Shad's Bobsled Birthday!

Uncle Shad is always doing nice and generous things for our family so we wanted to plan something real fun and different for his birthday. What do you get a guy who pretty much has everything and has done everything?

A real bobsled ride down the Olympic track!

Shad is in the back

Made it down the track in 1 minute 5 seconds

He was totally surprised and way excited! It was so fun to watch him race down and we were all wishing we could do it too!

It was a gorgeous day so we hung-out at the Olympic park and watched the ski jumpers flip into the pools and then played at the park. So fun!

Then we went to Shad's favorite dinner spot in Park City - Loco Lizard!

Happy Birthday Uncle Shad! We love you lots!

Nitro Circus

For Christmas Uncle Shad gave the guys in our family tickets to NITRO CIRCUS!

I sure wish I could have gone, I was totally jealous!

The boys said it was amazing and "so freaking awesome!"

 

Thanks Shad!

Moto Madness

 It started with Samb's birthday present...a dirt bike.

Then 2 months later Will got a dirt bike for his birthday.

And then of course BS needed one too so he could go riding with them.

Since then these guys have been LOVING their motorcycle adventures in the mountains, sand dunes, and trails right by our house.  They have been to 5 mild pass, the Knolls, AF Canyon, and the cabin to name a few.  I'm so glad they have something they can do together.  I hope this is the beginning of many memories made together!  I love my boys.  BE SAFE!

Chalk Creek Canyon

Shad and Nate came too

Here they are at 5 mild pass with Seth and Rick Sunderlage

Pit stop at the winter ranger station

Cousin Cole had a spendover at our house and couldn't get enough motorcycle rides!

Chitty

Uncle Shad surprised us with tickets to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Hale Theatre!

Only Grandma, Aunt Heidi, me, and the cousins 6 and up were allowed to go.  It was a great opportunity for me to introduce the kids to this movie, which I hadn't seen since I was a child.  Over Spring break we found it on Netflix and had the kids watch it so they would know the story before going to see the musical.  I didn't think I remembered anything about it until I started hearing the songs...then I totally did!  I had forgotten how fun the songs are...both the words and the melodies. Super catchy!  We were singing the songs for days and sometimes still are :)

"Toot, Sweet!" and "Bang bang chitty chitty bang bang" and "Old Bamboo" and "POSH" 

Anyway, we LOVED this production.  LOVED!  Everyone of us.  Even my boys.  I look for opportunities to take my kids to the theatre and I am very grateful to Shad for planning this fun evening!

Presidents Day Snowmobiling

February 19th is Quincy's birthday.  I love her birthday for 2 reasons:

1. 19 is my favorite number (and BS's football number ;)

2. It is always close to President's Day which means no school which means we get to do something fun!  She was born on President's Day.

This year we went snowmobiling!  I'm not talking just dinking around in the field at the cabin...I'm talking real snowmobiling up in the Uinta Mountains!  We took the kids up to the cabin after church, enjoyed dinner, and spent the night.  The next day (President's Day) Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Shad, Mom, and the kids went snowmobiling to Chalk Creek which is above Coalville.  Sadly BS had to work.  It was a sunny day and we managed to find some great snow!  Great boon-docking! We took snacks and had a break at a cozy little warming hut near Bear River Station. The kids thought it was really cool that there was a shelter in the middle of no where with a warm fire and bunkbeds.

Millie and Sambo took turns driving because their thumbs kept getting fatigued from pushing the throttle.  I remember when I was their age and my thumb would cramp up but I had to keep up. But they are ready for sleds of their own.  Of course Will always wanted to ride with Shad because he goes super fast and has a fancy sled.  Quincy traded off between riding with me and Grandma...until she saw Shad going up and down a steep hill...then she wanted to get on with him!  She absolutely loved it and is so much braver this year.

I love snowmobiling and I'm so glad my kids love it too!

Grandma, Quincy

Will, Grandpa, Millie, Shad

Will and Grandpa

Sambo

Q and Shad

In the warming hut by the wood burning stove

Q taking a rest on one of the bunkbeds

Mills

 On the way home we ate dinner at a little joint in Coalville called Polar King that actually had really good food.  Especially the fries.  Then we went back to the cabin and celebrated Quincy's birthday with some ice cream sundaes.  Her birthday was the next day.

Thanks G&G and Uncle Shad for making this happen!

And thanks Grandpa especially for helping get our sleds ready to go!

Mary Poppins & Little Mermaid

The girls in our family were lucky enough to go to the theatre TWICE in one week!

About 4 months ago, I got a text from my oldest brother telling me to keep September 21st open, but wouldn't say why.  Well.....turns out he surprised Grandma, Aunt Heidi, Alixann, Millie, and me with tickets to Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theatre!  He is so generous and we love him so much!

We met at the Olive Garden downtown before the show.  The timing was perfect because with Aunt Heidi teaching and the kids back in school and all of their activities, we hadn't seen much of each other.  The production was fantastic - Mary Poppins movie was one of my childhood favorites {Mille too} so we really enjoyed it!  Bert was exceptional.

Oh how I love Mother-Daughter dates

Just 2 days later, the same girls {plus Quinny} traveled to St. George to see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn.  Grandma Judy was really on the ball and got tickets for a bunch of the Clark families.  So we met up with the Clarks, stayed at the same hotel, and went to the show together.  I was thinking Mary Poppins would be hard to beat - but this one was just as incredible!  They really couldn't have done anything to make it better.  We stayed to meet the characters and get photos with some of the cast.  Many of them are starting to look familiar because we have made it a tradition to go to a show at Tuacahn every Fall.  

On Saturday we spent hours at the pool did a little shopping.  We had brunch at Village Inn to celebrate Karlee's birthday and a night run to Nielsen's Custard to top it off.  Oh and a lunch date with Uncle Denny and Aunt Marcia.

It was the best of both worlds for Millie and Quincy, having the Grandparents, Aunts, and cousins from both sides!  It was extra fun to have two soon-to-be family members with us...Megan and Jordan.  Both Sean and Jenny are getting married in November!
BS stayed back with the boys and played & watched lots of football.  Sambo and Will both opted to stay home and play their games, weren't too excited to see the play for some reason :)

Grandpa Jim

Karlee

Sarah & Alex

Alix & Grandma Cindy

Spencer

Grandpa Judy & Rylee

Skuttle

The Eels - only Quin was brave enough

King Triton

We ran into Mrs. Frampton!

Flounder

Eric & Ariel

Ursula

My little "MerNaid"

So Stoked!