Play Date

I love these pictures.  While Joshua was at golf camp the little kids and I entertained ourselves at the park.  Caitlin is such a dare devil.  This big twisty slide was no challenge at all for her and soon she and Andrew were going up and down again and again with giggles galore.

Golf Camp

This year we enrolled Joshua in golf camp.  I can tell Michael is trying not to get his hopes up, but Joshua is actually pretty good!  He really loves the atmosphere at the course, and has a natural swing.  Could Michael have a new golf buddy in his future?

I neglected to catch a picture with Joshua and his clubs, but here is one of the little kids playing in a cart with the golf camp in the background.

Jaussi Extravaganza

I am not sure if anyone will notice I actually put something on this post, but if you do, here is the REAL Jaussi extravaganza!!   

The Jaussi side of the family wanted to take a trip to Yosemite National Park this year.  After planning it all out, it got downgraded to a weekend trip to Bear Lake, after further budget and time scrutiny the trip got further downgraded to three days at the Barlow's house in Gunnison.  Maybe not the most exciting option, but it turned out to be a total blast.

 Everyone arrived Friday, including Joe all the way from Cache Valley.  We had a lovely Sanpete BBQ turkey dinner in our back yard, and then went to the Manti Pageant.
Saturday we trekked everyone up the mountains to Duck Fork reservoir.  WE ate dutch oven, hiked around the lake, and made and shot air rockets.  We stopped for a traditional dinner at Lishy Lou's Diner in Mayfield on our way home -- smelly and tired, but still having fun!
Sunday everyone came to church with us and then went their separate ways.  It was such a lovely weekend! It was so nice to have everyone around and really interacting.  No fighting broke out, which was amazing!

 Everyone enjoying a good meal after a day in the mountains.

 I love this pic.  The saying is true, and the kids are so cute at the bar!

 Grandpa Clair and Caitlin Clair.  Two peas in a pod.

 The girls chilling...

 The men tinkering...

 Mike is the master of the grill.  Best Sanpete BBQ I ever tasted!

 We love to smash watermelons.  The kids thought it was so fun to just dig into the carnage.

Big brother Jon being a mentor to Isaac and Andrew.  That's what family is for.

Fishing with Dan

Daniel has picked up a new hobby -- fishing!  Which is fun for us because it is one of our favorite past times. A few weeks back we took him and Dad Barlow up to Duck Fork Reservoir where he caught this beauty of a tiger trout.   We love to have Daniel around.  He is always fun, and so nice, and Jeri thinks he is the coolest person in the world!

Park City

One nice perk to Michael's teaching job is the summer conferences.  The district pays for them as well as gas, meals, and hotels.  Naturally the kids and I like to tag along for a free vacation.  The last one was to Park City.  The kids and I spent whole mornings in the hotel swimming pool, then walked to McDonald's for lunch.  After lunch it was a quick nap back at the hotel and shopping at the outlets.  By the time Mike was out of  conference we were all ready for a good dinner and maybe more shopping.

We wore out the kids and the budget every day!

The hotel is always fun.  The kids think it's a grand slumber party.

A rare moment when all three are playing nicely together...

Of course we had to go up to the Olympic park.  We visited the museum and watched the ski jumpers jumping into the pool.  So cool!

7 Canyons

What kid doesn't love to romp around the seven canyons water feature in Liberty Park?

The boys had to be scientific about it and float a pine cone all the way to the lake from every head water.  Caitlin just loved splashing around.  Mike and I loved sitting back, and watching them have fun.

"Where did the pine cone go?"

Eclipse

I had never seen a solar eclipse before.  I have to say we were not very prepared.  We found ourselves scrounging around the house for sunglasses, and ended up looking through our neighbors tinted SUV windows.  But each of us got a good look at the eclipse.  The shadows on our wall were pretty cool too.

The neatest part for me was the change in the light.  Everything just looked.....different.  To look right at the sun you could not tell there was a big black mark on it, but it affected everything the sunlight touched on earth.  I guess you can say our actions are the same way.  They may seem insignificant, but the effects can be all reaching.  How's that for today's deep thought?  Whoa.