Utah Invitational Soccer Tournament

Rachel was invited to play with another team at the tournament so she played one game with them.  Then she reffed several other games.  Tanner reffed quite a few games as well... including a couple of Adam's games.

Adam had a great tournament.  His team won all their games to make it into the finals.  And when they won, they won by a lot.  Some of the scores were 15-0, 13-0, 8-0. 

GOAL!!!

 The team they played in the finals took them by surprise by scoring 3 goals in the first 5 minutes.  Adam's team pulled it together though and scored 3 of their own goals.  The other team scored one more for the win, 4-3.  Adam's team took 2nd Place.  They did a great job and it was a fun tournament.

It's Still Really Hot!!

Since it keeps being really hot, we keep trying to find ways to cool off.  This week it was a few hours at Cowabunga Bay.  It sure felt good to get wet.

Alpine Water Slide

I have heard about this fun natural water slide in Alpine for several years now.  Yesterday we decided to find it and find it we did, along with quite a few other people.  It is pretty hidden so I am glad I found lots of blog posts explaining how to find it.  The hike from the car up a long road was a little hot.  At one point, Adam and Rebecca were ready to turn around and go back.  They weren't convinced it would be worth the hike.

Once we got there, everyone agreed that it was well worth the walk.  We had a great time and Rachel made a movie of our adventure.  Enjoy.

When it was time to hike back to the car, we soaked the towel and Adam and Rebecca used it has a tent to keep them cool.

More Things To Do in the Summertime....

CATCH BUGS!!

  We found this moth out in our back yard.  Being the daughter of a mom who collected bugs, I naturally wanted to catch it and measure it.  Too bad I don't have the equipment to spread and preserve but a picture is pretty good.  Yes, I left it alone after the pictures and this morning it was gone.  It was just a little too big to squish so I let it go free.

MAKE AN OCEAN IN A BOTTLE!!

Just add some food coloring to some water and then add oil.  We actually spent quite a bit of time watching the way the "wave" moved around in bottle.

DO OILY FIREWORKS!!

My picture isn't very good but it was pretty cool to watch, especially the first time (Adam did it about 5 or 6 times).  Just fill up a clear glass jar or pitcher with warm water.  Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a small cup and stir in food coloring.  We did several drops of several different colors.  Stir it up good so the food coloring is encapsulated by the oil.  Pour the oil into the water.  As the food coloring drops it breaks out of the oil and moves much more quickly through the water looking kind of like fireworks.

LET THE KIDS PREPARE A DELICIOUS DESSERT

What do you do in the summertime?

Happy July 4th!!

We had our traditional 4th of July neighborhood parade and breakfast hosted by our wonderful neighbors, the Michels.  It's always fun for all the kids to ride their bikes behind the fire truck!!

In the afternoon we went to the Todd Pedersen annual 4th of July Bar-B-Q.  Todd is the CEO of David's company, Vivint, and he throws a massive party every year.  It's really fun. The big curved flag in the collage below is from his house with a band playing in front of it.

Then in the evening, we went to the Stadium of Fire complements of Vivint.  Everyone got to take one friend and the show was great!!  Cirque de Soleil performed and it was amazing.  Carly Rae Jepson performed and then the headliner was Kelly Clarkson.  Both did really great and we loved seeing them perform in person.  Then there were fireworks, and more fireworks, and more fireworks.  It's always a great show!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

Jordan Lake

2 days after we got back from Lake Powell, we took off to go backpacking in the Uinta's.  David couldn't get any more time off work so I took the kids and then my brother, Roger, and my niece, Christa, went with us too.  We hiked up to Jordan Lake in the Naturalist Basin and spent 2 nights there.  It was beautiful!!  It rained a lot the first night which we weren't too happy about... until the second night when we realized that the rain had kept all the bugs away.  Rain or bugs?  We'll take the rain.

We did some fishing thanks to Roger bringing lures and showing us what to do.  He had a lot more success than we did but Rebecca managed to catch a couple and I caught one at a higher lake that he and I hiked to.  I love getting into the back country.  It is so peaceful and beautiful but it sure takes hard work to backpack in there.  I think I always forget how hard it is until I'm doing it again but I still love it!!

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Hill Family Reunion at Lake Powell

A few weeks ago, the Hill Family (Reed and Helen and their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren) went to Lake Powell.  We had a GREAT time!!  Here is a slide show that kind of captures all that we did.

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Terry and Marilyn planned it all and did a great job.  Each family was in charge of 2 meals which worked out great.  We did lunch one day and dinner another day (by the way, spaghetti for 42 people is a little difficult because that's a lot of water to boil for the noodles).  Marilyn's niece and her husband and their 8 children hosted us and they were fabulous!! They made sure everyone had lots of fun boating, skiing, wake boarding, surfing, tubing, etc.  Uncle Curtis brought down 2 jet skis which added even more fun and adventure.  I've decided I'm not a very good driver and enjoyed riding more than driving.  Rachel and Rebecca think I'm a terrible driver since we almost kissed the cliff when I let go of the accelerator and then realized I couldn't turn without it.  Yikes.  But, we didn't crash and made it back to the boat safely.

Shawna and Jeff brought Grant who spent a lot of time fishing AND catching.  Roger, Carrie, Christian (who just got back from his mission a short time ago), and Patrick flew out from West Virginia to go also.  Terry and Marilyn, Christa, Tera and BJ (and baby on the way), Chantel, Cameron, Aaron and Amanda all came for the whole time.  Nathan and Emily and their 2 cute little girls arrived on Friday to spend the day and night with us near the end.  Curtis, Irene, Jordan, Tyler and Becky came.  David, Gaylene, Tanner, Rachel, Rebecca and Adam all came too.  Jared and Tori started out with us but they left early (on Friday afternoon) to go to a wedding in LasVegas and then fly out to Uganda for 2 months.  Oh... and GRANDMA AND GRANDPA were there too!!

Grandma was a little nervous about the prospect of sleeping on a boat in the water since she's not too fond of the water but it turned out to be fine and I think they had a great time!!

Everyone got along really well and all the cousins had a super fun time together.  It was fun to see them all gathered on the top deck in the evening playing the silliest games but having so much fun together.  We had lots of together time since we all pretty much slept together too.  The boat has these big sleeping cushions that we got out at night and spread all around the deck to sleep on.  It worked out pretty well.

The Powells loved Lake Powell and plan to go again some time.  Anyone else who wants to go again, let's plan it and DO IT!!  Maybe in 2015 when Josh is home so he can go with us.