SCANDINAVIAN TRADITION

Ephraim's Scandinavian Festival was today. It was another fun day with family and relatives. I really enjoy getting to have almost a mini reunion with cousins and aunts and uncles. 

Cousins watching the parade and gathering candy.

 Traditionally, we gather at my sister, A's, house because she lives right on Main Street and it is a perfect place to watch the parade. She also makes pancakes if you get there early enough! Yum!

Nieces, sister, sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

Little C playing drums in the band (the one in the tank top) for the last time.

 After the parade there is now a mountain bike race and of course my boys wanted to do that, so we hustled up to the starting line.

Aunt N, Cousin C, Little C and A.

Here they are lining up. Little C did the shorter route and A and Big C did the 'Sport' class (longer). 

Big C with a big finish!

Big C actually finished second overall in the long race. Little C placed 3rd in his race and A got lost on the course and 'went the extra mile' (all uphill), so he did great too - just in his own way. haha

The Gordon clan eating lunch.

After the bike race we ate some lunch and walked through the booths at the festival. Princess P and I got some earrings. It was a good day!!

Cousin B, Big C and Cousin M.

I always do a BBQ at my house in the evening after the festival winds down. It is so fun having all the cousins over to visit and letting the kids play. I really enjoy my family.

My parents' grave with flowers.

After everyone had left, we ran out the cemetery before it got too dark to put flowers on the graves. Both sets of my grandparents, and my parents are buried in Ephraim Cemetery and so are one set of Big C's grandparents and his brother too.

FAREWELL TO D

The time has finally come for D to leave on his mission. I can't believe it. I think I have been in denial. No, I KNOW I have been in denial, but he has been too. He is not even close to ready. S was packed a week before she had to leave. D is much more laid back and isn't worried about a thing. He even wrote his talk the night before and the morning of.

My cute missionary off to England.

I was blown away by his talk, however. My uncle (former mission president) even told me that D's talk was more like a returned missionary talk, not one who was just leaving. He did a fabulous job!

A (brother), D (friend), B (friend), C (friend), D (missionary), P (friend)

Here is a photo of him with some of his friends at the BBQ after church in our backyard. I could not believe how many people came! We fed at least 70 people if not more. I didn't expect that. It was super fun to visit with friends and family and the weather was perfect!

'WE LOVE YOU!'

I took some photos to send to S and this was J's idea. It is so cute! What an amazing family we have! I am not ready to have two missionaries out, but I guess it's going to happen whether I want it to or not...

FOURTH OF JULY

We have some good friends that are opening up an adventure sports store here in town. They asked us to help them advertise in the parades by throwing candy and handing out business cards. We said, 'YES!'

The 'Float'

The trailer/float was loaded with a 14 ft. raft, duo inflatable kayak, a tent, two bikes, two hard shell kayaks, and a single inflatable kayak.

N and Little C showing off their awesome patriotic-ness.

 Some of the older kids rode bikes and skateboards and handed out magazines and business cards too. S whipped out her paints and decorated bodies.

Me with my amazing daughter, S!

It was a very fun way to celebrate the 4th! We had a very good time with our '15 minutes of fame.'

K and Princess P with the box of candy to throw at the parade.

 The littler kids rode in the raft on the trailer and threw candy to their admirers. 

S was front and center on the roof of the truck.

 We haven't been in a parade for a long time, so it was fun to do it again. This one was in the morning too, before it got too hot. We also went to another little Sanpete town right after and did another parade. Busy morning! 

After the parades we went to our neighbors' for a BBQ. Lots of our friends were there and we had a good time even though it was stiflingly hot by then. Since we were burned out of parades by then, Big C and I went to 'Spiderman' with some friends before the fireworks. The AC felt good!

My nephew with his glow-in-the-dark decor.

 We were glad for glowsticks this year since personal fireworks were banned due to all the fires surrounding us. The cities still did their big arial fireworks, however, so we were still festive.

Miss C with Little C

We had lots of cousins around by the end of the day. It was just a blast all the way around!!

MEMORIAL DAY 2012

Turkey float in the parade. How Sanpete.

We had our traditional Scandinavian Days family gathering again this year. It was a cold and windy day, so not quite as ideal as in some of the years in the past, but fun because we got to see everybody and visit.

Princess P and her cousin Darth Maul (or J).

We actually ate lunch at Los Amigos this year so we could eat inside out of the cold and then went over to visit all the booths at the festival. Quite a few of my cousins came over with their families afterward for a BBQ that evening. It was lots of fun even, if the weather wasn't perfect.