Whoa! Time to catch up. Summer (like always) has flown by!
I'm grateful we've had such a fun, busy, healthy and safe summer!
Luke did a soccer camp at BYU. We sat and watched all week...like a good soccer family. :)
Matt's office was in the Eagle Mountain and PG parades this year. We only
did the EM one, and it was actually so much fun!
I had to add the pic below because of Luke's freaky arm. Haha!
And Matt was a good sport (also freaky!) and squeezed in the hatchback of an employee's car
to get back to the beginning of the parade to pick up our van. They all thought it was
hilarious that the Dr. was squished in the back.
As soon as the parade ended we rushed off on our trip to California!
We drove NON-STOP from St. George to Vegas (this is seriously
HUGE for our family). We stayed at this fancy hotel near the strip.
I don't recommend it. It was so loud all night long and just bleh.
However we got a free breakfast at the fancy hotel restaurant the next morning.
They brought us these "smoothie shots" (alcohol-free of course) and James
loved them. It was kinda of funny.
We eventually made it to Laguna Beach, CA!!!
We stayed in this adorable, quaint motel right on the beach.
The next day we spent almost the entire day at the beach playing and lounging around.
It was so nice! The water was a tad chilly, which was nice because it kept the kids pretty
much out of it. But the weather otherwise was just perfect.
Just doing a little yoga on the beach.
About an hour before we took off, my sister and her family joined us!
That night we drove up to Anaheim so we could hit Disney bright and early!
DISNEYLAND!!!!
I really meant EARLY. Our first morning we did "Magic Morning" where you get in
about an hour or so earlier than most of the crowd. It was fun besides getting up at 6am!
It really did make a bit of a difference how many rides we got in that day.
Ever since this encounter James is obsessed with "mehy mouh."
As we left Mickey he blew James a kiss and he still talks about it all the time.
Day two we spent at California Adventure.
It was fun! Not as many rides, but still a lot of fun!
The next day we took a Disney break, well from the parks anyway.
We spent some time at Downtown Disney. Playing and shopping and eating!
The Lego Store of course.
Lunch at the Rainforest Cafe!
Day Three back at Disneyland!
James was NOT a fan of any of the rides. Except for maybe the merry-go-around and
the lame ones where you just sorta ride along (it's a small world, winnie the pooh, etc).
My FAVORITE Mary Poppins!!
Matt was so funny. Each day we would leave after lunch sometime and take the
babies (and most of the kids) back to the condo for naps and to rejuvenate.
Which was actually such a good idea and really helped get through the long days.
Well the first day, Matt came back, but took the boys swimming.
The second day he came back, but then turned right back around the took Luke
and Devin back with him.
The third day he didn't even leave the park, he stayed behind with L and D and a few
of Jenny's kids. That guys is hardcore when it comes to traveling!
The end of our Disney days, we stayed late and watched Disney's new "Fantasmic" show.
It was literally AMAZING! It was so so awesome! If you can see it, I highly recommend going!!
The next day we packed up and made our way back to Vegas.
We stayed in some scary ghetto hotel in Henderson (thank you priceline).
But one of the biggest highlights was spending time with one of my best friends!
Kassie, Jane and John were in town, visiting from Cleveland!
It was just what I needed. We miss the Belchers SO much!
Dev and Jane are the best of friends, and they just ran off like nothing ever changed.
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Random Summer....
Swimming lessons
Neighborhood friends and painted faces.
The best dad.
Grandma C's lovely backyard and popsicles.
This guy. And those faces.
MOAB!!!
We took off to Moab to spend time with almost the whole
Clark side for our reunion this year!
Missing Doug, Katie, Paige and Lucy though!
We stayed in a nice big cabin that held everyone. (I love VRBO!)
The first morning many of the adults and big kids went river rafting.
The rest of us stayed behind and hiked in our "back yard."
We did a few hikes in Arches, before it got too hot and miserable!
It's so gorgeous!
Spent one afternoon at the city pool. Which is so nice. It's indoor/outdoor and really fun.
Luke even jumped off the high dive!!!
One night we played games (it was SO HOT!) and had dinner at the park.
Look at my cute hubs. Carrying all three.
Our last morning we hiked into this cute swimming hole.
Oh and a lot of the adults hiked to the delicate arch at night! They had a great time.
And this cute boy had a birthday while we were there too!
The second part of the reunion happened in Salem.
LOTS of cousin time, otter pops, crafts and games.
While the crew played at Hang Time (a trampoline park),
I met up with another dear friend, Marilyn! She was visiting from Kansas City,
and was one of my best friends during our med school years in Cleveland.
We had a great time catching up!
The 4th of July was a busy day too!
Patriotic family pictures, fishing, bbq and a BYU men's soccer game, followed by fireworks.
And somewhere in there we finally celebrated James' 2nd Birthday!
BEAR LAKE!!!
The fun just doesn't end.
So half of the Clark crew had to go back to their jobs and their lives (they all traveled
from all over the country to be there!). The rest of us (mostly children and mommies) went
up to Bear Lake for the week.
WE LOVE BEAR LAKE!
It's just a wonderfully relaxing time. And the kids always have such a great time.
I love the memories we make up here year after year.
James sorta LOVES his aunt sarah.
And seriously, those overalls. That fuzzy hair. Those eyes. That smile....melts my heart!
I mean, come on.
Some days were rainy and cold, others were perfect for swimming.
One day we rented a wave runner.
We painted rocks (and tricked the babies by painting rocks with water-muahaha).
We did other crafts, made ice cream in bags (on what seemed to be the coldest day).
We went on walks, played for hours and hours in the sand.
The kids did skits and games.
Oh and we only got shakes 3 times....
And that blue water. It's no lie. It's really that blue!
Matt joined us toward the end of the week (he's gotta work sometime I suppose).
He always makes everything more fun. He helped the kids build this "sand castle city."
He's cool like that.
After Bear Lake, some of the cousins stayed in Utah for 1-2 more weeks.
My kids LOVED playing with their cousins that they never get to see!
FHE at our house. I love all those cute heads.
Hiking to Battle Creek Falls (so close to our house!).
Pic on the right was our hike to the Grotto.
Matt arriving to the block party in style...oh my.
Our new rocks! And cute, thumb-sucker James.
Desmond...and the destin. My sis sure has her hands full with this one!
They started our yard...This pic is all boy.
Catching bugs and watching the bulldozer ALL DAY LONG.
We did so many fun things these guys.
Lindon Pool (which is awesome btw).
Sleepovers, parks, the arcade, movies, movies, video games, games, choku,
the moms went on a few shopping trips, and lots of food and fun!
We already miss you all!
The week after they all skedaddled, my boys spent a week at a REAL Salt Lake youth soccer camp. It was so great! We loved it. I did and they did. We'll definitely be doing it again.
And we ALMOST have a yard.
Rock wall, curbing and sprinklers are in. This week we lay the sod! Hurrah!!!
Oh and somewhere in there we attended Matt's 15 year high school reunion!
It was so strange, but so good and quite fun (thanks to Jana being my pal there!).
A neat part of it was I realized one of my best friends brothers was in Matt's class,
he has since died. It was sweet to see his name and life remembered there.
Also, we both attended the same high school, at very different times. It was
just SO strange being back there with Matt. But we had a great time!
Go Dons!
(I know...no one really knows what a Don is. We're still figuring that one out).
