Peterson Photos

Of course while my whole family was together, we had family photos taken. Cora was a stinker, Aubrey loved playing model again, and Steven is glad he now has a break from family photos until Christmas when his whole family will be together.

We took the pictures at night, but it was still so hot. Luckily, you can't really tell how hot we all were, and we got a few good shots!

 The whole family. I loved the scenery. We took the pictures up in Charleston, which is pretty close to Wallsburg. 

With my siblings. I'm glad I have them.

Those eyes. They are gorgeous. However, she seems to take after her father in her love of family pictures... can't you tell?

Trent was the only one who could manage a smile. 

They love their "papa."

The kids had a great time throwing rocks on the train tracks.

With my mini-me. 

This was probably my favorite shot. We don't have too many mother/daughter pictures, so this is special.

I have felt spoiled lately with all the nice professional pictures we have had taken. I love looking back at the pictures we get. Life changes so fast, and I want to remember the little moments. 

Utah Trip: Part 2

One other fun thing we did before Steven arrived was go "camping" aka... cook dinner and marshmallows over a fire. That is about the extent of our family camping, and I will happily keep Aubrey believing that what we did was camping for a while longer.

In the two hours we were there, they got completely filthy. And had a blast.

The first day after Steven arrived was the fourth of July. It was blazing hot, but we spent the morning at the Colonial festival in Orem. I really enjoyed it. As a Canadian, I always feel a little ashamed of my American history knowledge, so I like to learn more when I can. 

We went swimming at the Provo Rec center (twice!). That is a cool place and it almost made me want to move back to Provo. I even got to sneak away and swim laps both times. Here is Trent jumping off the cliff jumping wall.

I celebrated my 28th birthday. I'm a lucky girl because I always get to celebrate my birthday with my whole family. Other than Cora being up like 500 times the night before (and she almost never wakes up at night) I had a great day. I even convinced Steven to go see "The Fault in our Stars" with me while the girls had a grandparent date.

We went to BYU...

Steven visited with two of his old bosses at the Law Library. 

Of course our BYU trip included eating at the Cougareat and buying BYU shirts in the bookstore. Hot pink of course. It couldn't even be light pink... she insisted on hot pink.

We spent a lot of time hanging out in Wallsburg. I love that place. My dad had a great time on the gigantic riding lawnmower. 

We fed horses with my aunt Heidi..

Had a fun night with Jason and Shanna...

Saw my friend Fallon and her family. We have been friends since we were six years old.  We went to Elementary, Junior High, High school, and BYU together. Now we live apart, but it is always great to get together.

And... this is long enough. We had a great time. I have spent the past week weaning the girls off of daily ice cream and late bedtimes which has been super (not) fun, but it was completely worth it- we made so many great memories!

Utah: Part 1

We just got back from a really fun vacation with my family in Utah. We are really lucky that we get to stay up in Wallsburg when we visit. It is so peaceful and quiet. I love where we live, but I really miss the open space.

The first week of our vacation, Steven stayed home and the girls and I traveled alone. Aubrey was so proud with her little rolling suitcase. She dragged that thing all over the airport. Which was... mostly a good thing. She would run ahead, often banging into peoples legs as I hurried behind with Cora, but for the most part traveling with them wasn't too bad. Maybe I have just become the mom who is oblivious to how wild her kids are? Either that, or they really are getting easier as they get older.

As soon as we arrived, my mom took us shopping. We got the girls little mini maxi skirts, and Aubrey is now pretty much obsessed with wearing it.

We then spent the next few days exploring all our old favorite places and finding a few new ones too.

We visited the children's museum in Salt Lake. I think we seek out a children's museum wherever we go. They are just great for little kids. We had to drag the girls out of there after 4 hours, so we definitely got our money's worth.

 lol... I sent Steven this picture and told him that Cora missed him. He wasn't too impressed.

 The girls loved spending so much time with their cousin Zach. Cora, especially loved having a buddy close to her size.

My dad and I went in a wind tunnel that simulated a hurricane with 80 mph winds. I should have brought a hair brush for after that one.

We of course went on a few quad rides. The girls LOVED riding the quads, especially once Steven showed up and took them way faster than I was comfortable going.

We spent a very warm and crowded day at Seven Peaks. My family can never get enough swimming.

And.. we ate. A lot. We went to the train place in Heber more times than I care to admit. Those shakes are pretty darn tasty..

That is how we spent our first few days in Utah. We missed Steven, but I felt ok knowing that he was at least getting fed at work while I was gone. That didn't stop him from eating leftover lasagna four days in a row, but it could have been worse :)