First Day of School!

This picture makes my laugh because it looks just like the ones my mom took of me in this same exact spot. The sun comes up over the mountains and shines bright in the eyes of all the elementary students each fall!

Grand Cayman

The water in the bay lights up like a glow stick when you run your hand through it because of little "water fireflies". It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. It doesn't show in the picture. But this is my brother Ryan and my cousin Scott. They hogged the Kayaks every night. : ) We had to be careful though, because the jellyfish stung those brave enough to swim in the bay.

Sting Ray City! A very cool place where you swim with the rays (out in the open ocean). This is my sister Kelsey. Jeremy was our amazing underwater photographer this trip!

The water was a little deep and the rays were a little big for the comfort of my kids. You can see on Baden's face he is on the lookout for danger.

The diving was amazing and the water was so warm! We saw plenty of turtles too!

My dad taught me to sail on this little hobie cat. I loved it, it was my favorite part of the trip!

Baden feels like he can do anything with his shark goggles on!

We really wanted to take one of these cute turtles home with us!

We had many hunts for starfish and sand dollars.

We were surprised how fast they actually move!

The kids spent most of their time creating and re-creating homes for the many hermit crabs they caught.

Before the trip, Gavin would not put his face in the water. Only hours after arriving, we found we couldn't get his face out of the water. He swam morning till night and even became a good snorkler.

Lake of the Woods

Canada

I can't get enough of this beautiful place! It's a few hours out of Winnepeg.

It's a huge lake with 1 acre islands scattered all over it.

We do some great fishing here, and some great sight seeing too.

If you know Lunds, you know we do plenty of teasing too - sorry mom!

Happiness is a good handmade swing!

Ahh...fishing in the rain.

Can you believe this?

This is when we discovered Jeremy has inner ear issues. We played the 'spin around with your head on a bat' game. Jeremy won after he tripped over the boardwalk and landed in a heap. One of my favorite moments!

A vacation's not complete without a few card games!

Gavin caught the trip's smallest fish!

(along with many dozen other fish!)

Jeremy caught the trip's largest fish!

(at least the largest caught on camera! My dad caught one that was so big it wouldn't fit in the net - and then it got away! Baden says it was as big as a small crocodile!)

This was my first glimpse of a bald eagle in the wild! There were so many in that area!

The picture does not do it justice.

This year we spent the Fourth of July in Blanding, Utah, whereJeremy's grandmother has lived her whole life. It was a really fun, small town, very american weekend. We went to the ruins, the parade, a boxing match, and watched the fireworks. Avery didn't like the fireworks much - she hid under a seat in the car. My favorite part was playing tag with my kids in grandma's yard during a heavy rainstorm. It was a perfect weekend!

Today's Gavin's fifth birthday! I can hardly believe it - but he promised this morning that he would stay five forever.  We had a Star Wars party for him.  All of the kids dressed up like Jedi's - it was cute.  We played "Heavy Hang Over" while we opened presents, and Gavin wished for each of his friends to be part of his family.  

I've lived in Utah Valley for most of my life - and had never climbed up to the Y on our mountain!  So my neighbor and I packed up the kids one morning and set out.  Wow, it's steep!  We were both carrying toddlers (hers was bigger than mine, but you don't hear her complaining!) and trying to motivate the rest to keep on trucking up that mountainside!  Luckily it was a cloudy day which provided a happy amount of shade for us! I am glad to have that checkmark - but don't expect me to do that again anytime soon!

This swing is so fun! It hangs from two phone poles and hooks to a wench on another phone pole behind it. The wench pulls you up so high that you feel like you are about to fall out - and then releases you into a second of freefall! Avery is my daredevil and she loves this swing! Here she is riding it with my dad. It's such a beautiful place!

On Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Mesa, Arizona, where much of my extended family lives to visit my cousin who is on his way to Boise, Idaho to serve his mission! I've been thinking about families a lot lately because we have been talking about them in primary so much this year. And lately I have come to better understand how important those relationships are! Last weekend I went to the baptism of my friends son. They are a tight knit polynesian family, and there were so many family members who attended that we had to move the meeting into the chapel. After the baptism, while we waited for the father and son to change out of their wet clothes, a younger brother, about 5 years old, sang primary songs to us from the microphone. It was so sweet and I was thinking how brave he was, when suddenly in the middle of a verse of I Am a Child of God, he stopped singing! He had forgotten the words. Within a second, the entire family joined together to continue the song! The boy was able to remember the words, and he stepped back up to the microphone to continue where he left off. I started to think about my family, and how when someone loses their way (including myself) the rest are there to continue on, to show us the way and love us. And with time we are able to remember who we are and what we are supposed to do.

Baden graduated from Kindergarten! He made a lot of friends this year, learned to read, write and do math, loved recess and P.E. and was sad to say goodbye to his teacher Mrs. Stewart! It's been fun for me to see him go to the same school that I went to. Many of the same traditions are still being carried on, and many of the same teachers are there. Baden is looking forward to 1st Grade mostly because now he can play on the Big Playground!

The other day my friend Amy called to ask for the yummiest dessert recipe I could think of. Needless to say, it's hard to narrow it down.  But this cake is so good in the spring and summer! After she made it, I had to make it myself! Mmmm.

Mandarin Orange Cake

For cake: 1 yellow pudding cake mix + 4 eggs

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup oil - whip all together

Whip in 1 can oranges with the juice

pour in 9x13 pan - bake 45 min. at 350 degrees

For topping: 2 sticks of cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 stick of butter

1 can crushed pineapple - drained

whip all together and spread over cool cake. 

top with cool whip and sprinkle coconut if you want.

refridgerate!

Last week Gavin graduated from preschool! He grew up a lot during the year and loved his teacher a whole bunch! We are sad to say good-bye to Rainbow Preschool. After so many years of teaching, Helen has decided to retire so she can enjoy being a grandma! Thank you Helen, for being a light for my kids!

The kids had a day off from school Monday, so we packed up and went for a hike up to Stewart Falls. It was such a nice day. We encountered a little snow along the way which made the hike more slippery than we had anticipated, but it just added to the adventure. We were lucky to spot a small snake sunning itself in the path right at the start, which made it worth the two skinned knees still to come. The kids were really tough - the hike is two miles each way, and by the time we made it home, we all needed a nap.

We waved "see ya later" to our good friend John today!  He is on his way home to California to get ready for his mission!  We are really going to miss him - especially my kids! He has been so good to them!  John has been dating my sister Kelsey this last year, and they spent a lot of their time at my house playing with my kids.  He will be a really amazing missionary. Can't wait to see where he goes!  Love you John!  (Nice Jazz Jersey!)