June Catch-up

In June we played outside as much as we could. And since it almost seems like ancient history a few months later, here are a few pictures that were supposedly taken during that month. :)

Ethan and Lydia like to ride whatever they can up and down the sidewalk in front of our house.

Family trip to the tree swing near our house

Trip to the Mall Playplace

Running through and drinking from the sprinklers. :)

This is a Mom's Club play date at someone's house. I go to activities with these ladies almost weekly, but for some reason I never take pictures.

Popsicles on the porch, a favorite activity of Ethan and Lydia

Father's Day 2018

Happy Father's Day kiss :)

Soon after Father's Day we lost a very dedicated grandfather. Jason's grandpa passed away from pancreatic cancer. He only lived about a month after he was diagnosed. He lived a long, healthy, good life and we were blessed to be able to fly to Utah for the weekend to attend the funeral and other family events. We enjoyed time spent with my parents and Jason's family, almost all of whom were in Utah for the funeral.

Lydia and Grandpa Rogers

Ethan 4 1/2 years old

Lydia 2 years old

Lydia loves watching videos of Ethan and herself even more than watching TV shows.

Reading with Grandma Rogers

We squeezed in a visit to Temple Square with our kids. We were married in the temple here 10 years ago!

Visit to Temple Square in Salt Lake City

Grandma took Ethan and Lydia to the Family History Museum to play.

Ethan got to spend the afternoon at Grandma's and Grandpa's with his cousins. I'm pretty sure Lydia was napping.

John, Lillian, and Ethan

Friday night we attended the viewing. Our family arrived a few minutes early and were surprised when we entered the main room to be able to briefly meet and shake hands with President Russell M. Nelson, our prophet, who was there to express his condolences to the family. It was a very special few minutes! Ethan marched right up and gave him a high five before he even realized who he was. Lydia was a little more shy in my arms. But such a neat experience, one that I won't forget!

Lydia on the night she met President Nelson!

The funeral was lovely and very well done. Many good memories were shared and we all had the chance to honor the life of a good and faithful father, grandfather, and servant of Jesus Christ.

Later in the day, we had an extended family get together at Jason's brother Jeff's beautiful home. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that everyone had fun and no one wanted to leave!

Ethan trying out the indoor basketball court with his cousins

While in Utah, we were able to stay a couple nights with Jason's brother Steve as well. They were great hosts. We attended church with them, ate yummy food together, let the cousins play, and we had the evenings when the kids were in bed to just talk. We are so blessed with great family!!

Lydia making herself at home with Brook on their triple bunk bed.

Impressing Grandma with their tricks on the trampoline. :)

We're so grateful we got in this quick trip to Utah. Ethan and Lydia were kind of sick, and we had our challenges, but we loved spending time with family!!

Memorial Day and Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

We enjoyed a fun Memorial Day week with my parents who came to visit us. We took advantage of having them with us and rented a mini-van to drive together to Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina. On our way there, we stopped in Georgetown and took a tour of the Toyota manufacturing plant. They zipped us around in train of tour cars as we listened to our guide describe the amazing way that cars are assembled. I was impressed by how much of the process is done by robots and how efficient they have made the process.

Toyota Manufacturing Tour--unfortunately we weren't able to take pictures inside.

 After finishing the next 4 hour drive and eating dinner, we stayed in a cute bears-themed cabin near Gatlinburg for three nights. It was quite the adventure to find it and try to make it up the very steep winding driveway. The first night we actually didn't make it up and had to carry our belongings to the top on our own. :)

Our car parked at the bottom of the hill.

Our cabin had a covered wrap-around porch with a swing.

My parents were such awesome helpers in packing lunches and meal prep. I really appreciate their willingness to jump in and help with whatever is needed.

Our first day we visited Sugarlands Visitor Center and went on some walking trails nearby before finding lunch and driving around Cade's Cove.

The Ranger there was so nice to Ethan and quickly made his a junior ranger. She pulled him behind the desk so he could help answers people's questions. :)

We saw several Black Bears as we were out driving around Cade's Cove

Here was a pretty waterfall out behind the Visitor's Center

Lydia decided she wanted to push Ethan in the stroller

My parents with a view of Gatlinburg in the back.

Enjoying their new ride in our rented car. :)

The national park had several existing cabins and other structures you could walk in that were built many years earlier.

 Our second day in the park we hiked Clingman's Dome. It's a short but steep 1/2 mile hike to an observatory tower where you can see for miles in all directions. We had good timing because just as we were getting back into the car it started pouring. We also walked along part of the original Appalachian trail.

Clingman's Dome

Walking on part of the Appalachian Trail.

Later in the afternoon we rested, ate dinner at the cabin and watched Toy Story. On our drive there and back we drove through Pigeon Forge and Ethan and Lydia got really excited about all the fun buildings and sights along "the strip" of that Tourist Trap of a town. We enjoyed our fun little getaway in the mountains. The kids did great on the long drive so we stopped at a park and ate ice cream cones on our way home.

We swam at our community swimming pool on Memorial Day and enjoyed eating good food and having great company.