Mark's Birthday

Mark is 17! AAAHHHH!

Mark's Birthday creeps up quickly after Seth's birthday, but it is always a party! We had a very full birthday weekend for Mark.

Stadium of Fire was on Saturday instead of Mark's birthday on Monday, and since Journey was coming again, we took the whole family. It was such a fun show. We enjoyed the concert, and the fireworks. It was a million degrees at first, but it got better by about 10:30 pm. 

It was so hot while the sun shone in our faces!!

All the songs with lights were fun!

Mom and Dad love Journey.

We weren't as close to the stage this time, but it was still awesome.

The fireworks were spectacular.

Stephanie came into town so she could walk through the Saratoga Springs temple before the Open House ended, so we got to play with her family (especially James), walk through the temple, and eat In-N-Out before she headed back home for baseball and softball practices.

James is so cute!

It was a lovely and busy day to visit the temple.

We had lunch at In-N-Out.

We sure love them!

Ty and Savannah were also in town for the 4th of July. We were able to attend Jett's baby blessing. Jett was not very happy that day, but when he came over for the BBQ, he was a lot of fun to play with. The boys loved it. The BBQ was all of the Alders, and we had a lot of fun hanging out with them.

Jett was a little bit sick for his baby blessing.

But he was super smiley the next time we saw him.

Mark picked mint brownies. Mom was shocked.

Such a great young man!!!

So much fun for the 4th of July!

Our traditional family pic!

Then we went with our neighbors to the neighborhood fireworks show, which was awesome. They put on a great show, and we liked that we could walk to the show, and not fight the crowds.

Seth has been so kind to our little neighbor.

Mark's friend, Conner, watched fireworks with us, too!

It was a great little local show.

In between all of the fun, we had mint brownies and presents for Mark. He is now 17 years old and growing up way too fast. Mark is a mature, responsible young man. We are so lucky to have him as an oldest child because he is an easy teenager with limited drama and emotional breakdowns. He is very obedient and a great driver. Mark is an awesome friend and looks out for others. He is smart and does very well in school. He is a great helper and always willing to jump in and serve. He is also our resident bird and animal expert, and willing to try any adventure. We love having Mark in our family!

Mark is awesome!

He is a rockstar!

Seth's Birthday

Seth is such a handsome kid.

Seth's Birthday was celebrated in Grand Teton National Park this year, but he deserves his own birthday post, too. Seth turned 11 and he is a ton of fun! Seth has a great big smile and loves to tell jokes and tease people (wonder where he gets that from....). He also loves to learn, and asks great questions. We learn so much from him while he recites to me all of the random facts about some animal he is learning about. Seth loves stuffed animals and has a huge collection, mostly animals from national parks that we have visited.

Seth is always willing to take a photo.

Seth's latest stuffed animal.

Seth is still our pickiest eater, but he loves breakfast foods like pancakes and crepes. He started drinking carbonated drinks this year. For the longest time it was lemonade or nothing, but now he will enjoy rootbeer with his older brothers.

He is also our most outgoing child and is able to get along with adults and kids very quickly. Seth is not afraid to go up to someone and talk to them. He is our only child who has this skill.

Seth still likes to dress up and play. I hope he will always enjoy playing and having fun. He is the best model for all our adventure pictures at Utah's Adventure Family. He also loves to take his own pictures on our phones, and edit them as much as possible. 

We are excited at the wonderful young man Seth is growing up to be. He blesses our family every day!

Seth is so grown up now!

At least 10 of these every week on the phone!

And then most of them end up looking like this.

The Joys of June

June was a fun month with lots of family in town and ended with a great trip to Yellowstone. Here are a few other highlights from the month.

Mom and Dad took a walk to the Alpine Poppies one evening. It was perfect and not busy! 

There were pretty yellow flowers, too.

It's always fun to be together.

Mom loves the wildflower outings.

Dad was good at taking pics!

We spent a lot of time at the Saratoga Springs temple as volunteers and as visitors. We walked through with family and served a few extra times to help. It was such a wonderful experience and we truly love this temple.

We went and walked through one day for fun.

Our last day at the temple in the basement!

We have really grown to love this place.

Mark was umping, so the four of us came to usher.

Walking through with Dad's brothers.

We hiked a new trail called the Wild Rose Trail. It was beautiful with lots of wildflowers and great views. We love adding new adventures to the website!

Mom with more wildflowers.

It was a nice trail.

We even found someone to take a family pic.

It was Free Frazil Friday every Friday in June! We did not miss!

We tried a bunch of flavors.

Hope they do it again next year!

Our ward put together a float for the Lehi Round-Up parade. They asked for volunteers to help walk in the parade and Seth was thrilled. He wore his apron and chef's hat because our float was all about Lehi food. He had a great time other than there wasn't enough candy to throw. We will have to send him with his own stash next time.

Ready for the parade.

It was the end of June, but Dax was ready!

Cute Seth saved candy to hand to us!

He was the cutest parade walker.

Here are a few other highlights from the month of June:

Making sno cones with their machine.

We checked out the dinosaurs at Thanksgiving Point.

Mom turned into a butterfly!

Seth played his last games with the Red Sox.

Mark has clearly passed Dad.

We have so much fun together!

Love the evening walks down by the lake.