A Wii Bit of Gaming Going On

The kids had done a great job of playing together all week without the Wii.  Friday, after chores were done we let them turn it on and play and play.  In the early afternoon, we had some visitors.  The Lyon family dropped by.  Howard Lyon is an incredible painter / illustrator.  He has done some amazing work.  Check it out.  We got to visit for a couple of hours with Howard, his charming wife Shari and his delightful parents.  Kim and John suggested that we take our party over to Normandie Cafe.  It was my second time there, and definitely not my last.  Richard ordered the fruit tart and I got the lemon meringue tart.  Mmmmm!  

It was wonderful to hear Howard and Shari talk about the research and experiences that have gone into his paintings.  His parents are certainly proud of him and had wonderful stories to share as well.  If you ever get a chance to hear him speak or to see his paintings you should take it.  His paintings of the Savior are magnificent!

That evening, John spoke at a youth conference and took Sam, Josh and Ashley along.  The boys had a wonderful time.  They love his way of teaching with the Spirit, while also being entertaining.  His talk was based on the YW / YM theme of Arise and Shine Forth.   Afterwards, the four of them went to Five Guys and goofed around, quoting movies and being silly.

When they came home, the real party started.  Kim broke out the fireworks!  My kids had never gotten to play with fireworks before.  They were illegal in Phoenix until recently.  

The tanks were cool!

Silly Little Girls!

Low light and no flash makes for interesting, ghostly pictures.

I am worried that my children have now had their inner pyromaniacs let loose.  Most of them had never lit anything on fire before.

Beautiful Ashley!

Sam was having a blast jumping over the flower ones.

Drew

Nate

Susanna

Natalie

Timothy had dressed up like a missionary earlier.  With his torch, he looked like a little Harry Potter.  Such a cutie!!

Daniel

Sara

Kim provided us with another new experience.  Zotz, fireworks for your mouth!  We had yummy fun with this fizzy candy

In case you can't tell, that is a Zotz, fizzing away in Tim's mouth.

Thank you Auntie Kim for tons and tons of fun!

It's Raining, They're hiking, The Girls Have Gone Shopping!

Salt Lake City Vacation Continued 

7:00 am Thursday morning, Richard, Sam, Josh, Tim, Sara and Nate began hiking the Timpanogos Trail.  There was a 60% chance of rain and it was going to be a high of 68 degrees.  NOT perfect hiking weather.  

It was beautiful for most of the way up.

Richard always has the kids stop at this tree for pictures.

This puff thing made me think of Horton Hears a Who.

And then in creeps the storm.

It's coming!

Tim with some really dirty snow.

It's HERE!

By the time they reached the shelter, which is almost to the top, they were FREEZING!  It was such a bummer, because this was the year they were finally going to make it all the way to the peak,  all 11,749 feet of it.  They were so close, but the wind was so strong and cold that the rain drops felt like ice pounding against their faces and they were chilled to the bone. They rested for about 45 minutes and tried to get warm and then headed back down.  They finished their hiking at 5:00pm.  10 hours of hiking!!!!

Meanwhile, back at the house we had a relaxed morning.  Kim and I took Laney and Bethany out shopping for a bit.  Laney wanted some new flip flops, hers were getting too small.  We went to Down East, Old Navy, Shopko and Payless.  We founds some dazzling, sparkly pink ones and I found a couple pairs I couldn't leave with out.  Kim got some pretty sunglasses and a cute green case for them and Bethany got a pair of flip flops too.  It was fun and it rained a little bit on us.

When we returned we grabbed the rest of the kids and  took the crew to Dollar Tree to get some treats.   Drew, Daniel and Susanna got some sunglasses.  They looked super cool!  Then we went to the dollar movies. We were hoping to see The Lorax, but we were a few minutes late and it was sold out.  We opted to see The Pirate Movie, a clay animation.  It had some funny parts, but I can definitely live without ever seeing it again.

That evening our hikers came home, still cold and in need of hot showers.  Josh went to piano lessons with the Bytheway kiddos at their grandparents house and I took a few of my kids to Target while Richard and the rest of the kids watched movies and rested.  Kim and I watched an episode of  "Who Do You Think You Are?" late that night.  We were both deliriously tired, so we had to break out the Fuego flavored Takis (they are super spicy, hot, and delicious!) and some ice water to stay awake.  It was a full and fun day!