Visiting with the Sondereggers

We left Ogden and headed south to visit our friends!! We stayed at the Sonderegger home for a few days and had so much fun!!! It was good to be with my sister friend again and be with her family! We had fun visiting and it is such a treat just being with their family. They all get along and enjoy being together! We played some games that were different, but a lot of fun!

This was a game where you had to lift a leg, bend over with out using you hands for support and then pick up the bag with your mouth!! Slowly inches were taken off the bag and the goal was to be the last one still able to grab the bag without falling. I was out the first round, but everyone else did great. Lora and I laughed because she was afraid of injuring her ankle and I was afraid of knocking out my teeth - ahhh the joys of getting older!!!!

Lora giving it a try!

Michael also taught them a fun game called "Ninja". I wasn't there when the rules were explained, but the kids had a great time playing it!! There was a lot of laughter!!

I wish that I would have taken more pictures of all the fun events and yummy food that Lora made!! Thanks Kelly for sharing your family on Father's Day!!

Cute little Katie!!!

My sister was blessed with 3 wonderful boys and then she was finally blessed with a daughter. She is loved by her brothers!! Here are some of the many faces of Katie!!

We love you Katie!!!

Hot Tub

My sister Kathy has a hot tub and the children had fun playing in it! It seem like most of summer - we are wet!!!

It was fun for me to see that not only do girls come up with crazy hairstyles, but that boys also come up with some crazy doos!

I guess you don't love the Mohawk Tyler!!!

Tiana is thinking it is all so much fun!!!

"What were you thinking????"

It was a beautiful morning and Tiana, Max and Ryan decided to go out and jump on the trampoline! I could hear squeals of delight so I went out to check it out! This is what I found!!

Don't you just love the pure delight on Ryan's face? I yelled, "What are you thinking??? Now your pajamas are soaked!!" Then I went inside to grab my camera. I came back outside to find Ryan with his head hanging low and he was starting to put the hose back. I asked why he was doing that and said I wanted to get a picture of it!! I then hear Tiana say, "I told you she was joking and that she's not really mad!" So he willingly started squirting again!!

So much fun to jump in the water!

I love seeing them so happy and having sooo much fun!

So, what do you do when someone squirts you?? You get them back!!!

And, if that's not enough, what do you do??? Why, what else, you squirt the neighbors!!! Ah, the joys of summer and being young!!

The Bennion Rock Museum

My grandfather, Burvidge Bennion, was a rock collector! He would go on rock trips, spend hours cleaning and polishing and participating in rock shows. Over the years his children have displayed and loved his rocks. When my mom moved to Ogden, many of the rocks were put into storage. We brought over a few boxes and we had so much fun looking at them with grandma! It was fun to hear the ohhhhs and ahhhhhs as each rock was pulled out. The kids decided that they were all beautiful and that they should be enjoyed by everyone! I left the room for a little while and came back to them all working together in designing, " The Bennion Rock Museum." It was so fun to watch them design the outside and inside of the building. They decided that they wanted to sell rock candy, have a rock dig for children and of course, display the rocks. I felt my grandpa with me that day and knew that he was delighted to see his great grandchildren having so much together and admiring his collection! This was one of the favorite moments of my trip. It was also fun to see the joy on my mom's face!

Pulling them out of the boxes and enjoying each rock!

Tyler starting to organize!

Maxwell loving every second!

Larisa enjoying each one!What??? Tyler and Tiana goofing around?? Never!!The start of a display!They really are beautiful!!Tiana named this rock Stormy. When you hold it up to the light, it looks like there is a storm in the middle of the rock. Tiana LOVES this rock and asked grandma if she could have it for her birthday! She let her have it - thanks mom!!! She also let each child pick out a small bag of rocks.Tiana with another really cool crystal!!

Our Trip to Utah!!

I was able to find a great deal on plane tickets to Utah, so the girls and I headed out for two weeks. We left on June 15th and returned on July 1st! We missed Chris on our trip but he was unable to get the time off. Basically, we took two vacations back to back and spent a week with family and a week back in our old home town visiting with friends! One of the first stops was to see my mom! My mom lives right next to the temple, isn't her view beautiful???? It was so good to see her and we stayed in apartment a couple of different nights. Where ever my mom lives she brings such an amazing spirit!! How was I so blessed to have her as a mother? It was so nice to wake up early and just walk across the street and visit the temple! I was able to do a session in less time than it takes to drive one way where I live!!

You can see her bedroom railing and see how close she really is to the temple!

The brick building in between is a church museum, that shares the same lot as the temple.

My Friend Rachel

My life has been blessed by having so many great friends. My friends Lora and I are so close that we really call each other sisters. I am sure my real sisters would not mind because all it would take is a day with Lora and they would want to add her to our family too! I also love and adore the entire family. Well, her daughter, Rachel, just entered a music contest and I thought I would post a link to it. Check it out and vote for her if you can!!

http://music.mormontimes.com/contest.php?id=3563&nocache=1

She is very gifted and I love her voice and composition. I thought I would also tell you a little bit more about her. She is a a very kind person, I have never heard her say one unkind thing! She is beautiful, but acts like she is the same as everyone else. She was Prom queen AND homecoming queen and tried to give her crown away when a girls said that she loved her crown!!! When I make a comment to her about any success she has had, she just looks at me and says, "Val, come on Val - that's enough" or just graciously says thanks and finds something to compliment me on! She lives so close to the spirit and you can tell it by the way she lives! I love you Rach and best of luck in this competition!!

They're Great!!!!!!

We were able to be a part of the Worlds Largest Breakfast table this year! It was a lot of fun, and it is always good to get a free breakfast!!! Larisa brought her friend Hannah with us! They have been having this breakfast for 150 years now! Here are some pictures of the fun day!

Hey! It's Toucan Sam!

This sign cracked us up!!!! Advertising has come a long way through the the years!! Look at all of the bowls of cereal!!! How do you ever choose which one??

Larisa and Hannah being silly!

They're Great!!!!

Yea!! A coupon for a free taco!!!
Got Milk?

Meeting the Sugar Bear!
Our Cutie!
Looking at the train open house!
Larisa and Hannah being Silly again!!Milking the cow! Tiana said, "Man that was scary - I was right under the cows bum!!"
We had to take a picture here - Hannah's dad is serving in Iraq!

Growing Up!

I know that my girls have been growing up more everyday, but I believe I finally have a teenager in my home. Of course, I knew that when I had to purchase new wardrobes at least twice a year for my ever growing girls, that changes were coming!! But, somehow I still felt that they would always stay my little baby girls! Larisa is almost 13, but is definitely already a teen!!! It used to be that I could go to the store and pick out something I thought was cute and she would think it was too! Well, she definitely has her own style now and likes to pick it out by herself. I am catching on to her style now and I can pick out things that she would like instead of the things I think are cute! She has been wearing shoes that are falling apart or are a couple sizes too small. So, it was time to go a buy her some church shoes. I sent Chris over to the shoe department with her and he came back and said she has her own ideas, you might want to go and help. We found these shoes, aren't they cute!!

But wait, look at these massive heels!!!! She is sure that she won't trip or break anything! We made her walk all around the store to see if she looked steady. She passed the test and was soooo excited to get them. She loved that they made her so much taller than her mother!! I can't say I express the same joy! They make her about 5'8" - isn't that crazy????

The school year ended with lot of emails, IM's, and gabbing on the phone! What happened to my little girl!!! It is fun to have her come home and hear about the adventures of the day! It's not as fun to hear that I am not perfect! (I thought she would always be blinded to that) She is such a Sweet beautiful teenager and I look forward to the next few years, but what happened to my little girl!!!

Lora's Request

I was talking to my friend Lora the other day and I was telling her how much I loved that the ground cover on my front path was in full purple bloom. She wanted to see what it looked like, and asked me to post it. I wish it woulds stay purple!

This is the view from my bedroom - I love!!!!!! this time of year!