Cranberry Pork Loin (Christy)
1 year ago
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Steel Days
Well, every year American Fork has a little city celebration called Steel Days. There are all kinds of fun activities. We always go to the parade (THE SLIDE SHOW IS BELOW). The kids love all the fun things to see and the candy that people throw. They always collect a whole bunch of candy! I must say, the parade isn't as good as I remember it from my childhood, but the kids love it and that's all that matters. After the parade, we went to the carnival. I'll post pictures from that soon. The carnival is also one of my favorite childhood memories. They set up the rides during the first couple of days of the week (we like to drive past and see them setting up), and then by Wednesday it's open for business. There are lots of fun rides. It's our kids' favorite part of Steel Days. If you've ever seen "The Sandlot," the part where they are at a carnival and go on a ride and get sick... that was filmed at the Steel Days carnival. I remember riding that ride they go on, and it was one of my favorites. It hasn't been around for a while, though.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Hayden's Birthday!
Well, time sure does fly! Hayden turned three (yep, 3!) last week - July 16th. It's hard to believe it's been 3 years. He is such a sweetie (a little wild, really busy and curious, and ALL BOY!) We had a little cake and gift party as a family on Wednesday, then on Friday, Grandma, PapaBob, Jodie and Corey came over for MORE cake and ice cream. His favorite gift was his bubble mower!
Then, on Friday I took Hayden (along with a little BRIBE) for Birthday portraits. He did fairly well (for a kid who HATES my camera!)
Then, on Friday I took Hayden (along with a little BRIBE) for Birthday portraits. He did fairly well (for a kid who HATES my camera!)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Last of the Virginia Pictures
Trust me, we really haven't even scratched the surface of the pictures we actually have, but here are the last of our favorites that we'll share on our blog. We LOVED our trip to Virginia, but it's always nice to be in your own house, and not living out of a suitcase (not that we are really unpacked or anything...) Anyway, first I wanted to just share a FEW more beach pictures. I've started going through the pictures that Jared's brother Tim took, and I found these fun ones. Remember if you click on the slideshows, it should open them up bigger... then click where it says slideshow to the right - much easier to see!
Saturday, July 12 - we had a big Stafford Family cookout - Jared's aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, MaMa... it was fun to see everyone. We had some great food, and some people played a little bit of kickball. We tried to play volleyball, but it was pretty humid - it didn't last long. Later that afternoon, we went out to Uncle Edwin's house. They have a lake nearby, so we went out on his fishing boat, and played in the lake. It was fun.
After church on Sunday, we went to St. John's church. It is a very old and famous church. It is where the delegates met to discuss gaining our independence from England, and Patrick Henry gave his famous speech "Give me liberty or give me death." We watched a re-enactment. It was AWESOME. Someone came and grabbed Duane out of the audience before it started, and when they all came in, Duane was right there with them dressed in a powdered wig and looking like a preacher! It was so great. He even had to read a prayer at the beginning to start the proceedings.
Tuesday Morning, July 15 - we got up around 3:30 and left for the airport around 4:30. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6! Well, we found out that it would not be leaving until 8:45! Boy, we had a wait ahead of us. We found a place to rest, and Jared took Hayden for a walk. He ended up talking to a lady that worked for the airline to ask if there was a McDonald's nearby, since our kids were a bit hungry. She ended up printing out some food vouchers for us (quite a bit, actually) and we ended up being able to eat breakfast, lunch, and get dinner at airports throughout the day! We nearly missed our connecting flight in Detroit (we had to RUN RUN RUN from one end of the airport to the other, and they had held our flight for us! What luck) We finally got home, and our poor van was dead. Well, we've been home a week. Our van is fixed, and we are finally back to normal, if that's possible. We had great time in Virginia, and we really miss everyone!
Saturday, July 12 - we had a big Stafford Family cookout - Jared's aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, MaMa... it was fun to see everyone. We had some great food, and some people played a little bit of kickball. We tried to play volleyball, but it was pretty humid - it didn't last long. Later that afternoon, we went out to Uncle Edwin's house. They have a lake nearby, so we went out on his fishing boat, and played in the lake. It was fun.
After church on Sunday, we went to St. John's church. It is a very old and famous church. It is where the delegates met to discuss gaining our independence from England, and Patrick Henry gave his famous speech "Give me liberty or give me death." We watched a re-enactment. It was AWESOME. Someone came and grabbed Duane out of the audience before it started, and when they all came in, Duane was right there with them dressed in a powdered wig and looking like a preacher! It was so great. He even had to read a prayer at the beginning to start the proceedings.
Tuesday Morning, July 15 - we got up around 3:30 and left for the airport around 4:30. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6! Well, we found out that it would not be leaving until 8:45! Boy, we had a wait ahead of us. We found a place to rest, and Jared took Hayden for a walk. He ended up talking to a lady that worked for the airline to ask if there was a McDonald's nearby, since our kids were a bit hungry. She ended up printing out some food vouchers for us (quite a bit, actually) and we ended up being able to eat breakfast, lunch, and get dinner at airports throughout the day! We nearly missed our connecting flight in Detroit (we had to RUN RUN RUN from one end of the airport to the other, and they had held our flight for us! What luck) We finally got home, and our poor van was dead. Well, we've been home a week. Our van is fixed, and we are finally back to normal, if that's possible. We had great time in Virginia, and we really miss everyone!
Monday, July 21, 2008
More Virginia!
Well, here are a few more days worth of pictures from Virginia. When you take 1000 (yes, that's one thousand) pictures, it takes some time to go through them all! Let's start out with Sunday... no fancy slideshows this time either - just too many pictures! So I just stuck with the plain ones!
Sunday July 6. We went over to Jared's MaMa Stafford's house for some dessert and some more family pictures! We love MaMa. She is a great cook, and always makes sure we have MORE than plenty to eat! She makes us eat, and eat, and eat! The kids love to run around her yard, and play with her funny little Pug named Buddy. Everyone gathers at MaMas on Sunday afternoons, so we got to see some of Jared's aunts and uncles.
Monday, July 7...
We went to Pocahontas State Park to swim in their fun pool. It is a really neat and pretty place. We walked down to the water first, and saw a whole bunch of geese! The kids thought that was awesome, then after some debate, we decided to hit the pool! That was definitely a hit!
We had a slower week, until Friday, when we decided to head to the BEACH!
Friday, July 11...
First we hit Fort Story (an army base in Virginia Beach) where the famous Cape Henry Lighthouses are located... after a slight security fiasco, we were allowed to go in. We were lacking some paperwork for some vehicles, so we did a little shuttling. Nice tight security on those army bases! There are actually two lighthouses located right near one another. The older one, built in late 1700s is not in use anymore... people can go up inside it, though. And we almost did! But it was hot, and the kids were ready for lunch, so we skipped it. The other lighthouse (they call it the NEW one!) was built in 1881. It is still in use! We also enjoyed some time at the beach there.
Later on Friday July 11...
We ate some lunch just outside the base, and then walked down the road to a beach where we could actually get in... the only problem was that there was NO WHERE to change into swimming suits. The kids were already in theirs, but us adults we unprepared, so it was just the feet (and legs) that got wet on us! Plenty of sand however, and GREAT waves! The kids could have stayed there all day! We were sad to leave. Later, we found out that there was a red flag (meaning that the waves were dangerous). We hadn't seen it, so we swam at our "own risk" apparently!
Sunday July 6. We went over to Jared's MaMa Stafford's house for some dessert and some more family pictures! We love MaMa. She is a great cook, and always makes sure we have MORE than plenty to eat! She makes us eat, and eat, and eat! The kids love to run around her yard, and play with her funny little Pug named Buddy. Everyone gathers at MaMas on Sunday afternoons, so we got to see some of Jared's aunts and uncles.
Monday, July 7...
We went to Pocahontas State Park to swim in their fun pool. It is a really neat and pretty place. We walked down to the water first, and saw a whole bunch of geese! The kids thought that was awesome, then after some debate, we decided to hit the pool! That was definitely a hit!
We had a slower week, until Friday, when we decided to head to the BEACH!
Friday, July 11...
First we hit Fort Story (an army base in Virginia Beach) where the famous Cape Henry Lighthouses are located... after a slight security fiasco, we were allowed to go in. We were lacking some paperwork for some vehicles, so we did a little shuttling. Nice tight security on those army bases! There are actually two lighthouses located right near one another. The older one, built in late 1700s is not in use anymore... people can go up inside it, though. And we almost did! But it was hot, and the kids were ready for lunch, so we skipped it. The other lighthouse (they call it the NEW one!) was built in 1881. It is still in use! We also enjoyed some time at the beach there.
Later on Friday July 11...
We ate some lunch just outside the base, and then walked down the road to a beach where we could actually get in... the only problem was that there was NO WHERE to change into swimming suits. The kids were already in theirs, but us adults we unprepared, so it was just the feet (and legs) that got wet on us! Plenty of sand however, and GREAT waves! The kids could have stayed there all day! We were sad to leave. Later, we found out that there was a red flag (meaning that the waves were dangerous). We hadn't seen it, so we swam at our "own risk" apparently!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Trip to Virginia - The first 5 days
Well, we just returned from a GREAT trip to Virginia. It was so pretty and green (and humid... well only a few days were really humid). We had the best time visiting with family and friends. Get ready for a serious picture overload. And it's only the first 5 days worth (we were there for two weeks).
We left on July 1st. We flew out of Salt Lake City, stopping in Minneapolis, and finally arriving in Richmond, VA! This was Hayden's first time flying (and Bryson was so little last time we went, that he didn't remember). The kids LOVED the plane! On these slideshows, if you click right on it (you might have to click a couple of times) it will open it up bigger, and then if maximize that screen and you look on the right side, there will be a place where you can click on SLIDESHOW, and it will make it full screen.
July 2nd, we went over to Jared's Mom's old house. They are fixing it up to sell it. The kids had fun playing in the backyard for the last time, and then we headed over to her new house and the kids played basketball.
July 3rd we officially started the Family Reunion activities with a cookout at Rockwood Park. Everyone was there. We had great food, and took a walk, enjoying the beautiful scenery.
July 4th - INDEPENDENCE DAY! We started the day off early, with a flag ceremony and pancake breakfast at the church. Then we went to Dogwood Dell, where we spent much of the day playing on the playground. We got there early to save good seats for the concert and firework show later that night. It was nice and HOT, but then the festivities were almost cancelled when a thunderstorm came through. Thank goodness it passed by so we could enjoy a little cooler weather and stay for the show! We ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the fireworks were AWESOME!
July 5th - we went to Maymont park to take some family pictures. Tim and I took the pictures. I haven't downloaded the pictures he took yet... but here are some that I took. After family pictures, we went inside the Nature Center, where the kids had all kinds of fun things to do and see. Then we went outside for a little picnic.
Thanks for looking... I'll have more pictures in a couple of days!
We left on July 1st. We flew out of Salt Lake City, stopping in Minneapolis, and finally arriving in Richmond, VA! This was Hayden's first time flying (and Bryson was so little last time we went, that he didn't remember). The kids LOVED the plane! On these slideshows, if you click right on it (you might have to click a couple of times) it will open it up bigger, and then if maximize that screen and you look on the right side, there will be a place where you can click on SLIDESHOW, and it will make it full screen.
July 2nd, we went over to Jared's Mom's old house. They are fixing it up to sell it. The kids had fun playing in the backyard for the last time, and then we headed over to her new house and the kids played basketball.
July 3rd we officially started the Family Reunion activities with a cookout at Rockwood Park. Everyone was there. We had great food, and took a walk, enjoying the beautiful scenery.
July 4th - INDEPENDENCE DAY! We started the day off early, with a flag ceremony and pancake breakfast at the church. Then we went to Dogwood Dell, where we spent much of the day playing on the playground. We got there early to save good seats for the concert and firework show later that night. It was nice and HOT, but then the festivities were almost cancelled when a thunderstorm came through. Thank goodness it passed by so we could enjoy a little cooler weather and stay for the show! We ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the fireworks were AWESOME!
July 5th - we went to Maymont park to take some family pictures. Tim and I took the pictures. I haven't downloaded the pictures he took yet... but here are some that I took. After family pictures, we went inside the Nature Center, where the kids had all kinds of fun things to do and see. Then we went outside for a little picnic.
Thanks for looking... I'll have more pictures in a couple of days!
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