A few days in the Garden of Eden ~ 1

"I don't care how poor a man is,

if he has family, he is rich."

~ Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

Hunter, Grant, Ashton, Grace and Cory ~ bug hunters

Tuesday we headed up Ogden Canyon to Eden located in a beautiful, peaceful valley.  We rented a lovely home there . . . there was plenty of room for all of us and we had a great time~

Grandma Sandy brought some "Bug Hotels" and nets, tweezers, etc and the children got busy looking for insects of all kinds. They found quite a few ~ beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders . . . observed them for a while, fed them, then let them go back home.



"Oh, my goodness, what did you find?" Brittany with Hunter, Charlie and Grace

The beauty that surrounded us, beckoned us outside ~ we went on several bike rides and hikes in the area.

Ethan, Joshua and Megan

Cori, Grace and Grant and Jesse

Sandy and Ray

Ashton and Hunter



Grace and Grant getting buckled in

Joshua and Megan

 The new Momma and their babies ~ life couldn't be more beautiful!

Jesse and Eden

Arianne and Nathanial

A Stop at Hill Field Air Force Museum

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." ~Elmer Davis

We thank and honor all those who serve our country now and have served throughout our nation's history~

This is a BIG plane! Hunter, Charlie, Grant, Grace and Ashton

 The Hill Field Air Force Museum is a great place to visit.  It is filled with planes, history, and heroic men and women, who have served our country and fought for our freedom.  We stopped by July 5th on our way up to the cabin.

Hunter and Grace trying out the pilot's chair

 There are some fun, interactive things for the children to do, but Ray and I would also like to go back sometime, when we can stop and watch all the videos, and take time read the history in detail and learn more about the planes.

Grace and Charlie

James, Ashton, Charlie, Grant, Hunter and Cory ~ watching a presentation

Grandma Sandy with Charlie and Nathanial

Presentation of the flag ~ Charlie, Hunter, Grace, Ashton, Grant and Cory

Grant ~ busting out the moves and the museum is a great place to Break Dance!

 

We had a great trip through the museum, but on our way back out to the cars, Charlie accidently ran into the tail of a plane and had a huge gash next to his left eye . . . so we made a dash for the emergency room and four stitches.

 As we were sitting there waiting to be helped, a gentleman sitting next to Charlie in the waiting room told him that he was a mechanic for many years on those airplanes and he had himself bumped into a sharp point and had to have stitches - and he had seen many others do that as well. It made Charlie feel a little better somehow to know even the guys who work on the planes everyday get bumped around a little. 




Celebrating Independence in Westpoint

"Those who won our independence . . . valued liberty as an end and as a means.  They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty." ~ Louise D Brandeis

Danielle, Allyson, Kourtni, Damien and Mason

Westpoint City puts on a truly great 4th of July celebration. The City Council, the Planning Commission, and hundreds of volunteers work together to make a memorable, fun, family oriented celebration. We sincerely thank everyone who worked so hard to put this celebration together - we enjoyed the whole day.

Waiting for the parade to begin - Kourtni, Damien, Charlie, Ally, Danielle, Randy, Brittany and Ray

First, the races at 6:00 a.m. . . . Cori, Jesse, and Ethan ran in the 5k, Ray,Megan (and Joshua, too) and I walked. The weather was just perfect, still slightly cool and a beautiful morning to be out. There were a few in our family who actually placed in their division! We went home and had breakfast, then headed back at 8:30 to see the parade, a few family celebrities were starring in a float!

Clockwise - Allyson, James, Damien and Mason, Grant, Arianne and Nathanial, and Eden



I loved this photo of the kids on the float ~ Ashton, Sydni, Hunter and Grace throwing candy to the crowd

Planning for the Future~Cory, Jacob, Ashton, Sydni, Hunter and Grace

  Our future is in good hands with these great kids~

The best part of the parade ~ cutest kids in the Whole Wide World~ Ashton, Grace, Sydni, Hunter and Grant

Jacob, helping Grandpa Ray polish off the pie from the pie eating contest, Will and Brittany both entered the pizza eating contest and Ray volunteered for the "hot pepper" eating contest

Ray checking out a close one

For the children, there was a climbing wall, bounce houses, slides, booths for face painting, fishing ponds, and a huge play ground.  They had contests of all kinds going throughout the day: limbo, dancing, guessing games, Bingo, and lots of eating contests.  ~ our bunch volunteered for lots of the eating contests . . .

 The guys formed three horse shoe teams ~ Ray and Ethan, Will and Damien  and Cori and Cory and they all played well.  C & C made it to the finals!


Will observing before he plays and Ethan in the pit



Charlie, up top, Grant, Grace and Ashton leading the train of children on the slide

Our 2010 Babies ~ Nathanial, Mason and Eden

Picnic in the Park, before the Fireworks

Grace~flying the flag, Grant~with a pirate's heart and Kourtni~ Madame Butterly

Grant, Cori, Jesse, Grace and Eden

A great day ~ with a fabulous finish