Kendall Kampout

We went to our family reunion "The Kendall Kampout". We camped out up Big Cottonwood Canyon at Jordan Pines. We had so much fun.

We took all the kids hiking up to Doughnut Falls.

On Saturday we had a barbecue just for the kids and then took them on a pirate treasure hunt.
X marks the spot!



Singing "Country Roads" with Uncle Wayne.


The hiking club which soon was changed to the hunting club....boys will be boys!
It was close to 100 degrees so the kids began a water fight.....
Hayley joined in!
Lola started the campout all shiny and bright
and ended the campout filthy, scabbed, picking her nose and loving life!

Park City girls trip

While in Utah we went to Park City for our annual girls day. We shopped all day and went out to eat at Red Rock. We had so much fun. Love these girls!

West Fork cabin

My great grandpa Okelberry was a sheep herder. He herded sheep in the high Uintahs where he built a cabin in the 1940's. We still love to go there and fondly refer to it as the West Fork cabin.
I always have thought of it as the most beautiful place in the world. I think my children feel the same way.

Grandpa Bud and Grandma Jean. She spent her childhood summers living in these mountains.



Millie had a spill into the stream.
Poor Millie
The old spring- the best tasting water in the world.

The 4th of July

We had a busy, fun-filled 4th! The day started with me and my friend Brittney running a local 5k. We ran it in 26 minutes and were pretty proud of ourselves considering it was her 1st and my 2nd race. Then we met Todd and Lola at the ward pancake breakfast. From there we went to the airport to pick up Kye and Ash. They loved their first "solo" flight. We then spent the afternoon at a barbecue with Todd's school friends. His colleague's wife, Allison, went all out! She had waterguns, water balloons, red-white-and-blue jello, a pie eating contest (Kye took 2nd place) and all kinds of other fun activities. It was so much fun! Unfortunately, Lola had spent half of the previous night awake and was so tired that I had to leave early to let her take a nap. I accidentally took the camera home and missed out on all the great photo opportunities! We ended the night watching the fireworks over the ocean. Needless to say we all slept well that night!

Summer Fun

Lola fell in love with Grandpa Rick while they were here. At times she even chose him over me!
Kye and I found our favorite shop in Coronado. It was a candy store, of course! They had all kinds of fabulous old candy. Remember peachy gummy penguins? Yumm!
Grandpa Rick, Grandma Linda and Kristi came out to visit for few days. We spent a day in Coronado and the kids went up to Disneyland with grandma, grandpa and Kristi the next day. We had a great time! The icing on the cake was that Ashton and Kye went back to Arizona with them and spent a couple days. They love being at grandma and grandpa's house. They had a blast and got to fly back by themselves!

Sympathy vs. Empathy

Kye finally got his cast off last Friday. We were all so happy. I thought I had been pretty sympathetic with him. I tried really hard to help him and be patient with him but apparently I needed a lesson in the difference between sympathy and empathy. So....

1 strollercise class + 1 huge klutz (me) + 1 big fall + 3 hours in the ER= 1 fractured elbow

Luckily, it's my left arm and I didn't have to get a cast. I'm just in a really cool sling for about 2 weeks. The Dr said if you have to break a bone this is the best bone to break because it heals quickly. So now I'm understanding all that Kye went through. There are so many things that I can't do. I can't roundbrush my hair. I can't buckle Lola's car seat. I can't wash our dishes. The list goes on and on. I never appreciated having 2 working arms so much until now! I guess I'm just glad it's only 2 weeks instead of 8. So lesson learned! The next time a Welker child breaks a bone I'll be better able to understand all that they are going through!

Happy Father's Day!

The kids made some really cute gifts for Todd at school and Kye spent many hours making a sign for Todd out of "bendaroos". All Todd asked for was chips and salsa from his favorite restaurant. We also made him his favorite dessert and bought him a nice shirt and tie, that he chose out of course!
My kids are so lucky to have such a great dad! They all love him so much. They love when he comes home and takes them out play. They love singing with him. They love playing games with him. They love going and getting ice cream with him. I think they associate all "fun" things with Todd. I'm grateful to have such a great father for my kids!