Swim Meets

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Ellie and William did some major swimming this year. they both had their first swim meet which was exciting for all of us. We tried out the city league for our first experience with swim teams. GO PIRANHAS!!! William placed 1st and 2nd in his races of free style and backstroke. It was so funny to watch him do the backstroke, he kept looking to see if he was in 1st place.
Ellie competed with much bigger competition. She competed with older girls but still did surprisingly well. In her first meet she placed 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th. For her second meet she placed 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd. Overall she is improving.

Collin Ray

While in Utah we went to a Collin Ray concert. Can I just say AWESOME!!! Turns out he lives in Draper for part of the year. Even though he is getting older his voice is still good. It was a good concert with good sound, it was outdoors and the temperature was not too hot. We even got a sitter for the kids. I couldn't ask for a better evening. My Mom loved it, my dad was content to just relax and my husband was a goofus. I kept trying to get a good picture of him enjoying the concert but he was just being silly.

days of 47

My sister made a float for the days of 47 youth parade. It was for her stake and it took her all summer to complete. It turned out pretty cute. I think the theme was modern day pioneers. She had all the kids come in whatever sport or activity uniforms that they were currently enrolled in. If they weren't in one she said just come as you are. I am very proud of her and her creativity and ingenuity.
Look at my super cute niece Jenni. Her mom wanted her to wear her tutu but she wasn't very happy about it. It was a really hot day but we were happy to support Steph in her efforts.

tin foil dinners

My Dad loves to do tin foil dinners in the mountains. Its nice to do but a lot of work especially when you have so many little ones to keep an eye on. Though they all love it I hope they remember us having fun in the mountains instead of a bunch of stressed out grown ups making sure no one gets lost, falls in the river, or gets burned by the fire.
I love the picture of the little boys helping Grandpa get the fire started. They felt so important doing such a big kid job. The older kids had a great time hiking. One thing I do really miss about not beingin Utah is the mountains. They are so beautiful and so easy to get to. It makes me sad that I forget how amazing they are until I go back. The mountains feel like home to me. I could pick out my mountains in a picture any day. We love going back to visit.

Liberty park

I went with my mom and sister Amy and her 3 kids to Liberty park. They have a water feature that represents the water system in Salt Lake City. They have 3 large bolder mountains with waterfalls that symbolize the 3 major canyons. Little cottonwood, big cottonwood, and parleys canyon. Then the water follows a "river way" into the "Great Salt Lake" The kids had a fun time. This park also had a great playground area with other water features. One being large hoops that sprayed water.

swimming at Grands

Here are some fun time we had swimming at Grandma and Grandpa Pools house. No there last name is not pool the Grand kids just call them that because they have a pool. Funny Stringhamism, Brennen kept calling Grandma Grandpa, and Grandpa Grandma. He would just get so confused on which name went to which person. One time he wanted grandma so he said "Hey Grand. . . " and just left it at that. He even got his courage up to go off the slide. After that he went again and again and again. . There is nothing better than swimming.

4th of July

This is for you Californians that don't know how to celebrate the 4th of July. See they have real floats in Utah not just lame cars. Check out Peters reaction to the floats!! We had a good time. The tank was AWESOME!!! They got tons of candy. Yes they actually throw candy, even the good old fashioned salt water taffy at parades. After the parade we walked around the booths and carnival attractions then set up our sweet spot for a stellar firework show with a live band playing patriotic songs.