We love the Fair!

We love the Eastern Idaho State Fair! Every year we spend a small fortune just to pay to get in the gate and buy a $4.00 hamburger! We do this several times in one week! I tease Kent that the money we spend at the fair all week could have paid for a cruise! But it's all about the food at the fair. We have to spend several days there because we can't eat it all in one day! We took the kids there yesterday (Labor Day) which was a very busy day to go but it was the only day we could all go together. Then Ashley, Kent and I took Grandma and Grandpa Lott today for a few hours. Hmm, it's only Tuesday. I'm betting we'll be back there again before the week is over!

First Day of School!

I'm not sure what happened but all of sudden summer was over and the kids were back in school! Ashley is in her second year at Utah State University, Brandon is a junior at Bonneville High School, Tyler is in the 7th grade at Rocky Mountain Middle School and Sara is in the 5th grade at Cloverdale Elementary. To be honest, I love this time of year. I love getting back on a schedule, having a set bedtime, having a clean house until 3:00 and the prospect of Fall weather just around the corner. Happy Back to School everyone!
Brandon had lots of school spirit on the first day! (He's in student council)
Tyler was not so sure he was excited about school! (Or maybe he just didn't want his picture taken)
Sara was very excited about the first day of school and insisted that dad give her a ride to school in the dune buggy!

End of Summer

Last week we went to Lava Hot Springs and spent a day swimming - one last hurrah before the kids started school. The kids had a great time in the pool and on the slides and Kent enjoyed the blanket set up in the shade just for him so he could have a nap!
Sara
Sara and Tyler Tyler Tyler, Sara, Brandon & Shay having lunchTyler's awesome diving board skills

Summer Fun!

Okay, it's been a while but what can I say? Life is crazy as usual! Here's what's been going on with our family.

Sara got her ears pierced! It was a very exciting day for her. She was nervous but she did real well and she looks so grown up now!
We had an awesome 4th of July. We had breakfast with friends and watched the parade, then we had lunch at Kent's Aunt Carolyn's house and the kids got to swim in her pool. Then we went to Kent's Aunt Mary's house down by the river and ate dinner and watched the fireworks. It was a long fun day!Brandon in the parade

Tyler and Brock watching the parade

Ashley, Sara and Neisah

Fireworks!

It was a long day for Sara!

And some fun news, we made an awesome purchase this summer. We bought two tandem bikes and it has been a blast! We took them down to the greenbelt on the 4th and rode them around with the kids. They are SO fun!

San Francisco Weekend

It's been a little hectic the last few weeks so I'm a little behind on my posts. But I wanted to post some pics from my very fun girls weekend in San Francisco last month. For Ashley's 19th birthday I gave her a weekend getaway. It was a selfish gift, I'll admit. A weekend getaway for Ashley means a weekend getaway for me! We took our friends, Angela Sayer and Carrie Taggart and spent 3 fun days in the city by the bay. The weather was absolutely wonderful - in the 80's all weekend. We went to see Wicked, the BEST musical ever! We also spent a day on Fisherman's Wharf, visited Alcatraz and shopped at Union Square. FUN TIMES!!

Goodbye for now

My grandma has been in a home for the past several years. She had Alzheimer's Disease. This was a very hard disease for her because for years she knew that she was getting progressively worse. It was hard to imagine my spunky grandma with such a terrible disease. She has always been so funny and full of life. Her life was spent serving others. She was loved by everyone that knew her and was a wonderful example to me. I have so many fond childhood memories of her and of spending time with her at her home in California. My grandpa has been gone for 26 years and she never thought she would live this long without him. The last few years have been hard because the disease had progressed to the point that she didn't know people and didn't do anything but sit in a chair or lay in bed. She didn't speak and couldn't eat on her own. She is finally free from her mortal body and has been reunited with her sweetheart and all of her family that has gone before her. I can't even imagine the reunion going on in heaven! She was 94 years old. Last weekend we traveled to Santaquin, Utah to attend the graveside service for her. My dad and uncle made some remarks and then my dad dedicated the grave. After the service we all went to a park in Provo and had lunch and spent hours visiting with cousins, aunts and uncles. It was a great reunion. I have missed my grandma for a long time and will miss her always. But I'm so happy for her and I'm so glad to have so many wonderful memories of her.

The grandsons and great-grandsons were the pallbearers
My boys with their great grandma in 2001
My girls with their great grandma in 2002

Jazz Game

Yesterday Kent and I took a somewhat unexpected trip to Salt Lake. Let me explain. We bought Jazz season tickets for next year and as a bonus, we got this year's playoff tickets. Our plan was to sell the playoff tickets and hopefully make some money to help pay for the season tickets. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) our tickets for last night's game didn't sell. Well, we couldn't just let them go unused! So we got in the car and headed to Salt Lake. We had some theater business to do anyway so it was kind of a business trip! Anyway, we got there early enough to go to dinner, walk around the Gateway for a while and then go to the game. We've been to some good Jazz games but this one had to be the best one by far. The crowd was wild! We felt like we were at a rock concert and our ears didn't stop ringing for about an hour after the game! The first half was good - The Jazz led all the way. Then during the 3rd quarter, the Lakers took the lead most of the quarter and we started to wonder. Then the 4th quarter was completely exciting! The crowd was on their feet most of the quarter because it was back and forth so much. It was a nail biter up to the end and the Jazz beat the Lakers by just 2 points. It was such a fun game to watch! And it was so fun to have a last minute getaway with Kent!