Walking backwards off a cliff...

Surely all humans are born with the instinct to not walk off a cliff backwards. It is a very basic survival rule - passed down from caveman days. So when Shawn's adventurous sister and her family invited us to go rapelling for D & B's b-days I was fully intending to join only as the photographer. It was great fun watching everyone else defy gravity and literally walk backwards down a 25 - 30 ft. cliff. It was a little different story when they insisted that I give it a try. I have some issues with heights so I couldn't even look backwards until I was safely on the ground. It was scary but after I finished my second descent I decided it was really great fun. Beats the heck out of Chuck-E-Cheese for celebrating kids birthdays.

Happy Easter!!

Spring at last?? Oh, I hope so. We did enjoy Easter although it felt a little chilly for my blood. But apparently we won't have Easter this early again for another one to two hundred years. Whew!
We had a fun little Easter Egg hunt and lunch at Aunt Linda's. We really do miss our days in Kansas for the Baird's annual Easter Egg hunt. It was so ideal - just enough people but not too many, perfect place for hiding eggs and lots of food and good friends.

Not your Mother's Tubing...

We went tubing at Soldier Hollow and tubing has certainly been upgraded for this new generation of convenience. You hook your tube onto the tow rope and are pulled effortlessly up the hill and then you fly back down - at speeds that actually made me a little nervous, especially when my tube rotated and I couldn't see what was in front of me. Fortunately, we all survived the experience with no injuries and enjoyed chili and hot dogs in the lodge after.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!...Belated

We had some fun celebrating Chinese New Year this year. This party was with the Utah Valley Families with Children from China group. They went all out - dragon parade, crafts, yummy food, etc. Dad and Benj. stayed home but the rest of us had a great time.

Zion National Park

Wow! That is all I can really say about Zion. It really is spectacular. We went down for the weekend with the crew from Tesch Law Offices - a little office retreat. We got there late Friday afternoon and left early Sunday but it was a nice break.

We hiked Angel's Landing, actually we turned around at Scout Overlook - a 4 m. round trip hike - we skipped the last 1/2 mile to the top since it was narrow, steep and somewhat icy. With 4 little boys (our 3 and one of someone elses) we decided that might be a little risky.

Fun in the Snow

Since we live a mere 10 minutes from Soldier Hollow, a fabulous Winter Olympic site, we decided to take a little family outing to cross country ski for the afternoon. Daniel & Benjamin are "Little Vikings" so they ski twice a week but the rest of us are novices.
Hannah & Jacob tired of the skiing thing pretty quickly. Hannah was in tears whenever she fell down but she did a good job nonetheless. Jacob was a trooper also. After about 1/2 hr. they traded in their skiis for snowshoes and were much happier. We'll have to keep trying.

Hannah's Face Plant

When we went to Ivins in Jan. Missy and Ashley took the kids to the sand dunes while we all went to Ben & Rebekah's wedding. They got some great shots and this video is a classic. What great cousins.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCp5Mmfr5pg&feature=related

Gwen & Hannah, Flower Girls Extraordinaire

Marydee had the great idea to have the flower girls come to her bridal shoot. Mabel took them to the beauty school to have their hair and nails done (I'm told it took 2 girls 45 minutes to do Hannah's hair - amazing since I can't get her to sit still for 3 minutes to do her hair). So although they may have been the cause of her being tardy to her photo shoot the photos are amazing. We haven't seen them all but the photographer sent this one to her before the wedding. An unsolicited plug for the photographer - Jimmy Bishop from St. George - you can find him on-line. He really did a fabulous job.

Aunt Marydee's Wedding...

The happy couple coming out of the temple.

Truly a history-making event. This is the first picture with the entire DWaldo and Mary Ellen Potter family since Shawn was 3 yrs. old. Amazing...

Hannah and Gwenny were the adorable flower girls. Hannah loved every minute of it.

Jacob was the ring bearer for the ring ceremony and took his job quite seriously. Unfortunately my seat was not in a good spot for getting the best photos - we'll have to add some others when we get them from someone else.

Polar Express '07

Another year aboard the Polar Express - this year Daniel volunteered as an elf again and Shawn was a reader. We all got to go to the dress rehearsal and Aunt Linda, Mindy, Uly, and Lucy joined us. We all had a great time.

The Birthday Princess

Oh to be 4. A party of little princesses playing, eating, painting. I have to say it was a whole new experience after only having boy parties. Much quieter, much calmer, and they did everything much slower than the little boys parties we're used to. It was a bit disconcerting - we had to turn on some music. All in all, the little ladies had a great time and the birthday princess was pleased.

The Polar Express

Our family trip on the "Polar Express" a.k.a. the Heber Creeper.

Daniel @ Salt Lake Children's Choir Concert

Daniel at the Cathedral of the Madeline for his choir concert. Photos aren't great but the concert was.

This is Daniel Riding In Aunt Suzies New PT Cruiser. It was SOOOO COOL he wouldn't go home . Dad thought About buying one but they were expensive!!!
but Other than that he would buy it.

The boys (and Dad) especially enjoyed playing in the water. They brought home a small rock collection that they found in the stream at the bottom of the falls. Water, dirt, and poison ivy made the hike back to the van less than comfortable but we all survived.

For Labor Day we went hiking to Stewart Falls - above Sundance and Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon. What a beautiful hike!! Hannah fell a few times and looked so adorably dirty that several people commented on our hike back down.

Shift - the key guy

Benjamin and Daniel had a fantastic time at Camp Invention where they made lots of creations to solve problems that they weregiven. This is Benjamin's "shift" guy that he made out of keys from an old computer keyboard.

President And King

First Daniel Was President and then he thought he wanted to rule England. But That's a Different story. He made crazy laws. He was mad with Power so when ever there are wars over
Vlassic Crunchy Dills, You will know thats him.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Here are Uncle Kyle, Riley, Daniel and Marisa at the much anticipated annual "Grandpa Kay's Lagoon Day". They are in the line for that ride where you are straight-jacketed in a little round cage and roll all around every which way. Their faces were a different color when they came back out.

A Festive Fourth

Hannah and her cousin Gwen were the absolute cutest in their patriotic attire. We had a fabulous 4th with all of the cousins. Kudos to Aunt Mabel for the adorable dresses and the photo.