Vacation- part 1

For our summer vacation this year we headed to UT. It was the most perfect and action packed 2.5 weeks of our summer! The girls are still talking about their cousins and all of the fun we had. Late nights, cousin sleepovers, cool evenings and being with our family were just some of the highlights!

We all flew out on a Thursday (June 23) afternoon. Upon our arrival in SLC we were greeted with eager grandparents and aunts, snow capped mountains and our favorite dinner- Cafe Rio!

Saturday afternoon was our Dodds family reunion. We went to Cars2 and then enjoyed tin foil dinners in Milcreek Canyon while discussing our book club book for the year. My parents started a family book club a few years ago. They buy us all a copy of the same book, distribute it at the reunion, and we all report thoughts and feelings the following year at the reunion. It's been a neat tradition! We're pretty excited for the book this year!

My girlys were intrigued by the fire and loved the hammock that Uncle Ryan brought. Though I think their favorite thing was throwing rocks in the river! (Note the rock piles.)

P.S. I know the collages can look confusing, but it sure is a time saver for the MANY pictures I have to document this trip.

Flower Girls

Tonight these beautiful girls are on a super date with their dad. They are off being flower girls at his cousin's wedding in Lubbock.

Delicious Soup

Lentil & Barley Soup
-from Sara B.
1 c. lentils
1 c. barley
1 can (16 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 c. chopped onion
10 c. chicken or beef broth
2 T. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1 tsp. garlic powder

Place all ingredients in a large pot & bring to a boil. Cover & reduce heat to simmer. Cook 50 min., stirring occasionally. Add water if it gets too thick. Enjoy!

A Day to Pray

I'm impressed THIS event has been organized. The video is worth 1 minute of your time! Our nation needs more humble, God-fearing leaders like Rick Perry!

Happy 4th

We are in UT celebrating this wonderful 3 day weekend holiday in style- and loving the cool, dry evenings. Our celebrations began on Saturday at one of the FINEST patriotic tributes in the country. No one does fireworks like Provo- 30+ minutes of fireworks set to patriotic music! It was neat for me to have my children with me in the place where I celebrated the 4th every year. A special thanks to my grandpa for his desire to instill a love for our country in his posterity.

Family Fotos

Our talented friend Koni took our family pictures. It was pretty early in the morning, but we still managed to get a few good smiles.




I can't wait to share the ones of the other girls with William-- they are simply precious!