Our summer in the States was full of lots of activities as usual. We really are grateful for family putting up with us crashing at their houses for the entire summer. Going to the States always brings a lot of good memories for the kids and they look forward to it all year. We try to pack in as much as we can each year.
One thing we really look forward to is the 4th of July in the States. Every year we go down to Provo with my older brother, Bret, and his family to watch the balloon launch early in the morning.
It was a beautiful 4th of July!
Getting together with good friends is another thing we look forward to. The Wadley family are great friends from Michigan. Sitting out enjoying frozen custard!
My Dad turned 70 years old this summer. We organized a party for him. One highlight (especially for all the grand kids) was eating at Chuck-a-Rama (an all you can eat buffet restaurant) for dinner. I think we nearly managed to not get kicked out (this group right here loves to make all sorts of concoctions at the buffet!)
The older cousins' table. They seem a bit more civilized... but they aren't as innocent as they look.
The girls' table.
We put together a book of memories for my dad. Here he is reading to us memories of him written by his siblings. We all loved hearing the stories.
We always enjoy the annual Thomas Family Camping trip in Island Park, Idaho. Some of us (not mentioning names) really enjoy camping when it involves a nice cabin with a hot tub. Here are the girls enjoying it.
Grant and Luke bought their own fishing rods this summer and enjoyed using them on the camping trip.
We took a day on the camping trip and headed into Yellowstone. The kids all decided to take a dip in the river. Does it look a bit cold?
Mallory and her cousin in the river.
All smiles
Mallory loves the mud.
Mallory and her cousin
Luke went to Scout Camp with my brother's troop. He had a great time fishing, completing merit badges and being the only one to complete the mile swim in a freezing cold lake.
Nash and Grant met up with their cousins for EFY at BYU for a week.
We loved running into family (Creed's sister and her family) at BYU!
While the boys were gone, my sister and I took our kids to the 24th of July parade in Salt Lake City. Mallory loved this banana split float. Too bad it wasn't real!
We had a girls' night while the boys were gone. Mallory, after dipping her hands in the wax.
When Creed got to the States, we took a very quick trip to New Mexico to visit Grandma and Grandpa Miller. We had a great time there, even though our trip was very short. We enjoyed seeing a lot of very interesting sites, including this small park where a fire broke out several years ago. What was left of the trees were carved into really cool art.
We climbed to the top of a plateau. On our way up we saw many petroglyphs.
The petroglyphs.
Luke chose to eat his lunch in the tree in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard.
Mallory loves to leave food for the rabbit that comes by Grandma and Grandpa's house every once in a while. Here she is with a carrot and some lettuce. Every morning she would check to see if the rabbit had come by to eat it.
We left Nash, Grant, and Luke in New Mexico to spend a few days with their cousins and their Grandma & Grandpa.
From what we hear, they all had a great time...
While the boys were still in New Mexico, Mallory, Creed and I went up to Sundance to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the outdoor theater in the mountains. It's a beautiful setting and we had a great time.
Mallory, waiting for the show to start. We told Mallory several times that in a few years her brothers will all be gone to college, and it will just be her with us alone. I think she wasn't too excited about that. I think she finds life boring if her great brothers aren't around to entertain her.
Creed and the boys really wanted to go down to Arches National Park in Utah. They made a quick 2-day trip and took their cousin with them. They had a great time and as you can see by these photos, it was beautiful.
Nice face, Isaac.
Luke, nice pose. They all loved just climbing all over the rocks.
And one of the highlights of the trip -- Delicate Arch.
And on the way home, a stop in Goblin Valley.
Nash, pondering the universe.
Just before leaving to fly back to Budapest. What a bunch of crazies!
And....this is how they entertain themselves on the 19 hour flight. Mallory and Luke with the neck pillows that double as hair.
Nash and Grant...way too mature for that!
When we got back from the states, we had a few days before school started. Creed and the boys have wanted to hike to the top of a rock that is near our house so Creed took all 4 kids at different occasions to go on the short hike. You can see the rock in this picture (of Luke with his nice hair) on the top left of the picture.
Nash, on the top of the rock, overlooking a lot of the city.
Climbing to the top.
A few days later Creed took Mallory and Grant up to the rock. Mallory was happy to just stay at the bottom of the rock (thank goodness) while Grant climbed to the top.
Grant brought his binoculars. He's such a good brother, sitting with Mallory and letting her use his binoculars.
Creed and I tease the boys about playing minecraft (must be said with a nerd voice). One day while our neighbor was here hanging out with Luke, Creed and I walked into the kitchen and this is what we saw, Grant on the desktop computer in the other room and all of the other boys on separate computers all playing minecraft together. Nash and Luke doing their best nerd impressions.
And it begins....First day of school. Nash starting 12th grade, our last year with him home...sniff, sniff, Grant starting 9th grade, Luke starting 7th grade and Mallory starting 2nd grade. We had such a great summer. We always seem to pack it all in and are exhausted when we come back home, but we always agreed, it was worth it.
