August

August was a very busy month! We had 2 major vacations planned! At the beginning of August, we went to Yellowstone with my family. It was so much fun! My parents booked condos for all of us, and we went to see all the sights.

Yellowstone was amazing, of course. Our first day there was very drizzly and wet. We all thought, as we waited for Old faithful in the rain, that we weren't sure this was going to be a great week. But the weather was great after that day!

It was so fun to see all of my family, and to spend the whole week with them! Besides Yellow stone, we also went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone village. The kids loved to see the bears eating and hang out with their cousins all day!

Each evening, 2 families were assigned to cook for everyone, and we would all get together for one big meal. It was a crazy, chaotic time, yet really fun time.

We also all went swimming together a few times. That's what's great about staying in condos!

There were 5 babies born into our family in 2010. This was the first time we were able to get them all together! Left to Right- Evan and Jared Rappleye (August), Alyssa Rappleye (July), Briggs Ford (May), and Sean Doyle (November). It's amazing how similar they all look! They must be cousins.

Over all, It was a great trip to Yellowstone, but best of all was the reunion with my family. The only ones who were missing was Richard and Callie. (They went away for the summer to install alarm systems.) Bottom left corner-Monica and Ruston Ford + 6, front right- Mom and Dad, middle right-Mindy and Lafe + 4, top right- Roger and Tasha + 1, top left-Ryan and Jocelyn + 3, across the middle- The Doyles.

On our way home from Yellowstone, we decided to stop off at the Idaho Falls Temple. It's a beautiful place, and a beautiful Temple!

At the end of August, we went to Lake Powell again. This has become a yearly trip that we’ve taken with some friends of ours. John’s taken up skiing and he’s getting better every time.Erin went cliff-jumping, knee boarding, snorkeling, and swam so much that she came home with swimmers ear. She also learned to ski!!! She’s tried before, but this year she was successful. She loved it. Devin went cliff jumping too! And he really liked knee boarding and the jet ski, but his favorite thing to do this year was tubing. He was always asking if we could go tubing. Colin slept on the top of the houseboat for the first time this year. In years past he’s slept inside with me, but he was a big boy this year! He also just loved going out on the boat and especially loved the jet skis. I was kind of worried about taking Sean to Lake Powell, but he slept great, even for naps. And he was easily entertained by swimming, going on the boat, or playing in the sand. He loved it!

June

In June we were busy with Soccer! (It started in May) Devin loves to play Soccer! And this year John surprised us all by volunteering to be his coach! I think they both really enjoyed it! At least it made us be on time to every game!

John ran his half marathon in June too. His goal was to run it in less than 2 hours. and he did just that! he ran it in 1 hour 50 minutes! Way to go John!

At 6 months old (in June), Sean is getting big. he sits up really well and is a fun little boy!

He's even starting to grab onto the swing! It's time to pack away all the little baby toys!

We also took the kids swimming at a new pool in our area. It was Sean's first time, and he loved it. There was no water shyness at all!

At the end of the month, Erin got her red belt 2nd degree, and John got his Brown belts. I think we're well protected at our house!

Lake Powell

We had the opportunity again this year to go to Lake Powell with some great friends of ours. We stay on a house boat in the middle of nowhere out on the lake and swim, ski, boat, and relax to our heart's content. This year the big thing to do was the double tube! Sounds dangerous, but they all really had a great time! We also got to jump off the top of the boat this year! Pretty scary if you ask me.

John's skiing has majorly improved this year!

Erin enjoyed everything, Skiing, knee boarding, the slide, and the tubes.

Devin's favorite parts were swimming in the deep water, and riding the water wienie. He also tried the knee board again and enjoyed it, and went down the slide!

John took the kids on a couple of rides on the wave runners too.

Colin discovered that he loves the water. Every morning the first thing he would ask was "Can we go swimming!

He also loved jumping off the deck on the back of the boat. he did this over and over and over.

As for me. I couldn't do all the risky stuff, but I did swim a lot. It helped me cool down and keep the swelling down. I also went on a couple of SLOW water wienie rides.

We had a great vacation. Thank you to our friends for inviting us again.

Since we were down in southern Utah, we decided to drop by my brother's house is Las Vegas. He and his wife just had twins! They were only 1 week old and I can't believe that Ryan and Jocelyn let us stay with them, but it was so fun to see those cute babies! Evan was 6 lbs, 7 oz, and Jared was 6 lbs. 15 oz. Talk about big fir twins! But they were so tiny! It's hard to believe that people can get that tiny! My kids loved holding them! And I got to change a tiny diaper. I'm just getting geared up for things to come! Thanks for letting us stay guys!

August has been very busy. And since we're going away again, I decided it was time to update you all. We all had a great morning at the splash park near us. The kids really love it! Especially colin.

We have been waiting and waiting for our chickens to start laying eggs. John built this hen house for them in June, and they seem to be happy, but no eggs. Finally we got one!!! At the beginning of August, the John and the kids found an egg! They cooked it up right away and ate it! They definitely taste better fresh! Here's a picture of our Happy chickens!

My little brother Roger and his wife Tasha Just had their 1st baby. She is such a cutie, and the first baby girl since Erin! Her name is Alyssa.

Erin's favorite thing lately to do with Colin is to dress him up like a girl. Colin just loves getting dressed up and lets her do what ever she wants. These are the results:

Devin seeing all the excitement, decided to get in on this attention.

With only a couple more weeks of summer left til the kids go back to school, we decided to go camping. We went up to the High Uintas where it's cool, and neither John nor I have been there before. We camped in a smaller campground with a river running right through! It was so fun to sit on the banks and watch the kids play. We drove up to the Provo River falls they were beautiful! There are several layers to the falls too, so it was fun to hike along and see all the different falls. We also went to Mirror Lake. It's such a peaceful place! What a beautiful place.

While we were out and about, John decided it was a good time to take a profile of me, cause I'm definately starting to show.