Carter’s birthday was very low-key this year. We did so much celebrating with family the last couple weeks that we decided to keep it simple for the real day. We started the day at the pool, of course.

We met up with our friends, the Walkers and the Guerreros, and ate donuts (“nut-nuts” as Carter calls them).

Momma, Carter, Boston, Sister Walker, Raine peeking up from behind, Cade, Elijah, Hudson’s left eye, and Evan.

That afternoon we made cupcakes. At some point while I was making dinner, I turned around to find Carter with his mouth stuffed full of cupcake. Raine had been more discreet, but the second half-eaten cupcake gave her away. Apparently they were too good to wait for.

After dinner Carter opened his presents.

Silly faces — Carter is going to have to work on his a bit more.

He was excited to open the “beeegh” (big) present.

Very excited to mow the carpet . . .

. . . and play baseball

He also loved the pop-up soccer goal we got him, the video shows that best. I love the little run-in-place he does every time he kicks the ball.

This video captures Carter’s personality perfectly. He is very happy and easy-going and has such animated expressions. He likes to be clean . . . except when he is intentionally making a mess. He is such a cute kid, I could just eat him up!

Thursday, July 5

This was picture day! Everyone dressed up and headed to the top of the mountain for family photos.

Utah hadn’t seen rain for a record number of weeks . . . until we scheduled a photo shoot. Fortunately, it wasn’t coming down very hard.

We took all the photos that the kids would stand for and then went for a hike . . . holding hands of course.

Logan, Raine, and Carson

This was my hiking buddy. We stopped to size-up every stick and jump off every rock along the trail.

We also stopped to try out the tree chair . . .

. . . and pick the wildflowers.

Eventually, everyone else caught up with us. (Still holding hands.)

Aunt Sara, Daddy, Uncle Daryn, Carson, Raine, and Logan

On the way back, we caught up with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jed, and Aunt Katie.

During nap time, Uncle Jed and Aunt Katie taught the older kids how to play Uno.

The rain continued all day, completely throwing off my plans for the birthday party activity. I spent weeks planning a Dora/Diego adventure that would work outside in the grass, but had to move it indoors due to the rain. We set it up at the condo since everyone was at the cabin. It was a little cramped, but it worked out fine.

Each kid had their backpack full of the supplies they would need along the way and a map to tell them which way to go to rescue baby jaguar. They all loved the activity.

Then we headed back to the cabin to decorate cupcakes.

We sang happy birthday and each child blew out their own candle. (It was Aunt Candi’s actual birthday, and Max and Carter’s birthdays were within a couple weeks, so we celebrated all of them.)

Grandpa, Logan, Grant, Carson, Uncle Daryn, Aunt Candi, Max, Seth, Raine, Carter, and Uncle Jed

Friday, July 6

We packed up, swam in the pool one last time, said our good-byes, and then headed back down the canyon. We had so much fun with all the cousins, aunts, and uncles that we hardly ever get to see. Now the kids have memories to go with all the names!

Back at Grandma and Grandpa Dewey’s house, we made Welsh Cakes and reminisced about our trip to Wales last year with Grandma. The kids also got one last ride on the horse.

Saturday & Sunday, July 7-8

Our flight home was quite eventful. It all started Saturday evening when we arrived at the airport for our scheduled flight. It was slightly delayed for some unknown reason, but we eventually boarded and settled in. As we waited for them to close the door, the pilot came on the PA system and told us that they were just finishing up a minor maintenance issue and we would be leaving in fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes later he came back on to let us know they were just finishing up the paperwork so we would be leaving shortly. A short while after that the pilot came on to tell us that we weren’t cleared for take-off because of weather problems at DFW. So they unloaded the flight and told us to wait in the departure area for further information.

After we all disembarked, they told us we would reload in thirty minutes. Forty-five minutes later, they started loading the plane again. After we were all loaded up, the pilot announced that in seven minutes we would find out if we had clearance to take off. Exactly seven minutes later he told us we were cleared and we took off for home.

About an hour into our flight, the pilot came back over the PA to tell us that we were turning around and heading back to Salt Lake because there was no room for us at DFW. Seriously, no room.

Around 10:00 pm, long after we were originally supposed to have landed in Texas, we disembarked one more time in SLC. They told us to come back at 7:00 the next morning for our flight and then sent us down to the baggage carousel to claim our luggage. Grandpa Dewey made his third trip to the airport for us that day (during our second delay, he brought us the sippy-cups we left in the fridge), and we arrived at their house to spend one more night.

Early the next morning we checked the flight status and found out our flight wasn’t leaving until 8:45, so we went back to sleep. We arrived at the airport, again, and made it to the gate, again. We boarded the flight, again, and took off, again. But this time, we really made it home. Our favorite neighbor, Evan Eastman, picked us up and we were finally back where we belong.

Wednesday, July 4

Independence Day started at the playground…

…then moved on to the mini-golf course.

Look at that form!

This mini-golf course holds so many memories for me. I worked at the resort every summer of high school and many of my shifts were spent in the mini-golf shack. The rest of the time I was scooping ice cream or working the register in the store. Ah, fun times!

After golf, we headed up to Paris, Idaho for the 4th of July Parade.

Small-town parades are great because they still throw candy to the kids. Here are Logan, Raine, Carter, Carson, and baby Addy checking out their haul.

After the parade, we headed down the road to the Paris Youth Rodeo. It featured chicken chasing, pig chasing, rabbit chasing, and lots of mutton bustin’. Logan and Carson tried their hand at the chases. Fortunately, they came up empty-handed because the prize was to keep the animal you caught. Raine preferred to watch the events from the stands but told me that next time she would do the mutton bustin’.

On the way home, we stopped for famous Bear Lake raspberry shakes — except the kids wanted vanilla and chocolate, so Daddy and I enjoyed the shakes.

The fireworks show that night was canceled and all fireworks were banned because of the tinder-dry conditions, so we had fun playing water balloon games instead.

Carter thought it was hilarious to get moving so fast side-to-side that his balloon would fall out and pop. He had us all rolling with laughter at his little wiggle-run.

Tuesday, July 3

On the first full day of our family reunion we headed down to the beach and spent the day swimming in Bear Lake. Well . . . Carter swam in the lake, the rest of us didn’t make it much past our knees in that chilly water.

Shortly after we arrived at the beach, Carter and I were in the water while Daddy and Raine were playing in the sand, when someone started talking to Daddy. We didn’t even have to look up to know who it was . . . Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He and his wife were out for a walk along the beach and just stopped to chat for a minute. It was a fun little “celebrity encounter”!

That evening the kids customized their Dora/Diego backpacks. Aunt Sara made the faces, then the kids added their name along with buttons, foam shapes, and sparkley pom-poms. I made eight of these backpacks, one for each grandkid, for our birthday party adventure on Thursday. They were cut from the infamous blue fabric that has become a running joke in our family. My dad “rescued” this bolt of blue fabric when he was working a temp job in California, long before any of us kids were born. The fabric has been used for everything: tablecloths, temporary walls, clothing, aprons, and who knows what else. Now each of the grandkids has a little piece of it to carry with them!

Afterward, we enjoyed some juicy watermelon on the front lawn.

Mmmm…

Wednesday, June 27

The kids and I flew to Utah. Carter barely squeaked in as a lap baby, but lucky for us they saved him a seat so we didn’t have to share. Thanks to the portable DVD player, the iPod, and toys from the Target dollar spot, our flight was a breeze. Well, except when Raine had to go potty.

Airplane bathrooms are barely big enough for one person. Cram yourself in there with a small child and it is a TIGHT fit. When you have two small children, there is no way you are all going to fit. So what do you do? The three-year-old has no idea how to work the fixtures in an airplane bathroom so you have to go in . . . but the one-year-old can’t be left outside by himself. It was a situation I hadn’t anticipated. Luckily, we survived without violating any federal laws. I happened to glance out of the bathroom just in time to see Carter’s chubby little fingers reaching for the intercom telephone next to him on the jump-seat . . . one split-second away from alerting the pilot that there was Trouble on board!

We spent our first three days at Grandma and Grandpa Anderson’s house in Orem. Raine loved the daily trips to their gigantic garden. Here is Grandpa showing her how to pick beans.

Carter couldn’t get enough of Grandma’s remote control tractor.

Saturday, June 30

Daddy arrived and we headed up to Sarratoga Springs to visit the Browns. After that, we made a brief stop in Woods Cross at Grandma and Grandpa Dewey’s house before heading up to Fruit Heights where Daddy’s high school buddies got together for a family BBQ. We spent the next two days at Grandma and Grandpa Dewey’s house.

Sunday, July 1

We were there for the monthly family birthday dinner which was a lot of fun. Most of the family was there — Aunt Katie and her family live in Ohio so they weren’t able to attend, but we got to see everyone else.

Carter was so excited to get presents!

Raine couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t getting any presents when it seemed like everyone else was. After we explained, she was content to help Carter with his.

Grandma, Carter, Uncle Tom (oops, somehow I managed to cut off his head), Parker, Aunt Karin, and a few helpers blowing out their candles.

Monday, July 2

We took Grandma out for a birthday breakfast and then drove into downtown Salt Lake City to see the temple. First we met up with the Browns at the City Creek Center to splash around in the fountains. Parker, Bryce, Rachel, Raine, and Carter — notice who is the wettest!

This is why he was so wet. His negligent mother let him get IN the fountain.

Next, I took my soggy kids over to the south visitor center at Temple Square so we could see the temple.

Unfortunately, the temple was under renovation and this was as close as we could get. Raine was really hoping to get close enough to touch the temple.

That evening we drove up through the mountains to Bear Lake for the Anderson Family Reunion.