Well I only have like 32 pictures to upload....

Sheesh, when I get this far behind I don't even know where to start..... So far July has been a lot of fun! Lots and lots of family time, and lots of time in the car. First we went to Lagoon with my mom and dad, and brother and sisters. Nathan made it back from Iraq safe and sound, and he and his family drove to Idaho (the long way... for their whole trip they drove through 15 states and Canada.... with 4 kids 1st grade and under.... they should get a medal or something!). My sisters and their families came as well. Lagoon was so fun this year. The kids are getting older, and aren't quite so much work. (This was from my persective.... if you were to ask my mom about Lagoona Beach.... she would totally tell you a different story!) Anaya loved the Lady Bug and Dinasaur Drop rides (a kiddie version of The Rocket....). McKay said his favorite was the bumper cars! The older kids all liked the new ride Wicked. We went to Lagoon right on the 4th... so there were fireworks that night at Lagoon. The crowds were great, the weather was awesome, and kids had a blast! We were going to stop in Soda for Rik's reunion, but got going late from the hotel and missed it...



The following week we went to Canada to the temple to watch my grandma and her kids (my dad being one of them) and husband (Nathan was the proxy for my grandpa) get sealed. We also got to go through a session with her. The Cardston temple is really pretty. It looks really different than some of the other temples I have been in..... If temples could be male or female... this one would definately be male. I guess I should start at the beginning of the trip though. We left on Thursday of last week... after looking all night for my birth certificate... which never did show up! I was a little worried that they wouldn't let me back into the USA without it (Rik let me know that it was nice knowing me....). I took anything else I could find to help prove my citizenship, hopped in the van, and hoped for the best. Then we went to leave and the van was totally dead.... so we had to jump it to get it going, then we hopped in the van and really hoped for the best. We made it there and back just fine, and had minimal problems at the border... phew! We stayed at the Days Inn in Lethbridge. The rooms were a little small, but we didn't spend much time in them, because the hotel had a pool with a waterslide. So the kids swam every chance they got.





My kids were more than a little attached to Melanie's baby Mason. I think if we could have come up with a way to smuggle him into our car and take him home, the kids would have been over the moon!! That would have been fun to explain at the border! Here's Malia and Mason:



Here's some pictures at the temple:






And here are the cousins after the sealing:


We left on Saturday afternoon (after some more shopping for Canadian junk food). We made it as far as Great Falls, Montana. We stayed overnight there, and got up and went to the water park there. It was a nice park! And the price was nice as well! The worst part was trying to drag Rik and the kids away when we had to get back on the road! The park had a Flow Rider so you could body board.... my older kids (Rik included) loved going on it. Rik is ready to build one in the back yard I think....





We got home about 9:30 Sunday night... My mom and I still had to get in our weekend clean at the office.... that kind of felt like torture!

I put some more pictures on my Bebo page. I noticed that the pictures of the kids in the hotel swimming pool didn't turn out all that great, and I don't know how this happened.... but I didn't get a single picture of my grandma with me or my kids.... We might have to run right back up there for some more pictures! As soon as I find my birth certificate!

Malia left for girls camp Monday and Rik started his new job today (Tuesday). So we jumped right back into the real world. McKay was saying how fun Canada was (the whole trip was Canada to him) and we asked him if he wanted to move there (just teasing him). He thought about it and then said that he would miss August (our next door neighbor) too much. So I guess we'll stay. Fun couple of weeks though!

I read the 4th Ranger's Apprentice to Rik on the way to Canada... and loved it even the second time! Good series of books! I finished the first Fablehaven today. I enjoyed it as well. I think I'll try to start the 2nd one... but only if I can get the garage cleaned out tomorrow! Counting down to August 2nd!!!

Oh, since I had so many pictures to upload, I posted them all smaller. But you can click on them if you want to see them bigger.