Taking Time to Smell the Roses

While driving across country this summer, we were able to see some amazing sights along the way. We decided too late to take pictures of what we saw, but here are some pictures of some things we saw along the way - sometimes we even took time to stop and stretch out to get closer looks.

(cliff dwellings in Northern AZ, mountains and cliffs somewhere between Utah and AZ, rainstorms, sunrises and moon-rises, Colorado river canyons. Oh, and one in North Carolina. Can you guess which one that is??)

St. George

We spent a couple of days in St. George with our friends, the Browns this summer. We got so many cute pictures of all the kids together, so I had to put a couple on here. Its fun to see how quickly the kids are growing! We had a good time keeping cool in the sprinklers on the trampoline - playing around the house - and taking a trip to the St. George temple.

Summer Trip Take One

Because I have to catch up - I will do the crazy-out-west-summer trip one piece at a time. Here is a slide show of a FEW of the pictures from the beginning of the trip: We started in Centerville/Bountiful UT for the 4th of July celebrations, then up north to Bear Lake for Bryce's family reunion.

1st Day of School

Our first day to school was last Wednesday and so far, so good! The kids have really enjoyed their first 3 days at their new school. They are getting to know all the kids in the class and hopefully they won't feel like the new kids for much longer. And I'm totally diggin' the uniforms! Don't they look nice? All the kids in the school look so classy and clean-cut - I love it!

Dun da da Dun! (Drumroll Please)

Whew! What a summer! I can't believe that it is time for the kids to go back to school tomorrow! What a summer! (Did I already say that?) We are still mooching internet off of our un-suspecting new neighbors for the time being, so I do not have full access to every single picture from the summer (aren't you so sad?), but I do have a few that I have taken recently that I can show you!

First - Today is Bryce's official first day teaching his first university class as a professor! Doesn't he look so knowledgeable?? Good Luck to you, Bryce!


Some have you have been asking for pictures of the house - the only problem with that is so much of it still looks so empty! I did take a few pics of the kitchen and dining room and our master bathroom because I don't expect those rooms to be changing much. Our other rooms still need curtains, things on the walls, decor, and, oh ya, furniture :) It will come.





And this last picture is a reminder that the blissful days of riding on the back of lawnmowers all summer long are coming to an end . . . ahhh. Se la vie (is that how you spell it?)

Packing, Packing, Packing

That's about all we've been doing the past couple weeks. Just a little bit every day. Mom and Dad were here for 10 days and REALLY helped us out getting ready for the move. We were able to steal a few moments of fun with them at the kid's field day, Mabry Mill, the Meadows of Dan candy shop, baseball games and parties - but a lot of the time we were working. The older 2 were still in school, so James and Annabelle had to find ways to occupy the time. I was going through my food storage buckets and gave one to James with a little bit of flour at the bottom to take outside to play in. A little flour goes a long way! All the kids love to play with the boxes. I found James reading to Annabelle in one! They've really been troopers through all this. I think we are all looking forward to more space!

Caleb's Baptism

(I have to get a little bit caught up on here before we move! I finally have pictures of Caleb's baptism!)


Caleb was baptized on June 5. We are so grateful for our family that came to support him - Grandpa and Grandma Tarwater, and Carr cousins from DC. It was a wonderful time and we are so proud of Caleb for his decision.




Writing about his baptism in his journal

Opening his new scriptures