July: A Recap

K spent the 4th of July selling lemonade outside a local pool. 

M and K had a daddy-daughter camp out. I think M is still trying to catch up on his sleep, but K had a great time.

We headed back to AZ for S's birthday.

As the girls get older, they're learning to have more fun on the lake.

We found the perfect little lagoon, with lots of sand and a nice place to anchor the boat.

K is becoming quite the swimmer. 

L has also learned how to relax on the lake.

We also spent a day visiting Grandma A. The girls loved looking after the sheep and enjoyed experiencing some life on the rez.

We also made a stop up to UT; and visited some of M's childhood friends.

It's always fun to reconnect, and to see our children play together.

June Activities

Here begins our attempt to get caught up with our blog:

June began with a trip to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana. 

K enjoyed the rides...

But liked the water park even more.

We also took a trip to Columbus, IN, which features some unique architecture and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. Perfect for lunch.

One of M's students owns several horses; and on a warm June afternoon she spent several hours teaching K how to ride.

We also spent a couple of days in Nauvoo, IL. We saw several sites, including the temple,

The Smith's first home in Nauvoo,

the Mississippi River,

and the Smith family graveyard.

We spent the month exploring our new home state and neighboring states as well. 

Best Friends

Some of the things that K has said about L: "Mom, L and I are best friends."

"Today I cried at school because I miss her."

"I'm worried she'll get married someday and move far away."

Conversations and pictures like these are priceless and worth noting because I know days like this won't always remain.

Our Marriage Hits the Double Digits

This year we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary in February. For the past five years, we decided to save up the money we'd normally spend on gifts for our anniversaries, birthdays and Christmases in lure of a big ten-year anniversary trip. 

Since M has traveled to many more places than S, M graciously allowed S to pick the destination. And what better place to celebrate our decade of love than Paris?

We booked our week long trip right before the summer began and left in the middle of May. Grandma and Grandpa G graciously offered to fly out to the Midwest to watch K and L while we were away.

Our dearest friends D and L flew to Paris from the Mountain West to meet us for a fun filled week of waiting in long Parisian museum lines...

and wandering around the City of Love.

We were able to fit in three full days of sights, shopping, and delicious French food.

D and L were perfect travel companions. They were also celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary. 

On the fourth day we traveled by rail to Switzerland. 

We spent the next three days exploring the Swiss Alps...

and the lovely lakes around Lucerne and Zurich. 

While traveling around Europe was great, we missed our daughters K and L. A week was long enough to satisfy our traveling itch for another ten years.