Our Summer Adventures (So Far)

So far, this summer has been busy and time consuming. We are sorry we have been silent in the blogging world for a while, but that is something we hope to work on here in the future. David and I are both working at Timpanogos Cave National Monument for the summer. It is a fun job, but it takes up a lot of our time. So, with our apologies, let us fill you in on a few of the highlights.

Normal summer fun consists of tons of picnics and BBQ's outside. If our kids are not outside they feel like they are being deprived. As a matter of fact, so do I. Maile likes to help out in any way she can. Husking corn is one of her favorites. That is a good thing, because it is one of my least.
Darci has invented a slew of new pets. Her latest is a puppy named Spot, and lion named Betsy, and a newborn baby named Sam, (thanks to Melinda for that one.) She is holding the puppy in this picture and wanted us to take a picture of it. Don't worry if you can't see it because it doesn't exist except in Darci's mind.
Darci took her first swimming class this summer and passed with flying colors. She takes to the water the same way she does most things in life, with very little inhibition. She is often fearless and swimming is no exception. She is registered for another class in a couple of weeks and she can hardly wait.
This is a picture of Darci with Tyler and Zach Bartle. They are the sons of my childhood friend Heidi. She was in the process of moving her family to Colorado from Oregon and decided to stay a little while in Provo. So we got to visit for a little while at the park and the kids got to play. It was a great day and it was fun to see her again. I am glad we have kept in touch all of these years.
Darci and Maile on the toys at Cascade Elementary.


Maile hit the milestone birthday of 2 this month! It is weird to think of having a two-year-old again, but I am pleased to do it. She acts the part well and we rarely have a dull moment between the two of them. Most days are pleasant and sweet. But there are moments where that little temper emerges and when it does...But we'll focus on the positive.
This is Maile's birthday cake at Grandma/Grandpa Johnson's. We did a Smiley Face in honor of our hopes for the coming year in spite of the terrible twos. There were lots of presents and she had a ton of fun.
We also had the chance to attend the Scottish festival at Thanksgiving point. We took a few pictures and even though it was quite hot, managed to have a good time.

This is my Grandma and Grandpa Bean, from the Clan McBean. They came to visit and we enjoyed spending the day with them at the festival.

I ran into Carlene from work and promised her I would make her famous when I posted this darling picture of her on my blog. Doesn't she look gorgeous?
We had Darci's face painted, but sadly it got a little smeared. She still thought it looked great!
And what would a Scottish festival be without the bagpipe serenade. Gotta love any man in a kilt.
This is us on the Fourth of July at a Bees game. We took Darci and had a lot of fun with the family. Darci even watched a little of the game. My baby is growing up.

More fun with the family.
The sad part is that our team lost. But they played tough! Go Bees!
And of coarse no Fourth of July is complete with out a great fireworks show to top it off.
Earlier in the day we swam at Grandpa Birrell's. We had a BBQ and homemade ice cream.
The kids loved swimming in the pool and it was not easy to get them out.
Lucky for us, Grandpa Johnson provides a great diversion.

Our one and perhaps only vacation this summer consisted of a weekend trip to Moab Utah. David and I left the girls with family and took off for the red rocks. We had a lot of fun even if it was short lived.This is David emerging from our tent. We stayed in a small campground located in Moab. It was nice because you had to hike into it, no vehicles aloud. But it was close to the shops and places we needed to be. Good compromise.
We spent time hiking the canyons and playing in the parks.
On Sunday we hiked to delicate arch. There were a ton of people there, but we did manage to get a picture with no people in it for a second. It was a small miracle.
We hooked up with the Johnson's part of the time we were there and had a nice time with them.
We also did a river trip down the Colorado. This is us with our river guide Jon. I think we both decided that we missed our true life callings as river guides. We could have been awesome!
We still had a good time.
And the scenery was fabulous, the weather was mild and the river was running high. It was way fun.
This is us as we were getting started at the pick up point where they fit you with jackets and shuttle us to the river.
This is David with his head shaved. It has already started to grow back, but it took a little getting used to.
David and I sat in the front of the rafts, and therefore we got pretty wet. I was really cold by the time we stopped and kept shaking. The wind was blowing too, and that did not help.
However, overall we had a great time.
This is a nice couple we met from England. Perhaps we will have to work on going there for our next trip. Good times.