July 2018

There was an amazing sunset when we were leaving Scheel's one evening.

July 2, 2018

Our holiday started with the parade.

July 4, 2018

Olivia enjoyed playing with Victoria the most.

The kids ended up with lots of candy and other random thing including the shirt Kaleb has on from Chick-fil-a.

Olivia loves dressing up for holidays and had red, white and blue hair clip-in's and a light up flower head crown.

After we had brunch at my parents and played with water balloons and slip 'n slides in the backyard.

Victoria loved the water balloons.

We had dinner at my aunt and uncles house and then went back to my parents to watch the fireworks from their front yard.

We just bought some sparklers and snaps because everyone around my parents always has huge firework shows so we're surrounded by fireworks and we didn't have to buy them!

This was the first year we planted a banana pepper plant and the kids have loved it. Surprisingly the one plant as it got bigger would usually have 5-10 on it at one time so the kids enjoyed them all summer long.

July 5, 2018

We decided to do a quick trip to Great Basin National Park just over the Nevada border. I didn't even know it existed and we thought it would be fun. A couple days before we decided to break up the drive there so we stayed at a hotel on the way. The kids enjoyed swimming for awhile before we called it a night since we were waking up early to finish the drive. Oh, and I was lucky enough to get a ticket in Lehi. I wasn't going that fast but I didn't realize the speed was only 60 for construction. Thankfully he only wrote me for 5 over but it still wasn't the best way to start the weekend.

July 6, 2018

The sunset was really pretty that night.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and drove to Nevada.

July 7, 2018

First we stopped at the visitors center to get a map. Olivia's souvenir ended up being this stuffed coyote she named baby ky. It's still her favorite stuffed animal 7 months later.

Kaleb decided to stare down a stuffed crow?

We started with the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail which was 2.7 miles and passed by 2 lakes along the way that were fed by the Glacier. Kaleb was a good sport to carry Olivia's backpack.

There were deer along the trail.

The first lake the kids threw rocks and looked around. The water was really clear.

This girl loves rocks and collecting rocks. She would stop along the way wanting to pick up and save every cool rock she found which we couldn't do.

This park is known for their bristlecone pine trees which you'll see more of from our other hike but there were huge trees along the trail.

There was a little bit of color left from all of the wildflowers that had bloomed by the creek.

There was a grassy area by the next lake so we stopped for awhile to have some snacks.

Ashton is looking at a deer drinking from the lake.

After we finished the trail we had lunch in the parking area and decided to hike the Bristlecone Trail to see these trees that they were famous for.

These trees are found in high elevations 9,000-12,000 feet and grow in rocky terrain. They are the worlds longest living tree and the oldest tree in the park they removed was 4,900 years old. It was crazy to see these trees that were thousands of years old, some parts looked like they were dying but the tree was still alive. It was a steep hike to get up to where the trees were and you can see the valley below in the distance.

The bark of the trees was also in a swirl pattern because they grow so high up where it's windy they grow in a spiral pattern.

We made it almost to the end of the trail but Ashton was really light headed and sick from the altitude. So Matt stayed with him and we went a little farther up before turning back.

The kids did well for doing 2 different trails at almost 3 miles each. And we finished all before our cave tour that was at 1:30. I did give Olivia a couple piggy back rides because she was getting tired and going really slow but she did great otherwise.

We purchased tickets for the longer tour of Lehman Caves which was 90 minutes long. They don't let you take any sort of bag, backpack, not even your camera case inside. You can take your camera but just not in any case.

The caves were amazing. We've been to Timpanogus cave but these caves were much bigger and there were so many different types of formations to see.

This was called cave bacon because when you would shine your light behind the wave formations it looked like bacon.

It's always amazing to me how there is constant water dripping through them like a straw and how long it takes for them to form.

The kids enjoyed learning about the history of the caves.

It was a quick trip and after our cave tour we started the drive back home.

We stopped in Nephi at a small diner type restaurant to eat dinner and it took forever to get our scones we ordered for dessert. So Matt went and paid the check while we were waiting so that we could leave when we were done and as we were leaving I could tell the hostess was looking at me kind of funny. But being a small restaurant and we were the only big table with more than 4 people I figured she had to remember Matt had just paid her. I guess she told our waitress we didn't pay so she comes out telling us we need to pay and I told her we did, then a cook comes out to chase us down too all upset. I showed them the receipt and told them how they took so long to bring the dessert (over 30 minutes) we had already paid when she brought our check so that we could get back on the road.

The actual part in the park was really fun and we had a great time, the drive there and back weren't so great but we made memories good and bad!

Olivia and her friend Taylor were singing along to some taco song and coloring. They like to make videos together too and they're funny to go back and watch.

July 13, 2018

We went to Matt's parents house over the 24th holiday weekend since it's his mom's birthday. We first went swimming at the outdoor pool and then decided to drive out to the Great Sand Dunes National Park that is about a 30 minute drive from their house. They are the biggest sand dunes in the US.

We stopped in the visitors center and they had a display with a magnet to show how the black specks in the sand would stick to the magnet.

July 21, 2018

Coming from swimming most of us were not in the appropriate footwear. Due to the black flecks in the sand I was talking about the sand can reach 150 degrees in the summertime and we didn't get far before turning back because it was too hot. Kaleb went out and climbed the first sand dune but the rest of us opted to stay in the shade.

And just because I like looking back here's a picture of the last time we went to the sand dunes in 2004. Kaleb was 5 weeks old and we have video of me carrying his car seat out to the dunes.

July 24, 2004

Olivia and I hung out in the car while we waited for Kaleb to come back.

After church on Sunday I had to head back home because the next day I had an appointment at the IVF clinic but Matt and the kids stayed an extra day and then drove home his parents car they sold us since they bought a new car.

July 22, 2018

This was my first IVF calendar that shows the different medications and when to change increase or decrease doses. It's crazy what they can do with modern medicine.

July 23, 2018

This girl all summer just wanted to play outside in the water.

July 25, 2018

I love that she put on goggles for this!

We went up to the cabin for the weekend and we were using the telescope that we have up there to look at the moon. I was saying how cool it looked and that I wished I could take a picture of what we were looking at. I took out my camera and held it up to the lens and was surprised I was able to take pictures of the moon. It was hard to hold both things still but I was able to get a decent picture.

July 27, 2018