Demolition Derby Pioneer Day

My sister-in-law, Tina, is from the beautiful city of Mount Pleasant, and every year the surrounding "cities" meet up in a small rodeo arena in Fairview for the Demolition Derby! Tickets are extremely hard to come by since people come from all over the area to witness the mad destruction of automobiles that is the demolition derby! This year, Tina's family managed to get a few extra tickets for us. As I watched the annihilation unfold, I honestly couldn't believe that people actually participated in & spent the entire year before prepping for this! I thought, "this is actually happening"! In order to stay in the derby, the cars had still be running & hit another car at least every two minutes. They had several different heats & then there was "wipe-out" which was at the end & every car that was still running rolled into the arena & had an all-out battle royal to see who would be the last car running!


There were some die hard fans...as you can see Dusty Cox fans had t-shirts made to show their true dedication!


Some of the cars actually started on fire.

In order to experience the full demolition derby experience, we had to pig out on funnel cake.

Of course Marley refused to participate in photos!

Kevin, me, Marley, Jono, & Tina

Camp Grandma in Park City

Every year Kevin's parents, Jerry & Ruth, are kind enough to put on this large undertaking they call "Camp Grandma". For a few days, they take all the grandchildren & go somewhere to play & hang out. This year it was Park City. Although Marley isn't quite old enough yet to spend the night, we went up for a few hours one night so she could swim & hang out with her cousins!


Marley with her Grandma Ruth & Papa Jerry

So I don't know why, but when Emorie but these hippo goggles, I couldn't stop laughing & had to get a picture!

Marley, Emorie, Emorie & Isabelle's Aunt Sarah, Ryan, Isabelle, Seth, Ethan, & Luke

Marley and that goofy camera-smile of hers!

Top to bottom, left to right: Ethan, Ryan, Luke, Seth, Papa Jerry, Ryan, & Kevin.

Papa Jerry took Marley swimming!

Kevin is so wonderful with all his nieces & nephews! They love him because he's just like a big kid when he hangs around them!

Isabelle, Emorie, & Marley

Flaming Gorge with the Bennett Boys

One of Kevin's clients canceled on a fishing trip down the Green River in Flaming Gorge, UT, so he got to go with the Ryan & Aric Bennett instead.


Apparently there was a migration of sheep!


So Kevin & I have known each other for 10 years & have gone to his parents cabin NUMEROUS times over those 10 years. Kevin would constantly claim that on the drive up to Flaming Gorge there are prime areas for moose-spotting country. Time & time again he would insist that there would be moose in different groves of trees and/or bushes. We just figured that the 'moose' he saw were all the cows & livestock that you see on the drive up & that he just didn't remember correctly because he was so young. Well, the time I'm not actually on the trip up to the cabin, of course, what does he snap a photo of? A stinking moose!

Kevin & Aric were on a guided boat together & had both had really good luck fishing. As you can, see, Aric had the best luck! Nice fish!!

Pinkalicious

We read Marley several books before she goes to bed each night! She loves to read & has a majority of the books we read to her mostly memorized. She LOVES the book Pinkalicious. I think we've read that book a few hundred times!

Swing Time

Even though Marley is much too big, I often find her trying to kick back & swing in the baby swing! I'm not sure how Marley will feel when we have to use the swing for the baby when she comes...hopefully Marley's up for sharing!

A visit from the Hunters

My mom's sister, my Aunt Susan, came into town to visit from Ohio for a couple of weeks. I think they were all dying of heat because they stayed with my grandmother, who doesn't have air-conditioning & because it doesn't get nearly as hot in Ohio! We only got to see them a couple of times because of conflicting schedules, but it was nice to visit with them & catch up!


Not that she needs to be one any time soon, but I think my Aunt Susan will make a fantastic Grandmother someday! She knew the direct route to Marley's heart...licorice!!!


Jacob makes me laugh! He's such a goofy kid but he was really nice to Marley & she had so much fun playing hide-and-seek with him!


Carly was great with Marley as well (there's that classic smile of Marley's again!) It's hard to believe that when I was Carly's age now, I used to play with her when she was Marley's age! So weird!

Jono & Marley...hey Jono, if you like Marley, you won't believe how much you will love your own kid! Give Marley a cousin to pal around with!

Surpise Party in Phoenix

We went to Phoenix in July, the hottest time of year...crazy you say? Well, we felt lucky to be invited to our friend, Karl's, surprise 30th birthday party! We got to hang out with them for a few days & spend the fourth of July with them! I didn't utilize my camera as well as I should have, so I have a plethora of swimming & trampoline pictures!!

We went to this place called Jumpstreet, that, as you can see, had these over-sized trampolines to trounce around on. Does anyone see any broken bones or lawsuits in the future? Karl & Kevin also enjoyed some time on the massive tramps. I tried it, but there's something about jumping up & down while you're 7 months pregnant that isn't very comfortable & seems really awkward!

As it turned out, Marley & Charlie wanted to ride this mechanical boat more than jump. It had some weird magical appeal because they did NOT want to get off, even after riding it 3 or 4 times!

Mr. Ezra is just too cute for words! He is such a fun little baby & I really enjoyed getting to hold & play with him! What a sweetie! Fortunately, Marley was really nice & gentle with him. Hopefully that's a sign that that's how she will treat her little sister!!

Just in case you thought I might be exaggerating about how hot it really was in Phoenix, this is a picture of the rental car's temperature gage one day! 118 degrees! Whooee baby! I remember it being hot when I lived there but I loved it so much I think I pushed how hot it really was to the back of my mind!

Marley had so much fun in Charlie's back yard & always wanted to play on the play set & trampoline. I feel bad...since we live on a hill, having stuff like this in our backyard is a little difficult!

Their pool was a FANTASTIC break from the heat! Marley had such a wonderful time & was always wanting to go out & swim. She wasn't nearly as daring as Charlie in the pool, but she tried!

I love these kissy photos of Charlie & Marley!

I got so caught up in helping Chantae with her surprise birthday party for Karl that, sadly, these are the only pictures I managed to get of his 30th birthday. Our visit to Phoenix was supposed to be a surprise, but I think someone accidentally spilled the beans that we were coming & so that surprised was lost. But I think us coming down threw him off the trail of his surprise party because he was genuinely surprised that everyone was at his house waiting to wish him a happy 30th!

Charlie is so adorable & I love how she's trying to spray whip cream into Chantae mouth. Marley was a bit of a party pooper & refused to let us spray whip cream into her mouth.

Instead of battling all the crowds to watch fireworks, we decided to celebrate the 4th of July with some night swimming!!

We had (and always do) such a fabulous time visiting Phoenix & hope that we can go again soon!! Thanks so much Coopers!

Lil' Devil

We were cleaning out the backroom to get it ready for the new baby & Marley came across some costume things we had in their & decided to dress up!

A BBQ in the canyon

We have a pass for Mill Creek canyon and wanted to use it for more than a decoration on our rear-view mirror, so we got my siblings together for a picnic/barbecue!

Marley & Seth

Seth, Jono, & Tina

Marley is such a goof! I cannot get her to smile without her pulling a really phony smile where she says "cheese" through strained teeth!

Even though she was a bit fearful of it, Marley was really curious about the stream running through our picnic area.

Kevin got Marley a fold out chair that she absolutely loves. She always wants to sit in her "hippo" chair & gets really excited when we get it out!

Marley has been really into smelling things lately, especially flowers. She was sniffing a flower in our yard & got pollen all over her face...I guess she got too close!

Our neighbors let Jono sit in their Lamborghini & then took Kevin for a ride in it...they can't spend $100 on paint for the front of their house, but they can buy a $250,000 vehicle...really?!