10th Anniversary in Mexico!

Mexico has become one of our favorite vacation destinations. For our 10th anniversary, we decided to stay on the small, beautiful Akumal Bay. It is one of my favorite places to be, and I can't wait to stay there some day with my kiddos. I love snorkeling, especially where there are multiple sea turtles and beautiful coral reefs.

Akumal Bay

Snorkeling with Sea Turtles

Beautiful Views from Our Home Away from Home

Snorkeling!

If you ever get the chance to visit Tulum, take it. It is one of our favorite locations. When you enter Tulum through the stone wall, it's like stepping back in time. The ruins are breathtaking, especially with the ocean view. The beach there is to die for, too. Unfortunately there was a lot of sea weed washing in this time, but it didn't keep us from having fun.

Tulum - A Must See in Our Opinions

Playing in the Waves on the Beach at Tulum

Beach at Tulum

I love snorkeling in the ocean, and Nick loves the Yucatan Peninsula's many fresh water cenotes. We swam in a couple our last time here, so this trip we decided to visit one of the locals' favorite swim holes. We weren't disappointed. We even had a chance to use our limited Spanish to chat with a local gentleman who got a kick out of chumming for the little fish there so we could take pictures with our underwater camera.

Nick Jumping Off Cliffs at the Local Cenote Cristalino

 Our last stop in Mexico was Cancun. We can now say we've played in the waves in Cancun.

Beach in Cancun

Cancun

We finished off our trip by wandering around the huge Isla Shopping Center. It was so markedly different from any of the other shopping experiences we have had that it really stood out.

All in all, it was a perfect way to spend our 10th anniversary. It was a great way to spend several days with my best friend.

Isla Shopping Center Cancun

Boating with Grandma and Grandpa - Aug 2011

We love boating with Grandma and Grandpa Millar. We usually go to Ririe Reservoir, and this trip we had Aunt Kerri and some of her littles with us. We love watching Dad and Grandpa water ski and can't wait until the girls get their own chance to try it out. We had a lot of fun this time though as Emma discovered the fun of jumping off rocks into the water. It's a little scary to trust your life jacket at first, but she did it!

Mom and Emma be-bopping through the water!

Grandma Hutchens and Aunt Elaine's Reunion - Aug 2011

 You know how when you're kids, you play with and look up to your cousins like no one else? Well, in my family, there isn't anyone like them. And last August, my Grandma Hutchens and her twin sister Elaine gathered as many of their posterity together as they could and we had a large reunion. It was so fun seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins again. It was even more fun watching my own kids strengthen similar relationships with their own cousins. We enjoyed every minute of it. I've been blessed with an outstanding family. These are a few of my favorite pictures from the experience.

Emma, my water rat! She was in the water as much as out.

Bridges are great places to play!
 

Ash with cousins!

Grandma with just a sampling of my cousins.

I LOVE this picture of Ash and Ryken. Cousins are so special.

My hero, my dad. He is happiest outdoors with his family.

Girls' Camp 2011

Girls' Camp! When I was released from YW, I cried. When I was put back in, I celebrated. And camp was the perfect time to enjoy my girls. They are my girls after all. We are fortunate enough to go to a new, beautiful campground just outside of Idaho Falls, and we get to camp in real tents! We had lots of fun hiking (I had to stay at camp due to a miserable fever that almost sent me home), cooking, eating, cooking, eating, and doing skits. Oh, and did I mention that there was a lot of delicious camp cooking and eating going on? Mostly, we just enjoyed each other's company and made some incredible memories. Our skit was rather memorable itself. I love the people in these pictures; they have each made a life-long impression on me.

Camp wouldn't be the same without Bro. Hudson

Megan and Chopped Liver (aka Olivia)

My girls and several of the leaders.

Brianna and Joselyn displaying newly painted nails.

Courtney has been a favorite babysitter of ours.

July - Family Trip to Salt Lake City

Last weekend we headed to Salt Lake for a few days. When we started out, the girls were so excited to get their Squirmles they had been begging for. Emma was so excited about hers that she could hardly sleep the night before. Unfortunately, Squirmles are not as cool as they appear in the commercials. Oh, well. It was an inexpensive lesson learned. They still played with them for a long time in the car though.



Our first stop was Cowabunga Bay in Draper. It is an awesome water park with kids. Emma was able to go on every slide but one, and boy did she enjoy it. Despite the wind causing her to shiver uncontrollably, I think she would have gone all day. Ash wasn't a fan of the slides, but she did enjoy the lazy river and just being in the pool.


Emma is getting old enough that Nick would let her go on the slides she wanted to go on while he went on those he was interested in. The place was the perfect size to be able to keep a good eye on her while she had fun.


After four hours of fun there, we went to dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant. Even the girls are beginning to share Nick's enthusiasm for Thai food. My favorite dish was a shrimp and rice dish served in a pineapple. Yummy. From there, we went to my Grandma Hutchens apartment for the night. She's so willing to let people stay with her.

The next day we brought Grandma along with us to the Aviary in Salt Lake. We've been several times are really enjoy it. They've made several improvements recently, too, that have made the trip even better.

I thought it'd be fun to let the girls participate in feeding the pelicans. They, however, did not really like the idea of throwing dead fish. Emma hesitantly participated, but Ash . . .


let Daddy throw her fishies. (I can't really say I blame her.) But is was kind of fun.


The bird show was really well done. We all enjoyed it. There were only three rows, so it had a much more intimate feel than other shows we've been to.


And you can't help but enjoy watching the crow tuck away a donated dollar. Too fun.


And since the girls were being such stinkers, we fed them to the birds. ;)


That afternoon we took ourselves away from the worst of the heat and headed to Park City where we met up with Nick's parents, cousin Cassidy, and sister Lacee with her little guy Carson.


Several of us had the chance to go on the Alpine Slide. This little Carson sure loves his Grandpa. Sorry the picture's turned. I'm too lazy to try to turn it.


I love this picture. The slide was so fun. The girls loved it, especially since they shared it with people they love.


Despite a temporary scare when Grandma just about passed out, the trip was perfect. We fished the day with a trip to Chucky Cheese's. The kids had a lot of fun. While the pizza was better than we'd expected, we decided that the kids get more bang for their buck here at our local game center. But everyone went away happy with their little prizes.

The next morning we went to the zoo. It was fun going with all the cousins. The zoo is always a hit. We especially loved the elephant show. The baby elephant is trained to flap its ears, spin in circles, and even do a hand stand. It was really fun to watch.


And who can resist a ride on a carousel. The girls loved it. It was a near perfect trip. Thanks everyone for joining us.

July - Millar Family Reunion

We had a great time getting together with my family for a bit of a reunion two weeks ago. We stayed in Rexburg and gathered at Mom and Dad's for fun time. Unfortunately, my camera never made it's way out of my bag. I only have this picture because Nick brought his new underwater camera to the pool to try out when he was able to come and join us. Know, however, that these are some of my very favorite people. I love the feeling of love and acceptance that exists in my family. We all love each other tremendously. With lots of little people running around all the time, it's just some times hard to stop and enjoy each other. :)


On Thursday, I finished my final, graded papers, entered grades, packed up the girls, and headed to Rexburg to my little sister's house for a BBQ. It was great fun, despite a bit of rain. The girls and I stayed out at her house and really enjoyed it (Emma did have a sleep over with her cousin Kate one night). Friday morning we headed to the sand dunes. It was fun watching the kids play in the sand just as I did when I was a kid. We then took the sandy little ones to Grandma's house for lunch only to leave a short time later for Rexburg's new pool. It was a bit windy, but super fun. The kids played and played until they couldn't handle it any more. Saturday was a bit of a down day. Grandma rented an inflatable bouncy house for the front yard, and the back yard was turned into a kid water park. We ended the day by having a birthday party for my brother-in-law Heath, but mostly for his little guy Ryken. Sunday we all went to church with my sister Kerri. It was fun all being together (well, except for two MIA sons-in-law and my sweet sister Alisa and her family in Alabama). It was a great weekend.

As much fun as we had, we were very excited to see Daddy again and to go to a farewell BBQ for our good friends the Moores. All in all, it was a great weekend.

July 4th Fun

We definitely celebrated the 4th of July in phases. On Sunday night, we let the girls stay up late to do fireworks. Since we discovered last year's stash that we didn't finish, we were able to have an extra bit of fun. The girls especially love sparklers (what kid doesn't) and pop-its.


Monday morning we were treated with a visit from Joel and Sarah and their family. We have missed these guys so much since moving from Laramie. We were thrilled that they would spend a couple of hours with us. We went to the parade and dinner. Unfortunately, the weather was cold, windy, and rainy, and the parade was rather poorly represented. Oh, well, the kids got lots of candy, and we LOVED the company and can't wait to see them again.


That afternoon we had one heck of a rainstorm. I should have taken a picture. The road outside our house was a small river. It was beautifully scary. Then, a few hours later, after the clouds had blown over and everything looked summery again, we left for Pocatello's firework show. It was really quite well done. Thanks to a tip from some good friends, we had great seats, too. In face, the same friends ended up showing up and enjoying the show with us. Tyler and Ashley just recently moved their growing family to Burley. I miss them a lot, and was grateful for the opportunity to spend one last fun hurrah with them, at least while they lived here. As Robertsons showed us, good friends don't ever disappear.