My how they grow!

In 2003 we took a trip to California and Mike took this creative picture of the family.  We stood in order by age--Mike obviously on the right and Heather on the left.

So when we were at the beach at Bear Lake I thought it would be fun to take another one like this to see the changes in our family. Mike is on the left this time and Heather on the right, but look at Tyler.  It's so weird to have to look up to talk to him, and Candice and Megan have passed me as well.  It won't be long before Heather is taller than me too.  It's crazy how fast they grow and change.

Here are some more before and after pictures:

Crazy huh!!!

Labor Day Fun

Even though it was near freezing temperatures, we went over to Bear Lake for Labor Day.  We spent most of the time inside playing games, but after dinner we went to LaBeau's to get shakes and then went to the beach.  The crowds had cleared out by the time we got there so we had it pretty much to ourselves.  Heather was crazy enough to get in the water and Tyler wouldn't be one upped by her so he got in too.  The rest of the group played football, volleyball and kickball.  Thanks to our good friend Kevin for taking some great pictures of the fun.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Kevin and his cute girls

The whole fam

One more day

Our last sight seeing spot was the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  It must be the most visited vantage point because there is a whole village of shops, visitor centers, and even a train depot.  There are also four colored shuttle bus routes that take you to different areas.  We got on the blue shuttle bus which goes through the center of the shops, train depot, and visitor centers and then switched to the red shuttle bus which goes to more of the canyon viewing spots.  We got off at one of the stops and then walked along the rim trail about two miles.  There were several spots where there wasn't much space between the trail and the edge.  One false step and you could be off the side for an easy 3000 ft. drop.  We were glad we didn't have any small children with us to worry about.

The Grand Canyon truly is massive and amazing.

A long way down!

The Colorado River

We decided to get back on the shuttle bus just in time as this storm ended up unloading a pretty decent amount of rain.  We had seen the clouds forming and Mike had even seen a few lightning strikes across the canyon, but it was very warm up until about 2 minutes before it started to blow and pour.

Day two of our trip

We drove back to Bryce Canyon from Escalante along Scenic Hwy 12.  It was definitely scenic.

We didn't have time to see everything in Bryce on Wednesday so we went back on Thursday to take the rest of it in.  We started at Bryce Point.

Then we moved on to Inspiration Point. It was all so amazing!

Next we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  This is our first good view.  On the way into where we parked, Mike quickly looked off to the side and said, "Big."  What an understatement!

It took us about four hours to get from the North Rim to the Route 66 Inn in Williams, AZ.  It's a good thing it was late and we were really tired because it was another winner of a room!!

Vacation with my hubby

Mike and I are on a road trip in Southern Utah to see some of God's amazing creations. Today we visited Red Canyon, some of Bryce Canyon and Escalante. Here are a few of the things we saw today:

Mike by the sign just before entering Red Canyon and

Cherie in front of a rock tunnel in Red Canyon.

Some of the beautiful "hoodoos" (rock formations) in Bryce Canyon

We took an .8 mile hike (we learned from our White Pine hike not to try to go so far) into the Tropic Waterfall.

The amazing thing about this is there really is no water to be found anywhere else. Mike had even commented on the drive that he'd seen several river beds with no water in them.

This is a shot out the car window on the way to Escalante.

We are staying in a rather ancient motel tonight in Escalante. I don't remember the last time I stayed in a motel, but the price was right and there really weren't that many options here. It's clean, has air conditioning, a microwave and fridge, free wi-fi, and a bed (I hope it's comfortable) so it's all good.

Tomorrow we plan to spend some more time in Bryce Canyon and then head over to the Grand Canyon. Mike has never seen it, so I'm pretty excited to experience it with him. The only time I have been was when I was 15, so I am really looking forward to it as well.

Summer Fun

School has started for the Child children and summer is over, but I was taking pictures off our camera and organizing them on the computer and found some pictures of a few of the fun things we did this summer.

Tyler participating in a "Minute to win it" game (I think that's what it's called) at the annual Beckstrand Family Reunion. And he did win due to a penalty assessed to the other contestant.

Mike's Birthday party and Candice going for a Harley ride with Uncle Rick afterwards

Heather took a couple of friends to Bear Lake and the McKellar girls joined us as well for a fun day at the pool

Our 24th of July Pioneer Primary activity and parade

Crazy girls having fun jumping around!

I'll have to look at these often in a few months to remind myself that it was warm once and may be again in another 9 months (I'm really trying not to depress myself, but I'm not sure it's working).