Ogden Rodeo; Children's Museum; Jacob's Family Arrived; Bountiful Parade; Park

Pioneer Days signifies it is rodeo time of the year. And the rodeo we attend (about every 10 years) is the Ogden Rodeo. Klarissa expressed a desire to go. Sarah wanted to go. Rebecca wanted to go. So we all went to the rodeo together.

We parked and had to be bused to the rodeo grounds. Eli enjoyed the ride standing up and holding onto the overhead handle.

It was breast cancer awareness night at the rodeo and so lots of people (including Caroline, Madison, Rebecca, Wynne, me and the cowboys and cowgirls) were wearing pink.

The sound system was working well and then some. It was pretty loud for baby Kade's ears. The cotton candy came from Golden Corral--our dinner before the rodeo. 

I like the view of the mountains. We were very blessed to have a cloudy sky because we were on the sunny side and it was close to 100 degrees that evening. 

The grandchildren were very into the rodeo. It was fun to watch them watching so intently to what was going on throughout the evening.

 

A one-armed cowboy did some tricks. He had two horses and a zebra and demonstrated how he could maneuver his horse to round them all up and coral them up on top of a moving trailer.

 

 

 

After the rodeo, the little boys were very willing to stay late and watch the antics of the trick motorcyclists doing their crazy high jumps. 

Oh yeah!! This brought as many, if not more, smiles to the boys' faces. 

The evening was a magnificent success. Sarah declared the rodeo was one of her most favorite things they did while they were here visiting.   

Earlier in the day Rebecca, Sarah, Klarissa and their children went to the children's museum in Ogden. It was a lot of cousin fun that day.

The weather was SO HOT from the moment we arrived in Utah and it wasn't letting up. Lincoln, Wynne and Carson found a way to beat the heat.

Jacob, Laurie, Luke, Logan and Claire drove into town to join in the family fun. We were all very happy to see them.

Wynne and Claire were the strawberry pajama-wearing girls.

Sarah got very little sleep as she stayed up late at night making valances to go over the blinds on three of our doors. So many projects we were trying to accomplish amidst all the playing we were doing.

Sarah did get in a tiny bit of personal fun time when she went on a dinner date with some friends. But, she worked hard getting dinner ready for her boys (and for us) before she left. She is amazing!!

Glen was working all the time on various home improvement projects. Eli recognized the fix-it talents of his grandpa when we saw the note Eli had attached to his broken action figure.

The Bountiful Pioneer Days parade is always held in the early evening. The majority of the group was willing to go sit in the heat to watch the parade go by. Glen and I opted out. 

Lincoln was all decked out in the spirit of the season. He was matching the American flag he got at the parade.

Summertime means park time! 

Cousins at the park. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Natalie and Emma Arrive; Cinderella; Sissel; EFY

Since Natalie and Emma were going to be coming from Omaha to Utah to attend EFY at BYU, we thought it would be a good idea for them to fly out a few days early so we could spend some extra time with them.

The invitation was extended to them before we knew Sarah and her four boys would be staying with us all month. And before we knew Abe's family would be staying with us half of the month.

Turns out it was a great idea as there were many family bonding opportunities while they were here.

We invited Brooke to go with them to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms for the dead.

 

   

 A big group of us went to see the play Cinderella at the new Hale Centre Theatre.

When I went to pick up Rebecca and her three girls for the play, they were patiently waiting on the front porch for me to arrive.

Dallas and Spencer were at a Scout day camp that day.

Rebecca took a photo of us because she thought we were matching so nicely this particular day.

That is one thing I made sure of every day on our mission--that we wore coordinating clothes so we would look good when we were together. No clashing for us!! EVER!!

That evening we were able to attend the Pioneer Day performance with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square. Scott Barrick was able to get us the tickets. 

Shauna Barrick knows Klarissa from BYU when Shauna was working in the Honors Program.

We saw our Area President, Elder Pearson, sitting a few rows in front of us. He's the man wearing a suit, standing with his side to us and facing the right.

It was a beautiful evening of entertainment listening to the choir and special guest Sissel sing with her angelic voice. We all loved it!!

RaNae and Ryan's son returned home from his mission. They had a lovely luncheon prepared for us in their back yard. I was taking notes as we would soon be entertaining people after we spoke in church.

They had lots of shade tents up. RaNae was nonstop filling up the water jug. It was a very hot day. They served a slushie drink also that was SO refreshing in the heat.

They have a lovely backyard. It was a good thing the pool cover was in place because it would have been tempting to jump in the water to cool off.

We enjoyed moving inside their home when all the guests had gone and got a chance to talk with RaNae's family for a while and hear more about Bracken's mission experiences. We shared a few of our own as well.

Back at home we enjoyed sitting around talking together as a family.

Klarissa likes to bake cookies on Sunday with Wynne as her little helper.

The next day Natalie and Emma's friend joined us for the trip down to Provo where the girls were anxious to go to EFY.

We stopped for lunch first.

We helped them get registered.

They found their rooms and then said good-bye so they could enjoy their week of being with other teenagers.

Back home Glen was doing his best to get the lawn mowed as he worked around boys and moved the trampoline from one spot to another.

It was so nice watching the cousins enjoying their time together.

Quotes of the Week

As we live with devotion born of faith in Jesus Christ, we will feel the peaceful presence of the Holy Ghost, who guides us to truth, inspires us to live worthy of the Lord's blessings, and bears witness that God lives and loves us.
--Ronald A. Rasband

Line upon line and precept upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God. Conversion unto the Lord requires both persistence and patience.
--David A. Bednar

When we have sinned, Satan often tries to convince us that the unselfish thing to do is to protect others from the devastation of the knowledge of our sins. The truth is that the unselfish and Christlike thing to do is to confess and repent.
--Linda S. Reeves