at last it feels like summer is here. the past few weeks have been fun but crazy--with josh's sister's wedding and a family reunion and finals and joshua finishing up school and karate and baseball starting up and josh off to san fran and figuring out my new schedule...but at last i think we've got some sort of a routine. i'm only taking one class over the summer and i feel like it gives me a LOT more fun time with josh and the boys. this is great because in the summer there's SO MUCH fun stuff to do. i love it. this weekend we spent saturday at my sister lorri's pool, and the evening we went with some friends to the park for dinner and then to a Real Salt Lake soccer game. fun! it's nice to be able to be together--i mean, i still have to study some, but it's a lot more flexible. i am also working one day a week, which i really enjoy. my wonderful mother-in-law comes up from provo on tuesday's and stays with the boys. they adore her, and i'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual! so we've got a good summer coming our way.
below are a few pictures...
the first few are from the wedding at the salt lake temple. jodi is beautiful, and looked so great, but unfortunately i didn't get any great photos of the bride. when some are emailed my way i'll have to post. it was a lot of fun, and we love justin. they are such a sweet, happy couple.
this is our own sweet, happy family. i like us.
these are our silly boys. joshua is trying to make jacob smile a real smile. at the ripe age of two jacob has perfected the photo-op smile. it's pretty cute and silly, but i prefer the closer-to-real thing.
buffalo! isn't he huge? this of course is at yellowstone. we spent almost a week up in northeast idaho, right by west yellowstone. we stayed in our sister-in-law's family "cabin" which is a huge beautiful home that fit all of josh's siblings and families great (except for the honeymooners, of course). i have great in-laws and we all had so much fun with them. we spent one day in yellowstone, which i always love. we saw TONS of buffalo and got stopped in the road by crossings several times. we also saw two grizzly bears, tons of elk, some pelicans, and i can't remember what else. the animals are fun, but my favorite is just the beautiful mountains and open fields and rivers and canyons. it is SO beautiful! and while i used to be opposed to such superficial outdoor enjoyment (hopping in and out of cars, "hikes" on paved trails, etc), with two young ones i now think it is a great way to go! we loved it.
joshua looking cute at geyser basin. these things never cease to amaze me.
the family at geyser basin. that's opal pool behind us. because the water's so hot and it was kind of a chilly day, the steam made it hard to get a great look at my favorite--grand prismatic spring. but all still very cool.
awaiting old faithful's timely eruption. we bought both of the boys junior ranger binoculaurs which were a hit. i think my kids are so fun to hang around with. they're so silly, not to mention adorable.
josh and joshua intently watching. after the eruption we asked joshua what he thought. "i liked it." then, after a long pause: "but i thought GUYS were going to come out."what a disappointment! we told him it was a geyser that erupted out of the ground and shot up into the sky. he was awaiting something much more exciting than water and steam. can't blame him.
i ran to the restroom, and had to find the boys when i returned.
this has got to be the happiest, silliest, cutest boy around. he cracks us up.
the crew at yellowstone grand canyon--which i love. it is so amazing! well worth the trip to the east side of the park (especially if you have three boys who will all nap in the car on the way there!)
me, joshua, jacob. they love it. they were troopers. we think they are so fun because they will go and go and go with us. they are little adventurers. 
jacob holding a worm. fascinating. 
this isn't yellowstone, it's maybe 10 miles outside of ashton, idaho. this is called mesa falls and it is beautiful. and the rainbow was spectacular. jacob kept pointing and saying "green, orange, yellow." 
small though we are--that's the four of us down by the falls. 
here's a random photo josh took. there i am in the grey fleece talking to josh's sister jerilie in the blue sweatshirt and his mom close by in red. over the guard railings is juliana (other sister) and her great boyfriend (we FINALLY got to meet!) Scott. isn't it beautiful? the cliffs and the trees and the green. plus all the kids got smokey the bear frisbees which were a huge hit. 
this sweetness is real, but also hides some serious mischief. don't be too fooled!
my boys! and they are all saying "cheese!" for some reason, it really DOES work to get the kids to smile. who ever figured that out was a genius. this is at lower mesa falls. it started raining and so everyone left. we stayed. as josh and i like to say, a litte rain never hurt nobody! 
me and my big boy joshua.
