Peacock Postings 2013

Two weekends ago we headed down to Castle Valley so that we could be honor Vittoria on what would have been her 9th birthday.
First stop-- SCOFIELD! We were so glad to go to the cabin. I use to go so often growing up... it was almost as much home as my actual home was.
We were able to ride the horses, Tianna got to ride one all by herself (with a lead rope of course), go on a long 4-wheeler ride looking for said horses, play with Grandpa Neil (and teach Adelia to say grandpa!) and later that afternoon we also got to spend time with James, Val, Jacomo, and Val's parents, Anna and Guilio.
Saturday night we went down to my parents house and made a little trip over to Luke's family on Sunday.
Monday was a hard day for the family.  We cannot believe it's been a year(on the 16th) since Vittoria returned to Heavenly Father. Those dark days in the hospital, the viewing and funeral, the grave.......... it all seems like a bad dream. When all the cousins are together playing we half expect Vittoria to run up along-side all of the group too.  Our heats still break for the sadness of her parent's.  We are just so grateful to have the Gospel and the knowledge that she is in Heavenly Father's arms and that we WILL see her again.  How truly difficult this would be for everyone without that to hold on to.
It was a special time at her grave with the family.  There was a balloon release at 5:46 pm-- the time of her birth.  It was beautiful to watch the purple balloons float up to heaven for the birthday girl to enjoy.  Each balloon had a message written to Vittoria from her family and friends.
When her parents were there on the 16th, they were surprised to see her grave-stone was in place... it was their special birthday gift to their sweet angel.  It is so beautiful and just perfect for her.

The day arrived.......... Tianna is now an offical pre-schooler! It's crazy my baby girl can be that old! I know it's very cliche' but really, it feels like I just had her!
Her first day was Friday, August 20th.  I'm so glad she actually could go on the first day... luckily her bout with the flew was nothing more than an occasional stomach cramp on Thursday.
She was so excited to start school...but she keeps calling it "Kindygarten" instead of pre-school.  Come on! don't grow up any faster than you already are!

So, that fun pool time we had as a family? I don't know for sure, but I'm thinkin' that is where we contracted ONE MEAN UGLY stomach bug.  Poor Adelia... she didn't keep anything down for 48 hours. By the time she was feeling a bit better, Luke had caught it and broke his nearly 6 year no-vomiting streak.
That happened to be the day our guests came (who were fully forewarned about the illness we had at our house) came.  Luke's mom and sister, Monica, and her 2 boys, came to our house for a quick trip.  They came so that I could host a Beaded Watch Party.
The party got relocated to the church due to well, you can guess, but it was still very successful! They sold 12 watch faces and 22 bands!  YOU can host a party too!  http://pbandjsbeadsandthings.webstarts.com/index.html

We loved having our house guests....... and sorry we shared our flu. : ( By the time Thursday morning rolled around both Tianna and I had traces of the nastiness.  Thankfully, we are all better now.......well, mostly.

The weekend after our train excursions we were able to let Daddy have some fun too.  He had gotten some extra hours in at work while we were away, so he had half of Friday off.  FUN FOR US!
We went swimming
Saturday we let Tianna go on 3 of the rides (since she is 3).  Holy Smokes it was expensive for a full on ride pass....So 3 it was. She chose the little car ride, the roller coaster, and the carousel. She HAD to ride the horse.
Luke may not have "throwed out his arm, but he won her that teddy bear."  Actually, it was a little stuffed pig and he didn't have to try too hard, but since Adelia couldn't ride anything, she got the little prize Luke won at the dart game.

The second week of August was a Frandsen Boy's Outing to the Uintah's so the girl's in the family had an outing of their own.  Unfortunately, Luke was not able to go with the boys. He had used up his time off at work and couldn't get another week off.... but being the nice wife that I am, I still went and played.
We met up on Monday and went to Heber.  We stayed in a hotel, swam, and carted our large gaggle of girls around (11 grand daughters under 11 years old.)  Plus my Mom, my Aunt Laurel, my sister Jana, and my sister-in-laws, Tori and Joy. We missed Val, but her family from Italy was visiting so she stayed home.

On Tuesday we took a fun train ride on the Heber Creeper.  The ride was really cool.... a bit long for some of the smaller kids, but they all did so well considering it was a 3 hour ride! There was even an outlaw who came through the train car demanding money.... the kids LOVED that! They were so cute with their hands sticking up in the air, not sure if he was playing or really holding them up at gunpoint. The scenery was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the old train was really neat. We really enjoyed it!
Later that day we stopped at a park in Heber and let the girls' get their wiggles out before the ride back.  That night I stayed with my sister and her girls at my Aunt Laurel's house.... which is not in Soldier Hollow (the pics are from the train ride)
It was so fun spending time with the girls and just having a little get-away.  Thanks Wombat (mom) for such a wonderful, memorable, trip!

But we kicked it in high gear, didn't linger at anything very long, and pretty much saw ALL we wanted to see... and the very best part is, it was at the end of the day where most of the crowds were headed out and we withstood a little rain storm that really cleared things out!   All in all, I'd say that is the perfect way to DO DA ZOO!