I LOVE UTAH!!

My favorite Uncle Paul was in town for the weekend and we had fun with him on Monday going to the Gateway. The girls loved the fountain and my mom and I loved the shopping.

We ate at our favorite restaurant, Thaifoon. The weather this time of year can't be beat. I am so thankful for what good girls I have. Every time we go out to eat usually at least one stranger tells us how well behaved our kids are, gotta love that.

My poor little Lydia has crawled out of her crib a couple of times and made herself a little bed on the CEMENT floor at my parent's house. It's rather disturbing when I go in to check on her before bed and I find her in a heap on the floor.

Ryan's dad and brother were passing through town and we had a fabulous time catching up with them over lunch. The little girls love their Grandpa Clay.

My parents took our little family hiking up Black Smith Canyon one night. It was great having the place to ourselves and I enjoyed sleeping in the pop up tent with Lydia and my parents. That's my kind of camping.

Ryan, Emma and my mom went for an adventure up to Old Ephraim's grave. He is a big scary bear that used to roam this area.

I had a great photo shoot with Emma. She is such a little diva.

Up in Paradise where my parents live, their little town hosts something called Trout and Berry Days. It's wonderfully UNDER priced and filled with great activities. One of which is letting the little kids catch their own trout.

In the collage below, the story goes left to right.
Lydia starts by being excited. They drop fish into the water. Lydia practically refuses to get in. I have to catch her fish for her, screaming all the while. Finally catching the fish. Lydia traumatized by the whole experience.

And this collage doesn't shed the best light on me, but what do you do?
Starts with Emma being enthusiastic. Emma tries to catch the fish for all of one minute. She realizes it's hard so she just gives up and stops trying. I give her a finger in the face lecture in front of a whole big crowd over why we don't quit, and she dang well better keep trying, even if she never catches one. Ryan calls me out of the viewing area b/c I'm making an arse of myself. Emma continues to stand there and cry. Some nice volunteer took pity on her and caught the fish for her (which is very nice since I was being so mean, but teaches her that if she quits someone else will pick up the slack) So this was my ugliest moment as a mother, but lesson learned on my end.

The cousins back at my parent's house with their trout they all caught. We enjoyed some of my sister Sara's fantastic cooking and grilled these up for Cabo Tacos.

We had a great little family hike up Cold Creek Canyon. I love family outings, and I love that they are right outside our back door.

We took my parents with us up to Big Cotton Wood Canyon to do some exploring. I can't get over how GORGEOUS this canyon is and all the hikes and adventures it has to offer.

We started with an easy stroll around Silver Lake and then took it up a notch to see Twin Lakes. Truly BE-YOU-TEE-FULL! I LOVE UTAH!