Flashback - the Family Reunion

The weekend after school ended we had a Frankman Family Reunion at Heber Valley Girls Camp.  My sister suggested the location and took care of arrangements, but brother and his wife came up with the schedule.  In addition to some good meals and visiting with cousins we rarely see, we also had several activities focusing on Family History.

Here is Tanner playing peek-a-boo with Clark.

Andrew was the only one in our family brave enough to do the giant swing.  

Tanner followed Max around most of the weekend.  Here they are, with Lexi, playing pirates.  Arrrh!

 On Saturday morning the children were divided into groups and assigned to go to a variety of family history classes.  I taught one on my Great Grandfather and Grandmother.  3 other cousins taught classes on other ancestors.  Here are pictures of the 4 groups I taught -- holding up the props that I had made regarding different aspects of my G.G.'s lives.

 

I'm so grateful for a good and kind family.  Even though I rarely see my cousins, it's always a pleasure being amongst them.  I am reminded of the importance of parenthood and family.  Good times. 

The House

After a bit of a stall with our house project, we're finally almost done.  Yeah!  They were supposed to be done before we left for our vacation, but of course that didn't happen.  They ended up finishing up the rock work while we were gone, and also extending the porch.  It was fun to pull in from our vacation and see the new place.

Before: here is the house as it looked when we bought it a couple of years ago.  When we bought the house we really didn't like the lava rock.  So it was always in our plan to refinish the outside.  We still struggle with our lawn, but seeing these pictures reminds me of how much better it looks now!  Good job, Brian, for working so hard on that.

During:  It was interesting to see the wood paneling that was beneath the siding.  You can see it here about the garage.  The rest of the house is covered with materials to adhere the stucco and rock to.

After:  So here you have the new and improved version of our house.  Yippee!  I do like it.  The lava rock is GONE.  Yeah!

Sedona Arizona Vacation

Yesterday we returned from a week long vacation in Sedona, Arizona.  The drive was about 9 hours, and the boys did great.  Phew.  They really are good little travelers.  But when we pulled in last night at 8:00 PM it sure was nice to be home!

Unfortunately, our hotel reservation was from Sunday to Sunday.  We headed our Sunday morning, stopped in Cedar City to go to Sacrament Meeting, and then continued on our way.  We stopped briefly at this Historic Navajo Bridge.

The first two days was a bit of a let-down for me -- mostly due to the heat.  I hate the heat, so why would we plan this for the first week of July?  First, because it was available and the kids were out of school.  Second, because in February I forget exactly how much I hate to sweat!  This part of Arizona is actually about the same temperature as home, so I guess it wasn't worse.

Anyway, at the end of the second day there was a nice, cool rainstorm.  We drove up to the Holy Cross Church which had spectacular views of Sedona.  This ended up being one of my favorite activities.  Short, sweet, and not too hot!

Tanner, for the first few days was wearing his blanket as Superman.   Are you familiar with the Superman/Dad art....the picture below kind of reminds me of that.

After the church, we went to check out some shops -- we didn't actually do much shopping (as is expected with 3 boys.)  They did have these cool xylophones to play with.

On Wednesday we went to "Red Rock Crossing" -- a shallow river where the kids could play.  Very nice.

That evening we went to Blazin M Ranch for a few activities, dinner, and a show.  (This was similar to Bar J Wranglers in Jackson.)  The kids really enjoyed the music.  Andrew tried the lassoing.  Tanner, unfortunately, kept having a bloody nose.  I thought it would never stop.  (Check out Tanner's "picture face" in the second picture.  Also, he seemed to think he needed to prop his leg up on most of our pictures.  ha.)

On the 4th of July, Brian, Andrew, and Eric went on an off-roading adventure with "Sid Vicious."  The boys thought that was great.  Sid told them all about the rocks, plants, and history -- and took them on some bumpy rides in the red jeep.

They don't do fireworks in dry, hot Sedona.  There was a laser light show, but we opted to avoid the crowds and stay at the resort and swim.  Swimming was definitely Eric's favorite activity.  And we all enjoyed the cool water.

Friday morning Brian, Andrew, and Eric went putting at the driving range.  It was their first time at a real golf course.  They had a good time, Eric already suggested that the go every Saturday morning.  

We were considering checking out early and heading to the Grand Canyon on Saturday.  But we decided the boys were enjoying the pool so much that we'd avoid the extra driving and just stay another day.  So Saturday morning we headed out to "Slide Rock."  We'd heard great things, and knew it would be crowded....but didn't know it would be THAT crowded.  The parking was full and cars were lining the already narrow road.  So, we turned around and headed back to town.  We took our picnic to "Mormon Hill" where the local chapel is.  It was a quiet, beautiful spot where we could enjoy a little grass.  

Sunday we drove home -- the kids did so well, we were able to drive 6 hours before stopping for lunch (with one quick stop to use the bathroom at a chapel on an Indian Reservation.)  And, when we got home.....we finally got to see the almost finished exterior of our house!  It's looking much better.

Oh, and my favorite quote of the trip comes from Eric.  We were standing outside of a bakery waiting to leave.  Eric said "I like Sedona.  It's a lot like Japan."  When I asked him why, he said something like "I don't know, I just like it."