Happy 4th of July 2017

Last year we stayed in Seattle for the 4th of July.  It was cold and rainy.  My kids declared that we were NEVER staying in Seattle for the 4th again.  And, it turned out that this year we were in Utah for the family reunion, so we stayed on for the 4th of July.  Centerville Utah does put on a good 4th of July. 

On the 3rd we went to the Bubble.  It was super fun to see baby Ruger experience his first time swimming.  He seemed to enjoy it.  I love the photo bomb by Sarah.  Our fun was cut a little short by a kid who pooped in the pool though.  Yuck.  

Then we went home and scrambled to get ready for the children's parade.  It was HOT.  These 3 looked so cute in the wagon.  Grandpa used to pull this wagon with his tractor.  A couple of years ago they  made a no  motorized vehicle rule (mostly for the kids driving those cars and running people over, I think.)  This year we dutifully left the tractor at home, but then there were other motorized vehicles, so I think the rules have relaxed.  Next year, back to the tractor!

Gramps with the boys.  They look like they are having fun, don't they?

Aria.  She loves it when I do her princess hair.

Libby and Sarah got separated from us because they dutifully went to the end of the line to join the parade.  We didn't.  We just cut in line.  When they found us they were upset.  "No pictures mom."

Baby Ruger & Mommy with Uncle Soren

I have almost this exact picture 2 years ago with James.  Love it!  The best part of this parade are the Pace's popsicles afterward. 

I'm so glad my kids are older.  But babies are so cute!

Ready for some fun in the crowded park, including a Beatles cover band concert.  

Showing off popsicle tongues!
The kids enjoyed the concert because they sat with Emily and Soren and (I think) played on their phones.  But nonetheless, we all made it to the fireworks.  We sit right around the corner from the park, and right across from the school where they light off the fireworks in my Great Uncle Pork's yard.  It was too much for Sarah.  I forgot she doesn't like fireworks.  But she was sitting too far away from me to realize it.  So Soren walked her home.
I got to walk home with Ben.  Man that kid is adorable.  I love having conversations with him.  He makes me laugh.  

It was already bright and hot for the 4th of July parade at 9:00 am the next day.  

Parade Selfies. 

Kids with bags for candy.  They loved gathering the ridiculous amount of candy tossed out.  And, since they don't really like salt water taffy (which is the majority of what is tossed) they don't end up eating that much.  

James loving the parade.  He couldn't quite figure out the picking up candy thing.  It was a bit overstimulating for him.  But the kids gave him some, and helped him gather some, so he got to take some home.  

I got this card.  from someone handing them out.  Ben said, "Mom, you should put this in your wallet, just in case we need it."

We spent a relaxing day (okay, frantically cleaning to get ready for the Thornes to come, and with me packing to get ready to drive home the next day).  We had a yummy BBQ with the Thorne family (our long time friends that we always see on the 4th of July).  Then it was home fireworks time.  While they are illegal everywhere around us in Seattle, in Utah, more aerials are legal!  So we had a good show!
Grandpa with his fireworks.  

James lasted through the first 1 second of fireworks.  Then he watched the rest from inside the house.  

With popcorn. 

The assembled onlookers.  

Ruger came home mid show, he was asleep, but the fireworks ended that! 

Ben loved the fireworks.  He laid in the grass for a better view! 

Fehlberg Family Reunion 2017

Derek comes from an amazing family.  Geneva has 4 brothers.  They have remained close despite (at times) living on 3 and maybe even 4 continents.  This reunion blows me away.  There are lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, and spouses.  We get along, laugh, play games, and just enjoy time together.  I am so glad I married into the Fehlberg clan.
The reunion was in La Sal Utah.  La Sal is about 1/2 hour from Moab in the southeast corner of the state.  It was quite a long drive from SLC, and the last 2 1/2 hours home felt extra long since our A/C went out on the van.  But I digress...

We rented the Redd family ranch.  They used to rent out their multiple houses for lots of groups, but they don't do it any more.  Luckily, Geneva has a very persuasive brother that talked them into letting us use the space.  It worked out quite well.  There were beds for most of the adults, and the kids slept on floors or in tents.  I should have taken more pictures of the house, but if you catch a glimpse behind me, the 1960s in all their glory!
Maren and I helped make and serve up food on the last night.  

We stopped at Dead Horse Point on the way into La Sal.  It was AMAZING.  Apparently when you see the Grand Canyon in most movies, you are actually seeing Dead Horse Point.  It is exquisite!  

And it is super hot.  Wow. 

LOOK!  A giant amazing and beautiful canyon! 

And the car looks disgusting.  

At the ranch Ben managed to explore almost everywhere!  And yes, he is wearing a singlet.  Derek's wrestling instinct comes from the Fehlberg line, so I figured if he wanted to wear one in public, this would be a crowd that would sympathize.  

Derek's cousin Haylie planned the games.  They were Epic.  This is us about to play Bear, Man, Lady.  Amazing poses about to ensue.  Description of the game for future reference...

We also had a hula hooping contest.  

 My favorite game (to watch...I didn't actually play) was the Human Hungry Hungry Hippos.  I didn't get any pictures of this.  But it was so hilarious and fun.  (A video for future reference.Although we used balloons instead of balls and put them in one end of the gym so they stayed contained.  )   Since there were Nortons playing, this game did end up devolving into a heated competition with many accusations of cheating.  It was amazing.

So much fun we wore ourselves out!

Anne Marie had some car trouble.  I was sure to document her woes.  Probably karma for this is what made our A/C bite the dust on the way home.  

The boys became obsessed with catching bugs.  Gross.  They caught and released hundreds of them before the bug catcher got a hole in it.  

Fehlbergs love playing games.  Interestingly, Sarah whooped up on everyone.  In basically every game she tried she won (against adults!).  She has been doing chess club this year, and I guess it paid off!  She knows how to strategize and play a good game.  

"Don't worry mom, I'll just climb over this fence." 

Smores with Reeses.  

 Day 2 was the foray into Arches National Park.  Now if we had thought this through a little bit, we would have probably changed the schedule around a bit so that we weren't hiking at noon.  In the heat.  But, we made it, and we built some character on the way.
Here was my thinking:  The kids walk 3 miles on the treadmill all the time.  This will be no problem.  Let's just sunscreen up, take some water, and get this done!
What I should have been thinking:  3 miles on the treadmill is nothing like 3 miles 8000 feet higher than we are used to.  In temperatures 30 degrees hotter than we are used to.  And walking on rock and sand.  With no shade.  We need lots of water, a backpack full of food, hats and maybe even umbrellas for everyone.  Or maybe we should choose a different hike since we are getting to the park mid-day.

But, since I didn't think like I should have, we just powered up that mountain to the Delicate Arch with lots of breaks, some sobbing (Sarah, then Ben, then Libby, then Sarah, then Libby, etc...)
I was actually pretty proud of my hip and my heart.  We did just fine.  According to my Fitbit, the highest my heart rate got was still only 127 bpm and the average was 101 bpm.  Not bad at all.
I also got Sarah and even Libby to play a game for about 1/2 the way down, so it was much more tolerable than it would have been.

This will be a day that we will never forget!    

Ben resting on the trail.  

Ben trying to pretend he is a lizard (okay, just dying for some shade).

Sarah didn't walk out to the arch.  She was over it.  

Geneva and brothers in age order: Geneva, Wayne, Rondo, Reed, Paul

With Spouses: Brion, Geneva, Wayne, Merlene, Rondo, Mary, Reed, Carma, Paul, Karen

The whole group (minus one or two, but basically everyone). 

The talent show on the last night was super fun.  Libby did gymnastics, and I was proud to see her showing what she had learned!  I felt like maybe I got my money's worth?  Sarah also said the gorilla poem again.  We have certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of that!  

We finished the weekend with sacrament meeting at the La Sal branch.  It is so great to soak up the Spirit in a meeting like that.  We got back to my parents' house, hot, sweaty and buggy.  Just in time for dinner.