The Drew Israelsen Family

Chad is an awesome Uncle, the kids just love him. Last week we were at the cabin and Robert came up to me and said he needed to go home because he needed to see his Uncle Chad REALLY BAD!!! I have always loved Chad just like he was my brother and he has always treated me just like his sister! We love you Uncle Chad and wish you the happiest birthday ever!!!!

We headed to Bear Lake for the 24th of July to go camping with my brother Tom and his family. The next day first thing we headed for the beach to do some boating and play around in the sand on the dune buggy. My brother Mike and his family joined us that day. It was lots of fun hanging out with each other. We decided since no one was using the cabin we should stop there on the way home and stay over. Everyone loved the cabin and the kids really loved the zip line. I hope we can do it again soon.

I love pictures as I am sure you can tell and these are some fun pictures we have taken with the kids on our outdoor adventures.

Last night at dinner Robert was talking to us about his dad's work. He doesn't understand why we can't go to dad's work and see him. We were explaining that dad doesn't work at his work he works at different locations everyday. So here is how the conversation went....

Drew: "Dad doesn't just work at his work Rob I work EVERYWHERE and that is why you can't see me when I am at work."

I can see Robert sitting in his chair pondering this explanation.

Robert: "You don't work HERE dad."

The next few seconds were cold silence.......

and then I busted up laughing and in return got a pretty good dagger from Drew. This was pretty funny because Drew doesn't do alot around the house but only because it is usually done by the time he gets home. His sister's say I spoil him, I know I do but only because I love him. He works very hard everyday to provide for us and I just want him to know that I appreciate it and know he works for us even though we don't always see it!!! I love you BABE!!!!

So as many of you know Lena absolutely loves to draw!!! She will sit with coloring book and crayons for HOURS, I mean I am talking like four hours at a time. She loves her sidewalk chalk, crayons, coloring books and anything that she can draw with. She colors different than I have seen other kids color. She will get a lined notebook and keep in the lines with little lines and circles and she thinks she is writing everyones name. She got a hold of her dads music book and wrote between all his lines for him. He was very happy with her. The other day I was downstairs helping Rob out with something and Drew was up stairs in the shower. All the sudden I heard Lena saying MOM MOM COME AND SEE. So I went up stairs to see what she was so excited about. She had got her hands on Drew's sharpy that he always carries in his work pants and had decided to color her hands. (at least it wasn't the walls right?) She was so proud of herself and wanted me to take a picture. You can see how proud she is in the last picture and displaying her hands for the camera. I had to just breath and take the pictures the damage was already done.....

Please leave me a comment! I look forward to taking a trip down memory lane with you!

1. Leave one memory that you and I had together, as a comment on my blog. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Our last stop on our vacation was a night stay at six lakes near Roosevelt Utah. The group consisted of Drew, myself, Robert, Lena, Stacey, Brent, Tanner, Landon, Megan, Thomas, Amie, Braden, and Trevon. It was beautiful and everyone really enjoyed it. We had our own private lake and hot tub. We had a beautiful view from the back of the cabin and a nice deck to just sit and relax on. The kids had tons of fun running around and catching lizards and jumping in the water to catch some crawdads! The adults had a great time enjoying each others company and Thomas kept us laughing most of the night! It was the perfect ending to our family vacation and I think we may go back and stay again!

After leaving Park City we headed for Snow Mountain in Colorado (about a 7 hour drive) to meet up with the gang at the Israelsen Family reunion. It was a long drive but for the kids being as young as they are I really think they were troopers. I don't now how many more times Robert could have asked us if we were almost there. Thank heavens for his PSP and Lena's coloring book! When we finally arrived Robert greeted his great Grandpa with a bear hug. We had a great time in Colorado and the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves. One of the fun things they did was to go on a hike and see the waterfall. It was nice because it was easy enough for the small ones to make it on their own. Robert got half way down and saw Ben going up so he decided to go see it two times. The picture below is of Aunt Amie and Trevon making there way across the log going to the waterfall. Colorado was really beautiful but I guess I am just prejudice because I still think there is no where as pretty as Cache Valley!

Aunt Kellie was loving all the kids. Robert was just fine with letting her hug on him but Ben was a little taken back with the whole thing. Below you can see my little artists. They absolutely loved the craft shop. Lena can color for HOURS! Drew even made himself a new belt and Robert and Lena came home with wooden snakes and stuffed animals that they colored and painted all on their own.

We all went for a round of miniature golf and of course Ma won mostly because she was the only one keeping track of her score:) We had a great time seeing everyone and want you to know that our best friends are in our FAMILY!!!!!

Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
Drew loving the snow in July!
Robert wasn't sure how long it was going to take dad to come down the zip line.
We love to swim in the sun!!!!
Their 4th of July shirts!

We went to Park City for two days and had a great time. We watched the fireworks on the 4th which luckily were right outside out hotel (the kids slept right through them). Then the next day we went to the Olympic park. The kids LOVED it. We took them down the Alpine slide, Drew rode the zip line and we watched the ski show they had. The ski team out jump off the ramps into the water. It was pretty awesome. We took the kids swimming 2 or 3 times and they probably could of just stayed in the pool ALL DAY and they would have been happy. Grandma and Grandpa Taylor drove up and went out to dinner with us to a restaurant called Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It is pretty expensive but VERY GOOD! We had a great time just spending time with our kids and giving them 100% of our attention!