He can finally do it!!!

Sunday was a lazy day for us. Dalen, however, can not sit still for anything so he went outside to play. Through our bedroom window, Casey and I could see him on his bike puttering from the backyard to the front. He didn't know how to ride his bike and didn't have any interest in learning so this was really strange for him. Since it was keeping him quiet and busy we just left him alone. Later in the evening Casey went out to finish doing his fireworks with him. Dalen grabbed his bike and said "watch Dad" and off he went. The little turkey had taught himself to ride his bike. We were so excited and proud of him. He has always been the cautious one so it was a very big deal that he did this all on his own!!!

Way to go Buddy!!!

Hiking Timpanogas...

Since the new school year is creeping a little quicker than we expected, a few moms and I decided we had better get the kids outside for a hike up to Timpanogas Cave. At 7:30am (to beat the heat) the 11 of us set off. Once we got to the canyon and bought our tour tickets we found a picnic bench and ate since we had a couple hours to wait. After some lunch we headed up the mountain. The older kids were way too cool to stay with us so they got as far ahead of us as possible. The little boys were too busy with their walking sticks to worry about anyone else. After a long trek (and a little whining) we made it to the cave. We had a chance to rest and get some pictures before the tour. Of course refueling with some snacks since we had mostly growing boys with us. Then it was cave time. The kids were excited and a little apprehensive at first. Our guide was great and answered all the kids questions without hesitation. It was so much fun and the kids had a blast. After the trek down we beat the afternoon heat with a stop by Dairy Queen. Thanks Peggy and Candice for the awesome afternoon. Can't wait to do it again soon.

The Hike Up!

The fearless leaders!

The pool inside the cave.

Slip and Slide...

Casey took Friday off of work for a fun family day in the sun. We took the kids to Cherry Hills. I hadn't been there since I was a kid and man has it changed! Dalen was a little apprehensive until he knew he could touch at the bottom of the slides. Once he was comfortable he was gone. Kenna is our little daredevil and needed no reassurance of any sort. She would bungee jump tomorrow without a second thought! Casey and I were completely content laying on the tubes in the lazy river. We went around in circles for at least an hour and a half. It was one of those great days. We topped it off with ice cream from DQ and a movie night in our bed. A truly great day!

Parade, party, and my favorite people!

This 4th of July was a complete blast! We started off our holiday with the Hooper parade. Dalen had fun gathering the hand fulls of candy and Popsicles being thrown at him. He appreciated the help he got from Uncle Toby. Sadly, Kenna was too old for this behavior this year.

Grandpa checking out Dalen's loot bag

Good morning sunshine!

Then it was off to Skip and Colleen's for our 4th of July/Skip's 50th birthday/Kristi's birthday party. There was great food (as usual), swimming, water balloons, volleyball, Razr racing, fireworks, and a bonfire. Needless to say, the kids slept good that night. We of course had the family clowns (Kathy and Kristi) to keep us entertained during the slower times. There is never a bad moment with our family. We love you all!

(See the slide show above for all the highlights!)