2 Bucket List Adventures in 1 Week

 For years my mom has been wanting to track down the spots where my Grandma Hansen lived in Payson/Spanish Fork when she was young.  When they came for Maris' baptism, she finally made it happen!  She invited my grandma's little sister (my great aunt Roberta) and her husband Eldon and their daughter to meet us and drive around.  It was hot but fun!  We found an area about a half mile from where their house was in the Spanish Fork River bottoms, and re-created this picture of my Grandma with her parents and brother and sister, with my parents and kids!  It was way cute. 

later my mom was able to get closer to the real spot, but we had to go before then.  

Here's my younger 4 at the house in Salem where my great-grandparents lived the last years of their lives. 1960-1973. It's the house my dad used to visit them at, so he told us some memories and it was cool.

The kids at the spot where the Brimhall land used to be in Payson.  across from an elementary school now. There's still a creek there they talk about in the family history, so that was cool. 

Katelyn couldn't come on the family history trip because she was at the dress rehearsal for summer Shakespeare pictured here-- and Mrs. Millet was nice enough to let me bring my parents to see it that morning!  We were so happy they could finally see Katelyn perform in person!

And a couple of days later, we got to live another one of my bucket list dreams!!  I have thought for years that it would be so fun to float the Spanish Fork River. Sometimes it looks deep enough!  So I bought these tubes for $2 at Walmart, and amazingly enough, once again Eric agreed to try it!!! hooray!!

It ended up being cold water, and SLOW water, and Emma didn't like it, and the tubes didn't hold us bigger people well..... but we had a couple extra and we made the best of it! Here's Whitney:

a few of us chillin, and Eric with Emma. The only way she would ride was with dad!

There were some idyllic moments for sure!

And shallow parts we had to get out and walk...

a few fast parts that were actually exciting.....

Owen and Whitney , and Maris on the right

Cute Maris, and Owen and Eric

After 2 hours we were NOT close to our car parked at the Sports Park yet, and Katelyn needed to be at the school to get ready for her show!  So she and Emma and I got out and walked to the road, and I ran in my swimsuit (luckily I had on old running shoes) back to the sports park to get the car, and came and picked up Katelyn and Emma who had started walking towards home!  They were less than a mile from home by the time I got back to them!  But we got Katelyn safely to her call time. Not too long after, Eric and the kids were finally done, so I went and found them playing in the sprinklers at the sports park haha.  

Eric took these, they look pretty victorious!  We conquered the Spanish Fork River!  It was crazy but epic. It may be a one and done but I'm so glad we did it!! What a fun memory.

Extreme 4th of July Madness!!

 The Monday after Maris' baptism was the 4th of July! And we did ALL the things!!!

First we went to the hot air balloons, but for like the 5th time in a row, they didn't send any up in the air because of wind.  And only 3 even blew up!  It was so sad!!  So we won't be going back for a while.  Definitely not worth waking up at 5:30am for.  But we made the best of it!  Maris was the only one who would go with me over to be right next to a balloon while it was blowing up.

cute face! And a group hug.

Happy 4th of July!

We love Star Wars!  And Freedom!

Then, in an amazing turn of events, on the way home I was like "it's only 7:30am, we should got for a bike ride on the river trail while it's still cool enough"....and everyone agreed!  So we finally did our first real bike ride as a family!  Emma is finally big enough to ride a couple of miles. So we dropped off the big kids and Eric up at the canyon, and drove down to the Sports park.  Then rode back up to meet them! It was so fun, and I just couldn't believe that everyone (ahem, Eric!) agreed to do it!  We came back to the Sports park, and then decided to send Katelyn to drive the little girls home, while the other 4 of us rode the 2 more miles home.  It is so awesome to finally have a teenage driver!!

Sadly, even though this was my dream come true, I didn't get a picture of us as a family on our first real ride!  Whitney snapped this selfie which I am grateful for- Katelyn is right behind her and Eric and Maris are back on the trail.  

And I took these of Emma and me. Sorry Owen!!  I promise he was there!

After a couple of hours resting and watching Independence Day, we went to Highland to swim and play again:

the kids had so much fun with Jayda, Xavier, Wade and Damon.

We went to the same park as last year to watch fireworks, it turned out great again!  Here's all the kids and Kurtis decked out in their glow gear!

Cute Owen and Emma decked out!  Katelyn painted everyone's faces and did a GREAT job. 

Family 4th of July pic! It was a LONG but good day haha.

Maris, Jayda and Emma, and Emma with her chalk American flag she was so proud of.

Me and Whit!  And Eric with Cute Damon earlier in Highland.

Eric's interesting glow stick style haha.  And Katelyn's pretty chalk lyrics to America the Beautiful! Also it should be noted that Grammy and Grandpa Jamie came and met us for the fireworks, it was so fun!  And then came home with us for a fun day the 5th before they drove back to California. I should have taken a picture with them!  My dad is so fun to watch fireworks with, he just loves it.  So our vantage point seeing fireworks all over the valley, plus the big show right by, was a big treat for him!

A great day!

Maris’ Baptism

The big day!! She wanted bubble braids, so we got up early to get that done!  After a couple of quick last pictures, she and Eric were on their way!

They looked great in white!

Eric was thrilled to baptize his 4th child!

This was a treat for everyone- the kids practiced and sang My Own Sacred Grove, complete with solos and harmony!  It was so beautiful.  Maris sang the last line by herself and it was so sweet. I was very grateful they agreed to do it, and it was Owen's first time singing harmony.  Whitney carried the soprano, of course Katelyn did great, and Emma learned all the words and sang strongly.

We took lots of pictures afterward!!  I apparently didn't get one of Maris with either of her sets of grandparents though??

Our family on this happy day! And me and Eric with our Maris girl that we love so much.

Murrays and Pedersens! and the whole gang doing silly poses

This one turned out nice!  It was so great to have all the Utah and Idaho Hansens, Cravens, and Deans, plus of course Grammy and Grandpa Jamie; and some Utah and Texas Murrays/Pedersens!

After, we all drove up to Highland where Mary and Brad graciously hosted a potluck BBQ and swim party! Here's Cousin besties Owen and Ryder in the pool. 

And Whitney getting mobbed by Justin/Emma/Travis/Hazel. They all like to play with Katelyn too!

Phillip introduced everyone to a fun game with a golf tee- you can see the boys all got into it haha! Donny, Connor, Eric, Jonathan, Philip, Ryder and Owen all trying to spot it.

Someone saw it and Donny and Ryder both jumped after it!

The food was fantastic and the company even better. Grownup table on the left, kids and Grandpa Jamie on the right.  Murrays were mostly inside because Damon was only 2 months old!

Panoramic!  It's always wonderful to have so many people I love in the same place!

Had to capture the 5 siblings together!

2 more still shots from the video on Marco Polo. I love the one on the right when Maris sang her solo and Whitney looked at her lovingly!

 A couple more shots of the party. Everyone was so happy to celebrate with Maris.

Maris got an 8-year-old quilt from Grandma!! So pretty!  and Emma wanted matching hair with Maris the next day, so cute.

And I just had to put one more picture of me and my perfect 8-year-old girl.  She sure is special and I'm glad she could feel so loved on her start of the covenant path. :)