More Summer Adventures

Well, it has been a summer of fun and family, that's for sure! I picked up Gavin and Dallin from a few days of staying with cousins just in time to drop Dallin off to go to his scout camp!

He literally got home at 8:00 am and then I took him to the Burbidge's at 8:30.

We said goodbye and they were off! But I wouldn't necessarily call it "camping"...it's more like staying at the Yellowstone lodge or something like that...(at the Burbidge's cabin up in Star Valley...)

See what I mean???

(Lisa sent this to me last night. :)

I'm glad for all of the adventures my children are having!!! 

Another summer to remember!!!

Going to the Zoo!

 Summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to the zoo with Grandma and our cousins, so that is what we did yesterday! We love the elephants and how they remind us of Kierra, and the tigers too and how they remind us of Carew! (The tigers are always just the hardest to get a  picture of...)

 We rode the train and had lots of fun wishing little Emmet a happy 1st birthday!

 Everyone loves the train, and Kesslyn too!!! She squealed with excitement when it started going around the track! ;)

 We watched a beautiful bird show and ate lunch at the picnic tables...

 ...we rode on the carousel...

  ...and even got to see their newest animal at the zoo, the Red Panda!!!

Isn't it cute???

 Visiting the Polar Bear was so fun too! (And it helped that it was in a beautiful air conditioned building! ;)

This big guy just sat there floating comfortably in the water for the longest time letting all of the people take pictures of his back side...:)

 Once again, being with the people that I love, and getting to see some of our Heavenly Father's most beautiful and unique creations has strengthened my testimony of and love for Him!

He is so so good, and I LOVE this little family of mine!!! :)

Fire In Milburn

This is a picture of  the Hilltop Fire that is burning the mountain down in Sanpete County, near the city of Milburn, which is where our cabin is.

This photo is actually the view from our driveway, and it shows just how close the fire is to where we are...scary...

But in all of the prayers we have offered for everything to be OK, we are really just praying for people...

Homes and "things" can be replaced. People can't.

Heavenly Father please bless the firemen, safety officials, and families everywhere being affected by all of the fires.

I'm continually grateful for Thy wisdom and that beautiful peace in Christ.

2 Weeks To School!

 It is officially 2 weeks until school starts!!!!

Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

I love having my children home with me and I don't really love sending them back to school...but I know that the structure and learning of course is so good for them, so for that reason, we try to get excited and prepared. School shopping is a fun part of getting ready. And these kids will be sporting some pretty cool looking shoes if you ask me!

 They were all so grateful and realized that they needed to express this gratitude for one of these simple luxuries of life...Shoes!!! Some kids don't get them, and these 4 children of mine each got a few new pair...I heard the words, "Thank you mom!" about a dozen times at least...

As long as they always have grateful hearts I know they will feel blessed, and if they can learn some good lessons too about where these feet should "stand", how they can "walk on the path", and even to try walking in someone else's shoes...There are many lessons to learn when traveling through life, and even when we go back to school!

More Summer Adventures...

 Over the weekend we spent a little time up at the cabin working outside, and Clint had a ball learning to work his new tractor! He reminded me of a little kid playing with his new toy! ;)

The girls played and colored inside while we worked, and Kambriella was especially happy that she had her cousin Madyson there with her too! They had such a good time together.

 Gavin was not with us though because he was at Provo  Falls camping with the scouts...

 ...and from the looks of these pictures that his leaders sent me, I would say that he had a great time too!

 We also did a little swimming in the pool, or should I say Dallin was a human lifeboat ferrying all of the little girls around the pool...:) What a good big brother!

 We also visited Grandma Bernice! The smiles that are exchanged when these two angels get together just melts my heart! 

They are sweet friends and kindred spirits! We will be helping take care of Bernice for the next couple of weeks while Kelly is away in California for her daughter's wedding...lucky us!!! :)

Priorities

 We made it home and half way through the week! Wednesdays are always fun because they are the day that I go and take Clint to lunch...every Wednesday! He's my number one priority and I sure love that boy!

As soon as I got home I had a long list of "to do's" to get done, but they quickly became second priority when the kids and all their friends wanted to swim!!!

(Don't you love Dallin in the background??:)

Summer is quickly winding down and I figured I better keep my priorities straight! I set my "to do" list aside, put on my swim suit and played life guard for 2 and a half hours...boy did they have fun! Canon ball contests, playing games of Colors and Marco Polo, and eating popsicles until they were all gone!!!

Love love love these kiddos and these fun fun summer days!!!

Remembering My Dad

 On July 31st, 2014, my sweet Daddy became an angel.

Yesterday was 4 years since his passing and it was the perfect day to spend with my mom.

I was so glad we had made time for this little getaway to St. George to see this special lady...most of the things we did yesterday were in memory of my dad, Phillip Deloy Panter.

We even got gas at "Phillip's"66! :)

 We swam in the pool in the morning (which was always something that my dad used to take me to do when I was a little girl...)

...and we ate a Chuck-A-Rama which was always somewhere that my dad would like to go...;)

 We did this...:)

(Does this look familiar??) ;)

 We talked about him and reminisced about all of the happy memories we have of him.

He is a special man to be the father of 9 children (6 daughters and 3 sons), 

and that he gave everything to his family. 

I love and miss him terribly.

We also drove to Zion's National Park to the Subway Trail head to pick up Dallin and his friend Rhett who had an adventurous weekend hiking in God's country with Clint's family...

 It was so beautiful and we had fun exploring a little and taking it all in. Kesslyn was a bit tired of being in the car for so long, but we made it back home safe and sound and we are ready for whatever adventures lie ahead of us today! We are grateful once again for our knowledge and testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ, His hand in our lives each and every day, and that families are eternal...so so grateful!