Forgotten Days of Summer!

I was looking through pictures and I had forgotten to post about some of our other adventures this summer. 

First off, my good friend Tifany, whom I met in AZ, came for a visit.  I am so glad her parents live real close to me because it guarantees at least a couple of nights of fun with her!

This year I was blessed to spend three glorious days with her.  We went out to dinner and shopping, we got the kids together at the McDonald's Play Land, and she came over to our house for a BBQ.

It is always fun to see her and her family!

"Tutter and Tonnor!"  It is hard to believe these two became pals when they were in preschool!  Back when they couldn't say their "C" or "K" sounds.  I think they will always be known as Tutter and Tonnor instead of Kutter and Connor!



And then there were these two!  Payton and Carson were such great friends!  Tif and I promised that we would arrange their marriage to each other! 

It is crazy how fast time goes.  Maggie was just a baby when the Wrights moved to Iowa!  So glad our kids still enjoy their yearly visit too!



We also made a visit to Silver Lake and attempted the hike above Silver Lake (which leads to a lake above, and it seems that I have forgotten its name!)



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I say "attempted" because this is pretty much as far as we got.  The kids where fighting with one another, whining over just about everything, and complaining non stop!

We managed to get a picture of the gorgeous view, and then I couldn't take it any longer!  And we turned around and headed back.

Isn't the view of Silver Lake below so pretty?!

We also made a second trip to Lava Hot Springs.  This time we went with some of Kelly's family. 

We had a great time.  We stayed for two nights. We rented this perfect house for all of us to fit in and spent a day floating the river and a day playing at the pool.  Even great grandpa, who is nearly 91, floated down the river!  We had 3 rafts so we all went at the same time.  I was sad I couldn't have gotten a picture of Grandpa floating down!

 

After Lava, we drove up to Rexburg for the rest of the week.  I went to education week with my mom and aunt, which was wonderful.  Then we did some of the traditional things we do when we go to Rexburg.  And unfortunately, my camera was on the fritz and half of these pictures are blurry, but they will have to do!



Like the St. Anthony parade.





And a stop at Aunt Betty's for a swing in her tree!



And a shot of the Snake River which runs right behind her house! And apparently, a shot of Jace's belly!



And a glimpse of the Tetons, which unfortunately, it was cloudy this day and you can barely see the tiny tips of the mountains in the background.  Usually the view is much better than this!



 And a stop at the St. Anthony Sand Bar.

We also drive around the town and check out the house where my mom grew up and the house my grandparents lived in.  This time we made an extra stop to the farm that my grandpa had.  Here are my mom and her sister in front of their old barn.  It is always fun to drive around and do the things that my mom and her family did as she grew up!  And to hear them reminisce and talk about "remember so and so....."

So, that pretty much sums up the rest of summer.  I can't believe that the kids go back to school in one week!  We do have one last circle BBQ and some pool days planned for the final week of summer vacation!  It has been a fun and busy summer!



When the Carneys Came To Town!

I feel like I should start at the very beginning......

Kelly had been working for the City of Avondale for about a year.  He was in the computer lab when he met a new officer who had just come from the Phoenix Police Department.  A couple of days later Kelly asked me if I would like to go out to dinner with the new guy and his wife.  He said "he is really cool, I think we would have a fun time.  And he is a Mormon!"  I said "sure."  I like to socialize and hang out with other adults and I was up for meeting some new people.  We went to dinner and then back to our house to play some games.

Sure enough we had a great first date!  In fact, we had a lot more similar outings. Freeman was put on the same squad as Kelly and since they shared the same schedule, it was easy to get together. 

Kelly and Freeman would soon become bike partners.  No longer just on the same shift, but they would be together for the entire 10 hours!  They would spend the next several years on bike patrol together.

Then, it got even better......they found a house in Buckeye, just down the road from us, that they wanted to buy!  Now, they would be in the same ward as us! 

We spent A LOT of time together. Sunday dinners, family nights, birthdays, vacations, bbqs, park days, pool parties, game nights...... Not to mention all the hours the two of them spent at work together!

We truly met some great people and we fast became best friends!

So it easy to say that it was more than hard to tell them that we would be moving back to Utah.  Freeman likes to say that it was the worst day of his life!  It was definitely hard for all of us.

Since we have been apart, we have only made one trip back to Phoenix.  So, we were beyond excited when they told us they were coming for a visit!  YAY!

They got here last Sunday, just in time for family dinner!  They joined my entire family for dinner and it was just great.

The next day, Freeman went on a ride along with Kelly.  They were back to their old ways and worked together in getting some drugs off an unexpected thief!  Of course, they had a great night of fun together.

Then we went to Lagoon!



  All of our kids had such a great time!  They played so well with each other.  It was like they started where we left off!



I love this picture of Kelly and Freeman on the Wild Mouse.  Like two little boys!



This picture makes me laugh!  It looks like Tif is all by herself enjoying a kiddie ride.  You can't see little Preston next to her!



So, our day at Lagoon was a success! 

The next several days, I forgot my camera, but they were just as fun!

We took the train downtown.  We walked around City Creek and Temple Square and had some lunch at Moochies.

We got the kids home and got a babysitter and went to the pool with no kids! Which, by the way, is pretty fun! I haven't been to a pool where I wasn't worried about the kids and keeping track of little ones, for 9 years! We had our own couple Olympics.  We did syncronized swimming, diving contests, lap and slide races. After swimming, we went miniature golfing and got some frozen yogurt. We had a great night and we laughed and laughed until our sides hurt!

(I stole these pictures from Tiffany!)

Best Friends Forever!



Not sure what they are talking about, but it looks like maybe they are trying to decide who gets to go first!



On Thursday, we went back to the pool and included the children this time!

We also got a babysitter again Thursday night and met up with some other fellow Buckeyes, who had just moved to Salt Lake.  We went to dinner and then up the canyon.



We made a fire, played our favorite Buckeye game, Golf, and had S'mores.

Playing cards!  We laughed and reminisced!  It was the best!

This was a fun night too, but I found myself not wanting it to end because I knew the Carneys would be leaving the next day. Who knew when we would be having a night like this again?

The whole ride home we joked about them not being able to leave.  We said that maybe their keys would disappear or that their car would be dismantled when they got up.  So, before we went to bed, Kelly Saran wrapped their car and wrote on their windows, "you can't leave : ( : (. "  Too bad it didn't keep them for leaving!

We truly had a wonderful week and I found myself feeling sad the rest of Friday.  Our families did a lot of fun things and I am so thankful for the memories we shared and the all the time we spent laughing and enjoying each other!  We are so thankful for our wonderful friends!