'Good Day' - Jewel

Parker's good day.

Today he won the Alpine Days Tennis Tournament.
Way to go Parker!

'Condo, Condo, Condo' - Michael Buble

I know, I know, the song lyric is really 'Quando, Quando, Quando,' but Gary kept singing his version on our drive to St. George, and I thought it was pretty clever. On a whim, we headed to sunny and hot St. George to spend the 24th of July holiday. Parker was at Bear Lake boating, so it was just the 4 of us. I never get used to not having all 5 of my kids with us.

We had a very fun week-end. We went to Tuacahn to see 'Footloose' and enjoyed a few fireworks there. The next day the boys golfed while the girls shopped, and we joined them on the last couple of holes. We went to the Harry Potter movie (why didn't anyone tell me Dumbledore died?!) and the Pizza Factory for dinner.

The next day we went on one of our favorite hikes, then while the kids cooled off at the pool, Gary and I went to the St. George temple. Keeping with tradition, we had to drop in at Neilsen's Frozen Custard before we hit the road for home. It was a quick and fun trip. Hope you had a great pioneer day too!

'Bad Day' - Daniel Powter

Parker's Bad Day.

After 3 weeks straight of playing with cousins
and another week of 'chore vacation'
while mom was at girls camp,
makes re-entry into the world of reality quite painful.
Throw in a 1/4 cup of hormones and it's a recipe for a bad day.

'To Make You Feel My Love' - Trisha Yearwood

Gary is a hard one to surprise, so when I do surprise him, I get quite a bit of satisfaction from it. Last night was one that filled both of our empty buckets. With the craziness of the summer, it feels like Gary and I haven't had a moment for each other. Add to that the pressures of the work merger and church obligations for both of us, we have been feeling stretched pretty thin. For weeks, Gary has been wistfully looking at the mountains. They rejuvenate and calm him at the same time.

On a whim, I cleared our calender for the evening, arranged things for the kids, borrowed our friends' convertible, and called up Gary and asked him out on a date. All the info I gave him was where to meet me after work. When I pulled up with the top down, shades on, and some of his favorite tunes cranked on the stereo, I wish I would have had a camera. Got him good. We drove the Alpine Loop and had dinner in the Foundry Grille at Sundance. Then drove the loop home again, nice and slow. The canyon was so beautiful, the weather so divine, and the company so yummy.

Maybe now I won't have to go camping.

'Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah' - Allan Sherman

I SURVIVED GIRLS CAMP!!!

I was a little nervous, as it's been a few years, but it was a great week. I will admit I was on the verge of losing it at 5:30am after the first sleepless night in my sleeping bag, but I snuck to my cell phone hidden in my car and tearfully texted Gary and he rescued me yet again. He arrived that night for skit-night with a brand new big and fluffy air mattress and a dozen Paradise Bakery coconut chocolate chip cookies. That man knows just how to take care of me! With a little bit of sleep, I was a new woman!

The Lord watches over Heber Valley Camp. The spirit there is heavenly, and I'm so grateful we are able to use such amazing facilities in such a beautiful place. And I loved sharing it with Sarah! We have amazing stake leaders who spent the entire year preparing, and it paid off - BIG TIME! The highlights for me were watching Gary in the stake presidency skit, our ward faith walk, my friend Lori Featherstone's AMAZING talk, and just watching Sarah. And having a camp cook that fixed all of MY meals just spoiled me! Here are a few of my favorite pictures...

Sarah and I with Lori Featherstone, from the YW General Board

The stake presidency doing the 'THRILLER' dance.
Gary is on the left. His moonwalk was awesome!

Sarah on the zip-line

Sarah, Cassidy and Mindi waiting for their turn...

'God Bless the USA' - Lee Greenwood

One of my favorite things about summer vacation is having family come to visit. The kids love playing with their cousins and we all love catching up and being together. The last few weeks have been busy ones at the Judd Bed & Breakfast, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

First my sister, Tiff came to visit with her three amazing kids. We kept her son, Jace for an extra week, then my sister-in-law, Kalyn brought her three and two of Tira's girls for a fun week before the 4th of July. My brother Ryan flew in to join us for the holiday week-end. We played a lot! Here's some pictures of just a few of the fun things we did...

Jace, Jenna, Tiff, and Travis on our way to Snowbird Resort

Parker and Jace chillin' in the backyard

Jace, Benji, Sarah, and Parker ready for church

Tanner, Benji and Carter at Thanksgiving Point

Sarah and Katie at our FAVORITE summer treat place, 'Snoasis!'

The Judds and Taylors at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

Fitting in our fireworks on the 3rd!

Gary, Ryan and Kalyn on the 4th of July

Waiting for the parade to start with our Sanpete cousins

Well, Sarah and I are off to girls camp....back in a week!