Reunion Time

Last week, we were grateful to be able to host the annual Gurr Family reunion. The reunion was originally going to be held in Manti. There is a neat campground there, close to the Temple and lots of fun activities in the area. Unfortunately, it was just too far of a drive for some of the family members, and just before the reunion, Great Grandma Gurr's health took a turn for the worse and Malan didn't want to travel to far from her. Heather asked if we would mind having the reunion here in Taylor, and we didn't mind at all! Heather owns the little house next door to us and right now it's vacant, so between her property, ours, and a couple of travel trailers, we were able to comfortably accommodate everyone. We ended up having 30 family members make it.

There were people inside....

and people outside!

We had a wonderful time playing games, flying kites, riding buggies, visiting and eating yummy food! Thanks to Heather for all her hard work and menu planning! It was an awesome reunion!

Makeover Time

Caleb's room has been due for an update for quite a while. I decorated his room with John Deere decor when we moved in over six years ago. I didn't know it at the time, but even then, Caleb wasn't really into "farm tractors". He never told me, because he didn't want to hurt my feelings.

Caleb's room "BEFORE". 

I made sure that this time around, Caleb was the one calling all the shots.
We sat down together and talked about what he would like. He told me he liked "Cabin stuff" and that his favorite colors were red and blue.  We looked at pintrest together and made a "board" for his room. We made sure to only pin pictures we both liked! One idea we both really liked, was to nail pallet boards up all over one wall.  Adam has a stack of pallets from work and he said we were welcome to use as many as we wanted! We also decided to use a flag that Caleb already had folded up in his room.  We invested in some new sheets, but re-used some blankets we already had. I also bought new curtains, and some crates, which we painted and stacked to use as night stands. We re-arranged the furniture a bit, which made a huge difference!
We stayed well under our 150.00 budget.

Caleb's room "AFTER" We both LOVE IT!!

The pallet wall!

 Eventually, we want to put a new headboard on the bed and find or make a desk for the room. But we can wait until we find just the right pieces at just the right price.
One of the best things about this project was, from start to finish, we worked on it together. We sawed apart pallets, painted crates, and moved furniture and got to know each other better in the process. I'm happy with how the room turned out, but even more, I'm happy with who my son is turning out to be!

Adjo

On the 27th of May, we said goodbye to Tina.

It was a bittersweet farewell. We were sad to see her go, but happy for her to be reunited with her family. We have learned so much from our experience hosting an exchange student for 10 months!

There were a lot of ups and downs. There were dissapointments and many sweet and fun memories made. 

We have grown to love and care for Tina and we wish her all the best as she returns to Norway.

Work hard, Play harder

While the trio were enjoying their last week of school, Adam was enjoying a "work" trip in Colorado with his brothers.
His cousin Jason is building a home in Pagosa springs, and hired Adam and his brothers to help with the framing. they all worked hard and got the job done with a little time to spare for a buggy ride. 

My Kids are Fast!

It's true. My kids are fast! They didn't get it from me, I'm pretty sure they didn't get it from Adam either. So, they're pretty much freaks. Yep, my kids are fast.
Taylor intermediate school had a track and field meet at the High school a few days before school got out. The kids all got to choose three events to participate in. Caleb ran the 800 meter race, did the long jump, and the softball throw. He placed third in the 800. Awesome considering he never really trained for it. I was super proud because he never stopped running...not once!
Sarah did the 3 legged race, the balloon toss, and the 100 meter dash. She did great at all her events, but her best was the dash. Yep, Sarah is fast!
Eliza also did the 3 legged race, the relay and the Dash! She totally rocked!! Holy moley, my girl can run!!

I loved getting to sit in the stands and cheer for my kiddos! I am one proud mamma!

Tonto Natural Bridge

A couple of weeks before school got out, the fourth-graders went on a field trip to the Tonto Natural Bridge. There was just enough room on the bus for the students and staff. They didn't have enough room for parents, so I drove myself.
They really should have made room for parents on the buses. Once the buses arrived at the park and the kids all got off, it was total chaos. By the time the teachers and staff got all of the children organized into groups, they were only able to spend 40 minutes hiking. That was just enough time to hike down to one view point and then hike back out. The kids had lunch, got on the buses, and it was time to go home. Luckily, because I had driven myself, I was able to keep my trio with me.  We hiked back down to the viewpoint and then kept hiking. We climbed over big boulders and rock hoped across little streams. We saw amazing caves, clear blue ponds and awesome wind formations. We had the best time hiking that afternoon. We were able to relate the trail we were on to life, and the gospel. We talked about how even though sometimes the path we were on was hard and difficult, by staying on it, we were safer and were able to experience more moments of joy and beauty then we would have, if we'd have gotten off of the trail.  We were able to really appreciate the Lord's beautiful creations and we talked about his love for all of his children. I am so grateful to be blessed with these moments throughout my life when I can teach my children.  My children seem to be growing so quickly and I can't help but feeling like opportunities for these moments are running out. So I'll take each moment as it comes and make the most of it.

Six Flags Magic Mountain

For Adam's Birthday this year we decided to help Tina cross one last thing off of her American Bucket list and we went to SIX FLAGS!!!! Woo Hoo!
Not only was it on Tina's bucket list but Caleb has been wanting to go ever since he checked out a roller coaster book from the library. Adam has been a Magic Mountain fan ever since I first took him there 12 years ago. We're all roller coaster fans in this family and luckily Tina is too! We rode EVERYTHING!!! The crowds were really small on Thursday, so we hardly had to wait in any lines. it was great.
We got to ride Tatzu and Full Throttle for the first time! We loved them both! The Lex Luthor drop was insane!!! And Superman was a family favorite. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, so it looks like we'll have to go back soon so I can take more!

The "X" has to be the all time scariest ride!!

Tatzu was awesome!

Everyone's favorite ride!


We were able to spend a little time on Friday evening at the beach! The last time our kids went to the beach they were 2 years old! This was the first time that they remember being on the beach. it was so fun to watch their excitement as the waves crashed into them.  It was not so fun to watch them discover that getting salty sand in every nook and cranny gets pretty uncomfortable! Haha!  They aren't quite sure how they feel about the beach, but I'm sure it wont be long before they are begging to go back!

April Fools!

I told the kids I made them some Brownie's to take to school.

April Fools!

BAAHAHAHAH!!!

New (to us) car.

    Adam and I are pretty fickle when it comes to vehicles. In the (almost) 13 years that we've been married, we've owned 5 different family Vehicles and 7 different work and personal use trucks.
We're Like Goldilocks. This car is too big, this car is too small! This car is too fancy, this car is too plain! Too much power, not enough power etc...

This little beauty feels "JUST RIGHT!!" We're loving our GMC Acadia!!!

SAND DUNES!!!

 
This year, we decided a trip to the Sand Dunes would be a fun way to spend our spring break. Tina has never been to the sand dunes and we hadn't been there in quite a while. Tina was not dissapointed and neither were we! It was one of the best trips to the Dunes we've had. I guess most of the schools have spring break a little earlier in March (ours was the last full week) because their was hardly anyone there. It was a little warm and windy,  but we still had a wonderful time.

Adam's parents, sister Malory and brothers Tyler and Richard and their families went with us. Our buggy ran great and the kids loved jumping, sliding, sledding, and ridding in all that sand. 

We hope to go back as soon as the weather cools down again. 

Tina wanted to see the border. This is as close as we could take her to Mexico.

It was fun to run and fly thru the air into the sand below.

We enjoyed visiting around our campfire in the evenings.



We'll be sure not to let another 5 years go by before we go to the Dunes again!