Emmett Triathlon 2008

Tol participated in his 2nd Triathlon on Saturday with his friends, Paul Rutter, Nathan Williams, and Alec Arhets.

Pre-Race at Black Canyon Dam

Alec and Tol about to swim.

Transition from Swim to Bike

Parker sleeping on the bridge..."where is dad?"

Tol at the Finish Line

Post Race

Tol Placed 2nd in his age division.

Let's Go Home!

TWIN FALLS TEMPLE

We spent the day in Twin Falls to attend the temple open house.  It was beautiful!

While we toured the baptismal font of the temple, Taylor leaned over to Brayden and said "This must be Heavenly Father's hot tub".

Tol and Nikki

Tol, Taylor, Brayden, and Parker

Cheerful Boys

"Shoshone Falls"

The boys loved viewing the powerful waterfalls!

Camping in Cascade with the Gropp Gang

Meet the two that started this crazy group...

Les and Sherry Gropp

(nice headband, Dad. Sweet tube socks, Mom. You guys rock!!)

Freshest sushi you'll ever find! Go for it, Brayden!

Scott and Amanda with a 1/2 dozen or so kids. Super Joe on the knee board! Tol showing off to the ladies on the beach.

Guess Parker wasn't too impressed.

Taylor and Brayden lived in the water from sun-up to sun-down.

Hangin' in the water...

Hangin' on the beach...

Building sand castles...

Hangin' in the sun with great company...paradise.

Something we learned on our excursion: Adults should, at all times, be in charge of the roasting forks at the campfire. Poor Jordan...after roasting marshmallows the darn roasting fork flipped back and branded him! It was so dark, we didn't know if it left marks or not. He was just screaming that it burned. So, Geri to the rescue...Silver was sprayed on his face to stop the burning. The next morning this is what he woke up looking like. Luckily no bad burns. He was such a good sport!

Overall, it was a really fun camping trip. Lots of laughs, sharing of memories, making new memories, and lots of dirt...glad we were next to water. 

King for the Day!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Dad. Happy Birthday to you...

We celebrated Tol's birthday in Royal style. Here are the 3 silly jesters. They practiced their tricks, jokes, and story-telling all day to make this a special birthday for Dad.

The goal: Make Dad feel like "the man" on his big day!

The plan: Give Dad the Royal treatment. King for the day...or at least a few minutes.  

Jobs: Mom: the Royal cook, Taylor: head jester in charge of magic tricks, Brayden: jester in charge of incredibly funny jokes (at least for a 2nd grader), Parker: jester in charge of stunts and funny faces.

As Tol walked in the door from work he was kindly escorted to the Royal Quarters and the "Royal" robe and crown were placed upon him by the jesters.  From there the king was escorted to his throne in the backyard and served a fresh strawberry lemonade and given his favorite book to read while dinner was prepared. 

Side note about preparation of dinner: As the Royal cook was grilling the dinner (steak and shrimp kabobs) she had a little trouble. At one point she was in tears because the smoke was so bad, billowing all around her, it was burning her eyes. The King asked, "Are you alright over there. Do you need some help?" The cook was determined to do this without his help and looked over with mascara running down her face and said, "No way, I've got it handled. Relax, enjoy your entertainment." Little did she know the best entertainment of the night was watching her stumble through using the grill! It was quite entertaining for the jesters, also.

Finally, after 2 lemonade refills dinner was ready. Despite the mishaps at the grill the food was great! Steak and shrimp kabobs, green salad, homemade rolls, rice and corn on the cob...Yummy!! For dessert, what else but raspberry cream pie...Tol's favorite! 

It was a fun evening and even in my red, fuzzy robe...I think he felt like "the man" on his birthday!

Brayden's 7th Birthday

Brayden woke up to his "Birthday Couch". Some of his favorite treats and a few gifts were the first things he woke up to on his big day! This is going to be a great day! 

Camping was the theme for the day. To go along his theme for his birthday, Mom made a giant smores cake! Look at all that gooey chocolate and marshmallow...yummmmmm! 

We invited family over to celebrate. Brayden wore the traditional birthday hat while he opened his presents.

No campout is complete without a campfire and marshmallows! Parker also performed a little hoe-down dance for entertainment. 

The night ended with Taylor, Brayden, and TJ sleeping out in the backyard in the tent. 

Camping Birthday - success!