Lake Powell 09'

Lake Powell is a tradition that I grew up with every summer and so far my wife and kids had never been. So this year when the time came we had to go, despite the fear of our children not sleeping, the hot weather, eating insects, and how we would possibly pile on enough sunblock for everyone. We are so glad we went because we had a blast!! Anytime we were not on the house boat, we were in the ski boat, on the Jet Ski, floating in rafts in the lake, or fishing. Brayden had so much fun fishing with Richard and Andrew and floating in his life jacket in the water. Logan loved playing on the beach, riding on the Jet Ski and playing on the beach. The landscape of Lake Powell is so beautiful, especially when the sun is setting. It was great to see family that we rarely see and have time away.

The Cali Fix

As soon as the 100's hit in AZ, it was time to head to Cali for our fix. We have been able to go to Cali twice in the past 3 weeks and have loved it over there. The first trip I went over to L.A. on business and then Camille brought the kids and her sister Lynette for the weekend. We went stayed in Long Beach and went to the beach there. Brayden and Logan absolutely loved it! They enjoyed running away from waves, chasing seagulls, and digging in the dirt for hours. I think that is Logan's calling in life...he is a dirt digger. Whatever construction crew is hiring in 15 years, he will be ready! Brayden actually became a lot braver and went in the waves with me. Camille and Lynette did there best to lay out, enjoy the sun, and have some serious girl talk time. Whatever that means.... The weekend was short but we got a whole day on the beach and it was well worth it.

The next trip was over 4th of July weekend. My Mom and Dad rode in our car on the way over, which was quite an experience in itself. My Mom and Camille were constantly busy handling the snacks, working the DVD player, and doing whatever else possible to keep the boys happy and most importantly quiet. I had a great time talking with my Dad up front. Then Jonny and Blake his friend joined us later. We were able to spend two full days on the beach and at the end went straight into the hotel jacuzzi, which was simply amazing and much needed. It was amazing how after each time soaking in the tub Logan still had a bunch of sand in his ear. The hotel was so awesome! We had amazing continental breakfast's everyday: French Toast, Pancakes, and Biscuits and Gravy. They also had a half court basketball court that Jonny and I got some use out of. We were able to enjoy fireworks of Legoland from a far. We watched them from the side of a road overlooking Legoland in our beach chairs. At the beach there was a lot of Frisbee, Boogie Boardin, Body Surfin, Sand Crab catchin, Horse Shoes, Sand castles, eating snacks by the truck loads, and most importantly relaxing in 75 degree weather. That is the best part about the beach, is that it is a perfect family vacation with activities for all ages. My Mom and Dad had the relaxing down, Camille and I had all of the above, and Brayden and Logan enjoyed digging in the sand, making sand castles, and digging for sand crabs. Overall it was a blast and was the fix we needed.

Chillin at the Pool

For Memorial Day or Veterans Day or one of the recent days off that I had, our family went swimming and had a bbq at the Stevens Home. It was a blast. As you can see Brayden has already learned the way to relax at the pool. Right when we told him that we were taking a picture, he posed, and put out the peace sign on cue. He is a total Stevens! Of coarse I am sportin the farmers tan like it's going out of style. I am getting blind just looking at myself on the screen, so sorry for that for you viewers out there. How nice it is to have pools around us in this summer heat. Thanks to the Stevens for the hospitality. And thanks to Brayden for this candite shot, without which this post would not be possible.

Brayden Graduated Preschool

Our little Brayden graduated his first year of Preschool! We are so proud of him and how much he learned throughout the process. I wanted to capture this graduation through the pictures on here because it was quite impressive! I have been at High School graduations that were not quite as nice as this. Well, probably not..... but just about. There were rows and rows of people there watching all of the children graduate. They had a table up front that the children had to walk up and receive their certificate. They also had them wear the hat with the tassle and even played the famous graduation song. It was awesome!

The first thing they did was have all the kids go to the front of the room and perform some songs they learned for us. They also recited the days of the week and months of the year. I looked over at Camille in amazement because we didn't even know Brayden knew that yet. I was also able to get a picture of Brayden's teachers that did such a great job for him and he loved going to preschool with them. Grandma Stevens, Me, Camille and Logan were there to support. Great job Brayden!

Fathers and Sons 09'

Brayden and I left Mom and Logan at home and headed up to Mount Lemmon for Fathers and Sons. Mount Lemmon is 8,000 feet above Tucson and is a beautiful area that we have gone the last 2 years. Brayden really enjoyed cooking marshmellows and finding sticks in the woods to throw in the fire. Since our Ward is fully stocked with 3-5 year olds, Brayden had lots of friends to play with. This year we were totally civilized and slept in the back of our new minivan. The only problem was that our air mattress went totally flat by midnight so I was sleeping on all the bumps in the floor. So it was as close to the outdoors ground as possible for me. Because my side was totally flat, Brayden's still had quite a bit of air in it so he had a nice comfortable sleep. In the morning we had to keep with tradition and play some wiffleball. I am not sure if that is spelled correctly but I decided that when I can't spell a word that I should just spell it how it sounds. Anyway, it was a great trip and next year I will bring both my boys.

Mother's Day

I wanted to post some pictures of our Mothers Day celebration! We had a wonderful day pampering and spoiling our Mother, Camille! Of coarse Brayden, Logan, and Daddy got up and cooked her breakfast and let her sleep in. Then she had fun opening up earrings that Brayden and I picked out, soft lips, and a bread maker. After church the Stevens came by and it was nice to be able to see my Mother on Mothers Day. My Dad helped me on our wonderful Ritz Chicken dinner with cheesy potatoes and brocolli. All these items were made by the Dad's and Jonny Rocket so it probably was as good as it could have been. As you can see, I had to sport the apron to ensure that I was the official cook in the kitchen and no Mother was allowed this day. Also I just couldn't resist the flowers. One of the best things of the whole day was when Brayden went up with the Primary children and sang, "Mother, I love you". Overall we had a great Mothers Day with our Mothers. I hope I wrote Mothers enough for everyone in this post, I counted up 9 in total.

Our Family Garden

A few months ago our Stake volunteered plots of land as a garden to any family that wanted to plant vegetables and fruits. We had never planted a garden and so we decided that it would be a fun experience. Every week we have been going to our garden and pulling weeds so that our stuff will grow. One week recently we got to the garden and our plants had grown 5X's as much as the last time we were there. Not only were the plants large but the vegetables were HUGE as well! We had never seen zucchini or squash so big. In fact we brought out the measuring tape and captured the size of one zucchini at 16 inches!! As you can see from the pictures it is comparably large to Camille's head and Brayden's body.