The Campout

Brandon and the 3 older kids went on a camp out last Thurs-Saturday with Brandon's family. Spencer and I stayed home for Thursday and part of Friday and then went to the "Annual Girl's Weekend" with my sisters and mom where we scrapbooked my Mom's 2 Hawiian vacations. Let's just say the house was very quiet before I left. I don't think I realized how loud our house is. That said, one day was great to be in practical solitude and it was nice to leave for company.

Meanwhile, Brandon and the kids had to hunt for a campground -- they got the last one, and then spent much of the weekend in the rain. And to prove that it wasn't camping with my family, they actually brought many of the treats home that they took.

This was breakfast on Saturday morning. Notice all the clothes trying to dry. This was taken before it started to snow. Needless to say they picked up and left.

Other highlights:

Andrew falling in the Provo River

Andrew catching a fish, after which he exclaimed: "I LOVE FISHING!"

Karissa loves catching fish

As long as she doesn't have to do anything with them.
Our cousin Brayden in the Provo river. He came up with Grandma ahead of his family.

Andrew at the River

A scenic view taken by Brandon:

Not a lot of photos were taken of Alexis since she was glued to Brandon most of the time. She has decided she is not a big fan of outhouses and I think she kind of wishes she had waited to be potty trained until the end of August. By the time they left Saturday morning she was saying over and over, "I'm cold and I want to go home!"

That said, they all told me how much fun they had and want to go camping and fishing (especially Andrew) soon -- as long as it doesn't rain.

Family Vacation

Every year we have tried to go on some sort of family vacation, some have been grand -- the beach, Arizona, driving cross country. Others not so -- visiting family. With the timing of the baby we realized we couldn't do too much of a vacation or travel too far se we settled for Salt Lake. Which for our kids was a treat.

We started off by picking up Brandon's mom and going to IKEA where we had a wonderful time and Brandon got lost in the frame section. He wasn't very impressed until we arrived there and he has decided it is his new favorite store -- after the photo store of course. That evening we had planned on attending a Bees Baseball game, but the weather was not very cooperative so we went to UP! instead. We were thoroughly entertained and all agreed we need to get the movie. We then stayed in a hotel -- the real treat of the trip -- and went swimming. Yes, even I went, notice there are no photos. Saturday was the real treat. We started at the Hogle Zoo

where the kids went "APE" over the animals.

And then went to the Clark Planetarium.

Alexis on the Mars "surface"

They had a display on Rockets sponsered by Thiokol which makes the rocket boosters for the shuttle. Andrew loved this!

This is the pose he had for all 4 video presentations. At one point he sat down but was glued to the screen the whole time.

We (probably just Brandon, Karissa, & Andrew) are going to try to go to a test firing later this summer.

Then we topped it off by going to Temple Square, which I must admit should have been our first stop not our last since the kids and parents were exhausted.

Karissa on the Reflecting pool

This is my favorite photo Brandon took that day. We are currently deciding where to have it hang.

On the way home we stopped at Target to return some things -- oh, to have a Target in Cache Valley. Saturday was the Air Show at Hill Air Force Base. We wanted to try to go but ran out of time. Luckily, we stopped at a store close to the base and we got to watch a little of it from the parking lot. We were all impressed.

Ireland & Scotland

Back in January we found out that Brandon got a paper accepted at a conference in Belfast, Ireland. Since this year is our 10-year Anniversary (June 12) we decided it would be a perfect anniversary trip -- especially since work was paying 1/2. It was cheapest to fly into Edinburgh, Scotland and fly out of Dublin, Ireland so we got to see a bit of the countryside. Our mom's took turns with the kids, and to help them feel like they were on the trip with us, we got them some stuffed animals. Here they are "waiting" to get on the plane to go to Scotland on Thursday.

"Dub" the dog (Dublin), "Bel" the bear (Belfast), "Edie" the bear (Edinburgh)

We arrived on Friday morning on got right to sight seeing. This was what we saw when we were walking up to "The Royal Mile" in Edinburgh, our new favorite European city (granted our selection is limited).

At the top of the hill on the left is Edinburgh Castle, Down on the right is the national museaum where we saw paintings by Renoir, Monet, Cezanne, etc. It was amazing.

The Royal Mile

Brandon in a Phone Booth -- we had to have this shot!


Closer up view of Edinburgh Castle


Natalie at the Entrance to Edinburgh Castle


Stained Glass window inside St. Giles Cathedral along the Royal Mile


Ceiling of "Thistle Chapel" inside St. Giles Cathedral I have more picture of this amazing room in my album, the link is below.


Some gates inside St. Giles Cathedral. I love them in sepia tone.

On Saturday we took a tour of part of Scotland, including "The Bonny Bonny banks of Loch Lomand"

The animals in the boat as we took a tour of Loch Lomand



Hamish the Highland Cattle and Dub They actually use his "wool" to make clothes.



Walls inside the Chapel at Sterling Castle. I loved the painting on the walls.

On Sunday we got up early and caught a train to Glasgow where we attended church in one of the 3 wards in Glasgow. It was a wonderful meeting.

This is a picture out the front window of the top of a
double-decker bus on our way from church to the train station.

We then rode a train from Glasgow to Stranrer, Scotland where we caught a ferry that took us over to Belfast. On the way we saw some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever beheld. picture at the top of the blog was taken on the train looking out at the Irish Sea. This picture was also taken from our train.

In Belfast Brandon had to attend meetings Monday & Tuesday so I spent the days shopping and paying next to nothing for just about everything. I also ate a very delicious lunch at a cute little cafe. I felt very European, not exactly sure what that means, but nonetheless, I did.

Monday evening the conference had arranged for a "Black Taxi Tour" of the Protestant and Catholic areas. This is a picture of the wall that has been built to keep the peace. They lock most of the gates at night and have cameras everywhere. They are even working on building the wall higher. I don't really understand that kind of hatred, but the tour was facinating.

Belfast City Hall (the ferris wheel is so you can get a bird'e eye view of the city)


Brandon in front of this cool building that was triangular. The picture doesn't capture it very well, but it was cool!
.

Wednesday we caught a train to Dublin and walked around that city for several hours. Our favorite stop was Trinity College. We didn't see The Book of Kells one of the oldest bibles in existance because we misuderstood and thought it was $20 each to see it. I guess we will have to see it next time.

On Thursday we flew home and got home around 11:00. We promptly delivered each child thier souvenir from the trip. Don't they look adorable.

Karissa & Belle -- a little hard to see but she is hugged right in there


Andrew with Dub

Alexis with Edie

We had a great time and if you want to see more of our picture you can check them out here.