Anyhow, here are the kids and I at the trunk-or-treat. Madison was a slumber party girl, Andrew was an army man, and Zach was a clone trooper. They had a fun time collecting lots of candy from all the cars (probably two or three times per car). After the trunk-or-treat, we went to Cory's parents' house where the kids did some traditional, door-to-door trick-or-treating. Then, it was off to the Enoch Spook Alley...scary sounding, huh? We opted for the lees scary (despite Zachary's begging), or "munchkin" as they called it, version. It was silly, and not scary, but the kids enjoyed it. Madison is quite a scaredy-cat, so it was just her speed. When we got home, Madison and Andrew decided to trick-or-treat some more around the block. They didn't get much candy because most people were either not home or had given away all their candy. All in all, we had a fun night. Now, the days of picking up candy wrappers every time I turn around have begun. That is by far my least favorite thing about Halloween!!
A few weeks ago, we took a ride up Cedar Mountain for FHE to look at the fall leaves, and take a few pictures. It was really cold, so we didn't take tons of pictures, but we had a fun time.
Madison insisted on taking some pictures of Cory & I. 
Madison
The boys
Three Crazy Kiddos!
We camped on the beach, which I will never do again. Next time I will be getting a hotel room, the others can join me if they like. I have never been a huge camping fan, but camping in the sand just adds insult to injury, really!
I LOVE spending time at the lake and on the boat however, and I FINALLY got up on the knee board!! Yay me! It was so fun!!! I have tried a couple of other times without sucess, so I was very pleased with myself. Of course, I have NO upper body strength, so my ride was not super long, and I was miserably sore for days after, but totally worth it!
The kids had a great time too, and even though I had to bribe them all to ride in the tubes, they had a blast (much to their surprise!). Next time I think we may have to break out the kiddie skis and give that a shot. Although, I have a feeling it will cost me a lot more than $2 per kid! :o)
Yipee for Lake Powell!!
This month I will be participating in the Oh Sweet Sadie! gift shows. They run Sept. 19-20 & Sept. 26-27. Click on the pic above for locations & more info. If you are in the Salt Lake area, please come by & say HI!! I will be selling my awesome watches & I think it will be lots of fun. Really, come by and visit me, I will be bored there all alone!
...and waiting...
...and even more waiting!
Today is the first day of school!! The kids got up at 6:45 because they were so excited. They were ready to go by 7:45, so they only had an hour to sit around and whine about how bored they were, and "mom is it time to go YET?". Finally, the blessed moment arrived. I took a quick picture or two, hustled them into the car (only had to turn around once to get my checkbook for lunch money) and they were off!
Saturday, hanging out on Coronado Beach.
Lunch at Coronado. YUM!
Hotel Del Coronado (thanks abi)...so cool!
View from Coronado Bay Bridge
Sunday, lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in La Jolla.
Seashell hunting on "Shell Beach", La Jolla
Shell Beach, La Jolla
Lookout wall for Seal Rock, La Jolla
San Diego Temple...it's a castle!
It was so fun! :o) We had a great trip & I can't wait until next year! Thanks mom, for everything! PLICKETY PLOW!
On June 14th, we went to Salt Lake for a family reunion and a trip to Hogle Zoo.
On July 7th, we went to Sand Hollow Reservoir with some friends. Here is a picture of me desperately trying to knee board. I WILL figure it out one of these days. We will take another trip to Lake Powell next month, and I will give it another shot then. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;)
The crowning event of the summer was Zachary's baptism on August 2nd. It was a lovely day with lots of family, good food & fun. We are so pleased with Zachary for getting baptized!
Our nephew, Brayden was celebrating his 2nd birthday, so we spent the afternoon at the zoo. It was fun. One of the elephants was celebrating her 48th birthday, so it was pretty packed. It was hot, but we had a good time. 
We got to see the White Alligator, which was cool even though it looked like it was dead. It was a really long day because we drove up and back in one day, but everyone had fun.
As soon as the Science Fair was over, Cory's mom took the kids, and Cory and I took off for a weekend in Park City. Cory's team with Nabisco paid for a 1-night stay (but we were able to talk them into paying for another night for us, since we had so far to drive). We had mediocre food, saw "Prince Caspian", did a little shopping, and hung out in our hotel. We had a nice room that we shared with another couple from St. George (he works for Nabisco also) and had a very nice time. It was great to get away for a couple of days and just relax. I like Park City, and would love to have a second home there someday, but there is no way we could ever afford it. The place that we stayed in is like a bunch of small suites/hotel rooms that people own. It was right on Main Street, so obviously "prime property", but the lady at the front desk told us that our room (2 bedrooms/baths and a small kitchenette/LR) would sell for around $750,000!!! That is 3/4 of a million dollars for a hotel room! Yikes!
Monday the 19th began the last week of school. Cory also had the week off, so it was nice to have him home. Madison had a class talent show and Cory and I went to watch. She sang a couple of songs (along with a CD) and also played the piano. She did a very good job & was so cute. Andrew had a class program on the 14th that was so fun. They sang a bunch of songs. I sat in a really bad spot, so I was barely able to see his head, so the video isn't too great. But, he did a good job and the kids were all so cute. On Thursday, the 22nd, Zach's class did puppet shows for the parents. Zach was so funny. He was the narrator in his puppet show, and he kept peeking his head out of the curtain. Silly! 
Thursday was also Madison's birthday and the last day of school! The kids will miss their teachers and their classes a lot, but they are so excited to be out of school for the summer, and to move on to the next grade in school. I can't believe I will have a 5th grader next year! Next year will be Madison's last at elementary, then onto Jr. High!! Yikes!
Madison got lots of fun stuff for her birthday. We gave her some new clothes and a bunch of Littlest Pet Shops (her favorite toy right now). Thursday evening we all went to dinner at Wingers with Cory's parents for Madison's birthday. Then, on Friday Madison had her friend party. She had a "Fiesta" (that was all her idea) and had 7 of her girl friends come. They decorated candy bags, had chips and salsa, made shrinky dink necklaces, beat up a pinata, played freeze dance, had cake & ice cream, and opened presents. All the girls had a lot of fun.
It was so rainy and cold all weekend, it even hailed quite a bit on Friday, so we couldn't really do anything fun for the Memorial weekend. On Sunday we drove over to Minersville and had lunch at Cory's sister's house and went to the cemetery to put flowers on Cory's grandparents' graves. It was a nice day and the weather wasn't too bad.On Sunday we are having a huge joint birthday party for Madison, Andrew, Zane, Lily, Grandma Joleen, Amelia, and Uncle Steve in St. George. Amelia & Justin & my parents are driving up Saturday to meet Abi & me in Las Vegas for a bead show, and then they will come up to St. George for the party! It will be so fun!! I will post pictures next week.
So, I think this wins as my longest post ever. I feel much better getting all of that down. Enjoy the pics!
Andrew learned how to cast his own fishing line, and Cory said he walked up and down the shore line just casting & reeling in & casting again. It was pretty cute!
By the time they got home on Saturday night, they were totally exhausted. They had a fun trip, and I am looking forward to the next time when we can all go together!
