Fall Family Pictures

It's that time of year again!  We love fall family pictures.  Here's a few of my favorites. 

Oh what do you do in the summertime...

Well, summer is time for fun, right!  Our 3 weeks breaks consisted of a lagoon trip, miniature golfing, reunion in Tropic (see last post), and reunion in Heber Valley Camp, lots of scout activities and fun family trips.

Here's Ian and I on the tilt-a-whirl at Lagoon 

 Ian on the swings.

 Ian winning some prizes.

 More prizes!

 Pillow fight at the family reunion. Is Emmett tough, or what!

 Geocaching!  It rocked!

Ian was exhausted after the reunion.  He fell over like this on the

way home and stayed that way the whole time.

 Miniature golfing!

 Ian looks like a pro, right!

 And Ian learns from the best!

 First day of 3rd Grade, my he's so grown up :-)

 Ian and one of his best friends (Jed) received their wolf award

on the same night. We are proud of Ian's accomplishments!

 Living so close to the Bingham Canyon Mines, we finally took the time to drive up there.

The big tires (10' tall) are always impressive!

 My 2 men in front of the open pit mine.

 Ian paid to check out the view a little closer.  He was very impressed!

 Brian went on a the Ride for Fallen Officers this month and had a chance to

get his picture taken with Senator Hatch who was there too!

Summer Fun

We have all been in Tropic 2 times in 1 month, that is almost unheard of!  The first time we went was for the Nielson Family reunion that Mom hosted.  We had a blast!

Brian rode his Harley to Tropic. Ooooh Hot Daddy!

All of the family!!!

 Ian is taking a climbing class this summer.  His first day there they hooked him up with another classmate and they had to communicate about where to put their feet.  Ian and his partner climbed the highest!

 It took some coaxing, but Ian eventually made it to the top a few times. Awesome!

 The very next weekend after the Nielson reunion we went back to Tropic for the 4th of July.  Here's Ian going for a ride with Joey.

 And of course, who could forget the 4th of July races in Tropic.  Here's the 8 year old boys.  Look at that stride on Ian, wow!

 Ian sure enjoyed playing with Preslee while we were there too.  She had no qualms about cuddling right up to him on the couch and watching him play his Nintendo D.S.

 For those of you who don't know, Ian is OBSESSED with Mario.  So when Brian cut up a mango the other day it was immediately termed a Mango Koopa!

 Ian has also had a long time fascination with red cups.  It's been his favorite toy since he was a baby.  Here he is on a Sunday afternoon, just making designs with cups and balloons.

 And some more!

 On the 4th of July trip we also went hiking in Zion.  Brian had friends who were visiting from Michigan and we really enjoyed spending time with them.  I didn't get all the pictures downloaded that I wanted, but here are just a few from the riverwalk hike in Zions.

Also while we were down south we stopped by to visit Mae Chynoweth.  She sure is a great lady and we are blessed to know her.  It was such a great visit!

Karate, Ice Skating, and Bowling

Ian has really been enjoying his karate class this year.  Just this last month he had earned his 8 stripes on his white belt and had the opportunity to test for his next belt.  Here he is with his white belt and 8 stripes.

This is Ian testing for his yellow belt.  He only had to be corrected on one thing (he turned his fist the wrong way on one move).  We are so happy that he has put the time and effort into doing so well in his classes.  There was a lot for him to remember for this and he rocked it!

At the end of the test for yellow belt the kids were asked to make a "mean face", so here is Ian's!  His Hanshi (teacher) is the guy on the left in the red shirt.  He is an 11 time world champion.

Over Easter weekend we went to the zoo and invited Joh, Alysha, and Makaylee to go along with us.  Here's Ian and Makaylee seeing how they measure up to the size of an ape.

And here's Ian riding a tiger.

While Ian was on his last school break we took him and his best friend (also named Ian) to the ice skating rink.  I (Shelly) have only been ice skating once before and it was fun to go again. We all had a blast!

Brian grew up in Michigan, where hockey is a big thing.  I think this is the first time he's been back on the ice since he left Michigan.  And he still has the skills!  It was great watching him on the ice!

Ian never ceases to keep us entertained!  Here's a crazy hat idea he came up with.

 A few months ago we took Ian bowling for the first time.  He's done it many times on the wii, but didn't realize how heavy the balls would really be!  We had a great time though.

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Brian bowling a strike!