June 2008 Road Trip

Orem, Utah
Every year the city of Orem has a celebration where they have a carnival, arts and crafts booths, an evening parade (goes by my mom's house), and fireworks. It has been years since I have visited Utah in the summer and thought it would be nice for Sydney and Spencer to experience this tradition from my youth.

Parade Prep
A night or two in advance, Jen and I bought tarps to stake out an area of their yard for our friends and family to watch the parade on. We guess-timated what size of tarps we'd need buying one medium and two smalls, hoping they would be enough. We spread one medium and one small tarp out. Holy cow! I am a spaz! They ended up covering almost the entire width of Nana's house and yard. I wanted to put the last one out just in case we needed it. Gary wouldn't let me. If you were wondering, we had plenty of room.

BBQ & Corn Shucking

The day of the parade Jen and Gary cooked dinner. They had Sydney and Spencer shuck corn for the very first time. Yes I said shuck. They had fun and did a good job. Dinner was yummy! Thanks Jen and Gary!

Orem's Summerfest Parade



Kaitlyn (Kya's bff), Kya, Spencer Kylie, Sydney, & Spencer waiting for candy to be thrown to them.

Kylie & Sydney are cousins and best friends.

Brennon checking out Brian. Steph & Brian enjoying parade.


Tevan on the infamous tarp and Brennon looking sharp.

Miss Spanish Fork
We were excited to see Dason's cousin, Ashlee Jex, on a float in Orem's parade. It turns out she earned the title of Miss Spanish Fork. Sydney, Spencer, and I started yelling, "Ashlee, Ashlee!" The first pic is of her hearing her name trying to see who it is and the 2nd is of her realizing who we were. How cute is her expression when she does. She is so adorable! We love the Jex family!

"Who's calling my name?" "Hey, I know them and they aren't stalkers! Yay!"

Can You Name This Float?

This float had Jen and me confused when it went by. There is another leg on the other side. To us it looked like the statue was in the middle of a gyno visit!! It was actually promoting an art program. Fooled me. :) Jen cracked me up saying they needed to take this float back to the "drawing" board.

Fireworks & Glo Stick Incident
Afterwards we watched fireworks in the field at Orem High. Gary and Jen couldn't go because they were taking care of Kya. She had chewed on a glow stick and the liquid went in her eye and was in a lot of pain. We are so grateful it didn't do any permanent damage. They did get to see the end of the fireworks display.

Orem High Secret Tour
OHS our alma mater is being remodeled, so Brian, Steph, and I took the kids late that night to explore the campus and buildings before they were demolished. It was pretty cool yet a little creepy. We showed them the secret underground tunnels that my brothers explored while students there. I wish I would've had the courage to join them back then. Once a fraidy-cat always a fraidy-cat.

Fun in Kya's New Pool


The water was really cold. They played in it a lot longer than I thought they would. Gary ended up grabbing the hose & spraying them down with the cold water for kicks. Of course Spencer only thought it was funny when he got to return the favor. Gary tortures my kids just like he tortured me growing up.

Julie's Road Trip

Making it Happen:
Since Rick and Tiff would be in China for a few weeks and Dason would be in Utah for 6 weeks, I thought it would be fun to take Sydney and Spencer on a road trip. Thank goodness convincing Rick to let me drive alone from Florida to Northern California didn't take as much work as I expected. Especially since gas was at $4 a gallon and my Expedition isn't, shall I say, the most fuel efficient car.

Spencer got his cast off Friday afternoon. We went back to the house and packed the car with water bottles, snacks, blankets, and our 72 hour kits. That way if we were stranded for a while we'd be okay while waiting for help. We stopped at Target and said our goodbyes to Tiff, Dason, and Rick on our way out. They were leaving on flights the next day for their trips.

St Louis:
After spending the first night at a hotel in Georgia it was so nice to spend the next couple days with with Scott, Samantha, and their adorable twin boys Lincoln and Kaden. One of the days we were there Sam and I took the kids to a really cute science museum while Scott had to work. Sam was the only person that could figure out how to get the space shuttle puzzle put together that the kids are sitting on. The other grown ups in the room had the deer in the headlight look in their eyes (just like I did) trying to get it pieced together.

After the kids were in bed I stayed up late letting Sam beat me at Spit (Speed on steroids). Seriously, I have never seen anyone flip and place cards so freakin’ fast! Her hands were nothing but a blur. I want a rematch!

Denver:
From St. Louis we drove to Denver and stayed with the Renikers for a few days. We got there just in time to sing Happy Birthday to Dave and eat the best carrot cake we’ve ever had. The kids had a blast playing with Jaden as well as spending time at the park and shopping with Lauren, Kylie, and Caleb. Racquel has the busiest life and simply amazes me. The kids and I left early because she received a heartbreaking call that her dad was really sick and might not make it through the night. They frantically packed everyone up for their trip to Idaho to see him while I packed up to leave for Utah a day early. The Renikers are the neatest family and were so sweet to share their home and time with us. They already have a full house and so much going on! We love them and consider them family!

June 2008 China

Tiffany loves to travel, so for her graduation present Rick and I told her she could go anywhere in the world, provided there were no travel warnings. She is so adventurous we have to be careful with what we offer her. She chose China. I had zero desire to go there, but after seeing their pictures and hearing their adventures I know I really missed out. They had an amazing time.


Tiffany was elated that Grandma and Grandpa were able to join in the adventure.


Touching this buddha's head brings intelligence and touching his belly brings good luck.


Tiffany doing a handstand in Tiananmen Square.


After a 15 hour flight they took it easy by climbing 2700 steps to the top of The Great Wall.


The Fearless Foursome

May/June 2008 Heelys Equation

Spencer was riding his Heelys in front of our house. His wheel hit a gap in the sidewalk and he was thrown. He put his arm out to catch himself and broke it right next to the elbow. They put him in a waterproof cast that he was supposed to get wet every day. The next day he was in the pool swimming. When his arm got hot and itchy we used the kitchen sink sprayer and shot cold water through the cast. He was lucky to have a waterproof one, especially here in Florida.

Spencer spent the last 5 weeks of school in his cast and only fussed about it a couple times. The day after school got out he went for follow-up xrays and his arm had completely healed. He was really nervous about getting the cast off. They didn't explain to him (like they did to Sydney when she had hers removed) that the saw would only cut the cast and not his arm. If you look closely at his face in the pic you can see the fear. His arm was so skinny and weak. His doctor told him no running or jumping for a week (yeah right this is Spencer) and that his arm would be back to normal in about two weeks.

Spencer, Sydney, and I left on our cross country road trip later that evening. He favored it for a couple weeks but by the time we got back to Florida six weeks later his arm was back to normal. Yay!

June 2008 Tiffany Graduates

2008 Wesley Chapel High School Graduate!

(If you look closely you will see her small act of rebellion. From her cap hangs my gold & blue tassle from Orem High School class of 1988 instead of the silver & blue from her school).


This was taken right before we left for the commencement. (Yes, Dason needs a haircut). :)

Tiffany said to him "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

Meredith, Tiffany, and Alexia (her two best friends who also graduated this year from WCHS) outside of Olive Garden after graduation.

Melanie, Tiff, Alexia, Kate, Jen with Talana & Meredith in front

Sydney and Maddie are best friends just like their big sisters Tiff & Meredith.

No one could be more excited than Tiffany to graduate from high school. She handled moving from Texas to Florida her senior year with grace. She really missed the organization, quality of the teachers, and especially her friends she had at AHS, but made the most of it. She has been mentally attending BYU the moment she was accepted this winter. Go Cougars!!!

June 2008 Dason's Surprise Party

Austin, Melanie, Dason, Kate, Meredith, Alexia


front row: Melanie Tiffany Alexia, Meredith, & Kevan
back row: Austin, Kate, Danny, Casey, Dason, Ian


Austin, Melanie (she planned the party for Dason), & Casey


Dason, Kate, and Meredith

A few days after Dason's official birthday Austin and Melanie sneaked into his room, threw a blanket over his head, and kidnapped him for a surprise birthday party. They took him to Melanie's house where more of his friends were waiting. Melanie's mom, LaRae, made everyone pancakes, they played games, and went swimming. He had a really good time for his birthday this year. Thanks Deans!!!

June 2008 Farewells

Dason's best friends Danny and David (front) moved to Utah this summer. They made this last year really fun for him (and Rick who teased Danny mercilessly. Don't worry Danny dished it just as much). Tiff got to know Ian and Kevin (back row) because of working with Ian at Target. He just left on his mission and Kevin will be leaving on his soon. They are all amazing teens and we miss them so much!

What is cute about this pic is that Danny & David are twins, Ian and Kevin are twins, and Sydney and Spencer are Irish twins. They had just got in from playing tennis, so they are all a little sweaty and weren't too happy with me taking this picture. :)

June 2008 Dason is 16

On the night of Dason's 16th birthday, Melanie and Meredith surprised him by bursting into the house singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of their lungs. They gave him a plate of cookies they made for him.


He is just realizing what his first present is. Yes. Socks. Rick's mysteriously disappear and we are hoping this helps end that. :)

Dason loves to read and we had taken our family to Barnes & Noble and told the kids we were there only to browse. Once Dason had put the books he wanted back on the shelf. I distracted him while Rick purchased them. You can see the happy surprise on his face.

This was the mac daddy present! Since we give him a hard time about how much he loves his computer, he never thought he would get this much coveted accessory.

June 2008 Spencer's First Pack Meeting

Spencer before he left for his first pack meeting. He earned his Bear patch and a couple other awards. It was held at the Armstrongs house and Rick held him upsed down while he tried to put the pin on my collar. He was pretty nervous.

This is a pic of Spencer D., Quinn, and our Spencer after pack meeting. They are the only other cub scouts in his den. We are really good friends with their families. To our dismay Quinn's family just moved to Montana and Spencer's family just moved to Arizona. Both of their dads just finished up their residencies here in FL and are off to private practice. We miss them so much!