Mother's Day

These are my Mother's Day cards from Kolten and Kate. They are so cute. I'm not sure that these coupons are actually valid on Kolten's, but isn't it the thought that counts?

Havasupai

This is our tent. It isn't bigger than it looks.

What a dive, a splashless entry. If only he had kept his legs together and pointed his toes.

The backpack was a little heavier than I had expected, so Ana traded me.

Pat and Ana. It was kind of like a race the whole trip.

I lost.

The beautiful village of Havasupai.

The swing. I think this was everyone's favorite part of our trip. Some of us were a little more talented on the swing, but we don't need to mention names.

We all had a lot of fun swimming in the falls, the water temp was a little cool, but who could resist a swing. We also had fun swimming in the falls, hiking down the river, and exploring the canyon. It was so nice there, it was worth the hike {I think it was about 12 miles each way}. We backpacked all of our stuff in for 2 nights. Luckily, Bart is an experienced hiker, and was the camp cook. We had a little giardia scare afterwards, but the lab tests came back negative. The port-a-potties were completely to the rim, some slightly over, but we did get to stay for half price, so we were happy. There were a couple of pictures we were disappointed that we didn't get, like the speedo hiker{is that the new style?}, Havasupai village, the day after the storm, the sleep-eater/squirrell? We never totally solved that mystery.

Kolten's trip to Japan

I will assume that you figured that Kolten did make it home, about a month ago. He had a great trip to Japan. He went to Tokyo with Branson and his dad. His dad is currently living there. They had a great time. He said they ate constantly, and he loved the food. He did get the hair cut, but I could hardly see much difference. It sounds like they were spoiled there.

This is a view of the city from Branson's dad's office.

Here he is at Tokyo Disneyland.

Kolten found this funny, the miniature vehicles. Here, you can compare the two together. He said gas costs 8$ a gallon. The tolls are all $14.

This is a park in Tokyo, Kolten said they are really nice.

This is Kolten and Branson when I dropped them off at the airport. If you don't have a fourteen year old yet, just wait!

Lost in Japan?

As you may have heard, we sent Kolten off to Japan with his best friend Branson. Branson's dad lives and works there currently. We figured it isn't often that you get the chance to travel to Japan with your best friend. They were really excited to go. They talked a lot about the food and the hair cuts with massages. I hope they at least got the hair cuts. Keep your fingers crossed. We hadn't heard from him since Friday when they left. We were happy to get this email to see he is still alive. It doesn't offer too much information, but realize, this is Kolten.

hi mom, dad, and kate, i'm doing fine, i haven't been kidnapped yet, but it is actually really safe here. Well the best thing so far is the food, it is really good, even better than in the U.S. And the straw berry's are the best fruit i have ever had, you need to try them i'll try to bring some back with me. We are going to go to a soccer game tonight and then i don't know what were doing tomorrow, but then i'm coming home the next day at six. it is a nine hour time difference i think at it has been very difficult to sleep. so i'll see you in a couple days,Love Kolten

A dentist in the family

I just thought these pictures had a similar look, Mia was sightseeing, enjoying redvines.

This picture is for Debbie, who has been nervous about Tanya's extractions. This should put her at ease.

We went to Grand Junction this week end, a long awaited week end for one person especially {Bart}. He has diligently waited Tanya's graduation from dental school, saving all of his work up for her, even enduring much pain and suffering. We will all be glad to see Bart with out the dental floss hanging out of his mouth at family events and pretty much everywhere. I can't say that I will miss the pile of used dental floss he leaves for me each day piled on his sink. Tanya was so nice to spend her whole weekend working on our teeth. I felt so bad, she is 7 months pregnant, and her assistant was gone. She had to work really hard, and she did a really good job. I went after Bart, which probaly made me more nervous after seeing his teeth. Sorry I was so wimpy. Bart's work ended up taking hours and hours and hours, much more than we had planned. I assisted, and I discovered it isn't my talent. Bart even ended up with a tooth extraction. Tanya described it as "digging to China and back". I couldn't believe she got that tooth out. Good job Tanya! Thanks Shane too for ending up entertaining the kids, he was so nice taking them all to their separate lunch drive up windows, and a good tour guide. I told Tanya this was her chance to get Bart back for all of those years of tormenting her, like locking her in the dog house with exploding fireworks. But, she was really professional and avoided any attempts at revenge.

Easter

The Easter bunny found us again, but we weren't lucky enough to spot him. Kate did say she saw a furry thing running away when she looked out of the window Easter morning. Kolten has gotten more motivated in his egg hunting since he has competition now. He use to not even bother picking up the candy, since he could just pick it up when he felt like eating it. Kate went to the Lindon hunt, she did get a few eggs, but not any prize eggs. It was over in about 10 seconds. We had our Preston party on Saturday, and the Hatfield's on Sunday. We do the numbers in the eggs with the prize list for the rewards, and of course the prize money egg. So, everyone is trying their hardest, especially the adults. Kody and Gabe found the prize eggs this year. Maybe next year will be our year.

Disney on ice

We went to Disney on Ice with Kate, Amyee and Kenzee, and Katee and Gracee. It was the Disney princessess. Kate said there sure were a lot of princesses there. She really liked it. Gracee was mesmerized. We went to lunch and shopping after. It was a fun day with the cousins.