Family reunions

We have spent a lot of time with family this summer and even made it to a couple of reunions. Of course, my camera only made it to one of them and I still didn't take as many picture as I should have. But we had some good times. We have an annual "Fantastic and Fabulous Folsom" (or something like that) party every summer with whoever is in the area. I think they were expecting maybe 20-30 people and over 100 showed up. It was so much fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles that I hadn't seen for a long time. And especially, it was great to see my Grandma (in the last picture) and Grandpa. They have both been battling cancer and I hope to see them a lot more often now that we both live in Utah.

Some very serious conversations were had...

and laughter...

The Folsom family is the best. The times when we are together help me realize where I get all of my personality traits from. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, siblings, etc. We are one of a kind.

No more baby!

Claire turned 1 this week! I can't believe how fast that year went. And she is walking too. It has been so fun to watch and help her learn. Dylan has especially liked helping her practice taking steps. Claire gets annoyed with it, but the practicing has paid off...

She loved opening and playing with presents...

And she even liked her cake, even it wasn't very babyish. Come on, I had been craving a big chocolaty chocolate cake. And her birthday was a good opportunity to make it. Next time though, I won't put the cake so close to her while we are singing because shortly after this picture, she tried to grab the flame.

So after a few minutes of cold water on her fingers and some love and kisses, she was fine and dug into the cake. She liked the ice cream best.

And then we went to her real birthday party at the Logan aquatic center. We had a huge BBQ with over 200 people and then swam and Claire even went on the waterslides with her daddy. No pictures though, oops.

Okay, so maybe it was a Ward party, but still, we can pretend it was all for her.

Friends

I got to hang out with these 2 cool girls and their families a few weeks back. We were the cool D1 farmers and sure had some good times back in the day. And we still have good times! And our kids have fun together so that is nice. Poor Jennifer though, she has to see me more than she would like since we are almost neighbors now. Or close to it. Kind of.




We also had a great time with some of Nate's old roommates last week. We were all great friends and it had been so long since we saw them. It was so fun!!! And of course, someone hauled their Foosball table out and everyone felt like they were in F1 again. Good times, good times. I think Nate is still the reigning champ.

The kids and I visited our old stomping grounds at the Village in SLC. I was a little sad that Dylan couldn't remember hardly anything about it. We created so many memories there and I thought he would remember some things, but not really. Oh well. It was fun to visit Lindsay and Rebeka (the only ones left since we have lived there. So weird!). Sad that I didn't take a picture with them.

But I got Cassie on the swing...

And them playing in the sandbox with Tevin, Dylan's friend when we lived there. Dylan played in this sandbox for hours at a time when he was 2 and he still loves it. I just thought he would remember it, but I guess 3 years is a long time for a little boy...

That's all. I'm tired.

Montana

Alright, so I am going to try and play catch up here as quick as I can. I know I have been a big time slacker with the blog this summer, but what can I say, we have been busy having fun with friends and family!

We spent some time in Montana with my family and it was so fun! I love this place!!!! This may just be my new second home each summer. So much fun just relaxing, boating, wake boarding, knee boarding, fires on the beach, fishing, visiting, eating good food, etc etc etc, and the best part... never having to get ready to go anywhere. Just hanging out the whole time. I love it.

The view from my parents cabin... (so pretty!)

The kids spent so much time riding these coaster cars down the driveway...
(No, not the stroller, the little cars in the background. I have a better picture but can't get it on here!)

Eating the awesome donuts that the Griffeth family made...

Cute cousins...


The awesome cabin...






No close neighbors!!!.....

And the only picture I took on the lake... (Nate doing a 360 on the knee board)

Boating was fun since we were all learning knew things together.

We almost went up again this week since Nate had 5 days off in a row, but decided it was time to get back to real life. And school. I can't believe they start so early here, it has still been 90 degree weather and kids are in school!!! Not cool, not cool at all.

Temple open house

A few weeks ago we met up with my sisters and their families and went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house near Salt Lake. It was neat. Dylan has always had questions about the temple and was very excited to go see it.


We hung around outside for a bit while we waited for Jason to get there and took a few pictures.

Aren't they cute?...

Sisters...

Cousins...

Cassie was so excited when we told her we were going to the temple because she thinks the temple is a castle for princesses. Every time Nate and I go to the temple she asks me if I am going to be a princess, and of course, Nate tells her I am princess. Ahhhhh, isn't that sweet!! Just kidding!!! She recently got some new (new to us, anyway) dresses from her cousin and has been waiting to wear this "princess" dress. She decided the temple (or castle) was just the occasion for it. (even if it was over 100 degrees outside). She loved twirling in it....

And a cute family shot... (even if Nate's belt is missing...)

It was a beautiful temple and I am glad we got to take the kids through it before it gets dedicated. We are so lucky to be surrounded by so many temples.

We ended at Chili's where I had the best chocolate molten cake I have ever had and I can't stop thinking about it!!!!

Hiking

We went hiking a couple of weeks ago and what we wanted to be a 2-3 mile hike ended up being almost 8 miles. The kids did pretty good for such a long hike with so many hills to climb, but we were all happy to be finished at the end. It was long, and my back and feet hurt bad when were done.

Also, I had forgotten how beautiful the mountains were and I feel like I have taken them for granted my whole life. Michigan is so pretty too, but where we lived was so flat and not a hill in sight. So now every time I look out the window I just can't believe how pretty it is! I love the mountains!

The kids wanted a picture on every rock they saw...













Trying to keep up with Dylan. He would be so tired and need a break, so we would stop and within 5 seconds he was bolting off again. Why can't I have that energy?...

Nate never has the camera, except this hike. I guess he got a little camera happy because I found a whole bunch of pictures of this side of me...

The lake at the end of the hike...

I didn't see this happen, but I am guessing Nate is standing out on that log while taking this picture...

What a fun day together!

We're Utahns now

Okay, so sorry for no update in a few weeks. We made it to Utah and things are good! The drive out went pretty good, considering a few episodes of sickness from each child and even a bath in the McDonald's sink.


We stopped in Nauvoo for a few days and that was so neat! I even got to see the Hardy's and visit with them. They are serving a mission in Nauvoo right now and they just love it! They were like my second parents when I was in high school and I am so glad I got to see them!

The first picture is of Carthage jail (in the background). I took this picture and then my batteries died. So this is all I go that day. The jail is in the background and it was a very neat experience to go inside. Notice Dylan with his bucket? He carried that thing everywhere he went on this trip. He was a little worried about barfing again and even though he was feeling better, the bucket still came with us everywhere.

I forgot to take a picture of the Nauvoo temple in the day, so here is a random shot I took while driving by it at night. It was so beautiful, especially the inside. Glad I got to go through it.

We took a wagon ride through the woods to inspiration point and it was really neat. The kids really wanted a picture with the horses, so here we go...

Nauvoo was just a really neat place. I loved it. They had lots of little performance things through out the day and then a big musical called "Sunset by the Mississippi" in the evening. Lots of fun performances for all! It was cute to see all the senior missionaries participate just as much as the young ones.

The "Trail of Hope" was a really neat thing to do. It is a trail where the pioneers walked on their way to cross the Mississippi and there were also plaques along the path with some of their stories written on them. Really neat. You end up at the same spot where they crossed the river after being kicked out of Nauvoo.

And then we made it to Utah. I am so happy to be here! I was so sad to leave Michigan and such wonderful people, but I can't express the amount of joy I feel in being finished with residency! Seriously. And you want to know why? Well, there a number of reasons. Most of which include actually having a husband around to enjoy life with!!!!! I can't believe how much more time I have with him and the time we have to do things together as a family, hence my lack of blogging. I know it won't always be like this, but it has just been right nice. Right nice for sure.

We have spent time boating with Nate's sister and her family. They have been so good to us. And having cousins that want to play and babysit all the time is just fine by me.

Here is Claire at Bear Lake on one of our boating adventures...

We went out again today to Hyrum Lake and had a ton of fun too. I love boating with the family, it's so fun.

On the weekend of the fourth we had Candace and Tanya (my sisters) come up and stay with us. I know our house wasn't quite in entertaining conditions yet, but it was so fun. We went to the parade...

enjoyed some little rides (I love Cassie in this picture. She is in the middle)...

Eat lots of treats and cotton candy...

Getting ready for fireworks...



Laughing at Jason as he tries to be a part of the fireworks show (and yes, we did fireworks at 8:30pm)...

And eating Cafe Rio with the fam. I am so glad they came and we could just visit and enjoy each others company.

Another exciting thing in our life is the purchase of our new mini-van. You can sort of see it in the background of the last picture. We love our Honda Odyssey! The green machine got dumped off at the wreck yard as we pulled out of Saginaw for good. And the sad part is...we only got $200 for it. Our steering wheel in our new van is worth more than that. Seriously people. What is this economy trying to do to us? First our house, then the van.... just kidding.

I have also been spending time with this wonderful girl and her family and enjoying every minute of it. She has waited 7 years for my return to Cache Valley and alas, here I am. And today is also her special day. Happy Birthday Jennifer!

I have more pictures to post of hiking and such, but that can wait until tomorrow. I hope.