On the Mount Rainier Summit!!! July 14, 2011

Josh and Lafe on Disappointment Cleaver.

Donovan, Josh, and Lafe just off the Summit.

50 mph winds and -10 below 0 degrees.

Josh in Red, Lafe in Brown. On the Crater Summit.

Sunrise at 12,000 ft. Josh in front.
Lafe in back with the Ice Axe up. Incredible steep climb!!!

Washington DC with the family

More Pics from Washington DC

All these pictures have been from Emma's camera. I will post more this week from My camera. What a great time!!

Washington DC-Glenn Beck Restoring Honor

So my kids didn't like me much for a month or so when I told them that we would be missing our yearly Family trip to Lake Powell this year to go to Washington DC. They complained about how they miss their cousins and how they wanted to go to Lake Powell!! In fact, I did too, but I wanted to go to DC more and support a cause that I believe in....

So we bought the tickets, booked the trip and now the kids can't stop talking about how fun it was!! Taxi rides and Metro rides with crazy people, walking 6-8 miles a day to see all the free stuff that our TAX dollars pay for!! YEE HA!! What a blast! The kids have never been in a big city with that many people running around. It was really a lot of fun and the good part is, that it didn't feel like a big city. We visited Arlington and watched the changing of the guard! What an amazing display of respect and honor. Very cool. We visited a lot of the different Smithsonian museum buildings and a lot of the great stuff around the Washington Mall. We lucked out to get a White House tour and a National Capital tour. We had a lot of good times. Then came the Rally on Saturday. We were lucky enough to have some good friends, Tim, Dan, Johnny, and Billy save some seats for us. We were right up on the side of the reflection pool right in the heart of the excitement. What a cool experience for all of our family. To be there with good friends, family, and I guess 500,000 other people who believe in getting back to what AMERICA should be. Free and Proud!!! It was a fantastic ending to a wonderful week in Washington DC.

Catching up a bit!

Emma was baptized this year in July. She is a sweet, wonderful little girl. Gracyn and Kaden have been fabulous kids too! Little Summit was just simply tired out!!

Back in the Saddle!!

So I have finally taken the time to sit down and add some big time news and fun. Sorry Family for not doing this sooner. Life gets pretty crazy! So first... Our little boy!! Summit Lafe. He is an amazing little boy. So much fun to have in our family. We love him dearly and the kids have been fantastic with our new little addition! Just great times! I am pretty proud of my 4 little ones! He is stinkin cute, so he of course looks like his mother.... just like the rest of the kids!! :) He has been a wonderful kid for the last 8 months. He was born in January and has such a kind, fun, personality. He really has brought a lot of fun and sweetness to our family. Everyone is so excited to have a little brother!!

What FANTASTIC KIDS!!!! A smile a minute!!

What fun parts of life!!!!

Lake Trips are the #1 Summer fun in the Arizona HEAT!!!

Boating is one of my favorite things on the entire earth to do. My Mom and Dad had a boat before any of us kids were born. They had a boat throughout my entire life and for me to get a boat for my own family was a HUGE life step. So, a few years ago, Jaime and I made that step and what a glorious addition it has been to our family. I kind of think of my boat as a son of mine, but really it just makes great memories for us. Kaden started to ski at age 7. Emma got it at 6. Our sweet Gracyn got it this year at Lake Powell at age 4!!! She screamed and cried and I got it all on video, but no still pictures. Bummer!! I do have Kaden and Emma for starters and will get Gracyn up here as soon as I get some pics.

WAY TO GO KIDS!!!!

Summer and Fall FUN!!!!!!!!!

The last month has been a ton of fun. Granted, I have to write about the months before that, but I will start here. We have had some great family fun. This entry starts with our Ward Family campout up near Payson, Arizona. Tons of fun and as you can see from the pictures, quite dirty and dusty. We had a fun campfire night with songs and treats and of course S'mores! The kids just love being away and in the mountains.

Back At It!!!!

Taitum and Emma, Fairview, Utah 2009
This picture snuck into this post and I don't know how to delete it. It is from 2007. :)

What good Kids!! 2009

Fairview, Utah July 2009

July 2009 Temple Open House

So it is way early on a Saturday morning and instead of being on my way to the Lake with the Scouts, I am here with some extra time to add to my blog. The Scouts had half as many kids show up as they thought. I was the 2nd Boat to go, so I got the release to come back home. No worries! I have enough to do here around the house.

But before I do that, it is smarter of me to catch up a bit since I have let the entire summer go by and haven't written at all. What a summer we have had! Jaime and the kids spent 3 weeks up in Utah visiting all the cousins and Grandma's and Grandpa's and did they ever have a blast! I was lucky enough to go up on the weekends and be there for Family reunions and all the fun!

Nothing beats a good day 4 wheelin!!

Our family has a few things that we just really love...

One of those things is going to the lake and playing around on the boat.

Another one of those things is going on a SWEET 4 wheeler ride into the desert state

of Arizona!!! What a blast it is to be out there cruising around with the kids.

They all love it so much and Kaden has become a great little rider. This last trip he even had

to save himself from a roll while coming down a hill and he did it just like a professional. I am sure it is all that great training from his MOM!! :)

We also can't forget that on this particular trip, we had a special guest... Flat Stanley. For those of you who don't know who Flat Stanley is let me tell you. Flat Stanley is a man made from paper that usually your Niece or Nephew will send to you in an envelope and then you are supposed to take him on great and glorious adventures and then ship him back home with a story and some pictures. This time, our Niece, Taitum, sent him to us and we were happy to show him a great time!! Thanks Tator-tot!!

Oh how I love the GRAND CANYON!!!! May 2009

So as you can see from the first picture, 40 miles in one day in the Grand Canyon can make you CRAZY!!! However, if you do 19 like my wife did, you come out of the Canyon looking as pretty and cute as ever! I need to learn a lesson.

Yep, I attempted Rim to Rim to Rim again. For those of you who don't know about this wild and crazy trek, let me explain. You start at about 2AM and take off hiking. Down into the canyon from the south side and back up the north side 24 miles later. Then, sit for an hour, eat lunch, and take back off from the north and head back to the south. Another 24 miles. This all needs to take place within 24 hours to make it count. That at least, is the rule that my friend Tim Raymond gave me and the others that attempted. He has done it a number of times, but this was my 2nd attempt and I missed it again..... BY just 8 stinkin miles!!!! DANG!!!! Even when I think about it now, it makes me angry that I didn't push just a bit harder. I listened to my body and it said enough is enough. This attempt was with Tim and Amy Raymond and John Brown(Amy's brother). John was the only one to make it all 48 miles. He is my hero! Jaime hiked in the canyon herself (9 miles to the bottom) and waited for me at Phantom Ranch. She too, is my hero. There at Phantom she waited 3 or 4 hours for me and then we hiked out the last 9 miles together. The fun part about hiking out together was talking about how no other person in mine or Jaime's families have ever seen the canyon from within. We send out that challenge!!! Especially to all my Brothers!

Anyway, what a great trip!! I am just glad I finally got to tell the story. If you want another great story, just ask Tim and Amy how they got back out of the canyon from the North rim to the South..... That is a classic!!!

Great Times!!!!!!!!!
PS, I just looked at that first picture again and I look HORRIBLE!! Just remember that was 40 miles of hiking in about 20 hours or so in the Biggest hole in the world. Thanks :)