pioneer weekend

This past weekend we celebrated pioneer day here in Utah. Not having grown up here, I am still getting used to this as an actual holiday. (I know I've been 12 years now but that's my excuse for not having anything festive planned!) So, we ended up doing a lot of spontaneous activities...starting with a BBQ at our neighbors' house followed by fireworks in our old stomping grounds, Cottonwood Heights.

This is Haily with a glow stick that Papa Mark gave her. When the fireworks started she ran behind my chair crying in fear (or faking, that girl went to her first fireworks show at 6 weeks old and has seen plenty in her lifetime). I did my best to ignore it which I'm sure the lady cop behind me appreciated. Julie had to rescue her.

Bentley watched the entire show halfway covering his eyes. And Charlie just walked around like this was old hat. He wasn't impressed. Although for a moment he nuzzled up to Chad and pointed into the sky while gnawing on a piece of root beer licorice.

The next day Collin and Nat invited us up to their family cabin for an overnighter. It was great to have a little getaway to the mountains. We stopped at Dairy Keen in Heber for dinner on the way up. It was delicious burgers, fries, and shakes. The kids loved the train. At the cabin the kids loved playing in the dirt, hitting baseballs, riding 4 wheelers (Charlie got one of his famous bloody noses), & seeing deer. Paige and Cooper loved the video games too. And Charlie liked the swings.

When we got home that night, we had a little Mexico reunion with the Paxtons, the Francis', and the Andersons, who couldn't go on the trip but were totally there in spirit (and in a lot of conversations). We tried our best to simulate a Mexican meal by grilling chicken and making tacos. It turned out really yummy! We shared photos and laughs. I have to post a couple more pics from Xel Ha. (the quality is not great because it's a picture of a picture)
Here I am bravely leaping from a 15 foot cliff. Don't I look like a bad A with my nose pre-plugged?! It took me a few minutes to convince myself to jump off. The most impressive part is that we had to scale the rock wall to get to the top.

The night ended with a real "cliff hanger"! Our driveway is really steep and it curves so it can be a little tricky and intimidating, especially in the dark and when there is a light on inside your car. One of our friends, who shall remain nameless for pride's sake, backed right off the cliff and stopped just in time to teeter there! We grabbed the kids out then Jon was able to pull it back up with a tow rope. Quite an adventure. And no one was injured except for "John Doe's" ego which hopefully won't have permanent effects. I felt it would have been slightly inappropriate to take pictures while they were being traumatized for life so all I have to offer is just this photo of our driveway.

The next evening we were invited over to the Chapmans house for a BBQ with Jon's childhood buddies. It was good to see everyone again and a great way to end summer break as most the kids start school tomorrow!

Look at these beauties! Paige, Kelsie, and McKenna.