Summer Games

Swimming in our new inflatable pool in the backyard. The girls were in heaven

Chalk Art Festival

We went to the Gateway's sidewalk chalk art festival sponsered by Utah Foster Care. In this photo Emily is attempting to hook her two straws together. It didn't work so well, but what's impressive is that she just thought of that on her own.

This drawing is one of 50+ entries- all of them really good! Some artists spend 8+ hours on their square.


The kids got their hair spray painted green and blue. I thought it was funny, but they didn't seem to care too much.

The girls definitely did not love the water feature at the Gateway. It's the kind where there are little holes on the ground where water shoots upward at unexpected times. Emily lasted 3 minutes, Ashley 3 seconds.


Happy Father's Day Bryan! The kids sang to him in sacrament, he got lots of treats and yummy breakfast and dinner. He also got tickets to John Mayer concert in July. Best presents were no diaper changes all day and a long afternoon nap. With those perks I think I'm ready for another Mother's Day.
Here they are opening a new book from the girls, "Daddy's Toolbox." There are tool shaped pieces that you can take out and use. Each page has something that is 'broken' you get to fix. Genius idea for a cute yet manly book!

Fun Farm Day

Old Austinites met up and went to Utah's Wheeler Farm. The weather was good and the kids had a great time. We all enjoyed feeding the numerous ducks and geese, taking a hay ride and eating lots of snacks. We went out to lunch afterwards and loved catching up with friends. From left to right: Maegan, Emily 3, Ashley 2; Ocean 3, Jaime, Eden 15mons; Caleb 3, Julie, Taylor 11 months. The 3 year olds were all born in the same hospital within 4 months of each other.

Joyschool Graduation

Carolyn's house Wednesday, May 28th. "They Wanted Me" is another cheesy Joyschool song but the message is a good one. I think Emily is singing as she twirls and she has a grand finish.

Carlie Got Married

My little sister Carlie got married to her high school sweetheart Kade Rapier on Saturday May 24th. They got married in the Mesa Arizona Temple and they were so in love! That was the first time Bryan and I had been back to there, the same place we got married 6 years ago. We were definitely enjoying the feelings of love all weekend.

We drove down on Thursday and stayed with my cousin Celeste. Friday we went to the temple with Carlie for her first time and afterwards attended a family dinner.

Saturday morning it rained just enough to cool things off and they had perfect weather for the day.
The reception was in Tucson at a country club and was a nice evening. The Rapier family put on a play telling the love story of Carlie and Kade at the reception which made for an entertaining night.


Monday we safely drove home 14 hours and took my mom Holly back home to Utah with us. She gets to stay with us for two weeks and play!

I believe there are angels among us

Last weekend we took a trip to Fort Collins, Colorado for Bryan's cousin Kristen's wedding. We left Friday the 9th around 11am and expected to get in about 8pm. Five miles east of Evanston, Wyoming we got in a wreck on the freeway. I was driving and came up on a hail storm. I was driving in the right lane in cruise control at 75 mph and slide off the road hydro-planing, headed for the middle. What happened next was the longest 10 seconds of my and Bryan's life. We spun counter clockwise, crossed a lane of traffic and the passenger-side back door smashed a metal reflector pole. We finished our crash with our back right side of the car hitting the metal barrier separating the two directions of traffic. AND WE ARE ALL OKAY! We were saved by 8 feet of thick sand off the side of the road and some tough guardian angels. We were able to drive away from our 75 mph wreck with no injuries and minor car damage. Can you even believe it? Bryan started screaming as soon as we started spinning and I started screaming when I realized that the brakes weren't working, but the girls were fine until it was all over. Emily was so excited for our trip that when she realized our car was facing the wrong way after the crash she started bawling because we weren't going the right way to Colorado anymore. We drove back into Evanston and got our the car's alignment fixed, got two tires and we were on our way.
On Saturday while we were waiting between the luncheon and reception we all went to Denver's Aquarium. Emily thought it was neat and the grownups were amazed, but Ashley hated it. Here are our fishy faces-

May Days

Bryan's step-aunt Ann Hanks got married at Bountiful Temple on Friday May 2nd. Bryan, Spencer and their dad went up to the sealing and the girls and I were planning on going up after for the pictures. We were in the car one minute all dressed nice when Ashley threw-up. Needless to say we didn't go to the temple then but Emily felt fine and was so sad she couldn't go, Bryan took her on a separate trip after they came home. Emily and her daddy walked around the house of God for 40 minutes and she loved every minute of it. She was pretty reverent and at one point she stopped Bryan and said, "Daddy, I can feel the Holy Ghost!" She loved the temple so much she just stopped and laid down in a sunny spot for a while. She was very sad she couldn't go all the way in but she loved what she could see. Definite highlight for both she and Bryan.

Ashley having a cracker snack one night. She looks so grown up these days! The sweater is her new favorite thing to wear over her jammies to bed.




This is a Joyschool field trip to the fire station. The kids loved to sit in the captain's seat- the most important seat. Emily liked firefighter Keri a lot.