Over the River and Through the Woods, to Grandmother's house we go...

So this year we got on a great track schedule for school and actually ended up with 6 weeks of summer break instead of just 3 weeks.  We  had lots of fun.  I decided to take the kids up to visit Grandma for a couple of days and enjoy the beauty of Mountain Green.

I haven't been horseback riding for at least 10 years or more, so I thought it was time to get back in the saddle again, literally.  And boy was it fun.  My mom took me on the most scenic ride ever!  It was so fun to go riding again!

Good 'ol Rico

and Dante

were playful as usual and provided a fun smooth ride.  I think once you ride a Paso Fino horse, it's hard to ride any other.  The smoothness of their walk/gate is untouched.  And you can cover the mountain side in half the time!

After an afternoon of riding, we had some dinner and I took the kids pictures.  Finally.  You would think being a photographer and all that I would have loads of pictures of my kids.  Well, I do have a lot of candids, but no formal pictures.  It was time.  Unfortunately, I haven't even had time to look at those yet, so you'll have to wait to see those.

If the kids behaved for their pictures, I promised a horseback ride after we were done.  Well it was getting a little dark, but we still went out for a ride.  I had some fun with silhouettes while the kids were taking turns on the horse...

The next morning we got up and did more horseback riding.  The kids had a great time.

I'm so lucky to have such an awesome Mom who let's us come and invade her house for days and while doing that feeds us, entertains us, and let's my kids run amuck!  Thanks Grandma!  We love you!!

My little dancer...

The day has finally arrived for Sadie to start dance class.  Hooray!  I think I've dreamt of sending my little girl to dance class since....well...forever!!  Luckily for me, Sadie was just as excited. 

Sadie and I went shopping together and she picked out exactly what she wanted to wear.  Pink of course.  Is there any other color?

Sadie has been dancing from the moment she could move.  She loves jumping skipping, and dancing her "ballet"...that's what she calls it.

So we headed to the studio and being the photo crazy mom I am, I had to stay and sneak some pictures through the window!!!  Oh this class was so cute!!!

Miss Brittani is an awesome teacher and somehow finds the energy and enthusiasm to keep 10 little girls completely focused for a solid 45 minutes.  She is awesome!

Is there anything cuter than seeing 3 year olds doing their best to walk on their tip-toes across the floor?  I just don't think so!!

Sadie smiled the entire class and could have danced for a second class.  She loved dancing with her ribbon and popping bubbles at the end of class.

Seeing my little princess in her first dance class made me smile just as big as Sadie!  What a proud Mommy I am!

Dear Blog: I have missed you...

Were you wondering? Were you saddened? Were you rushing to the computer daily, just waiting for a blog update on gaddfam? Yes, I admit, I have fallen off the blog wagon. Not on purpose mind you. Summer has swept us in every direction. Here's a bit of what we've been doing.

July 4th:
Spencer and I got up at 4:45AM...yes, people that's right...and drove to Provo for the Freedom Festival hot air balloon launch. It was AWESOME. The pictures Spencer and I were able to get were amazing. More of them are posted here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-Daffodil-Photography/61137590325#/album.php?aid=93631&id=61137590325

We then headed to parent day at Ethan's swimming lessons, a little lunch and then off to a fun BBQ with a few friends. That evening we launched our traditional Costco package of fireworks in the driveway....

The entire next week was filled with lots of fun family activities.

BBQ/Swimming party at Grandma Gadd's with the cousins....

Then Matt's brother's family drove in from Spokane and it was of course, more water parties!! Woohoo!!!

We had to stop for some Pie Pizza...isn't little Josh so cute! (cousin)

Sadie and I even went with Brian's family to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house. Everyone LOVED the temple.

Then Sadie attended her first ever birthday Tea Party for her little friend Aspen. Sadie LOVED her first tea party.

Then we were off to our annual Spruces camping trip. And hooray....no one got sick!! We actually went and enjoyed every minute!

Spencer took over Matt's hat and this collage is so appropriately named, "The many faces of Spencer."We went on LOTS of beautiful walks.

Sadie thought sitting around the fire in her "cute brown hoodie" was just the best!

Keeping Spencer and Ethan OUT of the fire was a chore in itself. What's with boys and the fire obsession?

Matt's friend from work came up one day and brought his canoes. So Matt took the boys and Sadie out on Silver Lake fishing. It's one of the most beautiful lakes...ANYWHERE.

Later that night, we surprised Matt with a "camping" birthday cake made with Hostess cupcakes and Zingers. Happy 35th Birthday babe!

After being home a week, we headed up to Ogden to the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Rodeo. We left Sadie at Grandma's house and took the boys to enjoy the rodeo.

The boys LOVED their bandannas we got at the special dinner we attended for breast cancer survivors and their families.

I loved visiting and meeting new young breast cancer survivors...this is me with the cute Becky Hill.

No, it wasn't that smelly, Ethan just thought he was a real cowboy if he wore his bandanna like a cowboy robber.

The action was AWESOME.

And it all ended with motor-cross and fireworks!

We spent the night at grandma's that night and then got up early the next morning to go the Days of '47 parade downtown. Here's a picture of President Eyring and his wife.

Despite the early hour, the kids loved being at the parade. It will continue to be a yearly tradition. The rest of the 24th of July was spent sleeping, eating and of course....more driveway fireworks!!!

Last week I packed up the kids for a little mini trip to Ephraim. Why Ephraim you ask? To visit my good friend Alisa. She and I have been friends since the day we were born. And I'm really not exaggerating that. We lived next door to each other and were born 6 days apart. I don't have a childhood memory that Alisa isn't part of. Alisa attended Snow College after high school and met and fell in love with a local guy...Brandon. They are so happy to be able to move back to Ephraim and enjoy the perks of small town living.

We drove into Manti to see the temple and to take the kids to the community pool.

Another one of Spencer's many entertaining faces. Gotta love him!

Sadie and Alisa's daughter Brooklyn, were inseparable the ENTIRE time. They LOVED playing together...and they were mighty cute while doing it too!Here's Alisa and I hanging with the kids at the pool. A year before I was diagnosed with my cancer, Alisa was diagnosed with brain cancer. A week after she received that crappy news, she found out she was pregnant with her second child. To make a long story short, the baby was born without any complications and Alisa's golf ball size brain tumor was successfully removed. A few years after surgery, Alisa's tumor began to grow back. She opted for radiation and that seemed to do the trick.

Until 18 months ago, when evidence of the tumor showed up again. This time the treatment was chemo. It was a low dose chemo that would last for 1 year. Yes people 1 YEAR. She said the first 6 months she really didn't notice it, except being a little tired, but the last 6 months were pretty tough. The chemo did not cause hair loss, but caused her to lose her appetite and already thin Alisa plunged down to a meager 90 pounds. After being hospitalized and nursed back to health, Alisa is doing well now. Thank goodness. Love this gal and her family!

After some pool fun we went back to Alisa's house where Alisa put on an AWESOME dinner including fresh barbecued Pork Chops from the pig they raised. I'm not a pork lover, but this was tasty!! The kids found there way outside into the sandbox and spent the next several hours building a mote and getting very dirty. Even the dark did not keep them from playing.

The next morning we went to the family turkey farm (Alisa's inlaws farm) and got to see thousands of baby turkeys. They were soooo cute!

Even Sadie wasn't afraid to hold the cute babies!

Then we headed outside to see the big turkeys. Here's Brooklyn and Sadie...together of course.

Brooklyn, Megan and Sadie...aren't they cute!

Brooklyn, Megan, Spencer, Sadie, Ethan, and Cortlan....this was a FUN group of kids. They played so well together!

So thanks Alisa and Brandon for letting us come and invade your home, eat your food, swim in Manti, and visit the turkey farm. We had tons of fun and can't wait to get together again.

And finally the theme this summer has been the open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Many of you were able to go to the open house and probably were surprised to see the first family interviewed in the movie was us!! My cousin is on the open house committee and had to turn in names of families that lived in the temple district to be interviewed. She told me they were interviewing a ton of families and would only use a few in the movie. Well lucky us! It was an awesome experience to say the least and a wonderful memory for our family.

I've been able to visit the temple almost a dozen times during the open house. A few times I was able to serve cookies and clean the tents. And several visits I was able to walk through the temple with family and friends. Here is a picture of a few friends I visited the open house with.

If you weren't able to attend the open house, make an effort to attend the dedication on August 23rd. The temple has brought a number of amazing experiences and blessings into my life. Awesome.

So that about sums up our summer thus far. Don't worry, there will of course be more pictures from all these events posted at one time or another. That's what winter is for right? Happy Summer everyone!