Albion Basin

We are so lucky to live close to the Wasatch Mountains.  It really is a whole different world up there...much cooler than the valley in the summer and the flowers are a bonus. We headed to Albion Basin last Sunday morning to stroll.

Miles and 6 moose.  The most we've ever seen together. A treat!

Smile

Iris rallied. Steep climb and she stayed happy.

Pretty Indian Paintbrush and pretty smile

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of seeing her stink eye in a while...

Fun day

Oregon

We took our summer trip to the Oregon coast the last week of July.  We met lots of family out there and had a great time.  I love being near the ocean and seeing the amazing lush green forests up there.  We spent our days playing at the beach, swimming in the pools, hiking and just relaxing.  It is so nice to escape the rat race for a few days and enjoy being together with no schedule to keep. 

View from our deck.  We saw whales blowing within 10 minutes of getting there.  So cool!

Matching hair styles courtesy of Jeff.  I call this the polygamist twist.  Has nothing to do with Oregon other than the fact we had lots of time to play and do silly stuff while we were there.

Iris at Seal Rock

Tide pool treat

JUMP!

Teamwork

They spent hours damming the creeks

Fun on the beach

Geared up and ready to head out and whale watch

Group hike to Drift Creek Falls. Clockwise: Michelle, Jeff, Don, Deanne, Doug, Dave, Miles, me , Iris

Drift Creek Falls

Cuddling cousins. Miles, Cece and Iris

Best way to stay warm!

Hands on at the Newport Aquarium

I just had to add one more...

Reunited with my long lost bestie and her new baby Ruby.  Wish we still lived near each other.

Belted in and ready for take off.  Safety first for George Coonie!

Taking the trax train to the car. Almost home after a long travel day.

Still smiling after 4 hours in the car, 2 on the plane and now on the train.  Such good travelers!

Miles lost his first tooth

I have been such a slacker about updating this, but I figure losing the first tooth is blog worthy news. Miles is apparently half shark, so the new tooth came in behind the old one, meaning I see $$$ for braces in our future :/ 
I wanted to find a picture of him when he was a year old with just that one little tooth poking through.  Instead I went on a photo trip down memory lane and wound up in tears about how amazing my kids are, how blessed my life has been up to this point and how it really does all blast past at warp speed.

It's there if you look very closely!

OK...you can't see the missing tooth gap, but look at that smile