We just returned from a wonderful week at Lake Powell! This trip is one of the highlights of our year!
The scenery, weather, water sports, good food, time on the lake, fun with family, and sleeping under the stars make it the best trip!

These kiddos really had a blast this year!
Lizzie went tubing, knee boarding and loved
swimming in the lake.
Isaac is getting good at wakeboaridng , water skiing, knee boarding and loves tube rides too.
Emily is improving at wake boarding, water skiing, knee boarding and she learned to surf this year, and she did great! Her & Mary and a goal to go off the slide on the houseboat 100 times, it was fun watching them.
Taylor is getting great at wake boading, solemn skiing, surfing and he has fun knee boarding and tubing too.
Other highlights were cliff jumping, paddle boarding and star gazing on late at night on the houseboat.

We left right after church on Sunday and arrived at Lake Powell that night. We slept on the houseboat while everyone else arrived and then took off for "Last Chance Canyon" Monday morning.
We found a nice secluded spot with lots of morning and evening shade for us to enjoy. 

Lots and lots of pictures show just how much fun we had! The weather was perfect- near 100 degrees in the day and it cooled off into the 60's at night. 

Little James was the best baby ever! He is so mellow and sleeps so well even on the ski boat. What a great guy he is! 

We loved spending time with family and cousins etc.. We really missed everyone who couldn't come this year. 

We really had a fabulous week! It's hard to come home, and everyone was tired and worn out.
Yay for summer!  

July fun

Pool days are so

Much fun! Lizzie is a really great swimmer. Love her.

We spent Friday afternoon and evening boating. These days are my favorite!!! All the kids are so happy, they get along well, we're all enjoying the beautiful scenery and being outside. Boating is fantastic!!! 

We brought a couple of friends this time, it was great teaching them to wakeboard, waterski, kneeboard etc... 

It was a gorgeous evening and a perfect night!! We're excited for lake Powell next week.

July!

July is here so soon!! I think June went by so quickly!! I hate how the summer flies by. We spent a couple afternoons at the pool this week. It's all of our favorite spots to be when it's a hot afternoon.

Isaac taught Emily and her friends diving lessons. He's a great diver! Lizzie conquered the high dive again, and started learning how to dive. Yay for swimming!! 

Thursday we took the plunge and went to lagoon for the day. It was a terrific day to spend at Lagoon. The weather was not too hot, and it even rained for a little while. All of the kids LOVED it!! Lizzie kept saying "this is the best day of my 

We went with Brett and Teresa, and all their kids, Marc & Nat's cute kids as well as some of the Challis's. It was great to have a big group, so we could break up and everyone can do different rides when they wanted. 

Emily & Isaac loved the big roller coasters. And Lizzie was tall enough to go on most of the big rides. She was very brave and was really good about trying all the new rides. What a fun, but exhausting day!

It was nice to do the two roller coasters where you get wet, and felt really good to cool off in the late afternoon.

Saturday we headed to Provo, for the big fourth of July Hawkins party. We had dinner, Talent show, visiting with cousins, and then watched the fireworks at the Forsyths yard.

We all love this party!! It's a great way to celebrate the 4th of July!! 🇱🇷🇱🇷

Grandma & Grandpa Shields entered the MTC this week. They only stay for a few days before flying to Canada! I guess it's official now, they had badges and everything. They will fly to Canada on Tuesday. We are sad to see them go, but they will be wonderful serving the people of Toronto. 

Joey & Tank, our cute pets hanging out in the backyard. 

Lizzie had fun at a little neighborhood summer camp this week. She played hard with all her friends. 

We spent a couple of afternoons at the pool, it's out favorite way to spend a hot day. Lizzie is the best little swimmer! I love how confident she is in the water. 

Friday afternoon Danny got off work early and we headed to Rockport Reservoir to spend the afternoon boating. It was super fun and we all love being on the boat. It was pretty windy and the water got choppy in the evening but everyone had a good time. 

We LOVE summer! 

June is busy

The last week or so have been really busy with lots of family events. Grandma and grandpa Shields are leaving to get ready to go on a mission to Toronto Canada. So we've had tons and tons of family fun.

The extended Shields family reunion was at Timp Lodge this year. We spent days enjoying the beautiful mountains hiking, playing games, and spending time with family.

The reunion started with a fun afternoon at flow rider. It's an indoor surf pool. Everyone loved spending time there, it was such a fun place! 

The weekend before we had a fun day of boating, it was a beautiful day to be outside, and we always love boating.

Then Friday was family pictures taken by a friend Brandon, at the Bonneville Glenn. All the kids did really well and were very cooperative. It was fun to have everyone together and get some family pictures for grandma and grandpa leave. 

Friday afternoon, grandma and grandpa were set apart to be mission president in the Toronto,  Canada Misdion. 

M. Russell Ballard was the apostle that set them apart. It was a really neat experience, and we all enjoyed spending time there together. 

With all the cousins and family in town, we had a fun day at the splash pad. It's  always  fun to get outside and spend time together.

Earlier in the week we had a fun day down at grandpa's office. He was celebrating working at that law firm for 38 years.

We love summer!!

Summer is in full swing- sleeping in, relaxing days, afternoons at the pool, endless popsicles, BBQ's, swimming lessons, tennis, playing at the park, night games, fun with friends & cousins are our favorite things about summer! 

Love this girl! Emily is growing up too fast, she's so cute, helpful & sweet. 

She's the best! 

We had a fun afternoons with cousins at a great pool in South Jordan! It had a few water slides and we all had a blast! Lizzie even did the hard swim test to be able to go in the slides alone. She's really turning into a great swimmer for a 5 year old.

Cute little James, he's such a happy baby! He loves the water. 

I love his little smile, and his chubby face. 

Isaac is a lot of fun to be around! He is so helpful with Lizzie and really a hard worker. He's got a great sense of humor too. He's really into earning money right now and will do anything for $1.00. I love 8 year olds! 

Emily and her cute friends opened a lemonade/sweet stand in our neighborhood. They sale drinks, cookies, pretzels, homemade suckers, cupcakes, popcorn etc.... They have hatching g shirts, aprons etc... This was a lot if work, but they did it and had a great day. They earned quite a bit of money too. She was thrilled!! 

Lizzie has been so tired after all her playing & swimming etc... She is exhausted by 7:00 pm. So I've been trying to get her to bed earlier, so she's not too tired. Poor girl is just wiped out!! 

These two being goofy at bedtime.

They're both growing up too fast, I wish I could freeze time right now. Their ages are a lot of fun!