4th of July at Bear Lake...contd...

So some of the pictures in the slide show below deserve highlighting. So my family is awesome. We have the greatest times together and we truly enjoy each other's company. So below are some pictures of the ACORD SUMMER GAMES. And...just so we are clear, the winners cheated. (I love that no one can change my blog and I have the last say in the matter, at least on here anyway. If any of my family members try to comment on their "winner or loser" status, please ignore them. :)

Stars vs. Stripes- as you can see, my team is holding up the "C" sign for the cheaters in the other picture. Oh yeah, you know who you are.

Anyway, we had a blast and big thanks goes out to my brother Brian who created, orchestrated, organized, corralled, and put together all the games, trivia and tasks for the 50+ people. It was a HUGE undertaking and he still does it every year. A-MAZE-ING.

This....is a sand turkey. Yep, SAND. Cindy and Kent have done this for the last few years and it is the best turkey EVER. They dig a huge pit in the sand and put the quadruple foil wrapped turkeys (This year they had to bring 3 LARGE turkeys for all of us) into the sand and the make a fire over the tops of them and they cook ALL day. Until our mouths are literally watering. They are delicious...as in, animals are coming out of the lake just to smell them- yep they are that good. A big shout out goes to my sister (who never reads this :)- and her family for putting this together every year- it is a lot of work and we all really appreciate it.

This is my cute little ray of sunshine in an outfit that my MOM, yes, my mom, wore when she was little for a dance performance. (I love that Sawyer left his underwear on in this outfit...I guess he thought it was too girly without the spider man boxer briefs.) I also wore it in the Days of '47 Parade when I was 7 and she brings it every year for one of the littles to wear it and show their patriotism. Sage is also wearing an outfit that was my moms when she was young. Who knew dressing up could be fun at the cabin too....? Grandma, that's who.

This...is "Sasha". Or SHASHSHA, as Thatcher calls her. Judy is taking care of her grand-puppy until Justin gets settled in Texas and Thatch just loves her. She is soooooo good with him. He pets her little beard and she just loves him. She will play tug with everyone and she really pulls you down, but not Thatch, she barely puts her mouth on the toy when he has a hold of it. She just knows that he is a baby and she should be careful. And at 2, you would think he would swat at her or push her or something, but he doesn't. He is as soft with her as I am with a newborn baby. Its so cute to watch them together.

And these, these are the Hall of Fame Winners for the holiday. I am a little prejudiced and picked ones with just my family in them, but they are really good.

Dakota and I talking about girls, junior high, and soccer. I love these times on the beach. My kids personalities are stripped down to their origin and they are so real and truthful with themselves. I am grateful for these talks with my boys. Dakota is a great help with all the kids. He takes such good care of Thatch and is always attentive to his needs.

This is Dallas. My little surfer boy. He loves the X games kind of sports. He loves the tube behind the boat and the scurfers on the tide pools, loves the four wheelers and the motorbikes. He is all boy and he is a joy to have around. He works so hard and makes it possible for us to get packed up and get to the lake to begin with.
This is my numero uno favorite picture. Sawyer is such a doll, to get to know him is to love him. His dimples are delicious! He is in his element on the beach and can play for hours without even checking in. He also loves the boat and the tubes that go behind it. He is a wild man when he is on the water. What a cutie!


Here is Ryan and I watching fireworks. No, I don't have any make up on. (no make-up is a requirement at the cabin, self inflicted) And NO- the cabin isn't on fire, it just looks that way because of the fireworks. It is kind of funny that we are sitting on the porch all smiles and the cabin is burning down from the inside out! Ahhhh!

This is the "kid" picture. Some of them are adults but they have to be in it anyway. I love this annual picture, I think it is so much fun to see how full the steps are every year. This year, as you can see, we have added a "great grandchild" to the mix. It gets bigger and bigger! Keep the LOVE comin'!

4th of July at Bear Lake!

Happy Birthday Judy!

Judy's 60th birthday!

Seriously, do we look related, or what? For those of you that don't know me very well, my aunt Judy and i are very close. When I was younger I watched her boys for the summer while she was at work, when I was a preteen for years she took me to Disneyland every UEA weekend with her and Justin and Spencer to we could all ride the rides. We had some seriously fun times. When we went to Japan to pick up my brother from his mission, she went with us and we still laugh about dinners in the emperors room. So this birthday was special, 60! WOW! She doesn't look 60! So, because I am broke, and more sentimental than materialistic, I did something I have wanted to do for a long time. I went to my grandparents house, the one they built and the one she grew up in, and asked the sweet lady that lived there, if I could dig up some of my Grandma's prize winning iris's. (I know....gutsy of me) She was so understanding and was happy to let me have some. So I packaged them up and decorated a paint can for her and gave some of them to her for her birthday. Now she can plant them in her yard, or at the cabin and always have them watching over her. I know...I know....what can I say, I am sentimental.

Here she is holding the cute little cuppie cakes that I made her. I made them purple and red in honor of the "Red Hat Club".

Here is another picture of them. I have to say, the candy coated ones are a little too sweet for me. I like the chocolate covered ones better. Who knows? Maybe you will get some for your birthday!?

Cindy was gracious enough to have a girls party for Judy at her house. We had BBQ'd salmon and delicious salads and desserts. We sat out on the patio and had a great time talking and pointing and laughing at each other. It is what we do best!

My Maid of Honour...

I had the pleasure of having my friends Janie and Bup over for a BBQ this summer. I have felt so out of touch with people these past few years. It was nice to catch up. Janie went to South Africa this past Fall on a church mission and helped a small village with whatever she could. Going to Africa or South Africa is on my bucket list. How I would love to take my kids to a third world country and show them what the rest of the world is like. Maybe one day. But for now, I will try to do my part making my world a better place.

My little track stars!

My little track star! This Summer we signed up for track. last year Sawyer "raced" with Rylee at her club meet and loved it so we signed all of them up this year. We had so much fun! I LOVED watching them run and try something new. Sawyer, bless his heart, loved racing and at the very last race he came in second to last. As he was sitting there next to me watching Dallas' race, I asked him what was wrong and he said; "Nothing, I am just really proud of myself." I thought I was going to cry. I want to live in his world and be proud of myself for coming in second to last. He is such a sweet boy, always smiling up at the crowd and sometimes waving at us while he was racing. He is the sweetest boy I have ever met. Still rough around the edges and all boy, but with the personality that never stops. I just love him to pieces. Sawyer ran the 50 meter, the 100 meter, and sometimes the 200 meter.

Rylee! She is awesome! She really is...she never lost a race all year! She has the body of a runner, the style and the grace. She is a real beauty, inside and out. She won a million blue ribbons!

Taylor, look what a great body she has. Tall, thin and FAST! This was her first year running and she was incredible! It was great hanging out with Chuck and Michelle. Taylor is a sweet girl, just like her momma!

This is one of my favorite pictures. Dallas is running his heart out and Dakota is running along side him cheering him on. Telling him to push harder, telling him he can do it. Giving him encouragement, wait a minute? My boys are giving each other encouragement? What? Did I just witness that? Huh....I guess it does happen. They are at that age where I never hear them be nice to each other, maybe I should frame this and put it up in the kitchen....just to remind them that they really can be nice to each other.

Dallas did a great job this year as well. This race was the 400 meter. I was so impressed that he raced in the 400 and the 800. He also ran the 100 meter and did the high jump. He is a really good runner and I loved watching them every second.
Dallas running in the 800 meter, yes folks, that's twice around the track. What great form he has!

Dakota and the hurdles....look how high he gets! Phenomenal! The first track meet we went to he said he was going to run the 100 meter hurdles and I was shocked. I was supportive but secretly I was worried he would fall, Lord knows I would! I would fall flat on my face! But he didn't, not even one time. He raced the hurdles in every meet and came in at the front of the pack every time! So much fun to watch! He also ran the 400 meter relay with his friend Benny and the 200 meter.

OK, so seriously...this is one of my favorite pictures this summer. Not just because Thatch really was racing them all, but because of the looks on the other kids faces behind him. They genuinely think he is the cutest thing ever. Even with his CraZy hair! How I love this summer, how I love spending time with all these kids, so happy!

Slip and Slide!

Thatch and Dakota sunbathing.

Sawyer just doesnt understand why he cant slide as fast as the other boys....maybe it is because he doesnt start to slide until the last 4 inches of the slip and slide....

Dallas can really get going...

Why is it that every picture I have of Dakota his mouth is open? You gotta love this slip and slide thing....that is some cheap entertainment right there!

Memorial Day at the lake!

Sawyer and Kennedie

Lisa and Me

Ashley, Me an Lisa eating better than sex cake...errrr "Recess" cake.

Lisa slicing up the dessert!

Thatch on the beach...what a face!

Sawyer and his favorite hat! I finally bought him another one that isn't made of wool...hopefully he will wear that the rest of the Summer.

SO this was Memorial at Bear Lake! We had so much fun! It was great having Lisa and the kids up! I have lots more pictures of Bear Lake to blog so "bear" with me!