Summer vacation in Utah...

Our vacation to Yellowstone....

After the Smith reunion, we went up to Yellowstone National Park. I never thought I'd survive all the camping involved. Our plan was to camp overnight for 3 nights. That in itself is almost an eternity for my pampered self. I am no pre-madonna...I know...I know...my siblings and stepdad call me "Mrs. Hollywood"....but I'm really not that difficult. Anywho, we ended up leaving a day earlier than anticipated. Here's why....

The first day went really well. We saw a bear 20 minutes after we entered the park, which was totally awesome! I've never seen a bear in the wild. We stopped to see an Elk or dear (are they the same?...just curious) and someone yelled that there was a bear across the river. I liked the fact that the river separated us from the brown beast. That night went very well. It wasn't freezing cold like we thought it would be, but it was quite chilly. I think it was cold to me, since I'm so used to really hot weather. We all slept peacefully....

The second day went well. We went and saw tons of Bison and wild animals throughout the park. It was absolutely amazing...Afterwards, we went to church at the outside amplitheatre of our campsite. It was interesting with everyone dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I felt a bit strange wearing my sunglasses. After church we started to get our dinner ready and marshmellows roasted. By then I was feeling great...like I could totally do this camping thing. Boohoo...our campfire kept dying. So we ended up having to cook it with the stove. There goes my dutch oven experience. Oh well. The food smelled delicous. So delicous that I thought a bear would come to our campsite. Luckily, no bears paid us a visit for dinner. Then sprinkles started to make their presence. Oh no...great...they stopped. The family finally got to eat their marshmellows since our almost non existent fire turned to coal. Fun Fun Fun....grr...more sprinkles. We cleaned up everything, then the hail started. Yes...hail...I don't camp with hail! We all escaped to the van. Fun huh? Once it died down the temperature dropped. Like realy dropped! I could see my breath cold! We head for our tent and luckily we brought plenty of warm clothes and blankets. I married Mr. Outdoorsman/Perfect...he was smart to put a tarp above our tent. It kept us nice and dry. Thanks babe! By 2am...it started to rain, thunder and lightning. It felt like a bomb went off above us. That's it! We're leaving! Joseph and I start freaking out! Alycia just goes back to sleep. Brent calms us down and we go back to sleep. By morning I head up to the Ranger's station to get the weather update...and they predict the same weather as the night before. Early check-out please! Needless to say, we checkout and do a quick visit to rest of the sites we needed to see at the park. The kids got their Jr. Ranger patches and we took plenty of pictures.

We all had a wonderful time at Yellowstone. It's one of the most amazing National Parks I've ever been to. It's definantly a "must see" wonder. As for camping...I'm still not a fan. We did take showers every single day. They were worth the $3.50/each we ended up paying per day! I hope you enjoy the pictures I scrapbooked. We have tons more pictures, so I just did a condensed version...

Smith family reunion in Heber..

The month of July was super busy and fun filled. With the Smith family reunion and our trip to Yellowstone Park, let's just say...we are finally decompressing....

The reunion was fantastic. We spent 5 days together in a 7 bedroom cabin up in Heber, Utah. It was great! The cousins had a great time getting reacquainted and hanging out. Alycia had a great time hanging out with her cousin Dariya. They're just a few months apart. With 20 cousins and only 5 being girls...the girls tend to stick together. Our 5 days were filled with planned activities. One of them being boating/tubing/wakeboarding...My fave was wakeboarding. It was just my second time attempting it and I actually got up several times. I'm trying to convince Brent that we need to get a boat or jet skis...haha...we'll see about that...One of the days, we went hiking (which I'm not a fan of) and fishing. Alycia actually caught a fish. I'm not sure what kind it was, but she liked eating it. Her cousins Alan and Jakob also caught fish...Joseph was a trooper, he wanted to stick it out and catch one but didn't. I give him an "A" for effort.

Our brother-in-law Paul got a fabulous deal on reunion t-shirts and Brent got his slogan printed. "Heber City invasion 2009" "Keepin' it real"...

On Sunday, our nephew Jakob was baptized in the Provo river. It was an awesome experience. After the confirmation, we went to church in Heber. The time slot we went to was for the Single's ward. I was a bit nervous. Single's wards usually have a reputation, especially on Fast Sunday's. I'm happy to say no one bore weird alien testimonies. About half of Brent's siblings went to the same meeting time as us...so there were weird looks when we walked into Sacrament meeting.

There was one person that said.."you know...ummm...this is a Single's ward meeting..."

"uh, yeah...we know..." I said.

One of the girl's in our row, kept eyeing us and was freaking out that we were there. It was quite funny seeing her expressions. They were priceless...(big grin)...

In all, the weather was fabulous and everyone got along. My kids can't wait until the next reunion.

Girl's Camp 2009

As many of you know, Alycia went to Girl's Camp this year. She had an absolute fabulous time! I'm posting a few pictures she took on her adventure. I don't think I'll freak out as much next year knowing how great of an experience she had. Thanks to all the YW leaders that made this such a special event.

Enjoy!

Camping 2009 Scrapbookin' pages....

To escape the horrid Arizona heat...we went up to Payson to enjoy cooler weather and fresh mountain air. Hah! And people don't think we have forests out in the desert....The family enjoys doing the camping thing (except me....Anna)...

I suffer in silence...

NOT!

Can it really be our 14 year Anniversary????

Yes!....

As I sit here typing thinking of the many years we've been together...it's hard to imagine my life without my eternal companion. Who would have thought two teenagers working at Little Caesar's pizza would meet their future spouses there. We even got to go to each other's prom!

When we first started going out..(I thought to myself)...This is the man I'm going to marry...

I remember the day he proposed to me...It was a beautiful day in February...the day after my birthday...we were up at the Lick Observatory in Mt. Hamilton...he went on bended knee and asked me if I would marry him ( I was teary eyed)...and of course I said ..."yes"...

As we were driving down the mountain...I asked my fiance to pull over...I'm not sure if it was nerves or if it was motion sickness...but I....yes......threw up...(luckily he pulled over with perfect timing)....I will never forget that day...ever....

The day of our wedding was picture perfect...June 10th 1995...Oakland LDS Temple. That was the day I was married to my Eternal Companion Brent...for time...and all eternity...

Seeing both of my happy parents and brother outside the Temple ...waiting for me... showed just how much they loved and supported me...I will be forever grateful for their support...it must have been so difficult for them not to see their only daughter get married...yet they were so happy to be a part of my special day....

As I think about the past 14 years...I think of the love and patience my sweet husband continues to show me...the happiness and sorrow life brings us...the two wonderful kids the Lord has blessed us with...and the great peace of knowing that we will be ....

....together forever....