Clark Family

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Clark Family Time

We fit most of the family reunions into the last two weeks of June. Since the boys didn't get out of school till the 13th, it was the big bang to begin the summer. The Harstons spent a week at the cabin and then we went to meet the Clarks in St. George.

We found an awesome park :)

with shaded play areas..which was necessary even at 10 am!

Andrew is a bug guy. ;) And there were lots of lizards and new insects around.

The Children's Museum and splash pad were amazing, but somehow all my photos were blurry.... So this is all you get.
We loved swimming at the pool every day and Pioneer park was a pretty sweet outing. It would be a great place for family photos, but alas the camera was dead. I swiped this one from the internet.

Then Jared and the boys went with two uncles to explore the Narrows at Zions. Michael got sick that morning so I had to worry all day while they were out of phone range. Then Jordan was sick the next day. But it's impossible not to have fun with crazy uncles! Here are Jared's photos:

Monday, September 8, 2014

Harston Family Photo and Gathering 2014

Our shortened trip to the Peterson Reunion allowed us to be back during my brother's and sister's visits from out of state and before my other sister's trip out of state. So... The Harston kids were all together again for the first time in a few years.
Here are the updated family photos!

some of the kids were just about done...

ahh. sweet rewards.

Michael is the monkey in the cherry tree. He joined Ben and Seth up there to fill some bags.

We had an amazing harvest this year from the tree in the backyard. It was really good we had an army to help.

Then we headed to the cabin for a new version of Harston reunion...unplanned.

We took a nice hike near Smith and Moorehouse. I think we have a photo like this each summer. :)

A family excursion to the Kamas rec center!

playtime at Rockport

Jenny brought jet skis and hosted the family and took care of the Balls kids for the week..

Dad and Mom also hosted the annual Hatch Family Summer Reunion and gathered a pretty good looking group.

Health to thy Navel

Jared says I don't cook for flavor and "that's OK." But he liked this black bean and mango salsa with avacado and homemade tortilla chips. Actually I think he likes anything with tortilla chips....

In April my family decided to start a health challenge together. The goal was to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, no junk food, desserts or fried foods, and to exercise a little every day. Some of that was pretty challenging for me and I still had my indulgence days. But overall I loved it!
The challenge helped me see that I can do some things I didn't think I could do. It ended in June as first trimester morning sickness was setting in, but it helped to start pregnancy on the right foot. Now we're back to establishing those good habits again.

Road Trip

In June we drove to Caineville for the Peterson reunion and realized we were there at the wrong time. So instead we jumped into plan B and explored some of the great parks in Southern Utah.

Jared suggested we visit the Caineville cemetery before we left.

The kids geared up for the drive. The mesa is behind them in the window. :)

Jared found us a great hotel for the night ...the closest one on the way out of Capitol Reef. Here is the view outside our door!

Our twilight swim in these surroundings was kind of exhilarating.

The next morning we left Torrey ready to explore along the Scenic Byway of Highway 12.

The quaint guard station with biscuits cooked on the wood burning stove warmed us up first thing and gave us some maps and information. The kids got a bag of Smokey the Bear activities and goodies from the volunteer Ranger couple. We loved the narrow road along Hell's Backbone and the aspen forests around Boulder mountain. We found some places to stop along the way with great views for picnics and exploring.