Month: September 2011

Somehow each morning, a different child woke up early on vacation! (each of the 4 days, it was a different kid!:) )

This allowed for enjoying some beautiful sunrises over the lake,

as well as a few potty trips in jammies and galoshes. 🙂

One of the things I was most excited about staying here, was the opportunity to rent a paddle boat. I thought the boys would really enjoy doing it. They had a good time, and even thought I wanted to get the pink sparkly boat, I was okay when the boys said it was too girly 🙂 We settled on the gold one.




Love these shots of my sweetie.


We got a good work out paddling around the lake, it’s a good thing we went in the cool of the morning!

Lorelei was too little to go on, so we took turns paddling the boys around the lake, while the she took a quick cat nap, and then smiled for some pics.

This was a beautiful spot on the beach, and we had a little snack and might have laughed a little too. 🙂

Then back to the cabin for naps for the littles (Elliot’s asleep on the bottom bunk)

and Toph and the big boys headed down to the lake to do some swimming and Sand Castle building. Lorelei, Elliot and I arrived about 2 hours later to see their accomplishments and join in the fun.







Lorelei really wanted to eat the sand…

That night was yummy, yummy tinfoil dinners. Love those.


Toph did a fantastic job planning the menu, and I do believe I gain 10 pounds this trip!

Later, I introduced our big boys to the fine art of card stacking.





And started an addiction!
And then we enjoyed some RAW indoor s’mores.

Marshmallows and cookies. 🙂

Pallisade State Park did not disappoint. It was the perfect location for ‘camping’ with little kids, and active boys!

Our Cabin had 4 beds (2 Queens and 2 fulls) bunk beds. It was not huge, but plenty big for us! There was a fridge, microwave and a little counter area. Outside there was running water and a BBQ area. And while we were there mid week, it was not too busy at all.

We ate our meals inside around our little square table,

as well as many outside around the picnic table or the front steps. (Of course Truman made sure Watermelon was on the menu! 🙂 )

Elliot wasn’t feeling great this day, and took a HUGE nap. So Toph, Tuck and the boys went to church and Lorelei, Elliot and I stayed at the cabin and got settled.

When they returned, we went on a little walk to explore the area, look for bugs, throw rocks in the lake, and enjoy Heavenly Father’s creations.

We played Tuck’s new ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ card game,

Caught a bug, (Which is the same type of bug Toph used to catch when he was little, I think he decided it’s name was a Jerusalem Cricket)

Then back to the Manti Temple to walk around the temple grounds, and take a few pictures (but my camera battery died! DRAT! so only a few)

And Elliot wasn’t feeling the greatest still,

So the brothers decided if you can’t beat ’em, join him!

What cute kids.

It took us a day to get our car loaded, driving to Manti, then checked into our ‘cabin’, groceries bought, and then off to the Manti pageant we went.



We had great seats

at the base of the temple,

and Tucker throughly enjoyed the pageant! (All the other kids fell asleep, and we had to carry them back to the car, plus all our stuff!)

It was a busy day getting ready and getting there, but after spending time at the base of this temple, I have a new favorite temple. It’s just so beautiful the way it is nestled into the mountain…
could there be a better way to start a vacation? I don’t think so!

Library Class, this year was based on traveling around the world thru reading.



We learned about the different countries and customs around the world. It was another great summer, and we all had a great time!

On the last week we went to the Hawaiian Shack around the Corner to Celebrate, and to cool off!



All three of the kids ordered RED hawaiian snow.
Watermelon for Truman

Tigers blood for Tucker

And I can’t remember what Elliot had! …but it was red! 🙂

And Lorelei enjoyed the ice…

Then off home we went to enjoy our newly checked out books.

The last day of the Strawberry Celebration! 🙂 It had been a very busy week, we started out early that morning.

Truman was in the parade with our Neighbor to promote a preschool (ironically they were worried about having preschoolers on the float, for fear of them falling out! 🙂 )

He was excited to be in the parade!

Lorelei and I got to be in the parade, on the beautiful baby contest float… (which was actually a truck)

I was concerned about being on the float for so long,




but she loved all the people, I think she is going to be a people watcher when she grows up! 🙂

Grandma and Grandpa Phillips drove down from Logan to see Ms. Lorelei.




And Toph had to come to the parade, (he HATES parades), and we were grateful he came. Although I think we should have gone with the suggestion of your friends and neighbors who thought Toph should ride with Lorelei on the float. 🙂

Tuck and Eli enjoyed watching the parade with Toph, and Grandma and Grandpa.

I love summer time parades! And this one will go down as EPIC in my book.

A fun day of free carnival fun…

Lots of fun games.

Doughnut walks.

And a worn out little girl.

the kids were AWESOME at staying close to me, as there were MANY, MANY, MANY people there. But I still do have 4 kids, and I did feel like it was a constant counting game to make sure I was not missing anyone. So it was a fun time, but I was worn out by the end! And that’s also why there is the lack of pics! 🙂

Well, it is still happening, these kids keep getting bigger!

This is the year– where the boys went from being content with the cute little kiddie rides to wanting to be on ALL the big scary rides. It was an exciting year for them.

We did a few rides together,

Strawberries and Cream? Yes, please, that’s MANDATORY 🙂 Toph’s favorite time of the year!

Then because we had a time crunch that evening (I had to be to Young Women’s) we had to divide and conquer, me with the Camera, Elliot and a happy, overwhelmed Lorelei. AND Toph was off with Tuck and Tru, and the scary rides 🙂

So, Elliot and the Kiddie Rides:

And I did catch this video: Toph, Tuck, Tru on the ‘big kid’ rides.

Until Next Year….

This funny, funny tradition. And every year I always wonder if we’ll go back…But we always do..

And the boys love being in the parade, along with MANY other children.

And every year, I always giggle, because there is more kids/people walking down the road-‘in the parade’ than actually watching the parade.

But the kids have yet to notice. They’re just so excited about being in it! The even decorated their scooters this year.

At the end of the route, we always enjoy a popsicle and a ticket for a free ride at the carnival.

I thought it would be fun to enter Lorelei in our community Beautiful Baby Contest for Strawberry Days.

I put together this cute outfit the morning of the contest, and headed off, hoping to get a moment to stop in-between the few things we already had planned for the day.

We got there just in time, and waited in line, with the million other DARLING babies.

Said hello to the judges, showed them how she loved it when we’d sing the song, and then we oohed and awed over the other cute babies, and off we went.

We returned later that day, after all the judging had taken place to our surprise it was announced…

Lorelei Phillips winner of the 3-6 months Strawberry Days Baby!
(Uh, horrible picture! I only had my phone, and had only a moment to get a pic!)

She got a trophy, a gift certificate to Walmart, baby toys, certificate and a seat in the Parade.

As you can see the trophy is almost as big as her.

And she’s’ got her own little cheering section

How fun to have a little girl around these parts!

We love you so much sister!

A movie By Truman.

Fun to see this video.. as I watch it I see, a few things that perfectly represent our summer:

Truman trying to convince Elliot to say or doing something.
Elliot and Truman wanting to be with/next to/on top of Lorelei.
Toph home in the evening, checking his email/facebook while cuddling Lorelei, and I finishing cooking dinner.
The umbrella on the patio was down, and the patio furniture was a mess ( I spent a good 27 hours of my life this summer putting that stupid umbrella back up!) and being grateful for the extra living space out there. It really did become a main area of living for us.
Tucker is off in the front room, reading a book. He’s such a little bookie worm.
Truman being really, really excited about summer time, and how I love his sweet voice and laugh.
And the way Elliot and Truman interact with each other.