Hoop Lake 2010

Beautiful Hoop Lake!

Eric proves he's still got the skills!

Haylie's becoming quite the little fisherwoman!

Mikaela is right behind her sister when it comes to reelin' 'em in!

This is the road that heads in to our campsite. Eric and I let the girls ride their bikes all over the campground, but we always tell them they cannot ride on this road without us because on one side of the road is the dam, on the other side is a steep embankment that leads down to the dam outlet.
Bet you can't guess what Mikaela decided to do...

Yes, this is where Mikaela attempted to turn her bike around after straying too far away from us. She turned the wheel too close to the edge and ended up doing bike acrobatics down the side of the embankment. First, let me just say thank heavens it was Mikaela and not Haylie. Mikaela is one tough little cookie and although it scared the tar out of her, she walked away with just a couple of scrapes and bruises and had her crying over with in about ten minutes. If this had happened to Haylie she would STILL be crying about it, bless her little drama queen heart. Second, I will personally endorse the use of helments when bike riding for the rest of my life. Had she not been wearing it, she most certainly would have had a different outcome. When Eric and I did our little assessment of the whole situation, we realized that her bike put her right in the path of a huge rock that Mikaela actually ended up hitting with her head. Her helmet ended up with a nice gash in it and her beautiful little head remained perfectly round and intact. Tender mercies from the Lord!
Now for those of you keeping track of my personal quest for "Mother of Year" award, I'd say I'm safely out of the running!

Other than Mikaela's turn at becoming a stunt woman-the trip was fun and uneventful, which is just fine with Eric and me!

tHriLLs and ChILLs!

Speaking of yearly rituals...here's another one of them-the annual jaunt to Salt Lake to watch "Thriller". Haylie was so excited to go back and see the zombies. She had a ball with her aunts and grandma. I'm sure glad she likes it because I have no intention of stopping this tradition.

Another fun performance and great girls night out fun with Aunts Erin, Darby and Dallin, Grandma Sue and "Auntie" Cher along for the ride. Next year Mikaela has made it known she will not be left behind. I'm thinking she'll be ready for it!

Dinosaurs and Draculas!

Is it totally pathetic that I'm blogging about Halloween at the end of February? Yeah, I think so, too! Oh yeah, it's happening!
As it is no secret that I love Halloween, I will find anything and everything I can possibly cram into one month that has even a remote connection to the holiday. I found out about the Dinosaur Park and their spook alleys a few years back and now it's become one of the yearly rituals. My girls love it almost as much as I do.

This year my brother-in-law BJ and his wife, Alenna, decided to come and bring their two boys. My girls were delighted to have cousins to play with and I think both BJ and Alenna were impressed with how much fun it was.

The cousin crew! Vance, Mikaela, Haylie and Carter.

Fashionistas!

Well...I don't see either of my girls becoming fashion designing juggernauts anytime soon, but at least they make a statement. I'm just not sure what it is.

Circus, Circus!

Eric heard that the circus was coming to town and decided it was time for the girls to experience what a circus was all about. I was all for it, so we bought the tickets and treated the girls to dinner and dancing elephants. I can't remember the last time I went to the circus, but I'm pretty sure I was around Haylie's age and so it was a lot like going for the first time myself.

All of us had a great time and although Haylie initially was skeptical about the whole thing, once she got inside and saw how many different things were going on, she was sold. Mikaela was just happy to be along for the ride, as always. It doesn't take much to impress her.

This is the only picture that turned out halfway decent. It was one of the most crazy acts of the night. There are at least seven motorcyclists inside an iron-cast sphere. They all drove in different circles and then stopped lining up side by side. Pretty cool. The circus was great and the family time was even better!