Still Alive With Five!: May-July 2012... C'mon, Catch up!

I will never bemoan or be tired of the summer time. I love it with all of my heart for the flexibility it affords us. We need it so bad after such structure during the school year. We love the warm weather and spend plenty of time in the sun both here and in California. We started our summer a but early with our Peru trip which was worth missing some school for. Once school ended, we have not stopped playing.

Peru was an amazing experience for Landon, Camden, Eric and me. Being in another country provides such learning opportunities. The people- very different and yet, the same. The land, the culture, the food, the language.

I thought the Peruvian children were so beautiful with their sun chapped cheeks and big brown eyes

The temples and ruins were breathtaking- my thoughts would drift to trying to imagine people walking around these sites and living there- worshiping there

Machu Picchu was even more beautiful and fascinating in person- we felt so lucky to have gotten the opportunity to hike such an incredible mountain.

Landon at the top

I just wanted to sit and stare and I would have had we not been with a group

The boys did no complaining though they were tired much of the time.

School ended with the yearly "Field Day" at Lundstrom Park that all the kids look forward to. I made a flour/food coloring "paste" for the kids' hair that looked and felt really cool but was a nightmare to remove, poor kids. And now I am being lazy.

These pictures are all out of order but I just don't have any desire to make it right but to just record the facts. You may put them all in the correct order in your brain, mmmmk?

She is demonstrating how they die all the alpaca thread to make
different colors

Time to head back home. Good bye Hernan, our

dedicated taxi driver and liason

This is just a typical sight in our home- always behind, always working hard

And this is cute Ethan after finally getting up on the wake
board. Oh how proud we are of you. You doubted and made excuses and I pushed you a bit hard to give it a try. You love me for it now, dontcha??

Family time on a boat is like no other. No one can escape- it's just pure closeness. I can see this working for me down the road. It's way better than eating dinner together... why? Well because I don't have to cook and because they can't just say, "I'm done" and leave. So far, they all still like spending time with one another but I'm just preparing from every angle for the future.

Analise loves to tube. It may be mostly because she has never been flung off going 30 miles an hour, but it's just a guess.

American West Heritage Center, tea party. She is loving it, even though her hat is crooked.

And guess who else loved it? My boyzzzzz. Yep- how could one not love sitting in the shade, watching peacocks pass by while eating pound cake, snickerdoodles and drinking fresh lemonade?? No denying it.

I watched Landon keep a close eye on Annie as she wandered. He stayed close behind asking her where she was going. I like to catch them having little conversations together. He is a great big brother, well,... they all are.

Bronson kept picking the surrounding grass and feeding it to the chickens... I have no idea whether that is ok or not. Is it? He had a great time nonetheless.

Her second pony ride- she smiles the whole time.

Back to Peru and the little cafeteria at one of the village schools outside of Cusco. The boys worked hard bringing the tables into the room.

The school

Camden realized one day in the Vans store that he had enough money to buy his own skateboard. The sales guy was so cute with him and made him feel like a real skater- the way he explained things to him about the shape of the board and the differences between them. Cam walked out of there thinking he was buddies with them all.

We were all happy to get some new vans. Ethan chose purple, the ones NOT on sale and made a choice to pay me 1/2 for them. I love that they are starting to see how much everything costs.

Analise couldn't believe her eyes when she saw this "princess" (it's what she calls all dresses). She was taken aback by all the beauty in front of her. She is kind of high drama... uh oh.

Camden had a chance to go to the skate/bike park in Park City to try his skills. I really am feeling the pressure to get him some knee/elbow pads before something not so good happens while he practices.

Camden and Ethan got to go to BYU basketball camp for a couple of days while Landon went to EFY for a week. We have power packed our summer and it's been so fun!

Swimming in Park City, one of our favorite things.

Hi Todd and Amy our dear friends from San Diego. We were lucky to have them drive up for a visit while we were in Park City. Marina is their sweet baby girl. We had such a good time with them.

Train ride at the American West Heritage Center

Strawberry picking in Hyde Park. Yum!!

Her first pony ride- all happy and full of glee...

Like I said before, nothing but good times boating this summer... no engine failures, no accidents (cross fingers). Willard Bay is our bay o choice. We love it there.

The Scott cousins drove up for a visit from California- we all had such a fun time together, and the cousins love each other. We built lots of good memories this month.