FALL FOOTBALL

What a difference a year makes, Jaxson really got into the groove of football this year. After last year, I wasn't so sure he would play again; however we was aggressive and loved handling the ball this season. It wasn't a surprise to see him get a touchdown almost every game. We are so proud of our little athletic boy! I love watching him play the game, whatever it is.

LAKE POWELL

Dan and I got to experience our first trip to Lake Powell this summer! WOW - what a beautiful place it is. I think If I would have been Brigham Young - I would have said Lake Powell is the place!

What made this trip so amazing was the fact that we were with some of our best friends, in addition to having no kids with us. It was pure relaxation for 7 straight days. At first I didn't know what to do with myself, but I soon fell into the groove of laying out, reading, taking a little dip in the lake, and starting all over again.

I think we all gained 5 or more pounds on the trip because everyone made incredible meals, plus the fact that we snacked all day and night. Brad even made of Pina-Coladas! Each couple was in charge of 2 meals, so for the majority of the time we were waited on hand and foot.

The weather was perfect other than the sandstorm we were in Saturday night. It was a monster of a storm, however we didn't realize how bad it was because we were protected in a little cove and the guys anchored us into the beach really well. We waited out the storm inside by playing games.

Over the course of the week, we all tried surfing behind the boat, wake boarding and some of us even got to experience cliff jumping. WHAT A RUSH! The Master Craft boat the Willden's hooked us up with was fantastic. All 12 of us were able to enjoy boating together. The surf board got so much use that it had to be ducked taped together to get us through the entire trip. Ryan and Heidi were crazy enough to get up on the surf board together, they made it look easy; however Rusty and Brad proved that theory to be wrong later in the trip. Chip tried to barefoot ski, boy did it look painful. Brad took a few hard falls on the wake board as well. But the scariest fall Brad took, was when he was setting the timer on the camera to take every ones picture on the beach. He set the camera on the 2 floor of the house boat and then jumped down to the first story, he slipped on the way down crashing on his back on the metal ramp. We were all gasping when he jumped up and ran up the beach to take the picture. It worked well; however after the adrenaline rush was gone, he was in a lot of pain.

The funniest night was when we all played Bear Bear, Moose Moose! Everyone chose to be an animal and the guys were very creative (Chip's flying squirrel and Rusty's unicorn were the hit of the night). If that wasn't enough we played several rounds of Mafia throughout the trip. Night volley ball was interesting with the bats flying around. Melissa was nearly attacked by one, it was hysterical!

Dan and Chip came out one morning wearing short, shorts! They happened to be 1990's Jazz shorts in purple and white. WOW - did they look good flaunting those bad boys around!

Other things on the trip that will be remembered:

1. Brad trying to spear a fish and Rusty actually doing it on his first try.
2. Being invited to play beer pong by the neighbors.
3. Fellow campers blow up doll "DOLLY" being blow away in the sand storm.
4. Watermelon
5. Queen of the O**y Tube
6. Jen out racing Ryan on the tube
7. Carmel Brownies and Bliss Bars
8. Ski boat coming untied from the house boat and almost hitting into the rocks (twice in the same night)
9. Diaper baths - in life jackets
10. Helmet dives off the boat
11. Truth or Dare (Heidi being rejected)
12. Sharing our dreams for the future
13. Stoney saying "That's a good shovel."
14. House boat looking like it was on fire and all the guys racing back to the boat to see if the ladies were OK.
15. Fun friends and forever memories!

COWABUNGA

We celebrated Madison's 11th birthday at Cowabunga Bay! Having a summer birthday, this was actually the first time we had ever done a water party. She was super excited to have her party there, and so was I. I usually put so much time and energy into the kids party, that this was a breeze not having to do anything. I took the day off from work and we played all day.

During the morning we had breakfast with Dan's family and then it was party time! The girls had pizza at the house and each of them were given a beach towel before we left for Cowabunga Bay. Madi and six of her friends had the time of there lives running around the park. We left Reagan with my sister Melissa (For which I am truly gratful) so we wouldn't have to chase her around the park. We rented a cabana and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon soaking in the sun.

We almost had to cancel the party because the day before Madi had a head injury at McKensie's house. The girls were making a fort in the basement and she jumped up and hit her head on the cabinet corner. She bled for at least 30 minutes, her swimsuit was covered in blood and we debated if she needed to get stitches (we probably should have, but after it stopped bleeding we figured she was OK) Looking back at the cut she definitely could of had a few. We worried that having water pour on her head would open the wound, so she had to be extra careful at the park.

Madi also had a stomach ache right before the party and she was on her bed sobbing minutes before the girls arrived. We offered a prayer that she would feel better and gave her some medicine and she was as good as new!

During the party we had cupcakes and ice cream sundaes. Madi received some darling gifts, including some jewelry, purses, watches and gift cards. The girls were darling and had so much fun. I think that was the easiest party I have ever done.

SURPRISE BIRTHDAY

Dan turned 39 this year! I thought in lieu of having an over the hill party next year, we would have a party to celebrate his last year of youth instead! I wanted it to be a surprise so I sent out evite invitations while Dan was traveling for work. I rented the Riverfront Park in South Jordan and the plan was to have a night of boyish fun and games, including ice cream cones.

Overall things went well, I didn't tell the kids because I know they would ruin the surprise. I ordered a massive amount of ice cream from Fendalls so we could celebrate with fantastic flavors of ice cream and pile up the ice cream cones. Only this actually turned out to be a bust. Fendalls told me they would have the ice cream packed in dry ice and that it would stay cold until 9:00 that night; however this isn't exactly what happened. Their ice cream machine broke down, so they had to deliver the ice cream and in the meantime forgot to pack it in dry ice. So when we served the ice cream cones, it was ice cream soup!

Dan and I were a little late getting to the party because when I got home, Dan was in the basement cleaning up a flood in my craft room for the second time this week. Jaxson (our dear Jaxson) left the hose on, pointed directly at the window well. Due to this unforeseen circumstance we were 30 minutes late to our dinner reservation at Market Street. After dinner we discussed going to a movie; however this was all a trick because I knew we would not be going to a movie. As we drove by the park, I had him turn into the park and then he knew. It was fun to see so many of our friends and family there.

I had a pinata for the guys and pinata for the kids. The guys pinata had an entire roll of duck tape on it. However the pinata was no match for Dan and Brad who eventually broke it off the rope. The kids had a fabulous time with their pinata as well.

It was a great evening spending time at the park, the weather was fantastic and the company was too.

DEMOLITION DERBY

Dan and I finally attended our first demolition derby this summer. We took the kids (minus Reagan) and went with the neighborhood! The Demolition Derby was supposed to be in June; however the weather didn't cooperate, so it ended up being in July. What a fun event this is, it was great to be with so many of our friends as well. I think everyone really had a fabulous time watching the cars crash, start on fire and keep going. This may have been our first demolition derby, but definitely not our last!

GRANDMA'S 90TH BIRTHDAY

We celebrated my Grandmas English's 90th birthday over the weekend. She actually turns 90 in January, however my cousin Tammy decided we would throw her a surprise party over the summer because most of the family was in town for the family reunion.

In preparation for the party we all compiled a scrapbook page that talked about our favorite memories of grandma. When I think about what an example she has been to her family and the love she has for each of us, it makes me a little teary eyed.

When grandma came into the party, she was overjoyed and tears came down her cheeks. It was amazing to be a part of it all. She also told us we shouldn't surprise a 90 year old woman, because you don't know what will happen.

We spent the afternoon visiting with family and eating an enormous amount of goodies.

CHIP'S BACKYARD BBQ

What is summer without having a few BBQ's in the back of Melissa and Chip's backyard? Not only does Chip host a great BBQ, but there is tons to do in their back yard. Horse shoes, golf, playground, trampoline, fishing, bumper boats, smores and jumping in the lake to name a few.

This particular night Jaxson decided he wanted in on the fun and wanted to jump in the lake with his uncle Scott. I wasn't going to let him jump in without a life jacket, so we borrowed Cash's. Crazy that Jaxson fits into Cash's life jacket! He had the time of his life swimming around with both Scott and Chip.

Reagan on the other hand had a ball golfing with her cousin Avery. Just look at the smile on her face.

GALLI FAMILY PICTURES

Dan's mom has her 50th High School reunion coming up in August. All of the class men were supposed to put together some information about them and what they are doing now, along with a picture of their family. In order to get a family picture done in a short amount of time, Dan borrowed a tri-top at work and we all went to Murray Park to get our self portraits done with the timer on the camera. We all wore red and white in the spirit of East High School.

I thought the pictures turned out great, plus we were done in less than an hour!

CELEBRATING THE 4th OF JULY

Over the 4th of July, Dan and I decided to take the kids to the Oakley Rodeo. Because the rodeo is in Kamas, we thought it would be fun to stay in Park City as well. We rented a room at the Canyons and had a great time hanging out as a family for a few days.

The Rodeo was awesome, the weather was a little cold, so we all cuddled up in some blankets to stay warm. Fortunately for us, the weather held up and it didn't start to rain until right after the rodeo ended. I think the kids really enjoyed watching the rodeo. My favorite part was the bull riders; however I did scream a few times because some guy nearly got trampled by the bull. Jaxson really enjoyed the stunt clown, he was actually really good and did some amazing tricks on a motorcycle.

The following day was beautiful, so we headed up to the Park City Mountain Resort and rode the Alpine Slide and Coaster. Apparently everyone else had the same idea (I cant believe how long we waited in line, but it was worth it). Later that day we rewarded ourselves with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Dipping Dots. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and went swimming and played Bingo and Ping Pong. To our surprise their was a free firework show and concert at the Canyons that night, so we loaded up the blankets and headed out to the festival. Boy was it crowded! The concert turned out to be a bust; but we met up with my brother Scott and his wife Ali for the fireworks and it was a blast.

On the 4th of July we were invited to our friends house (Summer and Brandon Mooney) for a BBQ, we ended the evening with a firework and glow stick show. The kids loved the glow sticks and I was able to purchase 150 of them at Harmon's for under just $12.00. Their neighbors also put on a firework show for us, in the sky. It was like we were at Sandy City or some other city event, the only thing missing was the music. It was fantastic!

MADI'S 5TH GRADE PLAY

>At the end of the school year the 5th grade put on a production called "The American Dream." Madison was a union solider and had a speaking part in the play. The play was filled with fun patriotic songs, including my favorite "Movin' On Out." It was fun to see her perform with all the neighborhood girls and so many of her friends.