*Disclaimer* Remember, my camera is broken so all the pictures I have posted were stolen from other people. That means, I am still waiting for other people to post pictures from the other half of the family.

The annual "Treadway Treck" was held last weekend. The guys all went camping and the girls played. It seemed like a quick trip, 6 days total, 2 were in the car, but we squeezed as much as we could in. We went to a water play park, up the canyon for s'mores, shopped, out to dinner, stayed up late gabbing (EVERY NIGHT!) and ate too much and laughed a lot. Love those ladies!

On the actual 24th we had a party at the Powell side. All three of my siblings and their families were able to come - love that they are all closer now - and a few volunteer relatives. My favorite cousin Teresa and her kids were in town and came over also. I haven't seen her for about 8 years so it was awesome to be able to catch up with her, too.

The 24th is a hoiday in Utah (Pioneer Day) which is like the 4th in that you get to blow stuff up. Dad obliged with a box of fireworks and a blow-torch to light them all with. Amazingly nobody lost their fingers, noses or hair - but there were a couple of "AHHHHH" moments for us mom's.

Teresa and Diantha

Carter, Marybeth (back), Savannah and Ivy

Dad (holding a blow-torch), James and Porter's head

Suzanne, Sea (in arms), Amber (pregnant with young Padawan Jedi Yoda Blaster Solo. They're not set on a name yet but there's a suggestion for you Amber), Marybeth, Diantha and mom (Rose)

On our last day there we planned to go to Logan. We haven't been up there for ages and I realized we have no pictures of us at the Logan Temple where we were sealed. We got lunch at Papa Kelsey's YUM and headed to 1st Dam for old time sake. We ran into some friends from our Ward here in CA, ironically. How's that for a small world?!

Anyway, we met up with some old friends and had a great visit with them. Drove around Logan and remembered a million things we had forgotten, then got our pictures done. I am really excited to see them and will post when they come in.

After pictures (which were way to long for Carter) we headed to the Bluebird for some ice cream. This is a shot of all of us in the mirror. It was a great family day and we all left there feeling very blessed.

After our Logan trip we spent the night at Dee's parent's house where they put on a spectacular fireworks show for us.

We made it home safe and sound and realized while we were away our zucchini plants had gone to play. Love my garden! From the one zucchini I got 12 cups shredded zucchini! WOW! (The fork and child in the pictures are for size reference... :)

And last, but not least, if you're reading this - please drop me a comment! I'd like to know if anybody is actually reading this blog!

Happy 15th Anniversary!

4th of July/Summer Fun!

So it's been a while since I posted. There has been so much going on, I'm not even going to try to catch up right now. Instead, I'm going to tell you what has happened recently and if I get time later I'll post about earlier events.

Summer is here in full swing. Going way to fast for my taste, too. We counted up the other day and there are only 30 something days left until school starts. Bleh, not ready for that yet!

Don't mind all the junk food! That's the best part of camping, right?!

The latest and greatest thing we did was went camping. When we sat down to schedule time off the 4th of July week was the ONLY time the entire summer we had to camp for more than just one night. McKenna and I were still at girls camp (another story) so Dee grabbed the kids on a Friday, packed all the stuff and went to camp. He got our favorite camping spot (YES!) and set up camp. I really have to give him full props for this, there was only one or two things he forgot to grab and he got it all together, set it up and still had a good time with just the three younger ones. No easy task!

McKenna and I got up there Sunday morning (because I truly needed a night in my own bed), and it was such a fun experience for all of us. It was awesome after being apart for a full week to not have any distractions (TV, video games, housework, friends, etc). We were able to spend quality family time that is so precious in this busy world.

Carter had a birthday on the 3rd. We had ding-dongs with candles to celebrate and made ice cream in a bag. He got to eat a giant sucker (which he so kindly shared with everyone.) He also got a flashlight which was also a great present. He LOVED camping. Dirt, water, sleeping in a tent. Favorite things for a 3 year old!

Ellie also had a great time. She collected rocks from the river (this one was her favorite.) She rode her bike pretty much all the time. If it wasn't swimming, eating or sleeping time she was riding her bike around. She was so happy to have our family back together, too. Sweet sweet girl! She also loved to do the dishes which pretty much rocks.

Tyler was a stud. He had grown since I saw him last (only a week!) and was even funnier than before. I think hanging with his older cousins increased his sense of humor. He was looking for his glasses in my car. I asked if he found them and he said, "Nope, but I found these sweet bad boys." Nice. He was a huge help to Dee and really stepped up. He watched out for his younger siblings and helped set up camp and start fires. He did get a stomach ache from eating all the junk food the first night, hard to believe, I know.

McKenna was a trooper after a week at girls camp being willing to spend another four days camping. We were all so happy to be back together there was very little fighting. Carter was SO happy to see McKenna - I love their relationship!

These are some random pictures from the river.

Finally, 4th of July. We went to Mt. Shasta (town) for the day. They had a small town parade (bottom center) complete with firemen who knew everybody's name, people handing out Pepsi (bottling company up there), clowns on bikes and knife jugglers. After that we went to lunch and to the lake. No pictures from the lake, but WOW is that a beautiful lake! We totally red-necked it and blew up our air mattress to float on. Carter kept saying, "I like this swimming bed!" After we went to camp for a nap and back up to Mt. Shasta's golf course. The whole town goes there to watch the fireworks and it was amazing. Not so much the fireworks, but the feeling of community and the running barefoot all over the fine golf course grass! There was even a statue that was actually a guy to welcome us there (top-right).

The last picture is Carter in a bunch of sweet-pea flowers, after I dropped my camera. *Sigh* Don't think I can handle a broken camera. The trip was remarkable, though! Happy Independence Day!