Family weekend & big surprise

We had a great weekend with the Porter side this past weekend. We had everyone come up to stay at our house (minus Paul :() and planned a few local things. The first thing we did was float the canal on Friday. Good thing too since the next morning we read in the paper that they are closing it off so that no one can get in. We are glad we got up here in enough time to do it 'cause it was way cool. We made a few trips down. First trip down Mel and Will's float popped, so they had to wait for Greg and Papa John to finish the ride and then start again to bring them a float. There really isn't a good place to get out... maybe I see some of the reason for closing it down. Time #2 down we went without the kids and Jill popped hers. I wish I had my camera with me 'cause it was so funny to see Jill and Mel sharing a tube.

We came home and had some dinner and Brian kept on mysteriously disappearing and then he gathered the men into our office for like 6 hours. My hunny-bunny had planned a surprise for me. See, we've had this computer for about 6 years. Our friend built it for us in dental school.

Well now that Brian had the laptop at work, I had to use this one and it just wasn't keeping up with all my photoshopping and video making, so Brian surprised me with this....

I couldn't believe it. He had been planning it for about a month and he was working on it with my bro-in-law Greg. Greg built it from scratch and made it specifically for pictures and videos. It has 2 screens that are like one so that I can lay everything out and not have everything down on the bottom. It has been heaven working on it with all the picture stuff. There are so many cool things that make everything so much easier and it's got a great web cam and surround sound. I was so surprised. I think I would have started crying if all my family wasn't crammed into the room to watch me walk in there! I don't get many surprises, but when I do, Bri goes all out! This was definitely a good one!




Saturday morning we girls woke up and went garage sale-ing. We had a good time and had good success. When we got back, the kids were fed, the kitchen was clean and breakfast was ready. Some good men we got there!
After breakfast and lunch, we headed up to Bear Lake and spent the day there. It was perfect weather and so much fun!




The kids had a little race...

Cooper didn't quite get it. He made it to the end though with a smile on his face.

The adults had a race...

Greg killed them.

We had such a great weekend with everyone. Good times, good food, good company. We played games and even tried to be sneaky by ruining Brian's undefeated record in "Time's Up" and put him with Greg. Joke was on us though. Not only did Brian remain undefeated, but I'm pretty sure that he and Greg had the biggest win yet on that game.

We can't wait for our next summer retreat next year!

The things kids say...

Today was Elizabeth's first day of 1st grade. Caroline was more excited than Liz. We all took her to the school and walked around then dropped her off in her classroom. She was being really quiet. Here she is all new again with no friends. Hopefully she'll get out of her shell fast and make some friends.
The kids have said some funny things lately. I know I'm forgetting one of them so I have to get these down before I forget...oh, and this is Elizabeth on her first day of school





Elizabeth: Mom, do you thing you're fat.
Mom: Yeah.
Elizabeth: You do?
Mom: Yes. Do you?
Elizabeth: No, I think you're as skinny as a giraffe's neck.

Elizabeth: Mom, you've got to get those cruiser diapers for Cooper. They're awesome. They flex in all the right places, like around the waist and thighs. That way he'd be faster.
(A few hours later I saw the commercial and it was almost verbatim to what Liz said)



Mom: I have to be careful because if I fell off, I could die.
Caroline: That's okay Mom. We would just get Daddy to kiss you and then you'd come alive.

We went clothes shopping for a new "first day of school" outfit. Caroline starts preschool next week and as she was stepping into the first outfit she said, "this is so exciting". They way she said it was so cute.

**Added- I remembered what it was that Elizabeth said. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and she wiped it off. She looked at me and said, " don't worry Mom. I'm not wiping it off, I'm just moving it."

Trip to PA

We had a great trip out to the farm (aka Springville, PA) this past week. It was so great to be with family. It's so relaxed and peaceful out there. Wish we could combine the two worlds and two families. Then that'd be a little bit of heaven!

Everyone had their little buddy. Cooper and Jacob.

Elizabeth and Sydney

Caroline and EmmaLeigh

It was nice for them to all have someone to play with and boy did they play! We hardly saw Elizabeth. She said she wanted Suzanne and Randy to be her parents and me and Bri to be her brother and sister. She said they let her older cousins be in charge and we never let her be in charge. We had to do a little explaining on that one. We had a few tantrums when the endless freedom was interrupted.

They did a lot of swimming in the pool at Suz and Randy's. That was a fun break to the seriously hot and muggy weather! Cooper had a near drowning experience, well, a supervised one. Elizabeth was hanging on him and pulling him under water. He had on a life jacket and was in a tube, but he couldn't get up from under her grip. After that time, which was the first time in the pool, he didn't get in the rest of the trip. Well, I think he did the last day we went in the pool. She totally freaked him out.

Isabelle's idea of swimming was hanging out in the tubes on the sidelines. Made it easier to watch these 2!

Brian thought he'd try jumping off the railing a few times. Luckily no kids attempted this one... yet.

We did a lot of games, playing in the sand and on the playground, hanging out and talking, taking little walks to the next house, swimming, eating together and just being together. We love it there. We're already talking about our next trip.

Cooper loved feeding the horses and just watching them. It was so cute to see his reactions to them.

We can't wait to go back!

Grand Teton

With Aunt Julia here, she wanted to take a trip to see the Grand Teton. I was a little leery of taking the kids, but that's the stage of life we're in, so Friday morning, we packed up and took off.
I've wanted to be a little more adventurous with our kids and take them on hikes and camping and such, but after this trip, we may have to wait a few more years. The mountains were beautiful and the kids actually did pretty well.

There was really only one who gave much trouble, and that was this one...

But really, all in all she was pretty good. They all were. Julia had a perma-buddy with Elizabeth. Liz really loved being with Julia.

Our second day around the Tetons we stopped in an area and let the kids play in the water. Brian and Julia tried skipping rocks, usually a pretty pitiful show! :)

The girls were so cute together. They were looking for cool rocks. Elizabeth had a whole pocket full before we journeyed onward.

I loved seeing them have fun together and be best buds. They both took turns carrying the Camel Back which I was proud of. It was kind of heavy for their little bodies.

Brian had his own "pack" he toted around. He also attempted pushing the jogger on some of the trails. Needless to say, we only tried once. Most of the trails weren't meant for strollers.

We spent the night in a "cabin" and it was cheap and not too bad. Not too bad if you don't mind bed bugs. Well, just the bed Brian and I were in had bugs. The other 2 beds seemed to be bug free. We saw a gun show that freaked out Elizabeth, made Isabelle shake and Julia was a star in the show. :)

It was a fun trip and nice to see so many beautiful things. The mountains and lake are so beautiful. We live in a beautiful country!

Reunion Time

We had a great time this past weekend with 2 different reunions. One with our dental family, and one with the Porter side family. We got together at the Baird's for lunch and visiting. It was like the good ol' days. Girls in a group visiting, guys in a group visiting and kids running around playing. It was fun seeing everyone and catching up. Eventhough we can follow in blogs, it was fun to see how much the kids have grown. Some that were supposed to make it didn't show and others just couldn't. We missed them. But here are a couple of pics of those who came. Good to see all of you! Looking forward to next year's get together in Colorado?!



Isn't this happening a little too early?! The confident male and giggling girls!

After we finished lunch, we headed up Provo Canyon for the Porter reunion. It was good to see everyone that came. The kids had a blast playing all day and the adults had a good time playing in the end! Here are a few pics of the good times!

Grandpa Porter with Isabelle

Cooper and Will...2 Peas in a pod!



Brian and Isabelle- She was beyond dirty!

A great smile caught of Papa John


Maya and Caroline were having so much fun together running and rolling down the hill.

Greg and Porter

A game of waterballoon volleyball that ended in a water fight. Every family reunion must have a water fight right?!