the one pictured here being consumed by her little sister Cierra.
We partied every which way....
We went to a mexican resturant in Brigham City.... and tore it up.
We were so in your face happy it wasn't even funny!

We hugged and kissed each other.....

and some of us snarled...cuz that's what we do....

We were just down right ecstatic .

We were proud......

and amusing......

We hung from the ceiling.....and swung from the chandeliers...

It was GOOD.

There is absolutely no doubt about it....IT WAS GOOD!

It was so good it left some of us wondering what to do next....guess we will see when Natalie graduates in 2014......

Johnny's graduation 2011

OKAY MOM.... I KNOW YOU ARE PROUD! Do you ever feel like in some moments all of the hard work you do pays off? This my friends, was one of those moments!
Johnny and his big sister, A'leese, who just went through the same thing one year earlier.... what a difference a year makes.

Johnny has the idea of what it means to graduate....

Johnny and Zak, one of his best friends. Zak graduated early and didn't walk with his class. However, he did graduate...Way to go guys...You rock!!!!!!Natalie is proud too.

Here his is graduating ...in his checkerboard vans! We screamed so loud and blew illegal blow horns....that is probably why the picture is out of focus... all of the vibration from the noise : )

Christina and Johnny -- Homecoming Dance

They matched perfect. You would never believe we hadn't seen the dress when we went shopping for a shirt and vest to match.
We ended up having to look for a vest and shirt the night before the dance cause the tuxedo shop had given Johnny's to another party.

They looked so good and were so happy. I was glad.

Obviously, they are comfortable with one another. Christina and Johnny reportedly had the time of their lives that night. YAHOO!

Isn't this really what it is all about? The snapshots of happy moments in life that we press into our memories....
Senior year -- HOMECOMING 2011.

Springing into Easter

John is measuring out the amount of water for dying his egg. I wish sometimes the man would be a little more exact about things.
Grandpa made an egg worth punting... (in case you can't make it out) he made it a football.

Johnny and A'leese are being models for the eggs below...

The egg in the middle being licked looks a lot more upset than A'leese does.

Here are my girls... Natalie, K'Lee, and A'leese. You know when you talk about coloring eggs it doesn't sound that exciting but when you look at the pictures you are glad you do it. It is another amazing way to celebrate being together as a family. I love holidays for this reason and coloring eggs is fun.

Of course mom is showing us how to do it with her super rolling powers.

Here is a picture of K'Lee holding a baby chick. Can't tell she is loving every moment of it can you? Happy Easter everyone.

Earth day 2011

It was earth day so "Brother Nice" (Demar Kern) and I decided we had better hug it.
Doris and I got down right lovable with the earth! I LOVE DORIS AND DEMAR they are two of my favorite people.

Of course, the earth got all of this love because K'Lee reminded us with a poster,that we needed to remember to give the earth a hug. She made this poster and placed it on the corner so everyone remember. What a sweetheart!