Summer 2013

Okay, so I know I haven't blogged in a while, but my goal is to try to blog more.  So I will try to do a quick update of some of the things we were up to, starting with June 2013 (since that is when we got our new phones, and all of my pictures are on my phone).  Now bear with me, because I'm just going to blaze through a ton of pictures.  We had a super busy summer.  I was only home for a total of three weeks all summer!

We kicked off our summer with our annual trip to Lake Tahoe for the DeCelle Memorial Lake Tahoe Relay.  This year was the 49th year. It was a blast as always.  To change things up a bit, we decided to have different themes at each of the legs.  Russ and I went with Zombies! It was so much fun and everyone loved the chalk outline in the middle of our finish line!

Everyone loves spending time with G-ma D!

Grandpa loves his grand-kids!

Soon after Tahoe, we made a quick trip out to Utah to see our niece in the Miss Utah pageant.  Of course, we thought she was totally awesome and gorgeous!  We got spend a little bit of time with Scott, Olivia and the kids, and our good friends the Kings as well on this quick trip.

Olivia and the kids came for an overnight stay at our house and we were so happy to have them! Mirian loves her cousins so much!!!

Our best buddies, the Divis' came to visit for the 4th of July! We love getting together with these guys! It is never a dull moment.  We made flag sandwiches for the kids, and then of course we enjoyed setting off fireworks!

I was Girls Camp director this year for our ward at church.  The camp theme was Once Upon a Time in Camelot, so of course, our girls were the Dragons!  We had so much fun with this theme.  I made all the girls a dragon hoodie and we had some really fun decorations for camp. I loved girls camp, but of course, I missed my girl while I was gone.  She spent a lot of good quality time with dad and Grandma and Grandpa Carlson.

 Going to feed the chickens with Grandpa

Girls Camp!!

Next, we went back to California so Mirian could go to Grandma Camp! Before I dropped her off for the week, we went to the Cheese Park (Caper Acres) in Chico.  This park is always a must when we go to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We went out on Grandpa's boat, we went for a little hike and then we swam and swam and swam! It was hot down there in Cali! Mirian has always been afraid of the water.  Until this summer, she would only get in the water if you were holding her with a death grip.  Finally, we got her comfortable enough to swim with floaties on.  She loved it! While in California, she was swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool. She was watching the other kids without their floaties, but she knew she needed hers.  At the end of swimming one day, I took off her floatie and she said, "Hey Mom, watch this!" and then she jumped right into the deep end of Grandma's pool. I had to jump in after her to rescue her.  While we were all scared at first, it actually seemed kinda funny in the end (I know, I'm a bad parent!)  She realized that she can't swim on her own, and I don't think she will try that again anytime soon!

While down in California, we also got to meet the newest Carter Cousin, baby Kate! She was born the day before I had to return home.  She is such a sweetheart!  

After I left, Grandma did all sorts of fun things with the kids.  They ate delicious food, made fun crafts, and had all sorts of little adventures.  Mirian is looking forward to next year's Grandma Camp already!

 The "Cheese Park"

 Sitting on "The Cheese"

Grandpa took our girls camp flag and used it for his cool castle

A long, hot hike for this little on!

 That's okay, she got ice cream!

We love Grandpa's Boat!

 Sweet baby Kate

Look at this little swimmer!

Craft Time

S'mores

 Is that a black bear behind them?

More crafts, look how hard they are working 

After Grandma Camp, we went out to Utah again.  This time, we went to Aspen Grove for a fun filled week with the whole Carter Clan (minus Matt, Kristal, Natalie and Katie).  This was the best vacation!  All the kids met in groups each day and they had fun activities for them. The adults got to do all sorts of awesome stuff while the kids were busy in their groups.  We got to do an awesome ropes course, we played an epic game of softball, we had a paint ball war, we played games every day and night, we hiked and we just had fun being together as a family.  I sure love these people!

Mirian playing with her group

Her group performed a cute song

 Getting ready to do the ropes course!

 Can you see the fear in our eyes?

 I'm not there yet?

Woot! I made it to the top!

 My cute Indian princess

Russ braved the climbing wall

 I love this family!

When we finished at Aspen Grove, we went to visit Scott and Julie and Matt and Amie. Russ went 4-wheeling with Scott and Matt while Mim and I went with Julie and Amie to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  It was so fun! Mirian loved it!  We love getting to spend time with all our cousins!

Mirian LOVES Amie!

This was the best part! Making castles in the sand

Say "Velociraptor"

Ahhh! Shark Attack!

Mim with Amie and Aunt Julie

If you've made it this far, I'm sorry! I know it is a total crazy picture overload with little explanation, but that's all you get from me today!  We finished off the summer by visiting our friends the Mills.  They took us out on their boat and we even went and picked a TON of corn with them.  We love these guys!

We also managed to sneak in a few playdates in the few days we were home.  Mirian has some great friends and we love spending time with them.

 Well, this is the end for now.  Stay tuned for the next super huge blog update!