elijah's first loose tooth

Elijah lost his first tooth today. And he pulled it out all by himself.

What a cutie.

park city with the zollinger clan

Park City is mostly a ski town, but I would highly reccomend a trip in the summer. The weather is a bit cooler than down in the valley, there are hiking trails all over the place, and there is hardly anyone there. We were able to rent a big house with almost all of Brent's family (we missed you Sue) and we had a blast. The cousins played. The siblings, and siblings-in-law bonded, and of course there was precious grandma and grandpa (and mom and dad) time.

Jacob played on the trampoline/bungee thing. He tried very hard for a flip but couldn't quite get upside down.

The kids played "Careful" with Grandma.

And of course; we ate. Sometimes, we ate out. And sometimes we cooked for each other. Either way, it was DEE-licious. We always love hanging out with the Zollingers. Family is the best.

one more childhood milestone, checked off the list

a few days with Grandpa and Dana

Our first stop on the Utah summer vacation was Grandpa's place in Sandy. We rode TRAX to Temple Square and visited the Museum of Church History, toured the Conference Center, and walked the grounds of the Temple. The kids loved the train.

The Museum had an exhibit honoring the 50th anniversary of "I Am a Child of God". It was adorable; the kids loved all the stations that represented the different stages in the Plan of Salvation. You start in the pre-existence, then the hospital where you are born, on to baptism and temple marriage, then the Celestial Kingdom. It was a great hands-on exhibit that helped the kids visualize all the things they are learning in primary.

Taking care of the newborn:

The museum also featured the Salt Lake Tabernacle and its amazing construction. We enjoyed seeing our ancestor's name (William H. Folsom) and photo, as part of the exhibit as one of the contributing architects of the Tabernacle.

Our future prophets:

The next day we spent some time at the Classic Family Fun Center. We rode some water slides, and played on the indoor jungle gyms.

Then Dana and I revolutionized dance.

this is how we roll

Remember when you were a kid and you went on family summer vacations and the car trips seemed to take FOR-E-VER? Kids these days. So lucky:

Oliver had the whole car floor to himself thanks to smart Honda engineers that make it a piece of cake to remove the seats:

Eli and Jake both enjoyed some solitude with their nintendo DS(es) and earphones:
And Spencer kept himself busy with his stuffed animals (buckled up for safety) and his own DVD screen.
Trips to Utah were never this easy when I was young. How did our parents do it?

I'm only six months late. Don't judge me.

Elijah turned six in May and he had a party. It was space-shippy. Here are some highlights. Enjoy.

I apologize for the sideways video.

first day of school 2009

crazy hair day

I'm not exactly sure how this will keep our kids off drugs; but this past week was red ribbon week and one of the spirit days was "crazy hair day." this is how the boys chose to celebrate. needless to say, they are all now newly shorn:

Halloween 2009

Hey, I'm back. Didya miss me? It's too much to catch up on so I am just starting from where we are: Halloween.

Here are the pix:

there was a pie eating contest:

Jake won:

brent played too:

but he lost:

happy halloween everyone. and 10 points if you know who brent dressed up as.