Carlsbad Part 2

This year we went to the beach 3 dfferent days. The kids loved the sand and doing there own thing. Claire loves sun screen and eats it every chance she gets.

The beaches were covered with surfers the last day because the waves were huge. It was the best waves they had had in 30 days. I never got in more than up to my knees but the boys were boogie boarding and had a great time. We say dolphins out a little bit but its always neat to see marine life in the wild.

Claire refused to look at the camera most of the time while at the beach she just loved getting sandy. We didn't put suits on the first day we thought it would be too cold but she was soaked by the end of the day.

We even managed to get her to ride on the boogie board for awhile by the end she had gathered a board full of rocks. Her main pass time while on the beach.

It is amazing how much sand can be on a snack and still taste good especially when your eating it out of a sand toy

It took us all day but we finally got footprints in the sand

Claire had such a fun time with her cousins digging and carrying water back and forth.

Carlsbad 2010

Last week we went on our yearly Olsen family vacation. The last few years we have gone to Carlsbad California so we could drive and not have to worry about flights and luggage. It was later in the year this time but it was great. There was no one there and school had started so Legoland was anything but busy. Claire was only 4 months last year so this year she loved everything. We rented a house for the week so the kids could play and everyone could spend time together. It was gorgeous it had a pool and a backyard to play in for the kids.

We also stayed right down the street from Batiquitis Lagoon which was great for hiking and running for the kids. They have a ll types of birds that migrate there so it was fun to look at all the different types.

The girls went shopping at the Calsbad premiere outlets while the guys went sea cave kayaking. Of course we didn't trust the guys with cameras so there are no pics but they had a blast they saw leopard sharks and a ton of the California state fish.
Claire loves these ride on things at the malls she makes us laugh with her binkie and blanket we don't go anywhere without it.

Claire loved every minute with her cousins she followed her older cousin Ben where ever he went. Poor Sadie got bossed around all week since she was the youngest. Claire made sure everyone had there balnkets and sippie cups. She would follow everyone around making sure they got the right ones.

Our Eternal Family

Tim and I have been married for 41/2 years now it seems like just yesterday when we were planning everything. We now have our precious Claire and took the opportunity to be sealed to her. What a special day. It was a long time in the making since I remember talking to Tim about the temple before he even understood what that meant. Since his baptism we have talked about the chance to one day go to the temple together and be a forever family. That day came on Saturday August 14. Tim and I took out our own endowment and then were sealed to Claire. We were so nervous about the unknown but we felt so good there we knew we were in the right place. There is nothing like seeing your daughter walk into a room full of people looking like an angel. It was such a wonderful experience for our family. We also had the chance to have our great friends come from Utah to be with us. We miss them so much and what a great chance to see them again . We have such a great family and friends we love them so much and thank them for all they have done to help us get to this day.

Mile Marker 292

A few weekends ago we had the chance to go camping with Tim's family. We really enjoy camping when we go. We went a few miles past Payson in the forest and made camp.Tim's mom and Erik have a trailer so it was really nice to have some amenities like a bathroom while there. Claire loves the outdoors and she was lookin pretty grungy by Sunday. She played and played. It rained every night and all day Saturday so we got a taste of a really good storm. Monster came along also and had a great time with Stephanie's dog Crazy. Tim thought for sure that I was crazy for packing warm clothes but by the first night we realized that we didn't pack warm enough. Claire was the warmest one in the camp. She was sweating one night.

Adventure #1

We decided that Arizona has so much to offer and we don't take advantge of it enough. So we decided to start doing things every month. The first adventure we went on is called Parson's trail in Cottonwood. Of course, it rained more than probably the last 6 months but we went anyway. The sky was really dark and we had a light mist most of the hike. It felt like you were in a rain forest with all the trees and vegetation. Claire loved being outside and running around on rest breaks. It was really fun to hike right next to Sycamore Creek.