The Mortensen Family: July 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Dear Amy...

Please read this around April/May of next year...before you start planning for the summer. Don't and I repeat DO NOT make a summer calendar! Enjoy life as it comes and be free to do whatever you feel like doing. DO NOT join two summer reading programs! DO NOT go on vacation the week before school starts! You won't even be done with laundry before heading off to another school year. DO NOT try to do too much...it all sounds fun...but so is staying home! DO go to the beach at least once a week. DO get up early or stay up late and sit on the porch enjoying the fresh air. DO let the kids pick out ONE fun thing to do each week. DO a lot of playdates...because the kids can't ever get enough. DO go on walks in the evenings with Todd. Trust me on these things. Follow this advise and you will have a happy summer!

Love,
Amy

Summer Shananigans

Reading with Great Grandma

Seeing "Joseph" at the Pantageous

Shooting BB Guns at Bass Pro Shops

Picking and canning boysenberry jam

California Science Center

Yummy ice cream sandwiches

Swim lessons...they passed level 4

Backyard cookout at Grandma's house

Sigler Park Splash Pad

Celebrating Grandma's birthday...at the beach!

Celebrating our 14th anniversary at a Bed and Breakfast in Temecula.

Crafting with Grandma

Celebrated The Fourth with Uncle Mark in Irvine

Visit the Beachhouse with Blakeslie, Mazie, Dax and Chandler

Playing Pokemon...A LOT!!

Beach cookout

Splash Kingdom

Family Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Cooper

The newest addition to our family...Cooper
Born on June 4, 2014
Favorite things to do: bark at Tucker to try to get him to play, bite and swat at Tucker's tail, whine and/or bark until someone plays with him

Soon to be best friends

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Temples

One of our family goals this year is to visit 7 temples as a family. Well we have 5 done!

Salt Lake Temple

Mesa Temple

L.A. Temple

Provo Temple

Mount Timpanogos Temple

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Summer Vacation 2014

This was Todd's year to do summer vacation with his family. So off we went to Cousin's Camp.

We stopped at Cedar Breaks on the way to our cabin.

We rented a big cabin in Brianhead for the 27 of us. It was perfect.

Out the back door was a large mountain that the kids named Mortensen Mountain.

And out the front door was an area with a small creek (just big enough to get the kids' shoes muddy) and lots of land for the kids to build Kidtopia. Complete with a jail, trading post, and teepee.

One day we went to explore the Mammoth Lava Caves. It was my first time spelunking...what an adventure!

Then we headed to a river for an epic water fight.

The next day was a fishing adventure. Carson and Wyatt both caught fish on Todd's fly rod. Emma looks more like she's lassoing a cow than fly fishing, but she still had fun. And Owen was happy just to put his hook in the water!

The third day we went to Zion National Park for the day. The men and older kids all got permits and did The Subway (taking a little longer because of Maralee's fateful jump) while the rest of us fought for parking, hiked to Emerald Pools (Krista left her mark on the trail) and had ice cream at the lodge.

The kids had a great time collecting more Junior Ranger badges. They got them from Cedar Breaks, Zion, and Mount Timpanogos.

Our evenings were filled with a 70th birthday party for Grandma Paula complete with a Mortensen style pinata (kids watch out!), Minute to Win It games, Awkward Family Photos,a gift exchange, and the coolest (and closest) thunderstorm I've ever seen.