Surprise for Papa & G-G!

Good times! Papa & G-G came out to Salt Lake City last weekend to visit Papa's family for Labor Day. At the last minute, James & I decided to drive up and surprise them! Even though we were up there for less than 48 hours, it was worth it! We got to visit with them Saturday night at The Chocolate, my sister's fabulous dessert bakery in Orem. Then we had lunch and playtime at Nana & Papa West's house in downtown SLC. It was a wonderful weekend!
The boys loved playing with Papa & G-G!

A duet

James' cousin Dawn & her husband Craig

David loves his Papa!

Handsome Papa & Beautiful Nana

Silly West's :)

Papa & Nana with 6 of their great-grandchildren

We love Family!

4 Generations of West Men!

Ensign Peak & Utah State Capitol

David wrestling with Papa

David learned to tickle feet

Tickling G-G

Playing with Papa

Papa, G-G, Keri, David, James & Steven West

Heavenly Idaho

James' bridge jump!

David LOVES the water!

Hilarious! Cousins Rylen & David sportin' goggles (and underoos)

The men replacing broken boards on the dock

David loves Daddy's pancakes

Mommy & Steven going for a ride

James & I loved our tube ride

Captain Steven

David's favorite thing... pushing Mom & Dad off the dock

Sisters... Ange & I

David & Daddy going for a ride

Sweet Steven

Not a good idea to wait until naptime for a family picture

My parents with my nieces and nephews

Oh, what a wonderful trip to Idaho we had! Our family was able to go for 10 days, and it was so worth it. This year, we were able to introduce my family to beautiful Coeur d'Alene! It was so fun to share what has become such a special place for James & I, with my family. My parents were able to relax more than I have seen them in years! And it was so nice to watch all my nieces and nephews enjoy each other's company, without the distraction of facebook, cell phones and other forms of communication with the outside world. It was an exciting (yet relaxing) week of wakeboarding, kayaking, waverunning, jumping off the dock, reading in the hammock, night boat rides, bridge jumping, too much eating, game-playing, visiting and loving. We even did our share of maintenance at the house and everyone had a great attitude. We replaced boards on the dock, bought & replaced the dock stairs, pulled weeds, swept stairs, cleaned windows, gutters... all in 2 hours! It's amazing what you can do when you've got the man-power with happy hearts! :) We also got to visit with James' Nana & Papa, The Old Man (love you Grandpa Warren) and Grandma Ann, Grandmama Mary, Aunt Peggy & Uncle Neil. We definitely made the most of our 10 days. We have tons of pictures, so enjoy!

A big thanks to James' dad & Gloria for letting us take over the lakehouse for the week. It is such a beautiful home filled with breathtaking views and wonderful memories. It truly is heaven on Earth.

Independence Day

Oh, what a great time we had this 4th of July. (Even though we actually celebrated it on the 3rd) Here's our timeline of the day...

7:00am- My niece, Kylie, and I ran in the Kanab Fun Run 5k! This was my first run of any kind and it was actually fun! It meant a lot to me to have James & the boys waiting for us at the finish line. :)

8:00am- Breakfast following the run provided by The Lions Club.

10:00am- Kanab 4th of July Parade. This parade cracks me up. It reminds me just how small our town is. We have floats that say "Brown Family" with all the relatives on it. So cute. And the fire trucks always spray the spectators with tons of water. This year, the fire truck and forest service truck got in a big water fight. That was pretty entertaining. Although, David's favorite part of the parade was chasing after all the candy the people in the floats threw.

12:00pm- Boys' naptime! :)

3:00pm- BBQ with just our family, and that was actually quite nice. Then James & David got into a water fight in the backyard with the hose. So funny!

6:00pm- Head over to the park to get a good spot for the firework show. We just hung out with all our neighborhood friends and the boys got to play for a few hours. David especially liked the water fountains that all the kids play in. He got soaked! So much fun!

10:00pm- Firework Show! Steven didn't enjoy the first few minutes of this. He screamed, but Daddy stood up with him and called him down. He was fine about half-way through. David loved the fireworks. He kept his ears plugged, but he shouted out all the different colors of the fireworks. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of the actual fireworks) Good times!