Way Back Wednesday!

~Lauren Kate~

~Four months old~

Sadly...

summer days...

 ...have drifted away (time wise, not temperature wise!)

 And school days have only just begun...

Can you believe Taylor is a FRESHMAN?  That's crazy to me.  She started Seminary today.  She will go before school from 6:00-7:00 a.m. every day from here on out.  I can't believe I'm old enough to have a FRESHMAN!!!

Carter's started 7th grade!

Lauren is in 5th grade now!

We started Monday.  I wasn't ready for summer to be over.  Maybe I was dreading getting up at 5:30 a.m. everyday...can you blame me?  Now it's time to deep clean my house...I've been dreading that too!  ;)

Dinner and a Movie

 To celebrate our Anniversary, we went to the Gold Class Cinemas for dinner and a movie.  We've heard all about it...you each have your own plush recliner, pillow, & blanket and you are served dinner while you watch a movie.  We've thought it would be fun to try, but it's definitely a "special occasion" type of place (at least for us).  It lived up to all the hype!  It was very comfortable and the food was really good!

It might have been a bit too comfy as I fell asleep and missed the last 30 minutes of the movie!  :)

Best Friends Forever!

Three days after we got home from our trip, we had a very special visitor.  Taylor's best friend from Utah, Miss Leah Kelson, flew (for her first time ever & all alone) to our house to spend a few days with us!  We were all super excited to have her.  Leah is Taylor's oldest friend.  They've known each other since they were born.  They are 5 days apart.  When we lived in Utah, we had weekly play dates with the Kelson's.  Oh how I miss those!  They've loved each other since they were babies...

~Leah & Taylor at 11 months old~

toddlers...

 ~Leah & Taylor age 2~

~Leah & Taylor age 3~

and little girls...

 ~Leah & Taylor age 4~

Needless to say, it was very hard to say goodbye to the Kelson's when we moved to Texas.  Taylor & I flew back to Utah to visit the first summer after our move...

 ~Lynne, Kate, Seth, Leah, Taylor, & Annie~

~Leah & Taylor age 6~

~Halli & Lynne~

And the summer of 2007 the kids and I spent a week in Utah...

 ~Lynne, Lily, Halli, & Lauren~

 ~Taylor, Leah, & Annie~

~Taylor, Leah, Annie, Carter, Kate, Lauren, Seth, Sam, & Lily~

(All our kids...Lynne has had one more precious baby, Elizabeth, since)

But, sadly, we haven't seen the Kelson's since then.  :(  Can you believe that?  Shame on us!  Lynne & I have kept in touch but the kids really haven't seen or talked to each other in 4 years.  So, the fact that Leah even wanted to come speaks volumes about their bond.  It didn't take them long to reconnect...

 ~Leah & Taylor age 14~

We absolutely LOVED having her here!  We took her to Schlitterbahn water park...

 and to see the world's largest urban bat colony...

(Lauren loved Leah...she was so sweet to both Lauren & Carter)

But mostly we just loved having Leah around and getting to know her better.   The only thing that would have made it better is if Lynne could have come too.  We're hoping that we've started a summer tradition!  We love you Leah!!!  Thanks for coming all the way to Texas to see us.  We miss you!

P.S.  Taylor got contacts hours before picking up Leah at the airport...did you notice?   

The Trek Home...

We left Niagara Falls and headed to Sandusky, OH and spent two nights & one full day at Cedar Point amusement park.  We all LOVE roller coasters so it was a blast!  But, I hardly took any pictures...I was too busy riding the rides!  :)

We stayed at one of the park's hotel properties, the Breakers Express, (I would highly recommend it).  So, we got into the park one hour before the general public which meant we rode most of the rides before it got crowded.  (Thanks for the tip Liz!) 

Our favorite ride was  Top Thrill Dragster!  It was like nothing I've ever ridden before!  Everyone kept telling us that we needed to ride The Maverick (it was not one of the rides that we were able to ride before the park opened).  So, we waited in line for 45 minutes.  The kids got on, rode it, gave it a thumbs up (that's how they tell me if I should ride it or not cuz' I hate roller coasters that are jerky and throw you around).   Dave and I were the next up when they stopped the ride due to a severe lightening/thunder storm.  We tried to wait it out so we wouldn't lose our place in line, but the storm got too bad and they made everyone head for cover.

(The spots all over the picture are rain drops.)

 Once we realized it was not going to stop raining anytime soon, and that all the rides were pretty much shut down until the storm passed, we decided to leave the park, have an early dinner, let the kids swim, and get some much needed sleep.  Even though we left earlier than planned (4:00 p.m.), we felt like we had a fun, full day!  Getting in an hour early made all the difference! 

We got up early the next day and drove 520 miles to St. Louis, Missouri.  Our old neighbors (& dear friends), the Goodman's, moved to St. Louis several years ago (sniff, sniff).  So, we finally got to see their beautiful house and go out to dinner.  I'm still kicking myself for not taking a single picture...what was I thinking?!  Sadly, we only got to spend a couple hours together but we'll be back, don't you worry!  :)  

We then drove another 270 miles to Sedalia, Missouri where we spent the night.  Sedalia was the "big town" next to where Dave grew up.  His house/school was in a little, teeny, tiny town called Green Ridge about 11 miles from Sedalia.  But, Sedalia is where he spent most of his time.  It is a town full of memories for him and he was so excited to be back and show the kids where all of his crazy stories took place.  Although I did have to remind him to "filter" the stories as our kids aren't quite old enough to hear about all of the "fun"!  ;) 

The next day we drove to Green Ridge and showed the kids his school and his home...

Then we stopped and visited his friend, Lendell...

and Lendell's family...

After driving another 720 miles, (and a total of 4,644 miles) we finally got home in the wee hours of the morning.  We were tired but had a fantastic trip!

Niagara Falls

We left New York City and drove 400 miles to Niagara Falls, NY.  We went to dinner and then took the kids to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  We got up the next morning and went to see the Falls...

They are beautiful...

 We rode the Maid of the Mist which took us to the base of the falls.  The kids loved it...

and we got drenched!

We walked across the border to Canada and ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.  (I wouldn't recommend it...it's pretty pricey for what you get.)  The kids were so excited to be in a "different country", they could hardly contain themselves!

Several people asked us if Lauren & Carter were twins!  :)

It was a good day...we love Niagara Falls!