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Girls Camp after party and slideshow

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Here we are again..it feels like we just did this! Midnight showing to eclipse..the 3rd book in the twilight saga. In my opinion, it was the best one so far. I was getting a little worried because the last one bored me to tears and the first was ultra cheezy. It's not so much the movie, as it is the experience with all my friends that keeps me coming back!

**our strategy this year: we had 2 pregnant friends in the group. As the lines began to move, we sent the visibly pregnant friends to the doors begging to get in to the bathroom (who would deny a pregnant woman bathroom access?) Once in the theater, they made way to the theaters that hadn't been filled yet. They got in with no questions asked and threw down blankets to save 3 rows! You do what you've gotta do at these things. If that means being a little creative, than so be it!

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Congratulations to Jayden!! He received his GREEN belt today at TaeKwonDo.

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Day 10:

On Our Way Home!!

State Line - Baker

Skyler had been wanting to ride this roller coaster for the longest time. That's all he talked about during the trip. He watched it several times on YouTube and talked it up to his brothers. He was all talk..no action! Once we got there, he said he didn't want to do it! As the good mother that I am, I refused to let him NOT do it. Yes, I basically forced him. He told me I was a bad mom for making him do something he didn't want to do. I just had the wisdom to know that he would have regretted it had he not done it. So despite the tears, I made him go. And just as I suspected, he was so glad he did it! He loved it! I have a great video to prove it.

Funny thing..Ryder wanted to ride it so badly that he wore 3 pairs of extra socks (at the advice of his big brother Skyler) to make himself taller. It didn't work and he was so disappointed..the whole casino knew how disappointed he was!

The look of pure terror is in his eyes!

Home Sweet Home

Had the largest thermometer in the world been working, it would have said: 125 degrees!

Ouch...it was HOT in Baker.

2, 700 miles, 392 pictures, 10 days filled with loads of memories, and priceless time with family!! This trip was better than I hoped it would be. Yes, there was the occasional fighting in the car..that was to be expected, but the boys did such a good job and were good little travelers. I'm ready to do it again...where will we go next??

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Day 9:

St. George Temple Visitors Center - Cafe Rio - Las Vegas

It was too hard to get a family shot in front of the temple because there was wedding after wedding taking pictures on the steps. It was interesting because there were 2 wedding parties taking pictures on each set of steps. One obviously had their wedding inside, the other, not so sure. I think the strapless gown and the smoking groomsmen were the giveaway!

Yummy, yummy, yummy! The Barbacoa Salad! Delicious!

When I took this picture, there was actually a couple getting married right underneath the sign!

Not so sure this was the "kid environment" I was looking for, but the boys loved the wave pool and lazy river.

Vegas has got to be one of the best places for people watching. Not sure what this cowboy was thinking. (this is not his tag sticking out but rather a conveniently placed bottle of sunscreen).

Been there, done that!

That's about all the boys really need to see of Las Vegas! You don't realize just how unwholesome Vegas is until you bring your kids. I guess I didn't really pay that much attention before. It wasn't my favorite stop of the trip!

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Day 8:

Moab - Arches National Park

We drove into Moab around 7 last night and found a hotel to stay at (unfortunately with a terrible pool..how can you be in 100+ temps. and have an ice cold pool? It didn't make sense). We decided we had to visit Arches since we were there. We only planned on driving through "real fast", but this is one place you can't drive through real fast. I think the 3 hours we spent here was too little!

balanced rock

Ryder getting the easy way down..maybe flip flops weren't the best choice of footwear for this days adventures.

The North and South Window Arch

The famous "Delicate Arch". We did not have time to hike to it, so we hiked a 1/2 mile to the viewpoint. Thank goodness for my digital zoom.

A pretty cool picture if I do say so myself. A rearview of Arches!

Again..I love the random. These soda can towers were in Salinas..the first town basically since we left Arches. Finally, a place to eat! FYI: the subway here does not participate in the 5 for $5.

St. George Temple

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Day 7:

Saying good-bye to Grandma & Grandpa - GeorgeTown Railroad & Mining Tour

An interesting fact about Jim is that he has 2 different thumbs! He got one of his dad's and one of his mom's. People never believe him..Now I have the proof. (mom on the right & dad on the left)

We decided to break our trip up a little more and leave Denver a day early (a 10 hour drive to St. George just didn't sound good). We stopped about an hour out of Denver to a cute little city: Georgetown, where we took a train ride and toured an old silver mine.

Riding along Devil's Gate Bridge..gorgeous!!

Here's something you don't see everyday: an ass taking his owner out for a jog! (can you say random!)

The temperature inside the mine was about 44 degrees. An interesting MINE fact: it can be over 100 degrees out and the mine will stay in the low 40's. It can be -20 degrees out and the mine will still stay in the low 40's!

Here I am holding up Interstate 7o! Pretty cool!

This was an amazing adventure! One of the best in our short time in Denver. Anyone heading that direction, I would strongly recommend it..especially if you have little ones! It was a great way to break up all the driving.

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Day 6:

Red Rock Amphitheater - Dinosaur Ridge - Denver Temple

This was the site where season 6 of the Amazing Race both began and ended! It was an amazing site to see. I was impressed with how many people come here to exercise. There were thrones of people running, lunging, and hoping the stairs. If I lived here, I think this is where I'd want to be too! Not a bad venue to watch a concert. I think I may have to come back when someone good is playing!!

We went on search for dinosaur fossils and found them. We also saw many dinosaur footprint molds.

Our final adventure for the day was walking around the Denver Temple. It was a small temple, but the grounds and all the flowers were breathtaking.

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Day 5:

Toy Story 3 - Hobby Lobby - Swimming with Uncle Joel

Today was a mellow day. Jim took all the boys (6) by himself to see Toy Story 3 while Mom Geddie and I went to Hobby Lobby..the mecca of craft stores. Afterwards, we cooled down at Uncle Joel's apartment pool.

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Day 4:

Downtown Denver & Family Night in the Park

The BIG BLUE BEAR

I was soooo excited that we were able to sneak into the U.S. Mint, as stand bys (I can be quite persuassive when I want something . I had tried to reserve a tour 1 1/2 months ago only to find that it was completely booked. The only 2 U.S. mints that allow tours are Denver & Philadelphia. It was fascinating to learn all the history behind our coins. Interesting fact: The U.S. Mints are the only federal building ran without using a single cent of tax money. They can make a $1.00 coin for .26 cents but sell it for..can you guess? $1.00, therefore making a profit! Now if the rest of the government could work out their fiscal kinks.

Ryder and the concrete cowboy

I found this ice cream place online at www.roadsideamerica.com (it lists all the quarky and fun things to see and do from state to state) and had to try it. It was DELICIOUS, homemade, and huge! A perfect treat to end our tour of downtown Denver!

Cousin time! The boys were excited to get to know their cousins. It had been years since they had seen each other and Matthew and Jonathan had never seen Ryder. Ashley and Austin were visiting from San Jose too, which made it fun for Skyler. We had a great time playing Monster Tag and the adults played a riveting game of HORSE on the basketball court..of which I was the CHAMPION!!

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DAY 3:

Horseback riding in Durango. Happy Father's Day Jim!

The family that rides together, stays together!

Ryder's 1st horse ride!

Jayden's 1st horse ride!

The pro..Skyler's 2nd time!

Jim truly does not like horses! He was bucked off as a child and never wanted to get back on. When we were planning this trip I came across this activity. The boys totally wanted to go but Jim was reluctant. He was such a great sport to humor his children (and wife's) desire and faced his fears, on his special day, and went with us! When all was said and done, he had a great time, we all had a great time! The scenery was absolutely gorgeous!!

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DAY 2:

Grand Canyon to Durango, Co.

A must on a road trip with 4 boys!!

The WATCHTOWER of the Grand Canyon

Four Corners..how disappointed I was when we got there and it was closed due to construction. The website said construction would be completed by June 2010 it will be more like August. We made the most of it and walked around the perimeter. We couldn't be in 4 states at the same time, but we could walk through 4 states (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado) in less than a minute. We'll take what we can get.