A Little THURGOOD Fun!

We had my family's annual Thurgood Family Reunion this year in August. This only includes my immediate family members and is always a blast! We all decided to go to Phoenix this year to visit my brother Chad and his wife Patty and their cute kids, because they ALWAYS have to come to us. Anyway, to make things a bit more bearable, Spence took Grady on the plane (a very wise decision), my sister Cindy also flew, and me, Kendalyn & Adri, my mom and dad, and my brother Brent (who has no wife yet:) all went in my big car, and my brother Troy and his fam drove in their car! It was quite the drive (over 13 hours to get there), but so fun. The girls were great (thanks to the DVD player), and we had fun just being together. We had a blast in Phoenix and really, it wasn't THAT hot (just over 110 each day:). I love you fam - can't wait for next year!!!

Adri (Otherwise known as Bongos)!

If you know anything at all about Adri, you know she is just a tad on the goofy side. She likes to talk, act, and be CRAZY. My bro. Brent even taught her how to say Crazy with a rolled rrrr - and she does it all the time. Anyway, the other night after she had gone to bed, she came out to tell us that her ear hurt. It being the Olympics and all, we had no intention of going upstairs for an earache right??? We told her to go get a drink and it would feel better. Well, she gets a drink, but then at the top of the stairs she says to us "water don't make it better" - completely matter of fact and kind of ticked off too, and we died laughing. We really couldn't stop because she is right after all, water won't help. And just the way she said it was so funny. Anyway, we love our sweet, CRAZY Adri...

Park City

So, a few months ago, Spence and I decided that we would go to Park City for one of our family vacations this summer specifically for the close factor(no plane ride)and being that Grady is, well Grady:) What we didn't realize, was that we were going to Florida in June and that it was not going to be very relaxing trip (Grady). So when it came time for Park City for a week, we were really not in the mood for no sleep (Grady) and continuous running (Grady), but we did it anyway. It did turn out to be a very fun and short trip though (we came home 3 days early). My brother Brent (visiting from N.Y.) and my sister Cindy both came up and stayed for a few days and we had an excellent time with them. The best part would have to be the day we spent on the Alpine Slide/Coaster/Bungee Trampoling/Rock Wall Climbing/& other fun rides. The girls had a blast and even Mr. Grady Boy seemed content to sit in his stroller. All in all a good trip and a lot of fun to be had in Park City - who knew...

Hmmmm!

So, lately I have decided that boys are so much more crazy and wild than girls. Plenty of people have told this to me before, but I never really realized just how true it was. I mean, I could have the girls sit on my lap and read a book or do a puzzle and they loved it. They would even watch short Elmo clips at this age,(almost 16 months) but oh no, not Grady. He is 100% always on the go. I am so tired every night by his constant activity, that I can't wait for Spence to get home and takeover. Spence and I literally don't want to go anywhere that will require our attention for long, because we know it has to go purely to Grady. His nap is my only saving grace and boy do I love that nap. The only bad thing is that he is just recharging and is even stronger when he wakes up:) If you know me, you know that I am excited about the day when he is older and "easier", so Spence always sings me the song "Don't Blink" as a reminder about how much we will miss this age (will I really?)and I know that I will- I mean, just look at this cutie...

My Few Minutes on T.V.!!!

Grandma and I on our "soft"seats - really a hard bench


The "girls" during a commercial break


Me, Melissa's sister, her mom, Melissa, Todd, and Grandma(sitting)

So, last week, my cousin's wife (Melissa) was on GTU (Good Things Utah) doing a recipe, it is a morning talk show here. She has written a few cook books, and the latest is 101 Things to do with Gelatin. Anyway, I have always wanted to go to the show, so this was my chance. I took my cute Grandma with me and we had a blast. I loved being in the audience and seeing how everything works - so fun. Melissa ended up doing a great job and she looks great on T.V. too. Grandma was lucky enough (she thinks it was unlucky:), to sit behind and in front of some birthday girls in the audience and they show them at the end of the show, so Grandma was on camera for quite a while. She didn't really like that, but it was fun and my kids loved seeing us on real T.V.!!!

Fun with the SNOW's!

Landon, Adri, Kendalyn, Samantha, Julie,- Grady was having a nap!



We had Samantha and Kendalyn taking these shots for us - pretty good right?




Five years ago, when we were living in L.A. we ended up going to a South Pasadena ward, and we were lucky enough to meet some great friends- the Snow's being one of them. Kendalyn and Samantha had to be friends because we were - and they still love to see eachother. We have tried to connect once a year since then, and I think we have only missed one year (am I right Holly?). Anyway, Holly is from Idaho, so they usually pass through here, and luckily, they came a couple of weeks ago and stayed the night and went to church with us (they even came to the WHOLE thing:). We always have such a great time with them and a ton of laughs. We have 6 (soon to be 7 - not me, Holly) kids between us and it is fun to see them together. Anyway, we miss you guys and just wanted to say THANKS for stopping in...

A Happy 4th!!!

We had such a great 4th of July this year! My parents (from Idaho), my Grandma Petterborg, and my sis. Cindy, all came to celebrate with us. We went to the Kaysville Parade,(that gives out more candy than I can comprehend) which we have only been to twice in our 5 years here. I loved being up front almost as much as the girls. My parents and grandma had a little more of a distant view, but in the shade at least. We had such a great relaxing afternoon and then a dutch-oven cookout that night - YUM! We had fireworks on the street with the neighbors (a tradition), and then we went to the Kaysville fireworks which is set to music and so great. Such a fun day and such fun people to share it with - thanks fam...

The Host!!!

Wow!!! So, I think I may be the only Stephanie Meyer fan left that hadn't read this book weeks ago, but there you go. My friend Amber let me borrow it last week, and I really couldn't put it down. I LOVED it! Thanks Amber. What a crazy, and fascinating concept - just thought I would share the love.

Lagoon - our "once a year" thing...

Okay, so I know that most people REALLY hate Lagoon - I am usually one of those people too, but I may have changed my mind this year. We only go one time a year for Spence's work - and I actually liked it. Grady is still one of those people who hate it. It was definitely not his thing, but maybe it will be soon:) The girls loved it and there wasn't enought time to do all of the "big" rides for Kendalyn, so Spence is going to take her back soon - I know, we are totally breaking our rule, but you do what you have to do right??? Spence and I even went back that night with his brother and his wife without the kids and we had a great time. If any of you are thinking of going to that crazy, busy place soon, I totally recommend going on Wicked. It was such a great ride...

Florida

A few weeks ago, we were able to go visit Spence's parents in Pensacola Beach Florida. They are serving as mission presidents in Tallahasse Florida, but they had to be in Pensacola for a few days. We had such a great time. The beaches are so white, they are amazing. The only bad thing about it was the jellyfish in the ocean. All of the kids and Spence got stung (notice I didn't even venture in there), but they were okay and the redness went away after a few hours. So most of our time was spent at the pool and they loved it. Grandpa and Spence took the girls crabbing a couple of nights with their flashlights and they thought that was pretty cool. I'm not sure it was the most relaxing trip,(Grady played a big part in that) but we still had a fun trip...

Crazy May!!!

It was such a "Crazy" month for us in May, and I am sure I am not the only one who had tons going on with school ending, recitals, plays - soccer games - you guess it. Anyway, we had a great time even though it was busy. Kendalyn did "Disney Spectacular" for her muscial which she got to dress up like a princess and it turned out so cute. She also had her 1st Grade Graduation, which was so crowded I didn't even get to see her, but luckily Spence snagged a spot up front and got some great pictures.




Adri had her Preschool Graduation which was so cute. She goes to Miss Penny who is our neighbor and she absolutely loves it - which makes me love it. It was supposed to be a nice day, but the weather turned out to be freezing, so the kids were cold, but it was still fun. Earlier in the month, she also had a Mother's Day luncheon at Miss Penny's and they sang cute songs and fed us lunch with just our kids - it was great. So, enjoy our "crazy" month - we sure did!!!