Saturday, June 27, 2009

Summertime...

Looks like summer is finally here after having the rainiest June I can remember.



We set up the kiddie pool and Becca and Nicky are having a blast...even though it won't hold air. Maybe it's time to get a bigger one.



The kids got their faces painted at the zoo the other night at Jen's company summer party. It was cool because we got the whole zoo to ourselves for the evening.



Thursday, June 18, 2009

You know it's been raining a lot when...

Not only are there tons of mushrooms in your lawn, but they also start appearing on your trees...


Monday, June 15, 2009

Imitating a Legend

Jill and I were at Lagoon the other day with our families and saw one of those photo booths that take really bad black and white photo strips. So we decided we would try to create an image that would attempt to live up to the greatness of the classic masterpiece photo of our two older siblings that has apparently been banned from ever appearing on any blog.

Below is the result. A feeble effort, I know. Yes, that is Jill whose face you can see half of there on the right. We didn't exactly get it centered properly (although we were centered in the little thingy you look into). Maybe we should have had mom and dad there to help us do it right.


I, for one, would like to see the true masterpiece come forth and show its greatness to the world.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Becca's Day

Yesterday Becca was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a very nice day. She was the only one in our ward with an eighth birthday last month, so we got the whole program to ourselves.

Posing with mom right before she was baptized. The water was a little cold!!
With dad in all dressed in white ready to go.

Most of us got to participate in the program. Taylor played the piano, Matt said a prayer, Jen gave a talk, and Nicky watched from the front row. Thanks to Grandma Anderson for giving a talk, Grammy Zander for saying a prayer, and Aunt Kath for leading the music.


This is today right before we left for church. She got to go up on the stand with the Bishop during sacrament meeting and be introduced as the "newest member of the ward."
Congratulations, Rebecca, we are proud of you.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Happy 15th Birthday Taylor!

She will be celebrating her birthday tonight with another Taylor - Taylor Swift! She got tickets to the concert tonight as part of her birthday fun. School is out in 8 days and she will be free as a bird for the summer and preparing for big things - High School and driving!! The last year has gone fast, but there has been a lot going on - it was tough limit it to the pictures below from events in just the last 12 months. (See here for some older pictures going way back).

First day of 9th Grade

Facebookin'



Oakcrest Camp Summer of 2008


Teaching Becca and Nicky the fine art of coloring Easter Eggs

With cousin Sarah on Grandma and Grandpa's front lawn


In the Play "Cinderella" at her school

Evading would-be tacklers for a touchdown in the Turkey Bowl


Chillin' with some tunes


Watching the Utes whoop Alabama in the Sugar Bowl


At grandma's trying on her dress for the play


Enjoying a rasperry shake at Bear Lake


Going down the bouncy slide with Nicky


Enduring those annoying zoobies
Happy Birthday, Taylor. Hope it is a great one. We love you very much!!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

8 is GREAT!

Happy Birthday, Becca!! This is a milestone day - 8 years old. Becca is a very sweet girl. She is like a second mother to Nicky and always has a great attitude and a smile on her face. Here are some pictures just from the last year: (And click here for last year's blog entry with older pictures)

With her cousin, Olivia on Halloween. Dorothy and the Princess
Under the mistletoe with Nicky - woo hoo!

Glamour shot on the basketball court. Jr. Jazz never looked so cute.


Two beautiful sisters with their hats Grandma made

With mom on a trip to Bear Lake

Card game with Kinlee and Grandma & Grandpa

Christmas morning with Matt and the Cat

She seems pretty upset that she got plastered with silly string

With Grandma Davis at Christmas

Dipping her feet in Bear Lake

Shoveling in style

Ready to ride the Rocket with Dad

Happy Birthday, Becca. We love you!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Wicked Weekend

As part of Jen's 40th Birthday Celebration, we planned a little getaway in San Francisco last weekend. It was a lot of fun - lots to do and see in this crazy city.

First item on the agenda was to see "Wicked." We couldn't get tickets in SLC, but they were not that hard to come by in SF. Everyone talks about how awesome this musical is so I was sure it would not be as good as I was imagining. But it lived up to the hype - it was amazing!! For those who may not know, it is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. Yes, the main character of the story is green. In the end it is revealed why she is green and who her father is. I was betting on either Kermit the Frog or Yoda, but neither of those is correct. I won't spoil it - you'll have to see for yourself!!

We took a tour of the city in a big green bus that stopped and let us take pictures in several spots around the city. The above shot was taken from "Twin Peaks" - one of the highest hills in the very hilly city.

Another stop was the Golden Gate Bridge which was covered in fog except for the bottom near the water. The last time I was in San Francisco I was a young kid and really excited to see the famous bridge. We crossed it in the car but it was also covered in fog back then and I didn't really get to see it.

Later in the day when we were up on Twin Peaks, the top of the bridge was poking up through the fog. So I guess I got to see it all, just not all at once.

We also visited Alcatraz Island and took a tour of the prison. All the rows in the prison have names like street names. We were surprised not to find "Iron Gate Road" in there with all the well, you know, iron gates around. But, we did find Michigan Ave.


The local mall "Westfield Center" is home to the world's only spiral escalators (at least that's the line the tour bus driver fed us). It was an extra special treat going up and down these believing that they were the only ones in the world. I later found out they are not the only ones in the world. But they were the first ones in the Western Hemisphere.


Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 had a lot of fun shops and restraunts. We rode the Trolley (cable car) from our hotel to Fisherman's Wharf. That was a lot of fun. We walked or used public transportation the whole time - renting a car is useless there. There is nowhere to park. We also visited Chinatown - which is HUGE. All kinds of trinket shops, restraunts, and camera shops for just blocks and blocks and blocks.

We even went to a SF Giants vs. NY Mets baseball game - my first ever Major League game. The game was sold out and we didn't have tickets (a friend at work who is big into baseball told me we could easily pick up cheap tickets to the game at the gate because "the Giants suck") so we had to turn to the scalpers. Luckily, we got there a little late and the scalpers were getting desperate so we were able to get seats right behind 3rd base for below face value. The Giants lost 8-6 after leading 4-1 so maybe my friend was right about them. But the baseball park is beautiful and a very fun environment right on the edge of the bay. In fact a home run hit hard over the right field fence splashes into the San Franciso Bay.