Anniversary at Snowbird

Mike and my sister Penny Jo planned us a getaway to Snowbird for the weekend. It was fabulous. The weekend started by dropping off the kids with her for the weekend and she greeted us with this edible arrangement!!Then we headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon and on our way up we saw a cow moose and a bull moose. We were only about 30 yards from this bull moose!!We had the cutest room with a fireplace and kitchen and beautiful look at the mountain.

We walked around the Octoberfest, rode the tram to the top of the snowy mountain, and enjoyed the colors of the trees.

It rained, it snowed, and the mist was so pretty over the mountains. I wish I could show all the pictures but I took to many!

We dressed up in our best clothes and went to the city for dinner at one of my favorite places...Red Lobster. The weekend was the best and I love Mike more today than yesterday. I hope our relationship continues to be better each day and many years of happiness to come. Thanks for the incredible weekend!! I love you!!

Let's Start in Park City

So I haven't updated for a while. I will start with our week vacation with Granny and the cousins in Park CityIt was such the blast. It was the first time that I actually got to take the whole week and be with all of them. We went swimming shopping, play guitar hero championships
karaoke rock band, b-b-ques, and of course our favorite... The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Then we went to Snowbird where Phene entertained us with the Zip Line
, Rock Climbling, Bungee Jumping, The Alpine Slide, Mechanical Bull, and ATV and Ranger Tours. It is so beautiful up there in the back country of Snowbird. All of you should take a tour with her to see the beauty. It's amazing. The week was so much fun and I thank my mom for taking all of us up there every year without fail. It is certainlya traditin worth keeping.

Week Long Backpacking Hike

Monts scout troop has been on several overnight scout backpacking hike to prepare for the "Big One" . This weekend they went on a week long backpacking hike up to Tye Fork in Spanish Fork Canyon. They hiked to Strawberry, then around, and down to Diamond Fork. I think this was a brilliant idea. Sleeping quarters were less than desirable to me. Not my idea of the Marriott.We didn't have to ship them out of State with gas as high as it is, they were close enough that we didn't really have to worry, and the families were invited up the last night for dutch oven dinner that was wonderful.
We had B-B-Que boneless pork ribs, dutch oven potatoes, and cobbler.Talk about pigs. They did skits for us and told jokes. I was so fun. I can't even stand how dirty they were. They were so happy to see their families. The first day Mont cut his finger bad enough that he should have had stitches, but they just wrapped it (I'm sure with toilet paper) to stop the bleeding, put a bandaid on it and repeated these things when it started to bleed again. Welcome to the mans world of fixing cuts. I am surprised that the Duct Tape didn't come out. This is definatly not what I call fun, but the boys have loved it. I can't believe that someone who has such an attitude towards scouts, lets her child be so active in the program.

Heber Creeper Train Ride

One tradition that my parents started 11 years ago is that when ever one of the kids are potty trained, they take all the kids on the Heber Creeper. It is so fun for the kids and they look forward to it.
It has really helped to potty train all 11 grandchildren. This year Sunny, who is Portias youngest, was potty trained so we spent Friday on the Train. Portia and I hadn't been there for along time so we decided to go this time.We really enjoyed out ride. The kids had a great time and Grandma and Grandpa Clayton spoiled them. They had me trying to hold on to a pole and lift my legs to a 90 degree angle. I am a little out of shape for that but I gave it a try.Garrett was so funny and would walk behind the gate making it look like he was going down the stairs. We laughed so hard at him. It was nice to see him let his hair down a little and have some fun. The sites were beautiful and the bigger kids really want to float down the Provo River next. It was so hot it sounded good to me.Cute little Sunny would say, "All aboard!! Choo- Choo."She is at a very fun age. Then we went to Delta to celebrate Sadies 16th birthday. Portia had a surprise party for her.There were about 43 kids there and Toddy and I made hamburgers and hotdogs. Her cake was to cute.It looked like a drivers license. There were a couple of boys that could really play the paino. I have never heard such music from these boys. One of them was playing the theme from "Charlie Brown" and we set Sadie and her friend Mary on the piano.We laughed so hard at them. We also spent some time at the "Res". It was so hot that we had to cool off. We had a great weekend and are greatful for the days we can spend in Delta.

3 Kids Gone? Too Quiet

Saturday when the family was here for Oaklee's Baptism, the twins and cousins decided that they would go to Delta for a few days!! At least till Thursday. That was quiet. Then I took Mont to Mt Pleasant for the Timberline leadership camp this morning. He will be gone until Saturday when we will go back down to pick him up. Even more quiet! Oaklee goes to a birthday party tonight and has been gone for dinner. Only 4 of us to feed? Too weird!! What will I do when they all grow up and leave? I am sure I will have a reality check as soon as Saturday night when they are all home.

Garrett's birthday and Lehmans Cave

Garrett turned 15 on May 26. We were in Delta for the weekend and my cousins John & Julie were there from Florida visiting. We all went to Baker Nevada to see Lehmans Cave. Mike has wanted to go there since we first got married and we have never taken the time. I hadn't been there for many years and neither had Porche. The kids had a great time and was the perfect day. We had a picnic and cupcakes for Garrett's birthday. My nephew Jack said it was the best day of his life. There were 19 of us there. What a troop. Our tour guide also did the detective program for the kids. It was so fun to watch them be involved and so excited. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Girls Weekend Out

The Clayton girls had the weekend to share with each other. We had decided to surprise Mom by taking her to "Good Things Utah" TV show. She loves the show and doesn't like to miss it ever. She always tell us about cute crafts they do and recipes they have on there. She was so surprised when we showed up at ABC4. It was not until then she realized that we were going to be on TV. We had a blast! Pictures were taken with the girls from the show and with Mike McKay, food was eaten and the weekend progressed. We had lunch, went shopping, shopping, shopping, and then onto Gardners Village for Witches Night Out. I have never seen so many adult women dressed up. We then went to Tepanyaki for dinner. We learned how to say "I love you in Japanese! It is "Eye-shetemasu". Of course Portia had to make a smart comment that made us all laugh and we have shared with all. It was one of the best weekends ever and I hope to have many more!