Northern California to visit the Bruschke Family

We decided we hadn't traveled enough this summer so five days before school started and three days after being home from So Cal we hopped back on a plane to visit our good friends the Bruschkes. We had a great time with the beautiful cool mornings and evenings. It is amazing how even after a year of not seeing each other the kids just started where they left off. It was especially fun to see Sadie and Alexa renew their memories of each other since they had the least amount of time together. I have to admit my favorite part was having someone cook for her! Especially someone that loves to cook as much as she does. The kids enjoyed the creek up the street and climbing around rock city.

I just love this picture.

I hope to take another one in 10 years of our most likely, most loyal BYU athletes :)!

Sweet Summertime

We think as parents we need to spend so much time and energy and money entertaining our kids in the summer when really all they need are the simplicities of nature. My kids can spend sun up to sun down and still not want to leave the beach. It cost us a whopping 5.00 in quarters for the meter for an entire day of fun. They loved swimming in the waves (and yes even Taylor gets in the freezing Pacific water) they boogie boarded for hours but the biggest time consumer was the digging and sorting of sand crabs. Why this gross little water bugs fascinate them is beyond me but they did and do and we had hundreds in buckets lining the camp of chairs and towels. We enjoyed the company of our friends the Jacobsens one day and Dad joined us the next. We love the beach!

Salt Lake City

After the Dibb Reunion we stayed at the Marriott in Salt Lake with Della, Tim & Kelly, Tyler & Kate and of course the kids. They all loved swimming in the pool and jumping on the hotel beds. The only down side of this stay was the night club music that was blasting t hrough the street that sounded like our room windows were wide open (which they were not). When we called the front desk to ask about a room change we were offered ear plugs?! I think the most drastic contrast was the glow of the Temple behind the blare of music at 1 am. So sad.

The next day we enjoyed a visit to the Hogle Zoo. The giraffe's were the favorite animal of the day. Shortly after the zoo the girls and I got dropped of at the airport to fly home while the boys drove the car home. Troy was being so nice offering to let me fly home after the 3000 miles we drove around Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana this summer. Ironically there was a monsoon in Arizona and after several delays and hours in the SLC airoport, we pulled into our garage a mere 5 minutes before the boys....

Plewe Family Pictures

During the Dibb Reunion we were able to squeeze in some family pictures. Wow is it difficult as I am sure many of you are aware - to take a picture with 13 kis 11 years and under. But then again Troy was just as trying with his sarcasm and smart alec smiles! I can't imagine how Della got any decent family pictures with Troy in the mix!

Clayton, Tim & Kelly, Della, Troy & Sarah, Todd & Monica, Kate, Austin & Tyler, Trevor

Taylor, Hayden

Caden, Camden, Haleigh, Kiselys

Carter, Sadie, Dimery, Thayer

Dibb Family Reunion Day 2

The second day of the reunion was full of fun. We started on the lake with paddle boats & canoes. The kids had a blast trying to race us (they lost) and splashing each other. After the lake came the challenge courses. We showed our bravery with the pole climb, walking across the beam and riding the zip line. Our Camden sweet boy was quite scared after he climbed the pole and realized how high up he was. It took a little reassurance but he finally dried his tears and kept going. Camden we are so proud of you!

After the zip lines we went to some team building activities. First was the Island passage. Basically we all needed to swing from the sinking ship to the island over the ocean of sharks. Can you see the square piece of plywood 16 of us are suppose to fit on. I think that is all I need to say about that! Next we went to two cables connected to two trees starting out close together then widening towards the end. This activity was about trust. All the kids had a cousin their ages and they all did really well. The last activity was also about teamwork. Everyone needed to walk on boards with ropes simultaneously. That was interesting with the ages ranging from 2 - 35! All and all it was a fun day! We all had a great time and appreciated all the hard work of the Dibb Clan for planning and putting it on. We'll see you in four years!

Go Sadie!
Taylor transitioning from the pole to the zip line.

Haleigh zipping on down!
My brave boy Camden!!!
Sarah showing off --look no hands :)

Struggling to stay on the "island"
Camden & Caden working on their teamwork .

Canoeing on the lake.

Haleigh & Kiselya

Taylor & Hayden

2008 Dibb Family Reunion

The Dibb family reunion started out with dinner and of course after rousing games of PIT. The Plewe's held their own with their share of yelling, pounding the table and stealing as many card trades as possible! The games even continued into the cabins after 'lights out" SSH!

Taylor, Camden and Hayden playing Great Dalmuti in the bunks!

Haleigh & Kiselya holding their own!

Hayden, Camden, Taylor & Kimberly Hall

Back off Troy your not getting my cards!

The Owlz Game GO ANGELS!!!

For those of you that may not know -- we are huge Angels fan. Well Provo is the home of one of their minor team the Owls. We were enjoyed their Dollar Wednesday family nights. Dollar tickets, dollar hotdogs, dollar popcorn, dollar soda. Oh yea we were loaded up. Taylor was at baseball camp at BYU so he didn't get to go but we cheered them on for him. Trevor and Sadie loved the mascot. Trevor (my nephew) couldn't stop looking at him - thus this head turned in all our pictures. It was a fun night. We even ran into a Dibb cousin Darin and his sons. Thanks Della and Tyler for taking us!

Summer Part 2

I decided now that all the kiddos are back in school--(yea!) that I should finally get my summer blogging finished so I can move on. I am using this blog not only to keep in touch with friends and family but also as a journaling tool. SO here is our Summer Part 2. After our BYU sports camps our annual visit to Idaho and our amazing experience in Yellowstone with our friends the Page's we moved on to family visiting. My wonderful brother in law and his wife were kind enough to let us use their basement as our pit stop all summer long. We would stay a couple of days and visit as well as wash clothes, repack and go again. This routine happened three or four times throughout June & July. It was so nice of them to put up with us. The kids loved staying there and hanging out with their cousins. While there we decided Camden & Austin are twins. What do you think?

The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins this summer. We stayed at Troy's brothers house and played alot at Sarah's brothers house. They have a huge backyard with a tree house. trampoline, swingset, basketball court and of course dogs & cats. It was a great time reconnecting with their cousins. Another shout out to my great sister in laws and family for hosting us!

Camden, Trevor, Haleigh & Sadie

Haleigh, Sadie, Bella, Ava & Max

Sophie & Sadie