Kevin & Bri's visit, El Matador Beach

El Matador Beach has such cool rock formations that make a fun place to play.
We went there at the beginning of August when Kevin and Bri came to visit.

Ben likes to pretend like he's a surfer.

It was such a beautiful day and we had a great time even though the water was cold.

Dan's Birthday Spanking Machine

I bet Great Grandma Moody will think twice next time about joining the Spanking Machine :).

Our Summer Vacation

We had a busy, fun summer with the highlights being our trip to Utah and the people who came to visit us in California. Aimee came to visit us at the end of June and then drove back with us to Utah. We got to celebrate her birthday with her and I made her a delicious strawberry cake, the frosting was amazing!

While Aimee was with us, we went to Huntington Beach. I wish everyone could have seen the smile plastered on Ethan's face the whole time he got to go boogie-boarding with Dan. Unfortunately it was really windy and Allyson had a hard time taking a nap, so we had to head home early.


When we finally made it to Utah we spent the first part of our trip with the Millers. Grandmom took us to Layton Park for a picnic and to feed the ducks.

Then we headed to the Hill Air Force Base Museum with Matt's kids, Carter and Macey. Even the car ride was a blast with our cousins there!


Uncle Kirk entertained us at the Cache Valley Fun Park where we went bowling, played on a huge jungle gym, and our boys got to play laser tag for the first time (Ben was a little timid but Ethan soon got the hang of it). While in Logan, we also visited the Pepperidge Farm Outlet Store and Gossner Dairy to try some Rootbeer milk.
We also took a trip to the Hogle Zoo. There was a special dinosaur exhibit with different dinosaur statues all around the zoo.


I don't know why, but the Parasaurolophus was Ben's favorite dinosaur. He wanted to stay there the whole time and went back to it three different times and he didn't want to leave.


There was an interesting elephant statue that sprayed water every so often and the kids thought it was hilarious!
On Thursday, July 21 we went to a Utah Buzz baseball game with Uncle Dave Welsh and their kids. It was the first baseball game we had been to as a family. Dave's work was having a company party there and they let us tag-along, the kids really enjoyed it.


For the Moody Family reunion we went to Cowabunga Bay. Ethan LOVED the many water slides and Ben's favorite was the lazy river. Allyson just enjoyed all the attention from grandparents and relatives.
On Saturday we had a BBQ with Grandpa Moody and even Great Grandma LaRee Moody came. It was such a joy to have her there, and a special day for Dan because it was his birthday. She was even a part of the "Birthday Spanking Machine," look for the video in a later post.

The BBQ was at the Sandy Fishing Pond. It was nice to give the kids a chance to go fishing.

What a great vacation!

Father's Day

I couldn't resist taking some fun pictures of Allyson to use on the cards I made for Father's Day. I thought it would be fun to have her dressed as a cow girl and a little navy girl. I might be a little biased but I think she's pretty photogenic. The boys had a blast making a video for Dan and Ethan said he wished there was a "Kids' Day" so he would have a video made for him. We'll have to see what we can do :).

Becky Mother's Day Video

Allyson's Baby Blessing

On May 15th we had Allyson's baby blessing. Allyson looked so cute in her beautiful blessing dress (provided by Grandma Bridge-thanks!).

We were so grateful to have so many family members here. It was especially memorable because my brother Paul just got the Melchezidek Priesthood the Sunday prior and this was his first time standing in the circle with the rest of men. Thanks to all the wonderful men that were a part of the blessing, and thanks to all the beautiful women behind them :).

Happy Easter!

Ethan and Ben were most excited about the Easter egg hunt and decorating sugar cookies. I was most excited about Allyson's new frilly dress :). I couldn't resist taking a new family picture.