Weber County Fair

The fair started today and since we love a fair, off we went.

First off, we stop for smoothies. Lauren was distraught over how long it was taking and how windy it was:
Next stop is the pigs. Heny was sticking his hand in every cage to see how each animal felt:
There was even a pig named "Wyatt" even though you can't see the pig laying down:
Then came the cows, which Lauren was not sure about touching, at all.:
There was also a cow named "Wyatt" but in this picture you can't see the sign, LOL:
Rainbow rabbit!:
Our favorite part of the day is the horses:


Lastly, the kids decided to take Nana and Papa up on the offer of doing the power jump. After a boost from the operator, Wyatt went sky-high:
In this picture Henry is on the right and that is about as high as he got. He was very tentative after being all gung-ho:
LC even tried it:

Another Camping Trip...

This past weekend we went on yet another camping trip this year. Since our finances (some of which are out of our control) don't allow for any more elaborate trips at the moment, we are taking the time to see the beautiful sites around our state.

Last year, the boys went on a trip up near Logan, UT. Todd was very anxious to go up there, again, to show the gorgeous scenery to Lauren and me. Garden City was having their Raspberry Days Festival, so we went to enjoy the famous raspberry shakes, walk the festival, and stayed for an a capella group called T minus 5, that is from the Ogden area. We all loved it.

Bear Lake and Tony Grove Campground are absolutely beautiful. Bear Lake is called the Caribbean of the Rockies and I now understand why. The water is as blue as the water down there, only a little colder. And Tony Grove--while the amenities are primitive--the views are breathtaking.

It was an enjoyable 3 days, which in my opinion, is the perfect amount of time for a camping trip.

I wish the kids and I weren't in this pic. It's hard to see how gorgeous the lake is behind us...
Setting up camp:
Lauren and her dad:
The kids on the hike:
Me and LC:
The kids wading in the lake:
See? My boys really do walk on water:

Happy 4th of July!!!

I know I'm a day early, but since the 4th is on Sunday this year, our town had their celebration today because God forbid anything be done on Sunday.LOL

Last year, as we drove into North Ogden for the first time, we saw chairs all lined up along the main drag in our town. It was obvious that people were saving spots to be able to view the parade that was to happen the next day. Unfortunately, we were buried in boxes so we were unable to make it.

This year, we did as the locals did and dropped off our 5 chairs yesterday morning to an area that looked like a good spot to sit. And I am glad we did since this morning on our way to the parade, there was not a spot left on either side of the road that was not taken up by chairs, ropes or blankets.

One benefit of living so close to an AFB is the fact that we got a really cool flyover. Nothing like four F-16's to kick off the festivities:

Me and the kids waiting for it to start:

Imagine our surprise when they made a large orange "X" in the road and set off a smoke flare:

Skydivers started dropping RIGHT in front of us:

The flag:

The lifeguards from our pool with Splash the Duck:

Our Fire Dept and their clown who was spraying the crowd:

Forrest and me:

The weather was absolutely beautiful--80's and sunny with a nice breeze. It was a perfect day for a parade!

One year ago...

One year ago today, we arrived in Utah for the biggest life-changing event I have ever experienced. Bigger than having kids, in fact. I never thought that I would ever leave IL. I never wanted to leave IL. It was where I grew up, got married, raised my kids and had the best memories of. And then things took a turn and we decided that a move across country was going to be the best thing for our family.

So, Utah it was.

I was terrified of leaving everything and everyone I had ever known and moving to an area of the country I had never even seen. To a state I had no desire to ever visit. I was nervous about how we would all adapt. I was panicked over having to put the kids in a large public school-something I had absolutely no experience with. Would they make friends, especially since we aren't LDS? Would I be able to find my way around, especially since I am not comfortable driving in unfamiliar areas? I was worried about too many things to even list.

One year later I can look back and see that I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Moving to UT has been the best thing to have happened to our family. We have never had as much time to spend together as we do here and Forrest isn't stressed out all of the time. We don't have the pressures surrounding us that we had back in IL and it is such a freeing feeling.

Moving was the best thing we could have ever done.

Goats!!! Now with UPDATE!!!

Yesterday, Henry comes running inside yelling, "GOATS!!! There's goats across the street!!" I went outside to investigate, and sure enough, there were! It seems that the culvert over there has gotten overgrown and our city decided that the best way to take care of it was to drop off a herd of goats to graze for a week or so. That area has never seen so much activity. The whole neighborhood has been past in the last 24 hours to take a peek at the new neighbors.



Update:

It's one week later and the goats are still here, but I'm not sure for how much longer. They have really, really done their job and have almost entirely cleared out the culvert. It is amazing how much a herd of goats can eat in a week, and that's not even counting the weeds the kids have pulled from outside the fence to feed to the goats.LOL

If you look in the very first picture above, you can kind of see how much the goats had to start with. That is only one side. They've eaten all three sides and almost the whole bottom of the culvert:

Waterpark!

We went to our local water park, today. Todd was even able to go with us since it was a day off for him. Love federal holidays!

Lauren in the frog slide in the kiddie pool:
Enjoying a snack:
Henry, mid-cannonball:Lauren and Vivi, getting sprayed by the fire hydrant:
Todd and Henry drying off before heading home:Me and the Wy-guy: