Thank You Pioneers

 Not only are we indebted to and eternally grateful for the sacrifices our pioneer forefathers made while moving west to establish their "Zion", we are so pumped that as Utahns we get one more awesome holiday than the rest of the country. Ha ha! So thanks for enduring your hardships so valiantly, we are totally reaping the benefits. Parades, fireworks, BBQ's and climbing walls are probably not what they had in mind, but in all reality they would probably really have enjoyed it too. 

Not only is the 24th of July Pioneer Day, but it is my Grandma Bowen's birthday as well. We always get together at Heritage Park to celebrate this wonderful lady. Grandma has always been so much fun and usually has a few tricks up her sleeve. Never a dull moment! Anyway, I didn't get any pictures of the party, but Paul took of few on his phone of the evening celebration in my Uncle Larry's neighborhood. He and Aunt Ann were nice enough to invite everyone over and the kids had so much fun on the climbing wall, the bounce house and other attractions that they didn't want to settle down for the fireworks. 

Emma on the wall.

My cousin Lori is a true Bowen and comes up with so many fun and creative ideas that we will have to copy since we don't think of them ourselves. These are the girls as glow stick, stick people.

Just a little firework fun. Asher was a bit scared and clung to Uncle Josh all night. Too bad I didn't get a picture of it.

Build That Bear

 I finally got the Build-a-bear pictures off Paul's phone. They are not the best pictures, but they are better than nothing. Ironically, no one actually built a bear.

Abbey, Claire, Asher, Devon, Emma and Keston

Asher saw that Keston's pet had a tasebor(skateboard) and his needed one as well. We had to go back in and get one for him, but as we looked in Asher's box, we discovered that he had swiped a hard hat for his turtle and we had to return that. Nice!

Keston and Claire patiently waiting in line.

Devon brushing her Hello Kitty.

Abbey and Devon brushing their pets.

Say CHEESE!

Asher brushing his turtle and mom making sure he turns his head to look at dad.

Where's my boy?

This is why I should not be left home alone with my children. I tend to experiment. I think to myself, "I wonder what Asher would look like with short, spiky hair." I know I like him with longer, shaggier hair. Paul and I have agreed on this and yet somehow I'm still curious. I should know better. This same curiosity is what got us into the bang fiasco of 2007. We are still growing Claire's out and Emma's are just barely evened out. Yet, I still ask myself, "What would he look like?" A few minutes and snips later and all his long, flaxen locks are gone and my child is not recognizable. Still cute, but not recognizable. It took my next door neighbor 30 minutes to realize who he was at nursery today.  He will not be getting another haircut for quite some time now. Now he looks like a big boy and I do not want a big boy. I just want my baby boy back.

Too Much Fun!

WARNING: LONG POST CONSISTING OF MANY PICTURES!

Paul's sister, Kerry, her husband, Duane and their two kids Keston and Devon came to visit from California for a few days and we had way too much fun. I think we did more in three days than we have done in the four years since we moved here. We went to Build a Bear, the Brick Oven, Snowbird, swimming at the Legacy Center, Timp Cave, saw Wall-E, Farm Country and Kerry and I snuck off in between it all to get a salad at Cafe Rio. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of everything but I did get a bunch!

Abbey and Asher petting a baby cow at Farm Country.  

Claire holding Anna at the before mentioned cow.

Asher, Devon and Maddie on the hay ride(minus the hay)

Emma and Keston on the hayride.

Claire and Aunt Kerry

Devon has the cutest little face ever. I just wanted to pinch her little nose off. I won't though! 

The whole gang.

Emma-look no hands!

Maddie

Asher

Claire

All the cousins and uncle Duane on the hayride.

Abbey feeding the goats

Asher feeding goats

Abbey

Keston like a real cowboy.

Devon and her perma-grin. She couldn't stop smiling the whole time.

At the top of Timp Cave-we made it!

Not quite at the top-Are we there yet? These are not happy faces.

Some other not so happy faces and one happy face.

In the cave

Cave Formations

The bungee/trampoline apparatus at Snowbird-Claire doing flips.

We took the tram to the top and got some awesome views. Yes, that edge is a cliff off the side of the mountain and no there are no adults supervising. Where are their parents?

Oh, there are their dads, but they don't look too concerned. What kind of a mother would take pictures of her kids at the mountains edge anyway?

Beautiful views!

Abbey jumping

Keston ready for take off

Emma-nice pointed toes.

Devon loving it.

Asher didn't love it. He lasted about 2 seconds.

We had so much fun and are so grateful our family would drive that long to spend time with us. Come back soon please!

The Long Awaited Day

Claire has officially been cleared of her hillbilly status. She finally lost her snaggle tooth. It hung on for so long, much longer than any tooth should, really. 

We are just delighted to see a cute, toothless, six year old grin for now. We now enter the awkward stage. Teeth of varying sizes and shapes just begging for an orthodontist to step in and rescue them. All in good time, my pretty, all in good time.

Winding Down

 All good things must come to an end. Asher and Maddie take just one last sip of soda before we wind down for the day.

The girls help Grandpa deflate the pool.

"Fawerwirts (as pronounced by Asher) at our house that night.

A little bit scared and delighted all at the same time.

Paul spent most of the time inside trying to keep his dinner down, but here he is with his "I'm okay" face on.