Bryce Canyon

 We hiked down to the Queen's Garden at Bryce Canyon. It was a lot of fun and not too hot or too difficult. The only problem with hiking down into a canyon is that you have to, at some point, hike out of it... Still, it was fun :)

I look like an owl...or a fly... Either one, it ain't a good look...

Mia checks out a Prairie Dog and wonders if she can take one home. Run Prairie Dog, Run!!!

So dang cute. And most likely rabid...

Our Tipi

When we booked the campground at Ruby's Inn, we found out that we could stay in a tipi for not much more money. Heck yeah!!! It was huge inside and the coolness factor made it worth it. However, they do not tell you how FREAKIN' COLD IT IS!!! We about froze to death. We all ended up in the same bed. I put on every but of clothing I had with me plus some of Rod's and finally got a little bit warm. Methinks the Indians built fires in there for a reason. Didn't think the staff at Ruby's Inn would have much appreciated us making a fire though :)

ATV Demons

Funny Girl

Lookin' Goooood...

Rod begged and begged to go on an ATV ride. I finally relented in a quest to stop the nagging :) and we outfitted ourselves in giant helmets and cute goggles and hopped on the 4-person ATV. And it was FUN!!! We followed a trail for about an hour and got to see antelope and deer. The view at the end was incredible. Mia LOVED every minute of it. She held on for dear life and tried to get Rod to go faster (hmmmm.... wonder who she takes after?). Ellie and I were happy to just trundle along :)

Speed Demon in the making..

Rod in his element and lovin' life...

Panguitch Balloon Festival 2011

We made it to the Main Street event where they light up all the balloons. It was just as much fun as last year. Panguitch is an anomaly. You expect it to be all old-town Mormon-ville, but really it's full of tattooed guys in wife beaters drinking "water" out of 64-oz jugs and pushing strollers. They had a band playing heavy metal music and about 12 balloons lit up along the street. We had a blast.
We planned on spending the night but as we were walking around, it was getting colder and colder and the thought of spending another night in the tipi was more than we could stand.... So at 10:30 p.m. we packed up our stuff at the campsite, threw it all in the back of the truck and drove home to toasty hot St. George to sleep in our air-conditioned beds :)

Dance Recital #2

Mia had her second dance recital in May. She got to wear the same costume (amazing it still fit the gigantor child, but it did!) I was just grateful I didn't have to buy another expensive dress! The recital was LONG!!! A starving Troy and Janae and patient, tired kids were there too (thanks, guys) and the show went on and on and on and on and on ... Finally Mia got to dance and was cute as can be :)

Our Garden!!! :)

 Dad wanted to see photos of the finished yard. When he was here, the wall wasn't quite finished and we basically had a whole lot or dirt in the backyard ("go play in the mud, kids!"). But since then we have put in edging and a lawn and more trees, even mulch around all the plants to make it oh fer pretty. We're having fun putting it all together, although since it's hit 100 degrees, we pretty much have to be done by 9 a.m. :)

Ellie is 10!!! Oh, where does the time go?

Jo and Taylee. Jo was AWESOME!! She came over and painted nails. She was definitely the cool Mom at this party :)

Check out the giant choco cake. Like mother like daughter... We munched on this cake for days :)

Ellie opening presents on her actual Birthday. She waited until she got done with school to come home and open presents. Note the Eiffel Tower shirt. Ellie has a tiny obsession with Paris right now. 

We had a great time at Ellie's 10th birthday party. She had friends over and they played "Just Dance" on the Wii, ate chocolate cake and watched a movie that we projected on the side of the house outside. The weather was perfect and to top off a great night, Washington City was having their fireworks for Cotton Days, and we could see them perfectly from the house :)

Grand Canyon detour

 We decided to take Dad to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon-only 2 hours away, right? So we hopped in the car with water bottles and movies and headed off. We got to Fredonia and stopped at a gas station to pee and buy junk food (ever notice how your need to pee and eat crap increases while traveling, or is it just me?). Rod got chatting to the cashier (I know, shocking right? Rod is just so shy :) who informed us that the North Rim shuts down until the snow melts. So what did we do? We just kept on driving to the South Rim. A million hours later we got there!
Dad was blown away driving through vast areas of land with NOTHING on it, and then all of a sudden there would be a house (shack) in the middle of nowhere. I was just blown away that anyone can reside so far away from Costco and Target...
The Grand Canyon was AWESOME, of course. We got to walk around in 75 degree weather and have a snowball fight with the snow that was still laying around. So fun :) Rod managed to get a huge pile of snow down my back. Not cool when you wear all the layers we Mormons wear. I will, of course, have my revenge :)
That night we stayed in a hotel (but Mom, what are we going to wear
to bed? We didn't even bring pajamas!!) Ellie was horrified that

she had to sleep in shirt and underwear. She was also horrified at having to eat at a deli (but what's a deli? Isn't there a Subway here?) in the middle of the res...Yes, 'tis a hard life Oliver...

 Dad and his girls

The fam :)

The bad thing about going to the Grand Canyon is that you have to drive all the freakin' way home. It took FOREVER!! Lucky for me I have a sweetheart who was willing to drive while I sat in the back and watched movies with the girls :) It was a swell time :)

Nascar Baby!!!

 Dad came to visit for 2 weeks. He went home today. Lameoh.... :( But we had a lot of fun with him and got to go to Nascar!!!! Yeah baby! It was a blast!! There were a bazillion people there and more than a few Wallmartians. We went supplied with headphones (as modeled by Mia above) which I didn't think we would need. That was until the cars started whipping around at 180 mph. Freakin' crazy. And totally LOUD!!! The best parts (of course) were when drivers wiped out :) We even got to see a car catch fire. I mean, I wouldn't want anyone to get REALLY hurt. Just lil' bit...

 Ellie with her Dadcu :)

Photo of the bazillion people. People are SERIOUSLY into this stuff. Tried to take some photos of the cars but they were too speedy gonzales for me.

Tonsil Day

You can't really see the tonsils but they're HUGE!!!

 Ellie finally got her tonsils out, after months of throat infections and feeling overall lousy. She was kind of excited about going to the hospital. Rod barely talked for the first hour-a sure sign that he was a little worried. She went to pre-op and met her nice nurse, Kim who gave her a gown and "party hat". They told us to have her remove "all" her clothes, so we did. Yes, even her underwear. Ellie said "I feel weird". I've never been without underwear before." She was so freaked out that they let her put them back on :). The doctor ($700) and the anesthesiologist ($800) came in and then wheeled her off. Cue Mom and Dad freakin' out. 

40 minutes later the doc ($700 for 20 minutes of surgery-think I am doing the wrong job at the hospital) came out and told us she was a trooper and that her tonsils were huge. He photographed them with his cell phone (per Ellie's request-"no, they cannot put them in a jar for you to take home") and emailed them to us. I didn't put them on the blog because they're nasty looking :) He didn't photograph the adenoids-what the heck are adenoids anyway? But all went well with the surgery. Cue sighs of relief from Mom and Dad.

Before

Before

After :(

After :( She's actually trying to smile

 
And this is poor Ellie after surgery. She came out with puffy, red lips and totally out of it. She was less than impressed :(
She is now 2 days post-surgery and has taken up residence on the couch (with my favorite-ever body pillow) where she is eating popsicles, chocolate pudding, chicken noodle soup and ICEES from Maverik. Grandma and Grandpa Sherman are here to play nurse for the rest of the week so that I can go back to work and figure out how to make $700 for 20 minutes of work. (Hey, I just went to the bathroom, that's $250. Hey, I just goofed off and checked my e-mail, that's $400 :) Yeah, I wish...