Independence Day in Perry

 The kids and I seem to be making a tradition out of going to Grandma and Grandpa Oberholtzer's house for the 4th of July.  Dave usually can't get off work, or in this case, was working on the house.  We had a wonderful time! We got to see some fireworks, play and have a weenie roast in Grandma and Grandpa's beautiful yard, see a parade, and even make a parade of our own! We spent a day at Willard Bay swimming and playing in the sand. We also got to go fishing with Grandpa O at Mantua.  I was so glad my kids got to go fishing with my dad because I can remember many times fishing with him myself.  It worked out wonderfully because they both caught a fish within the first 3 casts!  We didn't catch anything else the rest of the afternoon, but it was still fun.   

After the parade and kids activities in the park.

On the beach at Willard Bay

Our very own parade!

Weenie roast on Grandma and Grandpa's fire pit.

Haylie's Fish

Zander's Fish

Fishing with Grandpa

Reel it in!!

Chester

Here are some pictures of our new cat, Chester. He is a pretty nice cat as far a cats go, but definitely has a classic cat attitude. Sometimes he comes when you call him over but mostly he just looks at you, then turns his back.  He started out as an inside cat but we transitioned him to be both in and out.   Now we fight the daily battle of our neighbor, Betty, letting him inside her house and spoiling him so he doesn't want to come home.  That is definitely a post for another day.

Sam

Looking back through some of my previous posts, I noticed a post about the stray cat we adopted in November of 2010.  I chuckled at the post because I titled it Ballerina, the name given to the cat before we found out she was actually a he.  His male name was Sam. Sadly, sometime in July, we couldn't find Sam anywhere and finally decided he must have met up with a coyote while wandering the fields across from our house.  Besides fish, he was our first family pet and really made a place in our hearts.  Haylie was especially heartbroken, but we all shed a few tears over our sweet pet.  For months the kids prayed that Sam would come back in our family prayer.
I decided to write a post dedicated to Sam first because he was a part of our history as a family, but also because when I think of him and our new cat Chester, and about how we got both of them,  It serves as a good reminder to me of how much we matter to our Heavenly Father.  When Sam came along, we were living in the apartment and Haylie had been hounding us about getting pet.  We kept telling her that we couldn't have a pet in the apartment, and I kept feeling like my children's whole childhood was slipping away in a tiny apartment.  I felt like they were missing so many experiences and it really had me depressed.  I know, it sounds a little dramatic, but what can I say...apartment living gets to a person!  Anyway, we came home one day and Sam can running over to the kids, then a scrawny little cat so skinny his purring seemed to rattle his bones.  We decided to keep him as a outside cat, and amazingly my outlook, and Haylie's, changed.  She spent hours outside that first winter playing with him.  He was such an unexpected answer to our prayers.  It probably sounds corny, but I think about this a lot and know that Heavenly Father was watching out for us, even for something so small.  Here is a picture of Sam that Dave took while the kids and I were out of town and he was working in the garage with Sam as his companion.  We are pretty sure this is the last time we saw him.

Just when we were giving up hope of Sam coming back, some friends from our ward brought over a stray cat that had been hanging around their apartment.  They knew we had recently lost our cat.  We named him Chester, and he sure helped all of us get over the loss of Sam.  Again, an answer to our prayers, not what we had planned, but a mindful Heavenly Father at work.  Small examples, but good reminders.

Nine Mile Canyon

About a week after everyone left following the reunion, Grandpa Art and Grammy Patty came for a visit.  They brought their cute little dogs, Buddy and Maggie, which the kids thought was great.  While they were here we took them to Nine Mile Canyon.  It is a canyon not too far from Price that has tons of petroglyphs.  We hadn't ever been before so it was a great opportunity.  The entire road was under construction which meant that the signs telling us where to find each site were down so it was a little bit of a wild goose chase.  It was fascinating when we did find them though.  We were glad to have a chance to visit in the car with Art and Patty, and happy they made the long drive to come see us and our new home.

Oberholtzer Family Reunion

This year it was our turn to host the Oberholtzer family reunion.  I look forward to this every year because we always have a great time together.  It is getting a little more tricky to plan as the family gets bigger and the ages are so varied.  The best part about planning it is knowing that your turn won't come around for a few years! The reunion began in Moab where we stayed the night at a hotel and then had a fun time hiking around Arches National Park.  Those of us coming from this side of Moab went down early and stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park before continuing on to Moab.  We met up with the rest of the family and had dinner on the lawn of the hotel and then enjoyed a nice dip in the pool.  

The next morning we loaded up and went into Arches.  It was a fun activity and nice for a group with such varied hiking abilities.  Everyone was able to do as much or as little as they wanted.  It was mid-afternoon when we finished up in the park and then we all came back to Price for Big Don's Pizza and relaxing.  It was fantastic to have enough room to host everyone.  I am so grateful for our home! 

The next day was more centered on the theme of the reunion which was a boot camp.  We had activities in the field behind the school that I teach at since we don't have a yard yet.  There was an obstacle course, a hunt for wounded soldiers (green army men), and my favorite, a marshmallow gun war.  I hope everyone had a great time I know I did even if I did collapse and take a 2 and a half hour nap the day after everyone left.  I am so grateful for the wonderful family bond we share.  It doesn't seem to matter what we are doing, this reunion is always a blast.  What a wonderful blessing to have my siblings as some of my closest friends.  Love you guys!

Darin and crew at Dead Horse Point 

Nice view of Dead Horse Point State Park

Janelle, Afton and Haylie in the pool at the hotel

Digging in the red dirt

On a short hike to an arch.

Cousins

More hiking

Finding some shade

At Sand Dune Arch

Dave and Zander on a big rock

Every was so tired on the way home!

And after we got home!  Tired enough to use a bum as a pillow!

My cute niece Afton at the Marshmallow war

Zander going through part of the obstacle course

Discussing strategies of war.

Brother in Law JD eyeing his target

Learning how to use the gun

My dad waiting to assaulted with marshmallows by the firing squad.

Great Brain

At Castle Heights, the school where Haylie attends and I teach, they have a program called the Great Brain.  Kids can choose a topic to learn more about outside of school and then prepare a presentation on their topic outlining their research to present to their class  Haylie decided she wanted to do one this year in kindergarten and chose penguins as her topic.  It was a little slow in getting started because most of last year was super busy with the house building and everything else.  We finally got our act together and Haylie presented hers during the last week of kindergarten.  I had her take notes on the books we read about penguins, choose pictures to include in the presentation including some hand drawn ones, and type most of the words on the power point.  It was a great learning experience and she did a great job of presenting and answering questions asked by her class.  Afterwards she was presented with an award and certificates for free items at businesses around town.  Great Job Haylie!!

Zander's 4th Birthday

Zander turned 4 on April 10th.  We had a small family party on the day of his birthday and then he had his first friend party the following Saturday.  He doesn't know a whole lot of kids that are his age.  It always seems like we know a lot more people with kids Haylie's age.  Anyway, we rounded up a few friends and everyone had a great time at his Jake and the Neverland Pirates party.  The guests were Grant Sherman, Molly Staley, Kaden Butler, Thomas Baric, and Haylie. We played some pirate games including Toss the Coin and X marks the spot, had cake and ice cream and, of course, opened gifts.

Learning how to run the remote control dump truck he got for his birthday.

The pirate cake.  I was impressed with myself with this one because I only had about 15 minutes to decorate it.

Playing Toss the Coin

Waiting for cake

Zander is a wonderful part of our family.  He has a fantastic sense of humor and a kind heart.  He loves Angry Birds, Mario, and watching sprinklers.  He also loves to eat fruit and vegetables.  He can be pretty stubborn at times (like potty training) but we love this little guy SO much!  Happy Birthday Zander, we love you!