Back to School

Today was the first day of school for our kiddos this year.  I'd be dishonest if I said I haven't been counting down the days until it started.  Carson started 3rd grade and Alaina started Kindergarten.  Carson was up and ready to go before I was this morning.  Alaina had a heck of a time waiting until school started for her.  She has afternoon Kindergarten.  I hardly got a goodbye hug from Carson this morning and didn't get one at all from Alaina before she darted into her classroom.  It's a good thing I'm not one of those crying all over the place moms over the fact that my babies are growing up too fast, or I would have felt cheated!  I rode my bike to and from the school 3 times today between taking Carson to school, taking Alaina to school, and picking both of them up.  This will not be a regular occurrence as I feel my kids are big enough to ride their bikes without me as long as they stay together.  They both had great reports about school and are excited to go back tomorrow.  Alaina especially enjoyed her day at school.  So here's to another crazy, busy school year!          

Vacation Cont.

Day 3: Driving

We spent the night in Pleasant Grove with my sister Becky and her family.  After some time visiting we continued with our trip and drove down to Hurricane, which is outside of Zion National Park.  We had reservations at the KOA and had planned on camping there.  When we arrived it was 107 degrees outside and the camping sites were tiny, with no grass and no table.  We asked for a refund and got a hotel room in St. George (about 10 miles down the road).  This was an unexpected expense.  We ended up hauling all of our camping stuff and food down there for nothing,  but were glad for the air conditioning and the comfy beds.  And the kids loved the pool.

Day 4: Zion National Park

I had been to Zion National Park when I was a kid, but it was very different than what I remember.  They now have a shuttle system for all the tourists.  You park in town and take a shuttle into the park and then catch another one that takes you to see all the sights.  We really liked it.  

 Riding the shuttle

We did two hikes with the kids.  The first was Weeping Rock.  It was a short, but very steep trial up to a rock that water seeps out of.  It feels like it's raining when your up there.

 Getting ready for the hike.

 Charlie actually did really well in our baby backpack.  I wasn't sure if he'd still like it, but he didn't mind it one bit, and it made things easier for Tony and I.

 Daddy and the kids

 Mom and the kids

The other hike we did was Riverside Walk.  It's a trail you take to get to the Narrows.  The trail as you would assume follows the Virgin River at the bottom of the canyon.  At the end of the trail there is a great place to play in the river.  The water is a light green color and was cool and refreshing.

 Alaina enjoying the water.  She later would go all the way up to her shoulders.

 Daddy

 The Canyon was beautiful!

 Carson who eventually went all the way under.

 Mom was less adventurous and just got her feet wet.

 Charlie loved gathering rocks and throwing them into the river.

 All over there were signs to not feed the animals.  There is a $100 fine.  Well, these animals were fat and were not afraid of humans in the least bit...so I'd have to say that they were used to being fed.

 Alaina playing in the sand.

We had planned on going to see the Emerald Pools too, but we were all just too tired and hungry.

After some rest and food in our bellies we took a drive up the canyon to the 1 mile tunnel.  I forget what it's called.  It was built in 1930 and was really cool to drive through.

Day 5:  Long Drive Home

We left St. George around 11:00 in the morning and ended up home in Rexburg around 7:30 p.m.  The kids did amazingly well.  I will attribute our success to naps, treats, drinks, and Ipads with movies uploaded to them.  I think back on all those long hours in the car as a kid with my siblings and think my parents must have been saints to endure those long drives without the modern conveniences we enjoy today.

We had a great time but are glad to be home.  In a cooler climate, in our own beds, and real food (fast food gets old after 5 days).  Now to to get the kids ready for school, which starts in a little over a week!

Foster Family Vacation 2013

Quite a few years ago Tony and I had decided to try and do a family vacation every other summer.  We've managed to pull off 3 in the last 10 years.  Our first was to South Carolina when Carson was about 20 months old.  The second was to the Oregon Coast when Alaina was about 10 months old.  This year we went to Utah.  

Day 1:  Lagoon

We stayed with Tony's brother Davin and his family.  We arrived at Lagoon right at opening.  We split up and spent the morning riding amusement rides.  The afternoon was spent at Lagoon-A-Beach with a nap for Charlie.  Then Davin and his family joined us for the evening.  The kids loved going on the rides with their cousins.  The highlight of the night was Rattlesnake Rapids.  Between the 4 adults the kids went down the ride a total of 7 times.  They were soaked from top to bottom! Carson is tall enough to ride all the rides and believe me that he did, and loved them.   Alaina got her face painted (which for the amount of time it lasted was not worth the $10, but Alaina used her own money, what could I say?)  Charlie even loved the rides.  By the end of the night he would put his hands up during the rides and then come to me afterwards and say, "That fun!"  with a big grin on his face.  Each of the kids got to play a game and win a prize.  The boys each got a snake and Alaina got a mouse.  By the end of the night we were all exhausted, but had had lots of fun.  Sorry no pictures.  It's a pain to carry a camera and ride the rides.  You'll have to take my word for the fact the kids had a blast.  

Day 2:  Temple Square 

We took the kids down to temple square to see the cool stuff there.  The afternoon included lots of walking but we saw some neat things.  

 Entrance to temple square

 In the visitor's center there was a really cool model of the Salt Lake Temple.  It shows you everything inside the temple.  It was really neat to see everything. I never knew there was a big chapel type place in the top levels of the temple.  

 Outside the tabernacle

 Inside

 Salt Lake Temple

 The family

The kids

We also saw the Beehive house and the new mall by temple square.  The mall was pretty cool.  A lot of it's outside with a creek running through it.  Most of the stores were a bit too ritzy for us, but it was cool to see anyway. 

Project Another Dress

Yet another polo dress for Alaina.  This is a shirt of Tony's from long ago.  It was always a favorite and we kept it around in hopes that maybe someday he'd be able to wear it again.   It wasn't long enough so I added some lace to the bottom and some ribbon to tie it in with the top.  I also added a cute little pocket and ribbon up top also.  The afternoon I finished it Alaina begged to wear it the rest of the day.  The next morning she said, "Mom can I wear that dress you made again today, it's not that dirty."  I've run out of polo's, but I've got a few button up shirts and a BSU jersey that I'm planning on making into dresses for Alaina.  It's a good this this girl loves dresses!        

Elton Family Pictures

Each year we take family pictures in all our camping glory!  

 Tyler, Hannah, and William Melling 

 Ryan, Rebecca, Lilyan, Raelyn, Ammon, and Nathan Sharp  

 Dad and Mom 

 Brain, Collette (with #4 in the oven), Aaron, BreAnna, and Emary Elton  

 Tony, Angie, Carson, Alaina, and Charlie Foster

 Tim, Callie, Brady, Mason, and Kinsey Elton 

The whole gang.

Elton Reunion 2013

This year we had our reunion at Bear Lake again.  We spaced having a camera at the lake on Friday.  But let me assure you we had lots of fun and came away with minor sunburns.  On Saturday we did a bit of sightseeing at the Paris Tabernacle and the Oregon Trail Museum in Montpelier.  Both were really cool.  The rest of our time was spent visiting, eating and more eating.  There were a few kids that were covered in dirt...I mean every inch!  I managed to get stung by a bee that still itches, but the exhaustion, dirt, and discomfort was worth spending time with the family.  

Paris Tabernacle 

The whole family except for Ben who was unable to make it and Brian & Collette who stayed back at camp because Collette came down with something.

Cute Foster kids

At the Museum in Montpelier Tony came across a plaque that had the name of his great uncle on it who had died in WWII.  We even came away with a newspaper article about Arvil J Foster.  It was pretty cool.   

Swim Lessons

This summer the kids completed their 3rd summer of swim lessons here in Rexburg.  As usual they loved it.  I would love to one day have them be able to do swimming more than just a few weeks each summer.  

Alaina completed the preschool level lessons and will be able to be in the normal lessons next year!  

Carson did great again this year.  A bit more practice in the deep water and he'll be cruising!