My budding artist

Have I ever mentioned that Tommy is good at EVERYTHING? He is incredibly smart- logically, book smart, mathematically, etc. He is also very creative- he loves to play piano, write songs, write stories, and especially draw. These are a few of his drawings over the last couple of weeks. He was really proud of them and wanted me to brag him up a little!

Savana Star

Every year on the kid's birthday I take them out to do a fun photo shoot. It's just one of the perks to being a photographer! Well I'm a few months late on this one, but we have been busy. Savana LOVES to get her pictures taken (I think it's because I let her wear makeup) and she is for sure loved by the camera. She and I had so much fun trying new places and new things. Happy late birthday little girl- I still can't believe she's 9! Where does the time go?????

Side note

I did take a trip to Illinois to visit my sister and her new little baby girl- for pictures on that please visit my photography website
www.highdesignphotography.blogspot.com
I had so much fun and her kids are so cute.

Lava Hot Springs

We have this amazing pool that we love to go to- Lava Hot Springs. It may be a bit of a drive but it is sure worth it. It has stuff for everyone, speed slides, kid slides, diving boards, a rock wall and even platforms. There are 3 platforms, the first is 16 ft high. My son, the big whimp, wanted to jump off, then so did Savana- so I got them passes and sure enough they just jumped right off and LOVED IT!! Siera was pretty bummed that she missed out, so she is gonna go next time. Check it out- Those scare me to death, but the kids couldn't get enough.

July 19-20, 2012

We have been so busy this summer, but we have been having A LOT of fun. This weekend was no exception. LAGOON BABY!! If you haven't heard of Lagoon it's an amusement park in UT.  I used to go there a lot when I was a young teenager and it has definitely grown since then. Lots of great rides for the kids and lots of awesome rides for the adults. The last time we came I was pregnant with Timothy, so this was his first time and the first time the others can really remember. Our reasoning for going to Lagoon was to practice for Florida- yes we are going to DisneyWorld for Christmas! Anyways, this was our rehearsal, for riding the rides, waiting in line, and staying together walking through the park. I have to say it was FANTASTIC. The kids did amazing. We got to go with all of Josh's family. That was so much fun. All the cousins got to play and ride rides together and us big kids got to pair off to have lots of fun. The 3 older kids were tall enough to ride everything and Timothy was only 1 inch too short to get on some of the bigger ones- oh well, he at least was willing to ride them. I was surprised, Tommy was super excited to go on the big rides, and the girls blew me away with how brave they are. There is one ride, the WICKED, and it is fast. It shoots you straight up then you go straight down and around, etc- the girls were really nervous, but as soon as it was over Siera wanted to go again. Tommy and Siera rode in the very front seat on several roller coasters and they all found their favorites. I can't wait to make this trip again when we can all ride all of the rides- it will be even better! 

July 11-13, 2012

The William C. Mitchell Family Reunion...

William C. was the father of Laura who was the mother of "Bill" who is the father of Michael who is my father. Did ya get that? 

Yeah, it was so much fun to travel down to Parowan, UT for this reunion. My parents rented out a B&B for all our families to crash at. It was really nice too. (Smore's B&B, Parowan, UT) Anyways, Bob and his family came, as well as my Grandma and my Aunt Mille and Uncle Mike. The kids were so excited to play with their cousins. It was great, they played in the treehouse room, the girls got to be little mothers- yep they played house- and those boys were in heaven. Little Josiah attached himself to Savana and didn't leave her side. 

We sure did miss my sister and her family, it just wasn't complete without her- but we decided to have some fun anyways! Here are Grandma and Grandpa Gardner with all but 3 of their grandkids! Yes, mine are the crazy ones.

Saturday we went to the park for the reunion. We got lots of compliments on our shirts, even had a few pictures taken!!! After we lunched and played we Grandpa wanted to take the grandkids to where he used to play at the cabin. There is another cabin there now, but there are still names carved into the trees. It's really neat. Being so high up in the mountains, it was chilly. The poor kids from AZ didn't have any jackets so my kidlets were kind enough to share.

This picture is on the land that the cabin used to sit on. We walked all around this area. There was a BIG ROCK that my dad used to play on as a kid- Timothy is re-enacting what I'm sure my dad looked like!!

Then we went down to the stream and the kids took off their shoes and waded in- it looked cold, and from their reactions it was cold. They were all pretty brave- except for Siera who had to excuse herself:)

After the visit to the cabin site, Dad wanted to take us UP the mountain. It was very high, over 10,000 ft. This is Cedar Breaks. It is breathtaking to be that high and see for miles. I love the color variations in the rock. The kids kept complaining that I needed to take their picture everywhere, I just told them that one day this will prove that they have been there! So, then of course I had to make sure to get my picture taken there too. So did Bob and Jasmine with the boys, and my Grandma and Dad.

We thought Cedar Breaks was high, but then we just kept going up, we went until literally we couldn't go anymore because we were on top of a mountain- BRIAN HEAD! (Over 11,000 ft) We thought it was cold down below- we were wrong. This was way cold!! But oh, the view. Each child did a little pose at the edge of the world and then they were back in the truck. Grandma stayed in the truck- she said she's seen it before:) Even the rock chucks came out to play.

On Sunday we went to church in Parowan, then headed to Cedar City where my grandpa is buried. He died   2 years ago. This is the first we've all seen his headstone. It is quite a trip. This was really neat for me because there is a lot of family buried in that cemetery. I got to really learn a lot. We had grandma pose with by the headstone, she thought it was really funny. She even thought about laying down for the picture, but that's just a little too weird! It was good for her to be there and to see grandpa one more time. It was another good lesson on respect for the kids, and even some conversation about death and life after death. 

This was such an amazing trip- it was short and we did a lot, but it was definitely well worth the effort to go down and be with family. 

July 9, 2012

Our little Savana, who has been in dance and gymnastics most of her life, announced that she wanted to try soccer again. It was definitely a shock to us, but we signed her up for Lady Rams soccer camp. She had so much fun, and really enjoyed herself. I happened to capture some shots of her playing her little heart out and even scoring a goal! She can't wait for soccer season to start when she can play on a team!