Steel Days!

This summer we haven't been very good about going to all the parades and carnivals that each city has here in Utah. But we did make it to American Fork's Steel Days carnival. Josh and I took 5 kids with us to the carnival to eat and ride some rides. The kids were so cute and excited. Isabelle and Elizabeth are now old enough to ride to big kid rides! Elizabeth has no fear and rode with me a scary ride. I have to say I was more scared then she was!

We spent what seemed like forever there but the kids had so much fun and loved every minute of it and they can't wait until the next carnival comes!!

The 4th of July

 The 4th of July was a day full of activities. We started with a balloon toss. The kids were so excited!!!

 They found a small snake in the grass and that poor animal went from kid to kid! Until I finally made them put the thing down and let it go!!!

 After we went swimming with everyone. And had a BBQ! It was yummy and lots of fun.

 That night was firework time!!! Josh and I pick up some fireworks that day and gathered our little family for a show.

It was a fun day that ended with a few sparklers!

Alaskan Cruise

Josh and I just got back from an Alaskan Cruise with the Godfrey's and Jason and Noelle. We had soooo much fun!!! I love spending time with Josh he is my favorite person in the world! It was so pretty up there and weather was not too bad! We saw LOTS of trees and waterfalls! The ship was pretty rocky on the first full day at sea and most of the ship got sea sick. Josh and I did pretty good and spent the day exploring the ship with very few people out and about. It was kinda fun trying to walk around on a ship that made it imposable!  The ports that we stopped at where, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria: Canada. In Alaska once you stopped at one port you have seen it all. I wish that the excursions were not so pricey but we had a lot of fun and loved that we went, but I don't think I need to see it again.  Between the six of us we took about 900 pictures. I have gone through ALL of them and put together a video. It is about 32 mins long!!! I've tried to put it on the blog but I can't get it to work so you all will just have to deal with these pictures!

Kennecott Copper Mine

Last week Heather Anderson had the idea to take all the kids to see the Kennecott Copper Mine. Personally I never heard of it. And after I got over all the looks of "What kind of Utahan are you to not know about this", we were off to the mine! We took 3 cars of kids and followed each other out there. Kennecott is one of the largest copper mines in the world, apparently you can see it from space! This is a picture of all the kids right when we got there.

 This is a giant tire from one of the work vehicles they use to move the dirt.

 They had those binoculars that you pay 0.25 cents to look through so you can see the big hole. All of the kids of course wanted to see through them. Luckily I had just put a bunch of quarters in my purse, and that is how I became a hero, yeah it doesn't take a whole lot for kids!

 And this is what they all got so excited to see...this is the big hole!

Inside the visitor's center we got to learn all about the mine. It was really interesting, but I love that kind of stuff! There was a movie that everyone watched about the mine. I stayed out with the babies and read all the stuff on the walls. The kids got to look at all the different rocks and minerals that come out of the mine.

Afterwards the girls and I hit the gift shop. Nana gave the girls each some money for a souvenir. We are suckers for some good souvenirs! The girls each picked out a pocket knife with Kennecott name on it...I don't know why but they have been abscessed with having a pocket knife! And Elizabeth of course bought a new rock for her collection! I got a set of copper hair clips for the girls, because of course we went to a copper mine you have to get something copper...I have got to work on these girls and the right way to buy a souvenir! But they were happy by the end and we had a fun day at the mine! Now we are just waiting for Heather's next field trip...I can't wait to see where we go next!

Uncle Bryce's Birthday

We celebrated Uncle Bryce's Birthday last night.  The kids were all SO excited that they got a whole carnival and show put together just for Uncle Bryce. But first we ate and of course he had to wear the birthday crown! Bryce is such a good sport that when the girls gave him the crown to put on he just took it and placed it on his head!!!

 After dinner and some lite yard work...that's another story...we all went upstairs for the carnival and show. These are some of the signs that the kids had up for the celebration.

 It started off with a show each of the kids did something. The girls all put on a story telling play of sorts. The boys put on a puppet show and Abby sang "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"...she was so proud of how brave she was!

 After the Shows it was time for games, and yes there were prizes to the winners. Which included massages and getting your nails done!! Josh was being a good sport and played some of the games!

 They had a drawing contest, they had to draw an animal, Josh drew a pooping horse, He didn't win! My mom, Elizabeth and I were the judges and we each picked one winner. My mom picked Deacon, Elizabeth picked CAL and I picked Celeste...There were tears from those who didn't win and so we quickly ended the carnival to go get cake!

Bryce you are a wonderful uncle and a great addition to our family! Happy Birthday!!! Oh and I love the crown on you!!!

Cub Scout Day Camp

Josh and my callings are the Cub Scout Cub Master and the Cub Scout Committee Chair. We organized our Cub Scouts to go to day camp (and I use the word "WE" loosely) and I made Josh go with me. Yes I am smiling while I write this...Josh isn't really that, lets just say excited about all the scout stuff I make him do in his calling. With my calling I make sure that he does his calling, which means I make sure he shows up and does the stuff I have planned for him...yes even with all the work I have to do for this calling I'm still smiling! So he got off work and we were off to Camp Jeremiah Johnson for the morning. Now he has to admit that he had some fun. He was more active in some of the activities then the boys! 

This is him with some of our leaders, watching the flag ceremony!

 He got to shoot the guns!

 He got to walk on stilts!

 Fold Flags!!

 Pan for Gold!!!

He even shot sling shots and supervised the pulling of hand carts, but I didn't document those moments! Yes I'm still smiling...And even though I had the worst allergies and had to go sit in the car by the end it was all worth it to see Josh in ALL of these activities!!! I LOVE THIS MAN!!!!

First Swim of the Season!

For the first swim of the season we had the little Andersen's over for a swim and BBQ. I do love BBQ weather! Not a big fan of the swimming but the BBQ good stuff...this may be why no one ever calls us the little Tippetts...but anyway, the weather was, lets just say less then perfect. The wind was crazy and Enoch apparently has some issues with the wind! But the water was somewhat warm and I think we were all just ready for summer so it didn't matter how cold we were, oh and Josh just got his new underwater toy and wanted to play with it...He got a new underwater camera, so he had the need to take pictures of all of us underwater, of course all of my pictures were of my backside and not entirely flattering...I will blame that one on the underwater adding like 10 pounds! We had a lot of fun and can't wait for the next swimming party! Maybe the weather will be better next time!