Blowin' in the Wind

We were attempting to get a picture of our family after church. As you can see, it was somewhat of a feutal attempt with all our blowing hair. I love Aubrey's the best. Whoosh!

Alta Peruvian '09

The Alta Peruvian 8K Downhill Dash & BBQ Dinner is our annual 'Date Race.' It is one that we run (and stay) together (though Robert is soooo much faster than me). It starts at 4:00 in the afternoon at the Alta Ski Lodge and runs straight down Little Cottonwood Canyon along side the cars. Following the race there is a BBQ dinner over looking the ski slopes. It is just a fun time to spend together. Each participant receives a T-shirt, dinner, and a free raffle ticket. My raffle ticket landed us a Men's watch from O.C. Tanner. Robert's ticket landed him some bubbles. You just never know what you'll get. I also won dinner for 2 at the Resort for coming in 2nd in my age group (there must not have been stiff competition cause I really wasn't very fast). Next year we may need to run separately so Robert can win his age category as well. Such a fun time. We are already looking forward to next years race. We're hooked!

Date w/ Lindz

One Saturday of each month Robert takes one of the girls out on a date. They get to choose what they want to do together, and for that time, they have Dad all to themselves. This month Lindsay decided to go bike riding on the Jordan River Parkway. Lindsay is a very good bike rider and looks very happy to be spending her Saturday afternoon with Dad!

Brighton Hike

With our older kids in school and our younger kids off track, Amy and I decided to take the girls on a hike. We started at the base of the Brighton Ski Resort and headed UP. It was a pretty good climb, but the girls hung in there. The hardest part was carrying Brenna in the backpack. I think she's about ready to hike on her own. We enjoyed lunch at Twin Lakes (we learned there is only 1 lake at Twin Lakes) looking for fish and skipping rocks.
Amy and I a little exhausted at the bottom.

Lindsay and Ellie

Emi and Mia

Tessa and Kayla

Looking thrilled as we hike UP.

Middle School

Does this picture say it all? We now have our 1st middle schooler, decorated locker and all. Today is Aubrey's first day at South Jordan Middle School, home of the Snow Leopards. We are so happy and excited for her. She has grown up so much this past year and we know she is ready for the challenges and great adventures that are ahead of her. She has a good head on her shoulders and good friends by her side and we wish her an awesome year at SoJo.

Today is Aub

Bees Baseball

We love going to Bees (minor league baseball) games. The field is in a beautiful location, and there's nothing like a cool summer night at the ballfield. Though we didn't bring any nitts with us, we sat in the perfect locations to catch foul balls. Two different people in our row both walked away with foul ball souveniers, but no such luck for is. The girls and I are usually ducking versus going for the ball, so that really only leaves Dad to climb over us to try to catch a ball. The girls also love all the food and fun that goes along with a game. I remember growing up going to Dodger Games, in the days of Ron Cey, Dusty Baker, and Mike Sosccia and Dodger Dogs and chocolate frosty's were always my favorite too.

Before we left we had a chance to see the team mascot, The Bee. Some of the older girls remember when our cousin Gary worked for the Bees organization and one night came over with the 'Bee Mascot' costume. It was just before Kayla was having a Garden theme birthday party and we thought maybe Gary could drop by in costume, but she didn't think that was such a good idea. Anyway, it was a fun Family Night together.

And yes, amongst all the activities, we even watched a little baseball.

A Visit from Emma

We love Emma. She started babysitting our girls when she was 12 and is now a sophmore in college. She stopped by for a visit before heading back to BYU-Idaho. The girls wished she could have stayed longer. Mom and Dad need to plan a vacation so they can have a fun stay-cation at home with Emma.

Visiting Gram

We usually visit Grandma Webber's grave over Conference Weekend. This year we will be away that weekend, so we made an early visit. I have come up to the Logan Cemetery several times throughout my life to visit my Grandpa Webber's grave (Gram's husband) He died when my Dad was only 2 years old, so I never knew him. But coming here now to visit Gram, who is buried next to him, is very meaningful to me. I was very close yo her throughout my life and I miss her a lot. I love being up here at her grave because it helps me feel closer to her. I know that each and every person who lived on this Earth WILL be resurrected one day and I am one who finds great peace, joy, and meaning as I visit them in the grave.

Bear Lake

Bear Lake is one of our favorite places in Utah. It is up north near the Idaho border and we love coming here both in summer and winter. If we ever bought a cabin it would be at Bear Lake. We spent the week up at the lake with some friends. We had originally planned to camp, but the weather turned rainy and especially chilly and we were lucky enough to stay in some of Mike's friends mobile homes. Phew. We did get one good day out on the lake where the kids tubed, but the water was too cold for adults to want to play much.Instead we did some land activities, like sand volleyball and playing at the park. Brenna's never met a park she doesn't love.

We also rented some bikes and emjoyed a ride around town. The competition got a little fierce when we started hooking mutiples bikes up together and pitting family against family or all children against the adults. But it was a fun way to spend an afternoon and we found the greatest snow cones in the world. Skip the World Famous Bear Lake Raspberry Shakes and go to the Sno Shack just outside the KOA. Soooooo yummy.

We also spent a lot of time just hanging around camp. Amy insisted we cook outside, and do our true camping menu, even though we had kitchens available. And I will say, we had some great dutch oven dinners and perfect freanch toast on this trip.

Here are the oldest of our 'children gang.' Thanks to everyone for making it such a great week.

J's 35th B-day

It's my 35th Birthday. Amazing. I really don't feel that old, but that's what the calendar says.
I was able to spend a fun day with family and friends. After our running races we had breakfast at Village Inn in Provo. Here is part of the Bloxham family at breakfast.
Here's part of our family at breakfast, waiting for our waffles and crepes.

Then we headed to Seven Peaks Water Park. It's our favorite water park in Utah. Unfortuntely, this particular day was a little chilly, but we still stuck it out for most of the day.

Here's Aubrey going down the 'super slide.' She's much braver than I am.

Thanks so much to everyone for all the birthday wishes and gifts. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

Moonlite Run

Each year the City of Sandy puts on a Midnight Moonlight Run. It is a 5K that starts at the stroke of midnight. This year it fell on my birthday and I decided - what better way to ring in my 35th year than with a run. Aubrey and our neighbors the Bloxhams are all 'night owls' so we all went to the race together. Here's Aubrey and I with our headlamps.And Aubrey with her glowsticks. We all wore glowsticks around our necks, wrists, ankles, and shoelaces.It was a square route beginning with an uphill, straightaway, downhill, and final straightaway. I wasn't sure how my body would feel running in the middle of the night, but I held my own. I came in 3rd place for my age group (which they considered 30-34) It was a fun race and one we'll definitely do again. Whew-hew!