Say Hello to Fish Lake

Like I blogged earlier, the last part of our Utah trip was spent at Fish Lake. My kids were so excited to go. I on the other hand really thought I was good with not going to Fish Lake ever again after last year's horrible weather. But somehow I had amnesia and signed up to go again. My family has been going for around ten years now but usually in the heat of the summer. It is the best place to cool down from the hot weather. We even welcome the rain on those days. But somehow the past two years we have been there in June and it feels like December. I have to say that this year was a little better, no snow, but it still was very windy and colder than my Vegas veins are use too. I was smart though and only committed to Thursday night 'til Saturday morning. I guess the wind got really bad on Saturday night when I was back in Sunny Vegas and most everyone left on Sunday.

This year my Uncle Jerold's family came with us (they actually came back after last year's weather) and the Hinckley family joined us at Fish Lake. Both families are great cooks and great company. Grandma and Grandpa Ivie also made the trip which is amazing considering Grandpa's health lately. All of my siblings also made the trip so it was so nice to be surrounded by family and friends.

Some things never change at Fish Lake like good food, fish pond, real fishing, bikes, playing with cousins, and enjoying the great outdoors. Here are some of the pictures that I think capture the trip. Some feel like they are the same exact pictures from past years but just more grown-up faces.

 

Jensen on his new bike that Grandma and Grandpa found at a yard sale for him. His old one got stolen a couple of months ago and we knew he needed one at Fish Lake. Boy are we glad Grandma and Grandpa found this for him. He biked all over on Friday. He even was getting a little too brave for my liking and followed the big kids on the real road. The bike had a "time out" in the back of the truck after that episode. Luckily, Jensen got it back later that day. Below is a movie of him going down the hill. He must of done this a hundred times, no exaggeration. He would wait for all of the big kids to come down and then go up again. Big John said that he probably needed to get his tires rotated and balanced after this weekend. I wish we had a hill in our backyard.

Jensen was super dirty and super tired at the end of the day.  

Lucy needed three different outfits in one day due to playing in dirt and not wanting to take time to find a potty.  

The men cooked us yummy breakfast both mornings. I liked this arrangement! 

Saturday morning we had a very much needed shower and then got ready to head home. Thanks to my Aunt Valorie the kids went home with a bag full of candy for the ride home. That made two pinatas in one week.

The Walker's representing at Fish Lake 2012.

Hopefully Quincy can come next year and the warmer weather too!

Over the Hills & Through the Woods

Mom let me in on a little secret of hers about two months ago. She wanted to throw a Little Red Riding Hood party when I came to town next for all the grandkids. With this knowledge I decided that for Mother's Day the perfect present for her would be a party package complete with invites, tags, banners, candy bar wrappers and other party items. I designed them all on Photoshop. Oh, how I love thee. It was more fun for me to make them than to see mom open up the goods. I didn't do too good capturing them at the party, but if you look close you can see some of them in the pictures below.

The Invite:

The party was at my parent's cabin in Provo Canyon. The perfect place for such a party. I haven't been there in a long time. In fact neither of my kids had been there before. Jensen loved it of course, so many things to explore. We will have to make more of an effort to visit it when there isn't snow on the ground.

The Decor:

Mom had sewn each grandkid their own cape. The girls were of course Little Red Riding Hoods and the boys were Woodsmen.

The tables were set with cute baskets to eat our picnic dinner out of.

Yes, that is the Lion House cake for dessert. I'm sure you can tell I didn't make that one. :)

Before we could really party we had to have a photo shoot to show off these cute capes and kids.
 

Grandma Cindy is always trying to get a picture with all the grandkids. It is NEVER an easy task and still wasn't tonight. They were all posing and somewhat cooperating until. . .

 . . .the Big Bad Wolf came.

All of the little girls and one boy named Jensen was afraid and it took a long time to get them to smile again. Ella was done for good. Sorry Grandma, no picture of all of them.

Dinner:

Dinner consisted of Woodmen's logs (foot long sandwhiches), Wolf Whiskers (celery or chips) Granny Apples (they actually got left home), and Forrest Juice (Rootbeer).  We also had watermelon and pink grandma cookies. And don't forget the chocolate cake because I sure didn't.

Activities:

Grandma Cindy had coloring books that she had put together for each child to color. The kids also decorated a frame to remember this fun night.

She also found a book at Hallmark that she recorded her own voice telling the classic fairy tale. All of the kids enjoyed listening to it too!

Grandma went all out and made her own wolf pinata which would make any party even better. Jensen laughed the whole time he was hitting the poor wolf.

Grandma also had a photo booth with signs that I made for it with classic sayings from the story. I think some of my siblings should use them as Christmas cards.

This girl didn't want to miss out on the fun either.

And that my friends is another Grandma Cindy party!
She amazes me!
Wonder what the next party will be, because you know she is planning one.

Utah!

Well it worked out that I got to spend a whole eight days in Utah last week. I was just going to go for a weekend but then it stretched out to a week and I am glad it did. It seems like I never get to do everything that I want to do when I visit. I still didn't get everything done this time but at least we gave it a really good try!

Day 1:

Since Quincy couldn't swing a week off of work it was just me and the kids. Amazingly, Jensen and Lucy were good on the drive and we made it to Provo without any problems. We did have to stop at the candy store (gas station) and pick up some skittles just to make the last half our of the trip.  The kids loved playing with their cousins right away. We even hit one of my favorite stops that night for dinner, Brick Oven. We had to leave just as the balloon man came to our table but Hunter and Bryawna both gave their balloons to Jensen and Lucy later that night. Not only did they give up their balloons, but they knew exactly what they would like. Jensen a race car and an owl for Lucy. What awesome cousins!

Later that night Jody and her girls also brought Jensen his belated birthday present. Six new cars for Jensen. He pretty much spent the rest of the week here (in Grandma's downstairs as he and Lucy call it because it has two steps) playing with them.

Day 2:

Sunday we hit church for an hour. Lucy below showing off her new twirly dress and Jensen bringing what else? His new cars to church. We were just glad he left his chair to come with us. After, we headed up to Ogden for Grandma's Surprise Birthday Bash.

When I heard that the family was putting together a 8oth surprise party for Grandma Ivie I knew I couldn't miss it. (This is how my short visit got extended.) I'm so glad I got to be there. She is a true birthday girl that even had her own birthday shash in the car waiting for a party. She says she didn't know but way to be prepared. I will have to remember that when I am 80. I even brought tears to her eyes when I walked up to her and said Happy Birthday. She had no idea that I was coming and was pleased that I made the trip. I really am the favorite granddaughter (just kidding!)

It was great to be at a big Ivie family party again. It's been at least a year since I had seen most everyone and some even longer or I had never met (lots of new babies). I am sure that Jensen will be remembered by all. My cousin said, "Your son just gave us a show" and I thought oh is he performing his ABC's or maybe reciting his primary scripture. Nope he was dropping his pants and peeing on the flower beds for all to see. For those that missed it the first time he gave a second showing for the rest of the family. He totally gets that from the Walker side of the family!

Day 3:

The cousins came and suggested that we hit the new splash pads in Spanish Fork and have a picnic. We were in and everyone in town was too. They were super busy but all the kids had fun. The weather was hot so it felt like we were in Vegas heat.

Later that night Grandma Cindy had her own surprise party for all of her grandkids and kids. It deserves it's own post but here is one picture of the event.

Day 4:

I have wanted to go to the Provo City Library for a couple of visits now and this time it worked out. I haven't seen some of my old co-workers since I moved eight years ago. I didn't get to see too many of them but the ones that I did see made it worth it. We thought we would hit craft time and story time while we were there. Big Mistake. I forgot how crazy the summer reading programs are at the library. It was the first week and they were hitting capacity in certain rooms at the library. Glad I was just visiting and not working there that day. This is our effort for the day. We won't say who really made this owl.

After, we headed up to City Creek, the new shopping center in Salt Lake that is just across from temple square. It reminds me of the museums in Paris that we went to that were old train stations. City Creek was great but how can any mall be bad if it has a H&M in it? Jensen somehow talked Grandma into a new Mater truck and Lucy couldn't leave without a new mermaid.

Earlier it had been such a nice day but Utah knew I was in town and decided to bring the cold weather. We were freezing as we walked around the temple.

 Day 5:

Also on my Utah bucket list was to see my best girls from high school. So we headed to a park and had a picnic together while the kids played. Jensen and Lucy were quite entertained with the pond full of ducks. I was entertained with the good company. I miss these ladies and it felt like old times except now we had kids to take care of and not talking about cute boys in school.

Later some of the cousins came to play at Grandma's house. The boys got horsey rides on the tramp and Lucy and Ella came out of the playhouse all dressed up. We weren't sure what they were playing but it made us laugh anyway.

That night for dinner we checked off another thing on my list, The Smoking Apple. Yum!

Day 6:

This day I got to catch up with a good college friend at Kneaders. (My pants were getting tight by this day for sure.) Then we packed up the car and headed to Fish Lake. Grandma Cindy mentioned Fish Lake earlier when we came and that is all the kids could think about. Everytime we said we were going in the car they asked if we were going to Fish Lake. Jensen even started crying one time because we told him not yet. I am not sure what he remembers from our last trip there but it must not have been the weather because I wasn't too sure I even wanted to go back in case there was freezing weather.

On our way we stopped in Scipio for dinner at Dairy Queen. Across the street there was a petting zoo with a zebra, a mean ostrich, and other random animals to pet. I think they wanted Lucy and Jensen's ice cream cones instead of the pet food.

Day 7 & 8:

Were spent at Fish Lake and they definitely need a separate blog. The weather was better than last year. Not by much but at least it didn't snow on us.

Our week long Utah trip was a success! We truly felt spoiled being around great friends and family that make an effort to see us. Jensen and Lucy were not happy when I told them we were going home. They both kept saying, "No, Grandma Cindy's house!" all the way home.