Well, the beginning of June was our Spring Utah Trip. My mom gave us a ride up in her RV, which is totally the way to travel with little kids. After we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house, the kids wasted no time in eating popsicles on the porch, even though the neighbor dog seemed to think they were for her.
My mom bought these kid-size aprons and cooking utensils, they're too cute. Whenever I ask the kids what they like about Grandma and Grandpa's house, they always say, "Making cookies!"
So, after the popsicles and cookies, the kids got to visit the dentist. Connor had a whopping seven cavities! We couldn't believe it. Neither Ryan nor I had any cavities as children, and I'm continually mocked by my husband for my obsessive attitude towards brushing these kids' teeth. I guess I was supposed to be flossing them, as well. Connor's filling visits (yes, he needed more than one) were not exactly pleasant. Not for anybody involved. Elise, however had a great time! Here she is posing for her "first dentist visit" picture.
The kids also got to meet Kyle and Kelli's slightly shy kitten Ally, who eventually did let them pet her, at least for a minute. 
We did a trip to Payson Pool, where Evan had a major blowout in his clothes, and was forced to wear this fetching muumuu. 
We also got to see my parents' new house, which has come a long way since we'd seen it last (and should be ready just in time for our next visit, right Mom?)
Of course, we all spent some time just hanging out and making fun of my mom's wildly overgrown lettuce machine. 
What else? Oh, the Vernal campout! I know Kelli talked about this trip quite awhile ago (when it happened), but here's our tardy version. It was really cool to have so many people together at once. My grandma came, Kyle, Kelli, their niece Jessica, Kevin, Mom, Chuck, and the five of us (Ryan joined us Saturday afternoon - a 16 hour trip from Los Angeles). The "grown-ups" stayed in the RV, about a 5-minute walk away, while everybody else stayed in tents down by the fire rings. I was a little worried about camping with baby Evan, but he was totally cooperative, as usual. 
Ryan, Evan and I hiked up to see these petroglyphs while the Aunts and Uncles watched the other two, asleep in the car. They were pretty cool petroglyphs, but I guess there were even better ones farther down the trail. 
We, of course, did marshmallows and hot dogs, and even tried out dutch oven cooking, which went surprisingly well. It was just really cool, being outside and spending time with family. I hope we do it again next year!
In May, our Ward had their annual Father-Son campout, and Ryan and Connor were able to attend for the second time! (There is a Father-Daughter campout as well, but we think Elise is still just a little too young.) Many of the campgrounds near here were burned in the Station fire last year, so the guys went to a park in the Valley somewhere and did some very "manicured" camping on mowed grass. 
They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, told the same scary stories as last year, and went to bed too late. Here's Connor showing what fun he had the night before - Mom would never have let him go to bed with marshmallow on his fingers. Oh, and they had chocolate-chip pancakes for breakfast. 
The next morning, after they got back home, we went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's open house. It was okay. Not quite as good as last year, though. Here are the kids learning about lunar rovers. 
We waited in line for about 45 minutes to see what was called "Robo-Dome", which was billed as a demonstration of robots designed to fly in formation in space. We figured with a line that long, it had to be awesome, right? Here we are watching a video about what the robots will do in space. 
And here's what the robots did inside. Well, what the one robot did inside. 
It pretty much just clicked and slowly moved up and down on a pneumatic pedestal while rotating and/or being rolled across the floor. Connor is asking the lady why the robots aren't flying. Why, indeed? Still, it was an interesting experience, and more prestigious-sounding than going to Chuck E Cheese for the day.
My family was very kind to me on Mother's Day. We had gone out to eat at our favorite barbecue place the night before and, for one reason or another, it made me totally sick! I'm still not sure if it was food poisoning or mere gluttony, but I was nauseated and feverish all day Sunday. Despite that, we went to church (just late enough for Connor to miss his chance to sing to me in Sacrament meeting - I was more disappointed than he was.) I did Sharing time, then got to attend Relief Society for the first time in awhile. They make the youth take over for all the women on Mother's Day so everybody exiled to Primary or Young Women's can go listen to the lesson! Anyway, it was nice. Later, when I was at home in bed feeling all yucky, my husband and kids made me dinner AND cleaned up (sorta.) Here are Connor and Elise "washing" dishes. 
As a Mother's Day gift, Ryan got me a loveseat to match my Christmas couch, so we now have matching furniture! Like real people! I love it.
The next day was our sweet Leesie's birthday! She got lots of great presents in the mail (thank you, various family members), including this dancing ribbon thing. 
Ryan got her a ridiculously expensive pink cake, which we had with (at her request) pink ice cream and pink candles. He tried to get her pink balloons, but the store had run out or something, so Connor wisely told them that if they gave them one white and one red, it would make pink. Elise seemed to think that was acceptable. 
This is Elise with four of her presents: her birthday hat, flowered dress, stuffed bunny, and balloons. 
Okay, first, I have to congratulate my sweet husband who has recently been promoted to Portfolio Manager at work! His boss decided to leave the firm, and Ryan was asked to step in as PM. It's a lot of work (we've been seeing a little less of him lately), but it's a great opportunity for him there, and I know he'll be an awesome team leader. Yay Ryan! 
About three Saturdays ago, we took Connor down to a friend's bike shop, and got him his first real two-wheeler. The guy there removed the training wheels and pedals, and told us to use it just like his balance bike for a couple days, then put the pedals on and see how he does. So . . .that's what we did. That Saturday he scooted around on it a little, but complained that it was "too heavy". Sunday afternoon we took him around the corner to a quiet, flat street, and let him practice with it for about a half hour, then Ryan stuck the pedals on, we got the camera out, and here's what happened! I was so proud of the little guy. 
The following Saturday, we did our second (but first official) letterbox hike. Letterboxing is a little bit like geocaching, in that it's basically a treasure hunt. It's older than geocaching, though, and doesn't use GPS coordinates, just clues you get online. The treasure is a "letterbox", which is usually a small tupperware container hidden out of sight, containing a rubber stamp and a log book. You add your personal (or family) stamp to the log book and write a few comments, then stamp the box's stamp in your own book as a record of where you've been. Basically, it's an excuse to go on hikes. I carved our stamp myself, and I must say that it's awesome. 
The hike took a lot longer than we planned, since we missed the first three boxes and had to backtrack quite a bit. I, of course, forgot sunscreen, so we all (but mostly just me) got a little burned. 
After the hike we went to a playground at Griffith Park where the kids rode their new bikes around. Elise was very proud to have a big bike like everybody else. 
My mom bought these kid-size aprons and cooking utensils, they're too cute. Whenever I ask the kids what they like about Grandma and Grandpa's house, they always say, "Making cookies!"
So, after the popsicles and cookies, the kids got to visit the dentist. Connor had a whopping seven cavities! We couldn't believe it. Neither Ryan nor I had any cavities as children, and I'm continually mocked by my husband for my obsessive attitude towards brushing these kids' teeth. I guess I was supposed to be flossing them, as well. Connor's filling visits (yes, he needed more than one) were not exactly pleasant. Not for anybody involved. Elise, however had a great time! Here she is posing for her "first dentist visit" picture.
The kids also got to meet Kyle and Kelli's slightly shy kitten Ally, who eventually did let them pet her, at least for a minute. 
We did a trip to Payson Pool, where Evan had a major blowout in his clothes, and was forced to wear this fetching muumuu. 
We also got to see my parents' new house, which has come a long way since we'd seen it last (and should be ready just in time for our next visit, right Mom?)
Of course, we all spent some time just hanging out and making fun of my mom's wildly overgrown lettuce machine. 
What else? Oh, the Vernal campout! I know Kelli talked about this trip quite awhile ago (when it happened), but here's our tardy version. It was really cool to have so many people together at once. My grandma came, Kyle, Kelli, their niece Jessica, Kevin, Mom, Chuck, and the five of us (Ryan joined us Saturday afternoon - a 16 hour trip from Los Angeles). The "grown-ups" stayed in the RV, about a 5-minute walk away, while everybody else stayed in tents down by the fire rings. I was a little worried about camping with baby Evan, but he was totally cooperative, as usual. 
Ryan, Evan and I hiked up to see these petroglyphs while the Aunts and Uncles watched the other two, asleep in the car. They were pretty cool petroglyphs, but I guess there were even better ones farther down the trail. 
We, of course, did marshmallows and hot dogs, and even tried out dutch oven cooking, which went surprisingly well. It was just really cool, being outside and spending time with family. I hope we do it again next year!
