Dole Pineapple Plantation

On Saturday July 18th we took the kids to the Pineapple plantation. The kids had a good time going through the maze and riding the train, but the highlight for all the kids was feeding the fish at the fish pond. While we walked around the gardens we found a pond that had lots of tiny and some huge koi fish that we could feed. All of the kids said that was their favorite part of the day! Sterling and I really enjoyed the gardens with all the different plants native to Hawaii, the kids just liked the fish! To each his own!

Utah's Hogle Zoo - Packer Family Day

On Monday August 13th we went with the Packer Family to Hogle Zoo. It was also Glade's birthday so we were able to celebrate with Glade and wish him a happy 22nd birthday! The kids had a really great time at the bird show, Sterling even got to be the volunteer that the bird took money from! Daniel was partnered with Maddie. They were so cute holding hands and keeping track of each other! Each child had a partner in hopes of keeping everyone together. Daniel loved playing with Rais, he was excited that there was another boy, not many on the Packer side. There are 11 grand kids on the Packer side, only 4 of which are boys. Harrison was in the stroller the whole day so it just left Rais, James, and Daniel. Daniel has renamed Rais as "My Cousin Racer". Daniel has started making up things that he and "my cousin Racer" have done together. It is fun that they could spend some time together and build some memories. After the Carousel and the train and walking around the zoo until there was no more to see we went to Hillary's house to have Ice Cream Cake for Glade and to play a game. Lynette wasn't able to come to Hillary's because she had a long drive back to North Ogden with tired kids. Grandma and Grandpa came and watched the game for a while. My kids and Hillary's stayed and played together down stairs and had a good time! It was fun to have some family time and enjoy the Packer side!
We had a great time in Utah - no amount of time is long enough! There are always things we should have done, people we should have seen, and places we should have visited. Maybe next year!

Oquirrh Mtn Temple Open House

On Saturday, July 11th we went to the Oquirrh Mtn Temple Open House. When I say we.. I mean the whole family was there were (29 of us!) It was a lot of fun to go through the temple with the kids and explain what things were and why things were. It was also fun to be there with family. Chase, again carried Daniel through the whole temple. Daniel loves Chase! We had an interesting experience while we were there. During part of the tour they seat you in one of the sealing rooms and a cute young couple talked to us about the joys of being sealed for eternity and the peace that it brings. While they were talking Daniel was looking around the room. The room has mirrors on opposite walls giving the effect of eternity. There are un-numbered reflections that go on and on. Daniel really liked the reflections. We also had a moment to just sit and look around the room and Daniel pointed to another little boy and not so softly said, "Mom he looks like me, he has a million freckles too!" I didn't realize that Daniel felt that it was an oddity. I guess in Hawaii there aren't many red head boys with "millions" of freckles. I never knew that he felt singled out. But he was so excited to see this other little boy who also had red hair and freckles. People do remember me as 'the lady with the little boy with red hair', but I had never really thought about him feeling any different than the rest of the kids here. After walking through the temple we got to enjoy some yummy cookies and took a picture on the lawn near the temple. (Daniel charmed several cookies out of the cute volunteer ladies!)

Out Door Party at Papa's

On Saturday, July 11th Marney through a great outdoor party complete with blow up water slide and a slip and slide. We had pizza and Ice Cream and all the entertainment one could handle. It started out pretty overcast, we were a little afraid it would be too cold. Smart Papa rigged the slide with the hot water from the house, so when the kids got cold they would all sit at the top of the slide in the water being sprayed by the warm water.
Sophia, Daniel, and Kate really liked the water balloons. Daniel and Sophia liked them to be little sprayers. I would poke a small whole in the plastic so they would have small little streams of water spraying out. Sophia like to get people, Daniel liked to spray things, Kate just liked holding the unblemished water balloon. She just wanted to hold it, not get wet by it! All the other kids just wanted to throw them at Sterling!
The sun did finally come out and that is when the giant water fight broke out. I say giant because it was all the kids vs. Sterling. Yep, all the kids Stephs, Shelli's, Kristal's, Mine, Papa's, and Blake's friends from school vs Sterling. The big contenders were Glen Jr., Brittany, Emma, and the other kids would pop in and out when it suited them. The other kids would take a turn on the slide then throw water at Sterling on their way back to the slide. Every once in a while they would all join in on the fight, but it was mostly left to Brittany and Glen Jr. Brittany and Glen were much better planners and would try to make stategic attacks, however statagy is Sterlings thing as he was a former Infantry Officer. Sterling is also very strong, so he could just pick up Brittany (18) or Glen (15) and throw them in the water. Glen is 5'10 or so I would guess so he could wrestle Sterling with Brittany's help. Brittany is 5' if she is lucky! A few times they were able to knock him off of his feet or still the hose away. It was a pretty entertaing free for all!

Bee's Game

On Thursday Night, Shelli's family, Papa and his kids plus Ashley, and our family went to the Bee's Baseball Game. It was Emma and Kayden's "Field of Dreams" night where they got to go down on the field with their baseball team and be with the players during the National Anthem. We missed that part because we were a bit late to the game. Papa always makes going to games fun because it just wouldn't be the same if you didn't buy Pizza and Drinks. I got cotton candy for all the kids to share. As long as they were eating they were pretty easy to manage. There were 13 kids with 5 adults. It was a bit crazy but baseball always is! The game was the Colorado Skysocks vs The Salt Lake Bee's. Sterling and James had gone to a Skysocks game when we lived in Colorado Springs so it was fun to see them play together. Daniel was rooting for the Skysocks because he was born in Colorado Springs! The Skysocks won the game so Daniel came out the Hero! It was a lot of fun for everyone!

Cabin - Utah

While in Utah my family rented a cabin in Heber City. We rented the same cabin last year, so it has come to be called "THE Cabin". We don't own it, it is just familiar to us all. Everyone drove up on Sunday, July 5th and home on Wednesday, July 8th. All of the married adults have their own bedrooms with an extra bedroom for Brittany. There is a room with bunk beds for the girls and the boys mostly veg' out in the theater, with stray sleeping children on couches and such. I brought bracelet/jewelry making stuff and Shelli, Kristal, and I brought bow making stuff. Shelli, Kristal, Brittany, Steph and I spent most of the time making Jewelry or Bows. Papa brought stuff for the kids to make Marshmallow pipe guns. The kids had a great time taking them apart and rebuilding them and shooting Marshmallows at each other. There were many games (Poker, Settlers, Mexican Train, Catch Phrase, X-box, Rock Band, etc.) being played, movies being watched and the older boys had a great time riding 4 wheelers and going to the lake. This year the lake had leeches in it, which many of the kids thought was great! ( I THINK IT IS GROSE!) Each family takes turns making dinner, lunch, and breakfast. It was a lot of fun. I think it is something my kids will always remember. They had such a good time hanging out with cousins non-stop for 3 days! It is one of my favorite things about going home!

Utah - 'This is the place' state park

We spent 2 weeks in Utah and had so much fun. Once again I should have taken more pictures, less of some things and some of others, but maybe one day I will get it right!

We left Hawaii on June 29th and landed in Utah on June 30th. Sterling and I were exhausted, but the kids were so excited to see everyone. We tried very hard to take advantage of every minute that we could in order not to leave anything out.


On July 3rd we went to "This is the Place" State park with Grandma and Grandpa Robison and Brittany and Chase. The plan had been to go to Hogle Zoo but it turns out that it was military appreciation day and it was swarming with people. We decided for a less hectic approach and went across the street. To our pleasant supprise - it had been upgraded and made much more kid friendly. (I would recommend it to anyone in the Salt Lake area! It was great!)

Chase became Daniel's superhero that day. Chase carried Daniel through most of the park. Not that Daniel couldn't walk, Chase offered and Daniel wasn't about to turn him down. Daniel got to ride a pony at the pony riding stable and James and Chase made a rope at the Brigham Young House stables. All the kids, and some adults got to make their own design in leather in the village. There were lots of different craft projects to do, we didn't make it to all of them but the kids had a great time! Grandma Robison treated us all to yummy hamburgers at the eatery. It was a really fun day!

I have pictures to add to this.. but I have tried on 3 different days and it wont let me add them.... So I will keep trying!