Camp Zion

Two Saturdays ago, our friends The Werner's invited us to spend the day with them at an LDS church owned camp not too far from Olympia. We had a great day enjoying the beautiful camp. I only got pictures of the kids swinging, but we did lots of fun activities. Connor's favorite was throwing rocks in the lake and kicking dirt, and Sadie loved wading in the lake and getting really muddy. I thought the swings and the treehouse were pretty neat. This would be a great place for a family reunion in the future!

Westover Family Reuion 2008

Cherry Hill

We had a lovely day at Cherry Hill, a little water park in Kaysville. We had a big group of us go all together. My sister Emily and her kids, my brother Adam, sisiter in law Nicole and their two, my cousin Natalie and her two, and us. We had such a fun time enjoying the water, sun, and the company. The highlight for me was going down the water slide with Sadie. It was a pretty large slide and I was surprised they even let me take a baby on my lap. When we got to the bottom, she immediately started doing her "more" sign. She loved it!!! Connor was happy as could be in the pool, lazy river, and kiddie wading pool.

Adam and very sleepy Avery.

Bathing Beauty

Connor looking cool!

Emily , Ethan, Jane, and Ashley!

Visiting Grandma Steed

We got to go visit Grandma Steed in Orem on Wednesday. It was really good to see her, and she seemed to know who I was, which was good. I was glad to see that she is in a very nice long term care facility, but it was very strange and sad not to see her in her chair at her house next to Grandpa. We had a really nice conversation, and she loved admiring the kids. Sadie took to Grandma right away because she shared her Cheetos with her.

Avery's Birthday Cupcakes

Avery had her third birthday party while we were in Utah. It was fun that we got to be there for it. I wish we could celebrate all the birthdays with cousins and family. Maybe someday we'll all live a little closer. I had to post these pics of Sadie. You would have thought it was her birthday, the way she was digging into her Costco size cupcake. I was proud of Ryan for letting her make such a big mess, especially sitting on his lap. He is usually more of a neat freak than that!

As you'll see in the video, she was not willing to share! Smart girl:)

The Fountain at Gateway

We thought it would be a great idea to take the kids down to the fountains at the Gateway after our temple tour. Sadie loved it, but Madison and Connor are both very cautious and didn't want much to do with running in them at all. I can't say I blame them because they were larger then I remember them and there were a TON of kids there. Connor has never done well with crowds. The bigger kids were happy to be entertained watching the fountains, and everyone loved the Ben and Jerry's icecream Ryan treated us too!

Salt Lake City

We drove to Utah on July 5th. The kids were actually very well behaved in the car. Thank goodness for portable DVD players! On Sunday we just relaxed and had fun catching up with Adam, Nicole, Madi, and Avery. On Monday we had our first big outing of the trip. We took the kids and cousin Madison to downtown Salt Lake to show them the Temple. To be honest the kids didn't seem to care too much about seeing the temple when we were there, but Connor talked a lot about it after and even shared the experience of seeing the Temple with his Primary class. (This is a big deal because as most of you know, he is extremely shy and never speaks in Primary.) We also took a quick trip into the visitor' s center. Madison and Connor were very interested in all of the paintings on the walls of Christ and prophets, and also liked seeing the large statue of Christ.

Connor and Madison in front of the temple.
Too bad they are cousins...they'd be a cute couple.

It was a hot day, so while Ryan was cooling down the car we found a nearby curb in the shade to enjoy some cold juice boxes!

We Love Summer!!!!

Here in the Northwest we put up with a lot of nasty weather all year, but we are rewarded with an amazing summer. The weather is absolutely gorgeous from July-September. We are especially enjoying our backyard because we got a new playset and trampoline recently. Connor, Sadie, and I are having a blast and soaking up all of the sun we can get, before it goes away!

Visit to Portland

The kids and I decided to take a trip to Portland to see Grandma and Grandpa and go to the zoo in late June. The kids are getting better and better about traveling in the car and it is not so intimidating making the trip on my own anymore. We had a great visit and enjoyed going to a beautiful park outside the zoo, and the wonderful Portland zoo. We love being so close to grandparents and having fun places to visit.

Connor and Sadie enjoying the fountain at the park.
Connor trying to enjoy a turn driving the tractor (before a bully kid practically pushed him off!)
Sadie and Grandpa


Connor's photography of the Zebra

Sadie Getting Ready For T- Ball

Connor is playing on a Summer T-Ball team this year, But Sadie wishes she could be on the team too. Here is a funny photo of her. We were trying to get Connor ready for his practice and she insisted that she get a turn to wear his helmet and hold the bat and ball. She is so silly!

Olympia Airshow

On June 14th, Ryan's parents came into town and we went to the local airshow. Our friends, The Cammack's came too and we were all having a great time enjoying snowcones, kettle corn, and watching the airplanes do their tricks. Connor especially loved the helicopter that had an old car attached to a hook at the end of a rope, and it dropped it into the empty airfield, and of course the car got all banged up. The fun unfortunately came to an end when an F-18 fighter jet came in to do some tricks. Connor has always been sensitive to loud noises, and we came prepared with earplugs for him, but this jet was too much for his sensitive little ears, and he couldn't take it. Grandpa quickly rescued him and took him into the hangar, where the rest of us met them and we left. The saddest part of the whole thing is that, he is afraid almost every time we go outside now, of hearing a loud jet. He covers his ears anytime he hears or sees any airplane, even if it is not loud at all. Poor thing. Then there is Sadie...who wasn't even phased by the F-18 at all. It's amazing how different the two of them are!