Fun. in Vegas

So,... long story short....kind of.  Clayton, his girlfriend Taylor, 2 other friends of theirs and Eli bought concert tickets to see the band Fun in Las Vegas.  Taylor planned on driving her car and everyone else would chip in for gas.  Taylor's aunt and uncle live in Vegas so their place to stay overnight was set.  Everything was going as planned until....putt putt putt....the car's transmission died in Beaver, or as Eli would call it "Satan's birthing place"(about 4 hours away from home).
     Just as it seemed that all hope was lost, Clayton called us (we had just gotten out of the Salt Lake Temple for a wedding) and told us the story.  Heather looked at me with a smirk and said: "well, I guess you gotta go rescue them."  Secretly I was excited to go rescue the gang because hey, I wanted to see Fun too...pool side on top of the Cosmopolitan hotel in Vegas!!!  My first move was to try and get a ticket to the "sold out" show which took some time...but, it happened and I got it for only 20 bucks!   I packed up a bag quickly and I headed out the door and was off to Beaver.  Here's some pix to go along with the story:

Here's the initial phone call for help...

Once we were off an on our way to Vegas, of course we need to make a pit stop for....well....

 You see those happy faces?  Those are smiles of relief, and anticipation for the show!

 Here's a pic of my concert ticket that I had to print on Taylor's uncles computer...nice

 Just before the concert starts...

  A look around at the crowd...

The concert begins...

I love this band

Here's a taste of their music if you're not familiar.  

 I loved this mega huge screen they had off stage for pretty much all Vegas to enjoy...

 Eli loves this picture...he texted his friends that he was at a concert in Las Vegas with some college girls...

After the concert, Fun became one of my new favorite bands -love their music and energy.  We all had a great time together for the 24 hours that we spent haha.  We even made it back just in time for me to run over to the church and go to the wedding reception of the couple that were married the day before.

Birthday getaway to Park City with the fam!

Doesn't everyone deserve to take a weekend getaway for their birthday?  I was certainly thinking so...Happy birthday to me!  This is all I really wanted for my b-day anyway.  I researched high and low for the best deal on a hotel stay in Park City and I came across this amazing place for 50% off.  This was the coolest room we've ever stayed in.  It was called the Hyatt Escala lodge at the Canyons ski resort.  We reserved a "loft suite" and this is what we found:  (I believe I am going to sound like a realtor for a few minutes haha)

Mega huge master bathroom with huge jetted tub and double sink

Awesome pool and huge hot tube-this was a huge hit for the kids...

Even Clayton decided to join us with his girlfriend Taylor

Pretty sure the kids weren't supposed to be in the steam room but we were willing to do it until someone said something.  You can tell by their faces how relaxing this was haha.

We spent roughly 87% of our time by the pool and hot tub

G & G came up for my birthday dinner out on our deck.  We had spaghetti, a great salad, garlic bread and my favorite ganache cake that H makes.

Silly girls...

Our kitchen was HUGE!  We really made just about every excuse to NOT leave so we could just hang out in our palace...

This was the living room...

Not the best pix but here's a shot so you can see the loft a bit...

A look from above...

and these 2 couches were both sleeper sofas

so everyone had somewhere to sleep....

A view from one of our decks....

Outside the lodge waiting for our car to arrive via valet parking...

 Ok, I'm done trying to sell you this property haha.  This really was the coolest place to stay and the kids had a blast coming with us this time.  Next we were off to downtown park city to the city park...

A very fun, memorable birthday and weekend.  The kids can't stop talking about how fun it was.  When we got home there was a package waiting for me from Mom and Dad.  It was a slideshow DVD with pictures of my life set to one of my favorite songs by Snow Patrol.  Thanks to sister Heather for doing the work on it and my wife Heather for supplying some of the pictures and keeping it a secret-loved it!!!

Chloe's surprise 14th birtday party...

I don't like surprises too much but I like giving them.  Chloe was turning 14 and we felt like it was time to throw in a surprise party for her...actually for her and her good friend Ellie who share the same birthday.  The hardest part about a surprise party is just that,...keeping it a surprise.  When you invite 50 people it can be a little tricky but guess what?  We actually pulled it off...they had no clue whatsoever.  So the plan was to have Chloe and Ellie gone from the house until "go" time and then Ellie's mom would bring them over, come through the front door and straight out to the deck door (so the guests couldn't be seen).  Heather told Chloe and Ellie to hurry out to the deck to "please try and help Kate feel better since she went in the bathroom and cut her own hair"...  It was very believable scenario since Kate does have that potential.  Chloe and Ellie ran to the deck thinking they would see Kate crying with a new goofy self-made haircut.  The video clip below shows the "surprise"!

Welcoming all her friends...

Right off the bat we had them break up into a few groups and go on a scavenger hunt...not your ordinary scavenger hunt though.  They were given a list of things they must do in public and take pictures on their cell phones to prove it.  There were such things as: play duck duck goose in front of city hall on main street, hug a stranger, pay for a large slurpee at 7 eleven and pay for it in pennies....you get the point 

surprisingly they were all willing to go for it.  It was pretty funny to see the pictures when they got back.

They all came back and we had pizza, nachos and soft serve ice cream for them while they hung out the rest of the night.  Chloe said "I want to have a surprise birthday party every year...it was so much fun!!!"   After everyone left Eli said:  "you know, my birthday is coming up...what do you think about doing that for me?"

The last 3 months...more or less

Where does the time go? So, here's a quick catch up on the past 3 months or so...

I love this shot of the 4 kids.  We went on a bike ride and took a break at Pond's Park

Kate turns 8 years old...and gets 2 bunnies for her big day.  On the left is Georgia and on the right is Scout.

Kate also gets baptized.  Here is a pic with her favorite primary teacher, Brother Thomson

Kate with her friends, Emmie and Camilla Bruse

 

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 

The cousins are at it again at the soccer field

Liam at the big Mountain Man Rendezvous

Both Chloe and her friend Erick Osberg gave talks in our ward.

We were invited to come up to Snowbird with our friends and neighbors the Osbergs-had a great time.

The kids loved the pool time

Eli's a psycho sometimes...

Both Kate and Chloe were in the summer recital for ballet.  It was titled Pixie Dust and they danced to nursery rhymes and the story of Peter Pan

Sisters

Our 11 year old campout with the dads.  This is our 5 mile hike...

So, long story short...well, sort of.  Clayton gets a job in Italy for the summer, his aunt and Heather's sister Lori said: "hey Heather, you and I should go over and visit him and tour around a bit."  Well, it was about that quick that the decision was made for the 2 of them, plus Clayt's girlfriend, to go to Italy to see him.  They were gone for the longest 16 days that me and my family have EVER experienced...way TOO long if you ask me.  In a nutshell, she was missed beyond belief.  This picture below that you see of Kate was put together by Kate.  This mother bear is a representation of Kate's own mom until she returned home.  You'll notice Heather's sunglasses, necklace, hat, workout gloves, Book of Mormon, earrings and of course, cell phone.  It really did provide a small amount of comfort to us.

I took Kate on a date since Heather wasn't available.  This was our first stop-Tilly's in Farmington.  I think Kate's best memory of the night was going to Harmon's grocery store and spinning up and down on the chairs at the restaurant they have there.  Love you Kate!

 

This is the place that Clayton was working called Casa Carres near Florence Italy.  This was one of Heather's favorite places to be.  Clayton learned a bit about service and gardening while he was there.

Liam came to work with me sometimes and loved to help however he could.  Here he is coloring the ends of the frames before we would assemble them.  He's a great helper.

 

Kate loves to throw a tea party together.  I believe this is Lovey's birthday party (the red monster with the enormous eyes).

Chloe was in the 4th of July parade with the rest of the new Student Body Officers for this upcoming year in 9th grade.

 

Next we have the Family Reunion in Snowbird Utah.  We had a great time.  Just my opinion but I think every successful family reunion should have the following:

Lazy days...

Times that you think you may lose your life amidst the fun....

bonding moments getting stickers applied all over your face....

spiritual moments...

watching people having a great and frightening time while in the safety of a boat...

 

loving what Mother Nature has to offer...

 

hanging out with the party hosts....

reaching your destination!...

riding a mechanical bull gripping for dear life once again....

 

enduring a downpour...

 

more hoopin' and hollerin' wondering if and when you will crash and die...

 

brothers that dress up as a past relative and tell stories...awesome

Making it to the summit of the mountain as a group of cousins and still smiling for the photo...

Still being happy even though your plans get rained out....

riding on a piece of plastic with greased up wheels on a cement slide.  Safe???  You betcha....

 

Jamming into an elevator with as many people as possible while drinking hot chocolate...

and there you have it...recipe for success!!!! 

Loved the family reunion.  Such great memories: fun, spiritual, scary, rainy, and just plain awesome! 

Liam's been dying to do some sort of project at home with cement.  We decided to pour a small pad for our basketball hoop.  Grandpa Danny was more than happy to help out. 

Liam was loving all of the hard labor...

Heather and Grandma Jeanne were on bunny duty...

 

Oh Harley!  We have to throw a pic up every once in a while of the ever important Harley!

Next stop, the cabin...and even more specific, the Rodeo!  We've only been one other time but this is a fun activity up in Island Park.

Ah yes!...the calf chase.  Do you see Kate running her guts out to try and get him?  

Kids wanted to get their picture with the Rodeo Clown...

and Eli with the Rodeo MC..."The Silver Fox"

Chloe and Emma with some of the Bull Riders....



 

OK, on to regular cabin activities....fishing at Coffee Pot Rapids

even Kate gets a catch!

Liam on another day of fishing....

All cousins report to the wooden canoe out in the gravel parking lot right away!!!! 

And there you have it.  May through July in the quick and abbreviated version.  More to come soon....