Lake Powell Trip - What fun we had!

This is where we spent our days while at the lake. We had a wonderful sun shade to escape from the sun for a while. We had a shallow spot to park the boats and play and a nice area deep enough to set up the slide. We were in a quiet area with very little traffic and were able to swim and play in the water in between boat rides and skiing.
Ryan played hard every day. He loved being in the water and was comfortable in his life jacket. We didn't have to fight with him to keep it on which was wonderful. THis picture was taken as we got ready to out in the boat. Ryan pulled his little arms inside his life jacket and layed his head on the side of the boat and went to sleep.
Benjamin also loved to swim. He was not very interested in tryig to water ski or knee board or even ride the tube. He played in the water and on the slide all day long - oh he also enjoyed riding the wave runner.
As long as Ryan had his noodle he was happy. He kicked his little feet and swam all over the little cove we occupied during the day. Benjamin learned that his life jacket would hold him up and he floated/swam right a long side of Ryan.
The slide was a big hit this year with everyone! Here Lanny and Seth played king of the hill...we didn't know who was having more fun: the boys or everyone else watching them.

During our trip Tia got up skiing, Lanny was up on the knee board, Tyler learned how to knee board (he even started on his tummy in the water and pulled himself up to his knees) and Ryan rode on the tube with Nana behind the boat. It was a wonderful trip to spend quality time with our family and close friends.

Benjamin the Brave!

Benjamin, our brave little boy! From eating raw octopus tentacles to holding snakes. One of the neighbor boys found a little snake by our house and knowing little boys just had to pick it up and play with it. Benjamin was a little nervous at first but was the first one to come up to hold and touch the snake. Of course Daddy had to make sure it wasn't poisonous or anything first. At one point Benjamin even had it on his head!!!! What fun we had.

Ryan even thought the snake was pretty neat and fearlessly reached out to touch it. He wanted to hold it but mom and dad didn't think it was a good idea for the snake.

Movie Night

We rented movies the other night. The boys all wanted to watch their movie upstairs in our room. Usually they curl up on the floor or at the end of the bed and spread out. This time we found them all curled up under the covers on the bed. You can see who rules the roost - the little one takes up the most space on the bed and loves every minute of it.

Ryan finally gives in.

Ryan had absolutely refused to lay down and take a nap! He fought it all day. Just before dinner I noticed that it was really quiet. Tyler and Benjamin had gone outside to ride their bikes and I thought Ryan may have snuck out with them. I was wrong. I found him crashed out on the couch. He had been laying over the arm of the couch playing with his rubber spider and just could not fight it any longer. The spider was on floor just below him. He slept for 3 hours.

Boys weekend to play

I was able to spend several days in South Carolina at the end of June. Lanny was supposed to go with me but due to some complications with the flights to get from Grand Junction to Charolotte he was not able to make the trip with me. Instead he and the boys went up to Breckenridge, CO to spend the weekend with Nana and Papa Babbel. What a wonderful time they had together.


The boys spent a lot of time in the pools around the condos. You would think they were fish.



They also enjoyed throwing rocks into Lake Dillon. Ryan gets right into it with the other two boys.

Decorating the Fort

We made a fort for the boys out of a large box. It is quite the fort with a front door, windows and even a sky light in the roof. The boys wanted to paint it to make it a better fort. All three boys contributed to the colorful design inside and out.

Ryan got a little messy during the process so we had to remove the clothes to keep them from being completely covered with paint.

They figured out if they paint their hands they can make some pretty neat designs. What a neat touch to the personalization of the fort.

Canyonlands, Utah

We made a family trip to Canyonlands, Utah in May of this year. It was the first time for all of us to be there. Wow! It was a wonderful day. We plan on going back when it is not so hot out. This picture was taken just outside of the visitor center of the Island in the Sky area of the park. It was here that Lanny spotted the road for our next road trip. I am not so sure that our suburban will fit on the road, the road is not very wide with very large steep drop offs. We are still discussing that trip.
Benjamin and Tyler eventually got tired of mom taking pictures. Each one they tried a new facial expression to "spine things up" a bit. What goof balls.
Little Benjamin is not so little anymore.
The boys were given a little booklet at the beginning of our trip full of activities that teach them about the national park and the different rock formations. When they completed it we stopped by the visitor's center and spoke with one of the park rangers who asked lots of questions and then gave them a neat badge identifying them as the newest Junior Rangers. They were both very excited and proud of their accomplishement.

On our Way home from Moab we found a huge sand dune just outside of the city. We pulled over and decided to play a little bit before the drive home. The boys all loved it.

Ryan climbed to the top all by himself. He saw the other boys climb up and he was going to do it too. He didn't want help until just before the very top. What a trooper he was.

Ryan had so much fun playing in the sand. He was full of sand by the time we hopped into the car to make the drive home.

Tyler, What a smile.

New Mexico trip

Uncle Cody took us on a tour of the airport and the plane that he flies. We were able to climb in, explore the cabin and the controls. The boys were ready to take the plane up for a spin, I was just ready to get out of the cold wind! What fun we had though.

Family Fun!

It was wonderful having everyone together again. It had been a long time since all of the kids and grand-kids could be together for a couple days. What a good looking bunch don't you think!

What a summer we had!

We had many great and exciting adventures this past summer. Here are pictures from Rifle falls, where we enjoyed the falls, explored caves and even toured the fish hatchery. Mya especially loved exploring around the trails and a nice day out and about.