Summer Fun

Ben's favorite new thing is to go with Grandpa and ride Burt the Mule. My dad loves taking Ben to ride Burt and is very cute with him. He taught Ben that Burt is a relative to Donkey. The only Donkey Ben can relate to is on Shrek so when you ask Ben about Burt he says proudly, "Burt the mule who is related to Donkey on Shrek." It's very cute. He doesn't just call him Burt it is always Burt the Mule. Ben regularly asks me if he can go to Spanish Fork and ride Burt the Mule. Usually my dad and Ben just go, but a couple Saturdays ago the whole family went along for the ride.

We went to Afton Wyoming home of Rulon Gardner (Gold Medal Wrestler). I only mention this because there are not many restaurants in Afton but we did enjoy going to Rulons Burger Barn. It was actually really good. Travis' Dad and brother live there and we wanted to go and visit. Travis and Ben went with Pa Don and JD to the local Rodeo. Travis and Jason got to float down the Grays River and catch some big fish. Ben played with his cousins JD and Brinckley and I hung out with my sister-in-law Casey. We had a really good time. It was nice to spend time with Travis' Dad. Here are some pictures of Ben, Travis and Don fishing at a stock pond. Travis really wanted Ben to catch a fish but Ben was not to thrilled with being close to the fish. The first picture is Ben running away when Travis caught a fish. Ben's favorite thing to do was throw fish food into the pond and see all the fish splash around. Every time the fish would start jumping Ben would say, "Oh my gosh." Travis says he spends way to much time with his mother.

We traveled to Rexburg for a very short visit with Megan and Chad. Even though we were there for two days we were able to get in a lot of fun. Travis and Chad went golfing and fishing, we met Chad's family for a lovely dinner and even had time to get in some bowling. Ben was so cute while we were bowling, he loved it. We were teasing Megan because Ben was using a 7 pound ball while Megan used a whopping 8 pound ball. In Megan's defense she ended up beating everyone, much to Travis' dismay. He had a cut on his bowling hand and was not able to perform to the best of his ability. Megan was thrilled nonetheless and had to inform everyone that she talked to! We love Megan and Chad and always have a great time with them.

Grandma Barb's Birthday

It was my moms birthday on July 31st. To remember my moms birthday we went to Spanish Fork and had dinner with my dad. We then took flowers to my moms grave. Katie sent the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers and my Grandma Carlin and I bought some flowers also. Ben is really into birthdays these days, so when we told him it was Grandma Barb's birthday he kept singing, "Happy Birthday to Grandma Barb." It was very sweet, he also wondered where the cake was.

These reminders of my mom are sometimes sad, but we all try to reflect on the good things about our mother. She was the most wonderful person I have every met. She was the most compassionate, thoughtful, and generous person. She was also very gracious and was the perfect host. People flocked to her because she had such a wonderful spirit about her. I am thankful for the example she was to me and try each day to try and be the kind of person she would want me to be.

24th of July and Grandma Carlin

Don't we all love the 24th of July. I guess only those of us who grew up in Spanish Fork think of this as a National Holiday, but it is fun all the same. It is fun to see people you went to school with and to reminisce about the good old days of High school (aren't we glad that's over). For us this is a time to get together with both of our families. We go to Travis' Aunt Colleen's house to watch the parade. Then we go to my dads house where all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins gather for good food. Some of us also go to the Carnival or Carnimal as Ben calls it. It is very fun to do these kinds of things now that Ben is getting older because he really enjoys them and talks about these fun activities all the time.

This is Ben watching the parade. He wasn't into running to get the candy, but when a sucker basically hit him in the face he decided he could bend down and pick it up.

Ben and Angeline (Ben's Cousin) riding the horses at the park. Ben loves riding horses and has Pa Ken convinced he could be a cowboy someday.

This is my Grandma Carlin who is my moms mother. We love Grandma Carlin and are so excited whenever she gets to visit. She was here when Claire was born and decided she needed to come back and visit because it had been too long since we've seen each other. She will also be back in October for my cousins wedding. She is an amazing lady who at 88 has already this year been to Hawaii, San Antonio, Utah a couple of times and will be visiting Katie in Washington DC next month. I hope that when I am her age I can be as active. She is so easy to have around because she never complains about getting older and likes to do everything we do. While she was here she went boating and golfing. She is pretty wonderful and we all love her so much. Ben loves Grandma Carlin because she plays basketball and hits golf balls with him.