{Stadium of Fire 2011}

So after a week long stay at the great

Aspen Grove Family Camp my family

minus 1 family :(... topped off the reunion with

the spectacular Stadium of Fire!

Brad Paisley and David Archuletta....

Can't get much better than that!

There is something about seeing our great flag

in tow of a parachuter, while hearing the national

anthem, and seeing my sweet kids with their hands

over their hearts that brought tears to my eyes.

I get very emotional when it comes to our country,

our flag, our anthem, and my family...

And I had that all around me at once so you can only imagine

the strength it took to hold back the tears. However,

I'm not as strong as I think I am so the tears came a runnin'!

It was a spectacular show as usual and the kids did great!

Sadly again, Daddy couldn't be there with us

for this event either. Luckily for us the Stadium

of Fire was on July 2nd so we would make it

home just in time celebrate the 4th of July

with Daddy in Casper, Wyoming!

What a great week with the McFadden Clan!

Love you all!

{McFadden Family Reunion 2011}

This year my family attended Aspen Grove for our

family reunion. It was a week long of fun, games,

sports, and FAMILY!!! Aspen Grove was a very

fun place to have a reunion. There was endless things

to do, great food, and of course beautiful scenery all around us!

Family games are the best!! Nothing but laughs and

almost peeing our pants when it came to the

hubba bubba marshmallow competition!

Right there along with the "get the cookie

from your forehead to your mouth," competition!!

Stewart Falls hike. Thanks to some of my other family

who stayed to watch the kids so I could go on this hike.

We woke up early and headed out to see the beautiful

Stewart Falls which consisted of 3 beautiful falls.

The sun even popped out at just the right moment and

reflected a rainbow on the falls.

Family competitions against other family's.

Aspen Grove has a lot to offer through out

the day. You can pick and choose what you want

to do and keep yourself busy all day. Even

the kids had groups that they went to everyday

and did things so the adults could do what

they wanted to do.

We did everything from Pottery

Paintballing, archery shooting, volleyball, swimming....

High ropes course, tennis, pickleball, you name it

they pretty much have it!

And of course i had to take pics of the flowers

in the area!

Great times with the people I love so much!

My Family....

Probably the highlight of the trip for me

was playing volley ball with my family. I forgot

how much I LOVE playing volley ball. We

had so much fun.

Love these people!

Unfortunately, the person who I love the very most

wasn't able to come to the reunion. We all missed having

Tyler there with us. Unfortunately he couldn't make

it due to medical school and the current rotation he was in.

It was a bitter sweet reunion for some of us as this was the last

time some of my family would see my parents before they

leave for their 18 month mission in Romania.

It was a great week spent with my family! I already

miss them so much.

{Camping on Muddy Mountain}

So we went camping Father's Day weekend and yet

did I get any pics of Dad??? ha ha ha. No! That's probably

because the Dads were hardly around the campsite as

they were off enjoying themselves mountain biking down

the mountain, shuttling themselves back to the top, and doing

it all over again!! oh and making a new trail too!

Muddy Mountain was beautiful. And we couldn't

have asked for better weather.

While the Dad's were out having a good time so were the

Mom's with the kiddos! 

The kids had such a great time riding their bikes around

the camp site, picking up sticks, finding fire wood,

sleeping in the tent (which they didn't wake up once during the night)

and enjoying the freedom

of the mountains! Thanks again to the Oliverson's

for inviting us!

{Hansen Family Reunion 2011}

 Hansen Family, June 2011

Bear Lake, UT

What a fun week with the Hansen family.

We stayed at the Ideal Beach Resort Condos

with a HUGE Thanks to Tyler's parents for

letting us use up their time share points so we

could all stay together with 2 condos side by side!

It was crazy, it was cozy, it fun, it was perfect!

The actually reunion didn't start until Friday night

of June 10, 2011. Everyone was there by

Wednesday night for a little extra vacation!

So until then we played around and enjoyed all

the amenities the Condos had to offer

and some of what the cute little town of

Garden City, UT had to offer as well!

We played at the beach (even though the water was

still freezing this time of the year) that didn't stop us

from finding snail "sea" shells, making sand castles,

and writing our name in the sand!

 The boys went golfing...

 

The girls went biking...4-seater style!!!

How fun were these...all 7 of us pedaling

our way down the quaint streets of Bear Lake

stopping at the little shops and enjoying the beautiful

scenery that surrounded us. I have to admit this gave

us quite the work out. It just meant we could have our

 Raspberry Shakes later! They were kinda tough to pedal

but oh were they fun! We had some good laughs

at our selves and some good stares from others!!

Not a day went by while we were there that the
  kids didn't get in the pool! Rain or shine.

The pools were heated and felt just like bath water.

So no matter how cold it was they didn't care,

they were having fun. The slide was a huge hit.

Addie and Kaycie were little dare devils when it

came to the slide. They tried every which way to

go down that thing!!

 

Mmmm....the beloved Raspberry Shakes that

are famous to Bear Lake. They were amazing!

And so very very delicious!

We even went back the next day for another one!

 

Fun times out on the Lake. The water Trike was

the funnest thing. We've never seen it before.

random shots of cute duo's!

Let the Reunion begin!!!

Friday night we kicked off the start of the reunion

with eating "out" at Randy Raccoon's Hamburger Hide Out!

Thanks to Randy himself and his trusty ol' side kick

Marie, the restaurant was a hit! This has always

been a dream for Tyler's Dad to have his own restaurant

named Randy Raccoons Hamburger hide out. So

we asked him if he'd be willing to open his dream

restaurant for the reunion...and without hesitation

he agreed!! Thanks for a great dinner!

The next morning we divided into our teams

and had a Minute-to-Win-It competition!

It was hilarious to watch the tasks

that were given!  The little kiddos each

got buckets and shovels to

dig a shovel their hearts out in the sand

while the adults had the competition.

We then had some free time to do whatever

we wanted then we ended the evening with an

adult dinner in one Condo and a kids dinner in

the other Condo. Thanks to our niece, Hailey

who tended and fed the kids so we could have 

our adult dinner! The next morning we all went

to church then packed up and 

went our ways...'til we meet again'! 

It was fun to be together with everyone and enjoy

the typical late nights with games or movies.

Those are some of the best memories!

{Playing at G&G McFadden's house}

There's no doubt these kiddo's LOVE spending time

with their Grandparents!

They loved swimming their little hearts out.

We were probably out swimming everyday soaking

up the warm sunshine.

And if we weren't in the pool we were hiking the beautiful

red rock of Snow Canyon working up a sweat so we could go cool

off in the pool! This hike was a fun short hike with beautiful

scenery all around. It takes you to a mini slot canyon which

is full of historic petroglyphs.

We had perfect weather for our hike. It wasn't too hot and

we even lucked out with a little breeze to keep us cool.

The kids saw lots of lizards, lizard tracks in the sand,

and loved hiking up and down all the big rocks.

Welcome to our "Beach"

This will do for now until our family

can go to the REAL beach someday!

Because of some flooding earlier in the year we

now have 50 yard banks of nice soft sand before

you actually get the river. We discovered a pathway

down to the river one day while on a bike ride.

We decided to explore it and boy did we like

what we found. Soft sand, endless skipping rocks,

water to throw rocks in, and moist sand for sand castles.

It was perfect and we could have spent all day there.

So we went back at least 3 more times per

request of the kiddos!

How could they not love it. Addie had sand that she

could build something out of and Trey had endless rocks

to throw in the water. They loved going to the "beach!"

Good things always have to come to an end. It was sad

to say good bye but not as sad knowing we'll be back in

another 5 weeks!

{Playing at G&G Hansen's House Part 2}

Play play play....its what we do when we go visit family!

Unfortunately, the kids and I get to do more playing

while Daddy is being the amazing man he is and working

his toosh off doing a Dermatology Rotation. This is why we

were able to spend a month with family in St. George.

Tractor rides with Daddy are another must.

 Trey was in complete

aw of the tractor the whole time he was sitting in there

along the side of his Daddy riding in the tractor.

 

Another fun thing we did was visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Ence

up at their cabin in Pinto. In the summer they retreat from the

summer heat to the cabin for the week then back home on

the weekends. We took walks along the pastures, watched

the turkeys roost in their trees, chased lizards, played in the

sand by the stream, and relaxed. Grandma and Grandpa Ence

love having visitors during the week at the cabin!

 

And you can't go to St. George in the summer without

spending some time at the splash pads! They are so fun

for the kids and very refreshing on a hot summer day!

We met up with all the cousins at the splash pad

to celebrate cousin Bryson's birthday.

These 4 girlies have a BLAST together!

Addie loves being with her cousins!

Playing at G&G Hansen's house

Grandma & Grandpa Hansen's Garden

Addie always heads for the strawberry patch to collect the

Iddy bitty little strawberries!

 Trey has discovered his love for the wiggle cars!

Especially when he can race down the drive way side by side with his

cousin Bryson. Addie gave the wiggle cars a go but would rather spend her time

doing the monkey bars (by herself now) or digging in the dirt.



4-Wheeling is always a must! We always love to get out in the hills

and do some 4-wheeling. The kids love to go for rides with Daddy.

And of course the guns have to come too for target shooting!

We had a spectacular view of the Red Mountain and Pine Valley Mt which

call HOME for Tyler.

Grandpa had a Birthday and we got to be here

to help celebrate! Yay! Good times with family!