Rook with Elana and Cliff

This is how we play Rook with Elana and Cliff...

Quist Reunion

On Labor day weekend we hosted the Quist Reunion at our home. Ben and Russ were in charge of the reunion this year, and asked if we could have it here in Taylor. We were happy to oblige. The reunion was awesome because it was so laid back. On saturday morning the Gurr and Hulse kids went down to the airport for free airplane rides. The rest of the day was spent visiting, playing games and going on buggy rides. We enjoyed Dutch oven enchiladas and cobbler for dinner and afterward had a devotional given by my dad. There was a lip-synch battle and Eliza and Sarah totally won with their rendition of "My little buttercup". For the final event we shot off some fireworks! I love my family!

Braces!

Most everyone left late Saturday night, or early Sunday morning. But the Hulses stayed until Monday. A highlight of the weekend was doing baptisms with cousins at the snowflake temple.

Silverton co.

The trio didn't have school on Friday the 25th of August, so we decided to go to one of our favorite places, Silverton Co!
This trip was extra fun because some friends of ours, the Hunts, also decided to go. We stayed in our cabin and the Hunts parked their Motor home close by. We had an awesome time showing them all of our favorite buggy trails.
We were only in Silverton for a couple days, but we had a wonderful time!

First day of 8th Grade

The kids started school on August 9th. They are excited to be in the 8th grade. All three kids are in choir again. Caleb is also taking STEAM and Woodshop. Sarah is taking FACS and is an office aid, and Eliza is taking PE and weight training. It sounds like they are all going to have a great year.

Family Vacation Day 14-16

Right after waking up on Friday morning, we went down to breakfast and then it was time for us to disembark. (Insert sad face here).
We didnt have much luggage, so we opted for the express walk-off. It saved us the hassle of having to wait around outside the ship for our luggage.
It didn't take us long at all to exit the ship and get to our car and begin the long drive home. We covered a lot of miles that day. Aside from getting gas and a quick meal, the only stop we made was outside the Duck Commander warehouse since Duck Dynasty is a favorite show of ours. It was a fun spot to stop and stretch our legs.  It was around 11pm before we finally stopped for the night in Canton Texas.
Saturday was another long day of driving. At around 7 pm we were in Soccoro NM and didn't feel like we could drive another mile! So even though we only had around 5 more hours to go we got a Hotel for the night.  On Sunday morning we slept in and then watched a LDS worship service on the BYU channel in our hotel room. Then we hit the road and we were home around mid afternoon.
After all that driving, we were so glad to finally be home.
We loved our Vacation. We made so many great memories and bonded as a family! We hope to be able to go on another cruise someday. But for now, were looking forward to a great school year and saving our pennies for next summer's vacation.

Family Vacation Day 13

Thursday was our "Day at Sea". Right after another delicious breakfast, we went to the Walt Disney Theatre and watched "Cars 3" on the big screen. It was still in the theatres, and we hadn't seen it yet. It was fun to watch it "for free"!
When the Movie was over,  the kids went to the Edge, and Adam and I took care of our onboard bill, then explored the ship some more. Even after three days on the ship, we were still seeing new and interesting things on the ship. We also played shuffleboard for a little while before meeting up with the kids for lunch.
After lunch the kids wanted to swimming. Adam and I stayed in the room and watched a movie.  When the kids were done swimming they joined us for some movie watching. One fun thing about the cruise is that room service menu items are free, so for the price of a tip, I had mickey ice cream bars deliversd to our room and we enjoyed them while watching Avengers. We went to the Evolution lounge for another family game called "So You think you know your Family." It wasn't as fun as the other games, so after a while we left and played a little foosball and relaxed on the deck before dinner.
Our dinner was in the Royal Palace Dining room and as usual the food and service were amazing!
The last show of our cruise was Called Disney's Believe! The music and dancing and special effects were fantastic! 
We watched a movie in our room before going to bed. We were a little sad, knowing that it was our last night on the cruise. We didn't want the fun to end in the morning.

Family Vacation Day 12

We were so excited when we woke up on Wednesday morning. Today we would be spending time on Castaway Cay, Disney's private island! We had the buffet for breakfast and then went to the island. We rode bikes around the island for a bit and climbed a lookout tower where we got a great view of the island, and cruise ship.
After our bike ride we went snorkeling. It was amazing! We saw so many beautiful tropical fish. We also saw two stingrays!
Lunch on the island was wonderful! All we could eat ribs, and grilled chicken, Hamburgers, chips, salad, cookies, and ice cream! Yummy! After lunch, Adam and Caleb went back to the ship while the girls and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the beautiful ocean and getting sunburned!
When we got back to our room there were golden chocolate coins and pirate bandanas for each of us. It was "Pirate Night!" Yahoo!
Our dinner that night was in the Enchanted Garden again, but the menu was different. There was lots of seafood and pirate themed items on the menu.
We enjoyed our meal, then went to the Walt Disney Theatre where we watched a comedy/ventriloquist act. There is nothing better than good, clean comedy. It was a lot of fun.
When the show was over we went up to deck 12 and staked out a place to watch the Bucauneer Blast.
It wasn't long before captain Jack Sparrow came swooping down and an epic pirate battle began.  The show ended with a fireworks show over the beautiful ocean.
Following the fireworks, there was a dance party and pirate feast! We were stuffed, and tired by the end of the night, but what a fun night we had!