camping at knoll lake

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to get away from the heat and headed for the mountains. We went camping at Knoll lake. It was wonderful! The temps were in the 70's and the lake was great. The water was a little cold for me, but of course the kids had a great time swimming in it.

The campground we stayed at was really nice. All the camp sites had a graded spot for tents with little pathways that connected the parking space, picnic area and camping area. Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a dry summer, so we were not allowed to have a fire even in the fire pit.

Garrett and Richard tried a little fishing, but neither of them got a bite :( I am sure it had nothing to do with the kids splashing around in the water!

After they were done swimming, Grace and Jack bundled up and curled up on the hot rocks to warm up.

spring break

Last week was spring break for the kids and we decided that it was time that we finally made it down to Tombstone. It is about a 3 hour drive from our house, not bad when we have the dvd player to keep the kids more or less entertained.

My favorite thing that we did was a tour of the Good Enough Silver Mine. We were all required to wear hard hats because we actually went down into the mine underground! It is really amazing to see what the miners did, all before any kind of mechanical inventions. It was all done by hand! Oh, and don't worry, the kids are drinking old fashioned sasparilla!

These were taken outside the gift shop at the Boothill Cemetery.

We also went on the Old Butterfield Stage Coach tour around town. It was fun, but the tour guide was a little bland. And of course we had to catch the Helldorado Town Gunfight, it was a little corny if you ask me. We spent some time walking up and down the historic streets of Tombstone. One thing we wanted to do was visit the home of Wyatt Earp. Unfortunately, it was closed while we were there.

garrett's baptism

About a year ago, Garrett started going to church with his friend Daniel. He was also in scouts with him. Then, a few months ago Garrett asked if it would be ok for the Missionaries to start coming by to give him the discussions.

He was very excited to learn about the church and made the decision to be baptized. After several scheduling changes and finally finding a date and time that everyone could attend, Garrett was baptized on Saturday February 26th.

Elder Koons and Elder Lewis are the sweetest missionaries that you could ever meet and we are grateful to know them. Garrett was baptized by Elder Koons and confirmed on Sunday by Elder Lewis.

Daniel is Garrett's best friend and I sometimes feel like Garrett spends more time with him than he does at our house! We are glad to have Daniel and his family live so close to us and be such a part of our lives. Grace plays with Daniel's little sister and his older sisters are our favorite babysitters!

family photo outtakes

garrett's birthday party

We had a birthday party tonight for Garrett's 8th birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. It is like a mellower Chuck-E-Cheese. He invited one of his friends, Jacob. Grandma Olsen's friends, Richard and Susan came also.

The kids played on the games and earned tons of tickets for prizes and had tons of fun.

Gracie was playing air hockey with Daddy and she kept winning so she was jumping up and down because she was so excited.

Garrett got some new books, a bike pump, a new bionicle, and we got him a cell phone so that I can keep track of him when he is at his friend's houses.

Yes, Garrett's hair is blue. Grandma Olsen took him to get a hair cut today and the stylist put blue hair gel in his hair to celebrate his birthday.