Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, I love to dress up and have a good time.

MaKayla as "Sandy" from Grease, I had taken a lot of photos and she was getting sick of it!

Andy was a tough Broncos Football player! Such a stud

Izzy is in the parade, she was my favorite, she dressed up as an old lady!

My mom came to watch the school parade. This is one of my favorite pictures I have of her!

Emily was a Broncos Cheerleader. Definately the cutest cheerleader I have ever seen!

Andy's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe it, he turned 1!! Andy is so big now, he is walking and playing and having a good time. And I finally got to make a BOY cake!! So, of course the theme was ARMY Camo!

He loved the chocolate, and look at those blue eyes! Look out ladies!

He even knows I love chocolate, so he shared with me! Ahh my little prince!

He shares his birhtday with his cousin Topher. So we celebrated together this year! Look how much they look alike! They are both so cute!

Back To School

The summer flies by each year so fast. And before we know it, we are all running around getting ready to go back to school!

MaKayla with her longer new look! I can't believe she is in 10th grade, Sophmore in High School! WOW, does time go by quickly. She has grown into such a beautiful sweet girl. I couldn't have asked for a better teenager! She is wonderful! Oh and to brag: She minds well, and gets good grades too!

Izzy is in 2nd grade this year Mrs. Carltons class at Santa Clara Elem. She loves her teacher and is a great reader! I am so proud of her! Her favorite class is Art.

Emiy isn't in school yet, but is NOT going to be left out of getting ready for it. There are many morning that she cries when the girls leave and she is stuck at home with me!

Couponing

So, I used my OCD, addicted personality and put it to some good use! I started couponing this Fall. I save a ton of money when I do it right. Like everything, it comes and goes how well I focus on it, but I am well prepared to save some serious cash! I love getting Free stuff and there are few things like the rush of a great deal!

THE BIG HIKE!

I did it! Finally at age 32 I was able to complete the Pine Valley hike. Aug. of 2010.  27 miles total! My friend and her husband completed the first day and night with us and then me and Brad did the rest alone, just the 2 of us! It really was one of the funnest things we have done together, and I even want to get my own pack and do some more hikes. We hiked to the highest peak in Washington County and now want to challenge ourselves to do the rest of the highest peaks. It was so much fun, and I am so proud I was able to accomplish it! Thanks to my husband for all the encouragment and support!
It was one of the most beautiful places and views I have ever seen, I took a ton of video with my little FLIP camera, and my favorite spot is down towards the bottom of the canyon. I hope to go take our kids there next spring and see what they think

Mexico Trip

Every year we try to make it to our Cabana in San Felipe, Mexico. We used to go there 3 or 4 times a year. But, now days we are lucky to get there 1 time. This year we went down with my brother and his family. We had so much fun. This is the way we bath our kids, using a trusted plastic storage bin. They think it is so much fun!

We set up a sweet spot down on the beach to relax, read a book, hang out, and just enjoy the moment.

Brad and MaKayla takin a break from all the fun

My brother Jason and his wife Darian relaxin enjoying a book!

Ahh the life, it is the funnest vacation we take with our kids. There is no TV no electricity, No music, No movies, No Phone, and it is the happiest our faimly is together. If is funny how without all the neccesities we find peace and joy in our lives! Sometimes the things we feel we can't live without, make us unhappy the most.

July 24th Family Reunion

Every year on the 24th of July my family gets together for our reunion. This year we went to the blue mountain lodge. It was a great time. We played A Minute to Win It, and everyone had a blast! One of us 9 kids take a turn each year planning it out. We all look forward to it every year. It was a great time this year playing games, shooting guns, hanging out, doing crafts, and being silly.

With 9 kids, all married, and over 40 gradkids & greatgrandkids, there are a lot of us. I feel so fortunate to belong to this huge family. It is very special to me when we are able to all get together!

Updating My Blog

Ok, so I am a slacker this year. I have done a terrible job udating my blog. What can I say, it has been a crazy crazy year!! So, before this year is over, I am going to try to update things that have happened and hopefully keep up on it through next year. Mostly so that I can print a book like a journal of my life each year. Not because I want to brag or show off what we do!
So, we'll see how it goes, and hopefully I am bettter in 2011!!

Whipple Valley Hike

Brad has been asking me for years to go on this hike with him. The REAL one is 30 miles and we are doing it the end of Aug. The one we went on last week was half and a tester to see how I would do. He has gone on and on about how great it is, and beautiful and he did not exagerate one bit!! It was the prettiest place I have ever been too that I can think of. It was not as hard as I thought it was, and I did better than I thought I would . We hiked from Whipple trail start 6 miles up to Whipple Valley, then 1 more mile over to North Valley where we camped and another mile walking around checking it out, then back down. A total of about 15 miles in 28 hours!! My pack was 26 lbs. The same weight that I have lost. It was really emotional for me to do this hike carrying the pack. This is what I was working for. I wanted to be able to hike with my husband and be healthy.
It was so nice to be with Brad alone. Usually we are with other people, or our children. We were able to talk, laugh and play together with no interruptions. I love him so much and am so grateful to be his wife!
Anyways, I took so many pictures and here are my favorites:

Me about half way up, beautiful view, we have this same pic with Brad in it from his first time.

That is Pine Valley at the bottom

Brad hiking, it had rained off and on all day so we covered up our packs.

Me on the trail going home, it wasn't cold, but the mosquitoes were INSANE!!!

Our camp at North Valley. So peaceful and hidden!

I could not get over how pretty the trail was. It reminded me of a movie!

This is Whipple Valley. This is the view you get when you first walk out of the trees.

Brad filling up our water. This was the best water I have ever drank!

The trail through the valley Gorgeous

Brad enjoying our Cup O Noodles Lunch

Me with my pack, So proud!! I did it!

4th Of July

This year we decided to go to Lake Powell for the 4th of July. Our family hasn't ever gone there and Brad hadn't been back since he was a teenager. We traded my nephew Topher for Andy which made it a lot easier and relaing for me! We had so much fun skiing, wakeboarding, exploring and hanging out. We stayed "in the rich part of town" it was this little area full of House Boats, we were like the trailor trash in the rich neighborhood! It was so cool though cause they had the huge fireworks like the city puts on, so we got to enjoy them on the 4th.

Anyway, I couldn't pick a one or two photos so here are a bunch: Our Boat (which we realized we haven't named)

The first time any of us has seen a Semi going down the lake

MaKayla wakeboarding, she is getting so good!

Steph (me) wakeboarding, it had been 3 years since I last did anything, this was the first summer I was in shape, not pregnant, and not just had a baby!

All the kids hung out relaxing at our beach

Our camp. It was awesome, we stayed in our tent


My favorite Pictures of the kids:

Emily driving, she LOVED it! She asked and asked to drive, it was fun!

Izzy was so happy driving around, I loved the sun around her in this.

MaKayla, our beautiful teenager, look out boys her dad's got a BIG gun! She is so grown up!

Holly, in her cute life jacket. She loved to swim and try to catch the spraying water

This was our diving rock right by our camp, we all enjoyed swimming to it and jumping off of it

Emily was a big helper holding the flag this year

Topher made a stencil and wore it on his chest, it gave him this cool Superman look!

My girls, My Sweet Sweet Sweet Girls!

Emily Shaving

Emily decided to try shaving! OUCH! She usually plays with my new razors that have the covers on them while I am sitting there, but she found Brad's that did not. Needless to say she cut her top lip pretty bad, after bleeding for a while it stopped, but this picture cracked us up too much to not post! BTW: I don't know how to rotate it so it is sideways!

Izzy's First Shiner

This June Izzy was out playing catch with her best friend Chase, and she missed. She got her first real Black EYE! She was so cute about it. And it has healed nicely!

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day at my Step-Dad's house this year. We got him a ride with Brad in a helicopter for 1/2 hr. But the real present was for all our spouses!!! Someone happened to come across some sweet clothes that were just too funny to pass up. We decided to show all the fabulous clothes off in a fashion show for our hubbies!!

Don't we look AMAZING???

HAHA...anyways, it made for a very fun evening, everyone was cracking up laughing!

And I did drive 2000 miles!

Me, Andy, Diane, Zach, and Suzie

Coming from a large family, there is no way we are able to make it to every important event that happens. However, me and my sisters have made a pack that we will do what we can to go to as many events as possible. We usually can't take our whole families with us, but we take who we can (who there is room for) and make our way around the country!!

In the past we have driven to CA for a Mission Farewell, and even Oregon for my brothers wedding, talk about a road trip!! It always takes a lot of work and we almost always cancel, but when we are able to make it, it is ALWAYS worth it. We love our family very much and wish we could be there more for all of them!

This end of school year was a busy time for us. We had f2 nephews and 1 niece graduating from High School, and 1 nephew leaving on a mission. 2 of the graduations were on the same day in different states, so we werent able to make both.

We started out driving up to Tooele, UT for my nephew Derek's graduation. (Jenna my niece was on the same day in CA) Then we drove home that night. Then we turned around 2 days later and drove to Bozeman, MT for my nephew Zack's graduation. We staye 2 nights and drove all the way home again. Then 4 days later we drove back to Highland, UT for my nephew Sam's Mission farewell. OVER 2000 miles total!

Needless to say, we had a lot of time to talk and solve all the worlds problems while traveling. We had so much fun, some highlights were: The Beach Balls at Dereks grad, the sweet garage sale we hit the morning headed to MT, the baby moose and wild mother and baby coyote, getting lost about 5 times, and taking wrong turns (I have a hard time following the GPS Lady), and of course stopping 13 times on the way home from MT (all women and no men, what do you expect?) I am so lucky to have such wonderful sisters and mom too!

Camping and Fishing Season

We decided to kick off the summer with a overnight camping/fishing trip. We tried out a new resevoir by our house Sand Cove. It's a 20 min drive and we camped right on the lake. Everyone caught lots of fish. Brad's parents came and stayed with us in our camper. We had so much fun and feel so lucky to have such neat places so close to home!

Brad's parents fishing

Brad fishing

Izzy trying to catch her first fish!

Emily prepared to fall in the lake!

Our sweet setup!