July 2010

July was all about summer. We had a fun time w/ mom's high school friends and kids hiking to donut falls and having a night w/out camping at storm mountain. Abby especially loved Avery's tarantula. The hike was a bit much for mom, but we made it! The girls had lots of time in the pool. Blakely was signed up for our local pool's swim team. She was so diligent to go almost every morning for most of July and August. She even swam in a meet and placed! Abby and Baya had lessons making huge strides in the pool. Baya was out of control jumping off every side or diving board in sight!

The 4th of July was fun but also somber as we also went to Grandma Ramona's funeral on this day. We also had cute Emma's baptism this morning. We were so happy to see her become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

The older girls and I went on a neat hike in memory of Parker Bradford, Bryan's cousin who died 3 years ago. Abby, Grandma Mary and I made it about a mile, and then left Blakely there w/ the remaining group including Ranae to hike the entire 13 miles to Mt. Timp. I was really nervous, but she did it! Cormac was blessed also and they decided to do this at their home. It was a fun occasion. It's neat to watch the family grow. There were many other events not pictured. But, it was a great summer w/ fireworks and fun.

June 2010

Well June started off completely exciting with a big trip to Australia and New Zealand. But, as we returned home, things were a blur for a few days as we re-adjusted from jet lag, but eventually we got into summer here. As Baya was approaching 2 years old, our dear, sweet grandma Ramona was slipping away from this life. On Baya Ramona's birthday, our Grandma Ramona left this world. We thought it was a neat thing to share this date with Baya. We will always have fond memories of this strong, loving woman. She was so faithful, so welcoming and loving. She never made you feel like you were different or doing things wrong, even if she had a different perspective than you. My girls felt of her love and Bryan and I have loved the time we've had with her. Bryan knew her much longer than I, but I felt a great sense of love and reciprocated care from her. We will always remember her through our little Baya and her birthday. Some of the summer events got underway. We went to my cousin Calli's wedding and the kids looked so cute at temple square. We also went to a magic show at the Sandy Ampitheatre. Bry also had a major ACL reconstruction surgery shortly after we returned home from Australia. This changed for him a lot for the summer as he could barely walk, let alone run.

Ausralia--Day 1

We arrived late in Australia after a mechanical delay on our NZ flight. We actually had to deplane. 3 hours later than scheduled, we headed from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast. We were dumb and didn't locate a phone and the rental car place was out of gps's... so after driving around lost for some time, we enlisted some help. Eventually we found the Nichol's very nervously awaiting us. The next day we first headed to see some local kangaroos hanging out on the college campus. We were amazed to see them hanging out so casually. We got worried when Baya headed straight towards one- not knowing how it'd react. Later we headed t0 a local grocery store and then the beach. As we sat having a picnic, we realized we were in australia when a huge iguana walked towards us and a stork-like bird approached us. The girls really loved playing at the beach. We saw crabs, played in tide pools and took in the beautiful blue aussie water.

A day in Brisbane-- Some family history

I was once told a joke that people are always trying to make excuses to find a reason to justify their travels. This wasn't really the case with us, but we were very excited when we realized that Brisbane was the city we'd fly to and as we looked into our family history Brisbane was indeed the city where our family came from--A coincidence that we took full advantage of. My great grandfather Earnest Hoare was born in Brisbane, Australia. At the age of 13 or so, he immigrated to Utah w/ his brother's family after they had been converted to the LDS church. He had been living with them since the death of his father and the sickness of his mother when he was 9. After they came to Utah, he returned to Brisbane as an LDS missionary and was able to see his mother and remaining siblings that had stayed again. When he returned to Utah, he married Allison Moffat and they started their family which is where my cute Grandma Lawrence Sheppard came from. Another interesting tidbit, their last name was Hoare in Australia, but they soon realized this was not acceptable in the states, and changed their last name to their mother's maiden name or Lawrence. It was fun to visit this old cemetery up in the hills of Brisbane. The grave was unmarked that housed my great-great grandfather. It was quite a scavenger hunt trying to find it. We were unlucky at finding his wive's grave and did find some siblings. After the cemetery we headed into the city which we loved. Brisbane is set on a river and it is beautiful. We took a water taxi up and down the river to see the layout of city. Later that night we met Nathan at the LDS temple where I took the car keys to drive the hour home on the wrong side of the road while Bryan and Abby went to an Australian Football game w/ Nathan. Bryan loved this part of the trip! Abby was dead to the world after about an hour but enjoyed the concessions before she pooped out. I was terrified all the way back to the sunshine coast, but somehow, we got there alive!

Great Barrier Reef & Cairns- Mom and Dad alone

We were given the greatest gift from our cute Australian friends. They watched our kids for 2 1/2 days while mom and dad flew to the great barrier reef for a getaway. The only hitch that made things so stressful was that Baya got sick right before we left and so they not only our 3 kids plus their three to contend with, but Baya had a high fever the whole time and wouldn't take any medicine. But, they were troopers and we owe them big time. This was a total lifetime experience that we loved so much. It was absolutely beautiful to see the sea life on the reef. The colors were so vibrant and we had such a great time. Bry was able to scuba, but because I was pregnant, I only snorkeled. But, the snorkeling was incredible because it really isn't that deep and the colors are so vivid right below you most of the time as you swim right on the reef. We took out a charter for the day and Bry did 2 dives and I did two snorkels plus a lot more really in between too. I did an informative one too where a dive master found all kinds of sea life and showed it to us. Luckily Bry met a nice girl who shared her pics w/ us so we have all these great photos. The next day we had till 4 p.m. because you have to wait 24 hours from the time you fly from when you dive so we went up into the rain forest on a train and took a gondola ride back down. It was fun and we enjoyed the time together... but the reef is really where it's at!