Fun Family Birthday Week!

Our summer has been quite busy yet very fun this year.  Hailey and Grayson are 3-1/2 years apart but are the best of friends.  They've taken turns having "sleepovers" in each other's rooms each week which usually consists of watching a DVD in bed with a big bowl of popcorn.

We attended the Bountiful Handcart Days Parade as usual but it was strange not having any kids in the parade for the first time in many years...

John and Hailey wanted to run in the Handcart Days 5K so I obliged and joined them.  I usually don't do 5Ks--only relays--so I wasn't quite sure what to expect in such a short race.

Hailey and John joined in the Zumba pre-race warmup.

I immediately got in the zone: chewing my gum, listening to my tunes and checking my pace on my phone.

After I finished I went back to find Hailey and John and saw Hailey passing him right before the finish line.

I was pretty happy with my 1st place finish in my age category (age has its benefits) as well as my time.

The best part was the free after-race massage we all took advantage of

and our favorite IBC rootbeer in the bottle.

Our next activity of the week took us to Logan to have dinner with John's family and spend the night in a hotel.  The next morning we were able to get an early start to Bear Lake.  John has become the "Houdini Master" at changing into a bathing suit in front of large crowds with only a towel for modesty.

 Grayson enjoyed time on the tube.

Saturday, July 27 was my birthday.  I turned 48.  We went up to Park City where we are staying off/on in a condo for the week.  I received many cards, gifts and Facebook shoutouts from friends and family.  My favorites are always the homemade cards from my kids.  Hilarious!

 The kids enjoying my reaction...

More birthday fun in Park City.

Mexican food is my favorite so of course I had fried ice cream for my birthday dessert...

...and John bought me my favorite Apple Pie caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory AND a marshmallow treat!  Ate them all--it's my birthday, right?!!

Headed back to the condo where we all went swimming and hot tubbing.  I am so glad my kids enjoy each other as much as I enjoy each of them!!  Great birthday--great week--great life!

Cabo, Cabo, Cabo...

My last visit to Cabo San Lucas was when I was pregnant with Hailey.  John and I went on a 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise.  We had a few hours in Cabo so we took a glass bottom boat tour to Los Arcos and Lover's Beach then walked around the town.

18 years later I came back with Hailey for a week at the beautiful Hacienda Del Mar.  After a rough start getting out of Salt Lake with a canceled flight and a day later than expected, we finally arrived and made every moment count!

After a morning of Zumba, water aerobics, cooking class and an 80-minute massage (they were running a 40% off special and I couldn't resist!) we headed out on a private 2-1/2 hour sunset horseback ride on the beach.

Another day got us up bright and early for an outdoor adventure of ziplining, rapelling, rock climbing and more.  We loved it!!

Couldn't miss swimming with the dolphins which included an hour of touching, swimming, kissing and riding "Nacho."

We spent an afternoon in the Flea Markets searching for plates, piggy banks and silver jewelry.   Found everything we wanted after 4 hours and a lot of haggling.

Our final adventure took us out for the afternoon on a speedboat to Chileno Beach to snorkel with sea scooters, paddle boards and kayaks.  Que bueno!

 Besides the tremendous amount of eating, we visited the local Costco and Walmart to see where Garrett has been shopping...

...and Hailey chose finding dogs over men (thank goodness!) at almost every place we visited.

...and she adopted a cat for the week by feeding it a bowl of milk each day on our balcony.

...but her one true love remained the same!

We created so many fun memories and truly enjoyed every day together.  I am already booking my next trip back to the same place but I think I'll take John with me next time...

July 4th Parade

This was our family's first time attending the Freedom Festival Grand Parade in Provo.  According to the parade announcer, it's the 2nd largest parade in the nation after the Rose Parade.

We dropped Hailey off at the Student Athletic Building at BYU and made our way to the end of the parade so we could pick her up.  

Being at the end of the parade route made a 9 am start time a 10 am start time and the crowd did the Boot Scootin' Boogie while they waited. 

There were lots of officers, engines and military vehicles in this parade.

 I got a little teary-eyed when the missionaries currently serving in the Utah Provo Mission passed by.

First glimpse of BYU Cheer (entry #79)...

Hailey looked like she had the cheer wave completely mastered.

 

... and she did a little tumbling.

There's that cheer wave again.

...and again.

When we dropped her off I told her she'd probably feel like a celebrity.  She said, "Why? I'm just a cheerleader." And I said, "No. You're a BYU cheerleader."  She spent a lot of time high-fiving little girls and taking photos with them.

That's my girl!