Kaylie's Project

For one of Kaylie's Personal Progress Projects she intelligently decided to straighten up and beautify the Craft/Stamp room area of our basement. Dad had threatened to get rid of a large portion of the materials in the craft room as they were so unorganized and a mess. She spent many many hours working down there, without Dad's knowledge, and did a marvelous job. No doubt she has some of her Mom's talent and flare when it comes to crafts.
 

 

 

 

My Mom's Wedding

Grandma Salisbury is now Grandma Postoian. My mom married her High School boyfriend, Mike Postoian, after a 45 year hiatus. They were sealed in the Logan Temple on Saturday July 28th, 2012. We are all so excited and happy for them and wish them many happy years together.
 

 

Kyler's 6th Birthday

A few hours after we returned from No. Cal we celebrated Kyler's 6th Birthday. He got some special cereals for breakfast, and donuts, as well as many fun presents from his family. He loved the Nerf gun, can you tell. Late in the afternoon, we went to a family fun center and the kids roller skated, played skiball, played on the jungle gym, and had a blast in the bounce house area. It was a fun and memorable day.

 

 

 

 

Remainder of No. Cal Trip

For the final few days of our Northern California trip we headed back to Elk Grove and spent time with old friends. We got to drive by our previous homes, go to our old ward, and see many of those we had grown close to over our 7 years in Elk Grove. The kids had a blast swimming a ton at the Wangsgards, going to Six Flags and going to the Zoo. Dad got to work remotely, yeah.

On our way to Elk Grove, Dad thought it would be fun to stop by the Oakland Temple, where Heidi and I were sealed. The kids loved going around the upper level and seeing the beautiful view of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. I even showed them where I proposed to Hedi (See my picture below.)

It was great trip, but it has been nice to not be traveling a ton now also.
 

 

 

Fun Sites in No. Cal

While we were at Mt. Madonna we also visited some other near by sites, like a farm that had wonderful fresh pie (and an old tractor the boys liked to play on.) My favorite, the beach. We thought the water would be too cold, but the kids loved frolicking in the surf and pulling out huge pieces of kelp. We also went to the ruins of an old millionaires mansion that is in Mt. Madonna park, all that is left is the foundation stones now.

 

 

 

 

Mt. Madonna Wildlife

As mentioned in the latest blog post, we saw a lot of wildlife at Mt. Madonna, here are some pics of a few, especially the "Ewoks" (family of 5 raccoons) Dallyn found while we were out on a hike.
 

 

 

 

Mt. Madonna Camping

True to form in keeping this a very busy, fun and full summer, within a week of returning from Philmont, we packed up again and headed out to Northern California. We spent a few days in Livermore and then, Grandpa and Grandma Black, went Camping to Mt. Madonna state park, which is in a redwood forest in the mountains just south of San Jose, CA. It was a beautiful setting, huge trees, lush foliage, squirrels, deer, raccoon all around us. The setting reminded us a lot of Star Wars (of course) on the moon of Endor. The kids would find neat trees/tree stumps to climb on and called them "Star Wars Trees". The biggest fascination however, turned out to be Grandma's favorite, the giant yellow banana slugs that were everywhere. We of course had to collect as many as possible as you will see by Kaylie below.
 

 

 

 

 

Remembering Mom's Birthday

July 11th was Mom's Birthday. To remember and celebrate it, our family went out to diner at one of Heidi's favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse. She loved the rolls there and could go just for those, forget the real food. As Dallyn's Birthday had just past, we let him ride on the saddle and get sung a birthday song by the staff.
 

Dallyn's 8th Birthday

On July 8th Dallyn celebrated his 8th birthday. He has looked forward to this birthday for a long time, as now he will get to be baptized. His baptism will be August 4th. He got many fun presents from friends and family, including his own scriptures, a tradition in our family for the 8th Bday. (Like his brother) he wanted to take some friends to Get Air, a trampoline park, and bounce until their hearts were content. It was a very hot day, well over 100, and those poor boys were covered in sweat after an hour on the tramps.


 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Heidi

Happy Birthday Heidi. Today Heidi would have turned 35 years old if she was still here on Earth. This is a picture of Heidi at her birthday present from last year, Les Mis. Happy Birthday dear, we miss you.

Tooth of Time with the kids

After the incredible time I had with the Tooth of time with Lee, and beautiful view from on top, I decided I wanted my older two children to feel the joy of conquering something as grad and majestic as a hike to the top. So we got up just before 5am one morning and did a shorter but steeper route up. The kids, including Dallyn, were amazing and worked hard to get up and back in time for our breakfast and other time commitments back at camp. They thought it was an amazing experience.