Thank You Pioneers!

Us Utahn's are pretty darn passionant about our Pioneer history. Thanks to them, we have this beautiful state, with a MAGNIFICENT history of the Mormon Pioneers, which we are quite proud to be apart of. We took full liberty in some of the fun, free activities in our community. Like......a foam spray. I mean, who doesn't want to get sprayed by foam?

She was a little hesitant at first.




They also had bounce houses, free watermelon, train rides, balloon animals, and lots, lots more. I forgot the camera for those things.


That evening we headed over to my parents house for a bbq, some pioneer games, water fun, and fireworks.









Happy 24th of July!

These are a few of my favorite things

Painting random rocks with the kids. (Hannah loves this activity)


Arranging Dead flowers from our garden. (They may not look dead, but they are. We enjoyed looking at them none the less. Again, this was Hannah's idea.)


Dutch Oven Cooking - In the Mountains!
Exploring


Getting filthy!

Climging Rocks

We nearly licked the bowl clean. So yummy!

Little side note. The following video is of Hannah singing a song I sing to the kids a lot before they fall asleep. One night, Hannah started singing it to me. I didn't know that she knew it all by herself. Deffinately, one of my favorite things!

These are the words to the song:
I have a family here on earth. They are so good to me. I want to share my life with them through all eternity. Families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan. I always want to be with my own family. And the Lord has shown me how I can. The Lord has shown me how I can.

And lastly, we took a drive up the Alpine Loop. Aaron had never done it before. The Alpine Loop is a beautiful, scenic drive up one canyon and then you come down another. This just happens to be favorite because I love Sundance! Sundance is where Robert Redford lives and he's made a beautiful little retreat up there. It is where Aaron and I had our engagement pictures taken SEVEN years ago! Seems like yesterday really.

This is a little abandoned outdoor theater. The kids had a ball running around on this thing.

I love everything about this place.


This pond was full or trout.


Happy Times!

Rollins Family Reunion

Don't you just love the summer? I love the holidays, the bbq's, the family reunions. I loved going to my moms side, family reunions when I was little. It's so fun to see my kids loving it now.

We went on a fun little nature hike.





There was a fun little playground area.




We played all kinds of fun/hard games. This is not as easy as it may look, which you can tell by some of the "serious" concentration. Three of the cans are full and three are empty. You have to make a straight line and then take three off and put them on the bottom without letting them fall. I'll have you know I did it on my first try! Ha! (aaron got it the second time around. tee-hee)





I wonder sometimes, if the kids know just how lucky they are to have such a great daddy!


This was a true mountain mans bath. Obviously, I was not in it! :o)

And of course, we hung out with cousins.
Me, Kari, and Susan

Hannah and Ella

There is Beauty all Around...

...When there's Love at Home! (ha! Just had to put that in). Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the mountains? Well...I do. And so do my kids. We had so much fun playing in this little reservoir and enjoyed all the beauty surrounding us. The pictures are plentiful!

Breathtaking Views



Nathan and his buddy Brett...sliding down the dirt. Lovely!

Great shot of Brett I think



It was a good thing the kids had life jackets on since both Nathan and Abby fell in.

Here he is recounting exactly what happened when he fell. He was shook up a bit.

We loved sharing our little part of the lake with this Mama Duck and her babies.

Hannah was so happy to share her food with them. They were happy too!




Friendly little squirrel. Actually, he just wanted our food, but we were thrilled to see him so close.


Abby is just as daring in the water as her older brother and sister. Scares me to death!



I'm the first to admit it, but I am a total wimp in cold water. But I did venture out this time. Had to pull one for the kids since their dad wasn't there.

And what would we be without a boat on a lake? The kids LOVED the ride as I watched all 3 of my kids drift further and further away from me. Yes, I was a little anxious about it. Not sure what I was thinking.



It was an absolutely beautiful day for the mountains. I think we're heading back for some dutch oven cooking this weekend!