Summer Vacation in Utah...Continued

We had to see the T-Rex before we left Thanksgiving Point.

After the Dinosaur Museum Rick took the boys to Cabela's. They saw all sorts of things from the fish tanks to all the animals on the rocks. It was so much fun to be able to see Kathy and her boys. We miss them so much and wish that we could have spent more time with them.

Next we headed up to Mendon to see the Gudmundson family. We spent a whole day shopping the first day. It was a lot of fun...for the girls anyways. But Rick was a very good sport. After a day of shopping, Rick needed something manly to do. So him and Jenni spent some time putting together a potato canon. It took them a while to do plus a trip into town to the hardware store but it was a success. We shot the potatoes straight up into the air and they went so high we had a hard time seeing where they were coming down.

The next day was Pioneer Day and Mendon Day. There was lots of things to do. In the morning there was a 5K that my dad and sisters did. Then there was a book sale, a parade, a cooking contest and loads of other things. Then that night after a game of human battleship there was a huge waterfight between the cousins. Needless to say, Rick's team won. Hands down, dispite what rumors you may hear from Shawn and Jason. After the waterfight there was a fireworks display. We were concerned about Madi and her ears because the fireworks were being shot off about two blocks away. But Madi loves them! She was in awe over them and didn't even flinch when they would go off.

While we were there Jenni had her birthday. Since we were going to be flying out on her actual birthday we decided to celebrate it a few days early. There was a little pie fight between Jenni, mom and dad. (No idea how that happened) And no, I didn't push Jenni's head in the pie when she wasn't looking...or maybe I did. But at least dad got the pie in the face because she thought it was him. Madi also enjoyed trying pie. I think it's a new favorite.

Monday we went up to Tony Grove for some fishing. If you look really close at the back ground you will see the thunderstorm moving in. Rick and I got caught out on the lake during that. It was a down pour and we almost got rained out. But after a while it eased up and Rick and Sarah had so much success fishing afterwards.

It's a good thing we stayed for more fishing after the storm.

The Gudmundson tradition: Kong cones at Macey's.

We took Madi to Willow Zoo while were in Logan. She loved all the animals!

But the birds were by far her favorite.

We had a lot of fun while we were in Utah. That was our first real vacation in over two years and it was wonderful to be able to finally do it. While we were out there Madi had lots of firsts. She had her first plane ride, she got her first two teeth, she started crawling on all fours, she pulled herself into a standing position, she started saying mama and dada and associated the words with me and Rick. We are happy to be home but sad we had to leave everyone. We look forward to the next time we can go out and visit. We miss you and love you all!

Summer Vacation in Utah

It was a blast! We did so much while we were out there and took so many pictures. I will probably have to do this in two posts so I can get it all on there. I will try and make it as short as I can but it is still going to be long. We flew into Salt Lake on the 18th. Madi was a jewel on the plane. He ears didn't bother her one bit and she either played or slept most of the time. It was a huge blessing for her and for us. One of the first things we did was spend a few days with Rick's sister Kathy and her family. Her boys wanted us to play baseball with them because there baseball season had just ended. And let me tell ya, those boys are hardcore. Tyler and Luke both struck their uncle Rick out. Good Job! Here is a picture of Rick being struck out. You can see the ball right behind him as he tried for a grand slam. Better luck next time Rick.

The boys had so much fun playing with their uncle Rick. I even ran a few races with them but with all the energy those kids have it was hard to keep up after a while.

Madi loved being with her cousins. Her favorite part was being outside watching them run around.

The next morning we went to Deer Creek. We didn't have tons of success but Rick was able to pull in a bass before we left.

After fishing we stopped into Macey's for their famous Kong cones. The kid's eyes were so big when they saw the size of their ice cream cone.

That night Rick and I had dinner with some of our friends. It was so good to see them after two years.

The next morning Kathy took us to the Payson Pool. It was Madi's first time at the pool so she was a little nervous at first, but it didn't take long before she didn't want to leave the water. She splashed every kid that went by and when she got splashed she would just start doing raspberries and then start laughing.

It was so much fun to go swimming. We were all worn out by the time we were done, but it was worth it. Madi fell asleep pretty fast after all the fun in the sun. She made it to the towels for a bottle and didn't even get very many sips in before she was out.

After the pool and a little nap, Rick wanted to take the boys to Redmond Lake for some pike fishing. We didn't catch any pike, but he did catch this pretty big cat fish. We weren't able to stay as long as we had hoped because there was a pretty crazy lightening storm.

The next morning the boys showed us their skills on their dirt bikes. I am scared of motorcycles and dirt bikes but these boys showed no fear. We didn't get a chance to see them ride on the track but they do all the crazy jumps and turns and stuff. They are very good with those bikes so it was a treat to be able to see them ride.

Then we headed up to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum. Uncle Rick bought the boys a fossil to carve out of the rock and here they are proudly displaying their newly carved fish fossil.

Memorial Day Weekend

We took a much needed trip up to Pennsylvania to celebrate Memorial Day. While we were up there Madi was given some dolls that Rick's pappy wanted her to have that belonged to grandma. Madi loved the dolls! Raggedie Ann and Andy became her crib buddies and she plays with them everyday. Yesterday I found her asleep on the living room floor with her arm around Andy's neck. She loves to just sit and talk to them. It is so sweet!

We went to a hunting/fishing club that we are members of to do a little fishing. We decided to take Madi and break her in for fishing as early as possible. Even with an umbrella and shade we still managed to get sunburned, even Madi. But she was a trooper and stayed out with us for quite a while. It was a lot of fun. We even had some success. We caught sunfish, bass, and perch.

I took this right before Rick hooked a fish, but he lost it because he was trying to smile for the camera. But not soon after he caught another one.

This is my catch of the day. It is little but I finally caught it. I was losing worms right, left, and center all day. The fish would snatch it off and I would miss them. But I finally got one.

Madi had a good day but was a little unsure about the whole fish thing. She couldn't quite figure out what it was and what the point of it was. She wanted to touch it but in the end decided she didn't want it any closer then arm's length. Maybe in a little while she will be pulling in fish of her own. It was a great weekend and very relaxing. Rick's dad even reached a goal. He shot his very first turkey. Congrates to everyone and their successful hunting/fishing weekend. We look forward to some more fishing this summer.

Enjoying Fall

This week Rick and I both had Tuesday off so we decided to go for a drive. We drove down to Fredricksburg which is about an hour away. We went to a spot that Rick likes to go fishing at to get away from the city and enjoy the fall colors and weather. We stopped at the Rappahannock River to take a few pictures.


Rick was scouting around in the water for some minnos to catch but found something even cooler. This is a baby hatchling turtle the size of his thumb nail. It is so tiny! And of course it was added to our collection of pets after a ride home in a water bottle.

And for those of you who are dying to see pictures of my baby belly, here you go. I have decided that I hate having my picture taken when I'm pregnant. I look like a balloon! I know that it is mostly baby but just looking at the massive bumb in my middle is a little sickening. You know how women are, always trying to be little in that area. But none the less, here you go. This is at about 33 weeks of pregnancy.

Rick's Very Successful Fishing Trip

Rick went fishing this Monday while I was at work since it was his day off. He went to a place near Fredericksburg, VA which is about an hour away from where we live. Ever since we have moved here from Utah, he hasn't had very much luck fishing. He has caught a few fish here and there but he has never had a "great fishing day". Monday, however, there was finally a break in the fishing storm. I called him on my lunch break around 2:00 to see how the day was going and to see if he was having any luck. He told me that he had already caught 23 fish that morning! He was so excited! He had also caught 2 turtles on his line as well. Which was a first for him. He said that he had only kept one so far since the other ones were a little small but he was going to keep fishing to see if he could catch some bigger ones to bring home for dinner. By the end of the night he had caught 28 fish and brought 6 of them home to eat and also a surprise. He had also caught 4 baby turtles and put them in his tackle box. He wants to keep two and give the other two to our niece and nephew. The turtles are about 2-6 inches across their shell and they are so cute. Right now they are taking up residency in our bathroom in a plastic tub until we can get an aquarium to put them in and give the other two away. It is always fun to see how happy and excited Rick gets when he has a good day fishing. I am glad that he was finally able to convince those sneeky fish to bite!

Busy Month

So this month has been very busy for us. School has been demanding for Rick and so has his job search. He has applied at several places around here in Utah like Saratoga Springs, Provo, and Farmington. He has also applied for one out in Rifle, Colorado which is about 4 hours away from Provo. So now we are playing the waiting game. Hopefully we will have good news in a few weeks about where we are going to be living in a few months.

We have been able to have some fun though. We went bowling with my friend Katie and her son Avery, Rick went shooting, and we also took my sister Jenni ice fishing. We had fun ice fishing but it had it's consequences. My face got so sunburned that it swelled up so big that I couldn't see. We had to spend the entire morning in the instacare clinic on Sunday because we were worried this wasn't normal. But the doctor said that it does happen once in a while and gave me some medicine and within about 2-4 days i was back to normal. But we still had a great month.

Rick's Albino

One of Rick's dreams has always been to catch an albino trout. While we were at Tony's Grove he was finally able to catch his very first one. It is such a cool fish! He also caught this little snake. He loves to catch little critters as well as fish.