Island Park Weekend ~

We just got back from a fun family weekend. We were all together up at Island Park. These first few pictures were the first afternoon before everyone got there. We walked over to the river to check it out. Notice how Sydni is pointing to the ground. She was finally happy when her daddy set her down in the dirt. She loves dirt and couldn't wait to taste this new kind. 

Here are a few pictures of our afternoon. This one of Rod and Sydni is a favorite, and so is this one of Kristine and Kymber.

 

Here Rod is pointing out the playground.  More pictures of that too.

 

Sweet little Kaden was a real trooper and enjoyed just hanging out with us.

 

The next morning we all got up and went biking/hiking at Herriman State Park. Rod, Kristine, Alex and Trever all went biking and the rest of us took the kids for a walk. Kymber had her little binoculars and loved hiking. Sydni and Kaden fell asleep and just enjoyed the ride. Kristine did a great job keeping up with the guys. I'm so proud of that girl. They don't always choose the easiest trails and she stayed right with them. You go girl!!

Later we went down and let the girls play in the river. Sydni loved being able to get out and play. She almost wore Kristine out. She'd take a break once in a while and go sit by Rod on the bank. Trever was teaching Jennifer how to fly fish. Later Trever and Alex walked down river and fished some more. It's fun having these boys in our family.

So that is a little peek at our trip. We had lots of yummy food, fun games and made lots of memories. Can't wait to do it again.

My Flower Garden ~

I think sometimes flowers are like little kids, you just can't get them to do what you want. Look at my hollyhocks, they just seem to grow anywhere. These are growing out of the compost pile. It kind of hides it I guess, but wish they were on the other side of the fence in the front yard.

And these sweet peas are spreading out about three feet onto the lawn. Every week Kristine carefully mows around them. Aren't they pretty?

And this little petunia came up in the crack in front of the garage door.

I'm not complaining at all. It is just so nice to have summer and flowers instead of snow and cold. So I will enjoy them all, wherever they decide to bloom.

My grandkids ~

Wow, yesterday was a fun and very full day. I got to spend one on one time with each of my little grandkids (also known as babysitting). First came Kaden. He enjoyed sitting in the bouncy chair, drinking his bottle and looking at Gus.

 

Gus liked looking at Kaden too, but got bored with that and just ended up laying down by his bouncy chair.

 

I think Gus will really have fun with Kaden when he grows up a little bit more.

Michelle came to town and I got to watch Kymber while her and Jennifer went shopping with the other kids. They had Michelle's amazing double stroller with Sydni and Kaden and I had time with Kymber. She is such a fun little girl, and she loves to talk, and she loves flowers, and she loves to play games, and she loves Gus. Here are a few pictures of our afternoon.

The pictures aren't the best, I had my iphone camera and funny lighting, but it was so much fun watching these two just totally enjoy being together. She loved feeding him his dinner, and evidently Gus has no food aggression whatsoever. This is a trait that can be passed down, so his puppies should be just like him.

At about 8:30, Michelle picked up Kristine from Mutual and they went to do a shopping errand. It was  time to play with Sydni.  By that time the clothes were off and she was just running around in her diaper. She is a busy little girl, so basically I just ran after her, trying to keep her from getting into trouble. She is so smart and understands a lot and can say a lot of words too so it was fun to spend time with her. Isn't she a cutie.  I love her  big brown eyes.  None of my kids have brown eyes, and she is the only one of the grandkids (so far) that does. It looks like she might be getting her mom's curly hair too.

My girls are both amazing moms, and it is fun to be able to watch these little cuties and give them a little bit of a break. And you know when I watch little grandkids I don't worry about cleaning or laundry or any of those other fun jobs that I usually do, so it works out great for all of us.

Gus ~

It's been so long since I've put up pictures of Gus. He has really grown. He is 10 months old now and probably full grown. I caught him being naughty and sleeping up on the couch this morning, so I took a few pictures before I sent him out to the backyard.

More from SU! Convention ~

It was such a treat to get to get to go to the Stampin' Up! Convention this year. Rod and I went together and enjoyed a little vacation from the everyday routine. He enjoyed biking in Park City and the canyons around Salt Lake City while I was at convention during the day. In the evenings we met up for dinner and sightseeing around the city. Here are a few more pictures from Convention.

This is a tote bag we were able to buy. Love it! It matches my craft room and I have it filled with my basic supplies on my desk, so I can just grab it and go crafting. And there is a matching laptop bag that makes a perfect bag for church.

I loved this display of the new Brights Collection of Stampin' Pads. Aren't these colors gorgeous?

 

This is a picture of me and Becky Roberts. She is a demonstrator from Boise who has a fun, creative blog that I love to read. The orange bag that you see everyone carrying is the bag that each one of us got for attending convention. Yes, I have lots of new bags, but a girl can never have too many cute bags!

 

One of the new products they introduced this year was fabric that matches the Designer Series Papers. There are two collections. Here are a few of the samples they had on display.

And I had to get a picture of this beautiful necklace that Shelli was wearing in one of the general sessions. It is a Simply Adorned Charm with some of the new additions from the Holiday Mini. Love it!