Pirates Cove

This summer, Brad's team won "The Cup" which means that they were the best in their division. They had competitions throughout the summer and ended up winning the championship. So, we got to go on an amazing little vacation to a magical place called Pirates Cove. It is located in Boulder City, Nevada. The family that started Nu Skin built this multi-million dollar oasis. Every little nook and cranny was Pirate themed which made it so much fun! There were 3 different pools. One of them had a big slide going into it, as well as a mast that you could jump off- the highest being 48 ft. Another pool was a kiddy pool with a small slide and the third pool was a play pool with basketball hoops. To rent out Pirates Cove for one night costs $15,000 so we are very grateful for the opportunity that we had to go. Pictures don't really do this place justice, so it was fun to see it in person. We got there on Wednesday night and stayed till Saturday morning. We basically just swam and relaxed all day, every day. It was the best vacation! Ps. Sorry for all the pictures, but this place was just too magical to not post any of these! 

Poor quality photo- but this was taken the first night we got there and the place looked so cool at night, all lit up. 

Our bedroom and bathroom

I'm not sure if we had enough snacks...

I love these two girlies!

Eating breakfast

The extra large teeter totter that Brad and I loved riding.

Jumping off the mast

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. ;)

Hot Tub

Free Ice-cream and slurpees 24/7. The best!

Brad and Nick playing basketball

We, unfortunately, saw two of these nasty things during our stay. 

The boys watching the USU football game

All of the girls

On the way home, we got to stop by to see our friends Jake and Kiera in Beaver and meet their adorable boy, McGraw. We sure have missed them! 

September

September was a busy, busy month full of fun and exciting things! On Labor Day, we had planned on going on a hike in the morning, but since it was raining when we woke up, we had to opt out. We had a yummy breakfast out on the patio while it rained. Later, we went bowling, and then had the Bundy's, Skeen's, Peterson's, and Searle's over for a cookout and beach volleyball.

A beautiful sunset and a rainbow. I love Cache Valley!

Since Brad had never been to the wind caves, we decided another hike was in order. We invited Leinani and Michael to join us this time and we had a blast!

We went up to the cabin one weekend for Ann's birthday. We had fun enjoying Brad's new toy (a 4-wheeler) even though it did rain on us everytime we went on a ride. It was the joke of the whole weedend that Brad and I couldn't go on a ride, or else it would start to rain. haha We also had fun visiting and playing games inside with the family, and organizing the cabin a little. 

We helped my parents with some yard work one Monday night. They are doing a lot of work to their front yard and it is going to look so good once it is done!

While nannying the Hess', I've tried to do a lot of fun things with the kids outside while the weather is still warm! In order: Going to the zoo, playing at the park, jumping on my parents tramp, feeding the ducks, going on lots of walks (this one was in the tunnel at first dam), drawing with sidewalk chalk, visiting twin boys that live down the street that just so happen to be four and have red hair just like Ruby and Lucy, celebrating the twins birthday, a little photo shoot at the park, painting on rocks, playing hopscotch, and wrestling with their dog Sophie. 

The day finally arrived that we could move into our house!! We spend many many hours during the week painting and cleaning it to get ready to move in. Mom came to help a few times, and Ann came all day on Friday which was a huge help! Bryce also came that night to help put in new baseboards. 

On Saturday, we went to Brooke's to load everything up. We borrowed Bryce's snowmobile trailer so it was nice to be able to put all of our stuff in there. We got home and unloaded, had some pizza, then mom helped me unpack the kitchen. We had a lot of people helping us, so it all went very quick. Brad and I were passed out on the couch before we could do anything else! Thanks to everyone that helped in any way! Before and after pictures will come later! ;)

We got to go on an amazing little trip to a place called Pirates Cove. It was seriously magical- so it will be a post all on it's own! ;) But here is a sneak peek.. 

August

Beautiful Logan sunsets!

Had fun babysitting these cute kids after a long summer away from them. The twins grew up a lot while I was gone, and I even got Malachi to say my name!

Went on a few bike rides with my parents in the evening

 I got to go to Lagoon with Lindsey, Emma, Lydia, and Kendyl and Milly (Lindsey's nieces who were visiting from Washington). We had fun going on the rides, and playing at the water park.

I was babysitting the Hess' on the night that Carol asked us if we could come help her with some things in her classroom. I decided to bring the kids along so that they could play with Emma and Lydia at the playground, they had a great time! 

During the summer, the Hess' offered me a nanny job that would take the place of All About Kids. I decided to quit after working there for almost 5 years! Now, I am nannying for them every afternoon since Charlie is in first grade and can no longer go to the daycare. I pick him up from school, take him home to do some homework and then go pick up the girls from daycare and hang out with them until their parents get home around 6. I enjoy it much more than the daycare because of situations like this: My friend, Lindsey (who moved to Washington in the spring) called to invite me to go to Aggie ice-cream with her and the Galvins since she was in town. So, I was able to take the 3 kids and go, something I would not have been able to do if I worked at the daycare.

Kylee came for a very short weekend for her friend's wedding. She got here late Thursday night, and left Sunday evening. We were able to do some fun things while she was here... 

We went on a hike to the windcaves on Saturday morning. 

And had tin-foil dinners in the canyon with the Bundy's that night. 

We sat in the hot tub

And then had some family over for dinner on Sunday. Andy and Chelsea were in town, so they, the Bundy's and Grandma came. I knew that Brad was on his way home that day, but I didn't think he would be home until late.. so I was very excited when he walked in while we were eating dinner. After dinner, we played a few games before Dad and Kylee had to leave for the airport. 

We all went on a bike ride around campus and then played on the Hillcrest playground. Brad stayed home to take a nap since he stayed up all night driving home. 

 We enjoyed going to dinner with the Browns. We went to Hu Hot and it was very yummy! 

Last Week of Texas

Amarillo consisted of going to lots of antique stores, trying on hats and imagining what it would have been like to live back in the days. It was down to us three girls (Meghan, Krista, and I) so we tried to do some fun things to stay busy and to not get too bored.  

We went to lunch at Logan's Roadhouse. We thought it was pretty funny that there is a Logan's Roadhouse in Texas, and a Texas Roadhouse in Logan (although Texas does have a Texas Roadhouse as well) They were almost identical, right down to the peanuts and amazing rolls! We were looking for a place to get ice-cream after and we found Cowboy Gelato. We ended up going there again for lunch 2 other times. It was just a cute little local place and it sure was yummy. 

We decided to go to Palo Duro again with our friends Krista and Clayton. (we came here when we were in Amarillo two summers ago) We found a little cave that we climbed up into. It was a fun little activity for something different to do. 

We found this fun little trail that was really close to our hotel. Every few feet, there would be a couple of the same kind of trees, and then a sign saying what kind of tree they were. So before we got to the sign, we would try to guess what kind they were. There was also a gazebo in the middle of it.   

The original plan was for me to follow Krista and Clayton home on August 12th. Well, they decided to go home about a week early, and I still wanted to go with them so that I would have someone to follow and I knew I would be bored without Krista there. So with one days notice, we packed up all of our things and left on August 6th. I followed them to Fort Collins, and then they left to finish the rest of the drive. I spent 3 nights with Kylee and Brody. We went for a bike ride, watched Planet Earth, I helped Kylee with a few projects she was working on in her bathroom, and I went with her to a park with the kids she nannies and to their house after to hang out. It was so fun to be able to see and hang out with them and I'm so glad they let me stay for so long!

 The drive back to Utah was very boring, but I was happy as could be.. first when I saw Little America, then the sign coming into Utah, and then Bear Lake.. as I knew I was getting closer and closer to finally being home!

 I kept me coming home early a secret to my family, so when I got into Logan, I went to Mikell's house to see her and cute Paizley and so I could have her help me surprise my family. She had a big box, so we put ribbon on it. I sat on my parents front porch, then she put the box on top of me, rang the doorbell and ran. My mom answered the door and was VERY surprised when she saw me! It was so fun and I'm glad Mikell could help me.