Evans Family

It is amazing how fast my family has grown and how difficult it is to have us all together at the same time. We almost had every person together at once this summer when Emily was here from Texas. However, the only day her husband was in town, my other brother-in-law Ruben happened to be in Mexico. We took family pictures anyway and hopefully Mark can photoshop Ruben in soon. Thanks to our friend Audrey for the fabulous photos. http://rememberthemomentsphotography.blogspot.com/

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

These kids could not ask for better grandparents! They (we) are so lucky!

The Zoo

Last week we went to Hogle Zoo with Alli, Jordan, and Caitlin. Now that Brian can run around he can have even more fun at the zoo.

I'm glad that they still have the eggs and turtle shells to play in at the playground. I remember loving both when I was little.
I'm not surprised when Jordan and Brian are way more interested in the water ball than the animals, but I love the animals, especially the brand new baby giraffe.
He/she is still a little wobbly on those long lanky legs.

Brian idolizes his cousin Jordan and just had to sit next to him on the carousel.

Girls' Camp

Theme: MASH - Mend All Sister's Hearts

Everything went so well and a good time was had by all. I shouldn't post pictures of the girls without permission, but just know that they are as cute and funny as they get. Even with a bear scare, a mouse in their tent, and a really scary zip line, they were troopers through and through.




Brian was lucky enough to stay with my Mom at the Ranch. Thank you so much Mom for taking him for four days. Hopefully he got to see a little bit of his Grandpa between his trips to Central America.

One Massive Post

I know, I know, it's been way too long since my last post. My excuses are: one, that we have been having so much fun that there has been no time between to record it all, and two, we've been a little busy with church callings. Mark is the Elder's Quorum President and I am the first counselor in the Young Women and the Girl's Camp Director. Camp is in 4 days.

So to make up for the lack of any blog activity I am going to post a bazillion pictures. Sorry for the overload, but I want to record what we've been up to. The events are also out of order, but at least they're there.

Neighborhood Party

We love love love our neighborhood. They put on this incredible neighborhood party with a kids parade, games, blow up toys, food, snow cones, cotton candy, prizes, and just all around fun. Brian rode his trike in the parade and I could tell he was pretty proud to be a part of it all. He didn't want to get off that trike for a very long time.

Bumper Building

Mark has been working around the clock, building entirely from scratch, new incredibly durable beefy bumpers. There is much more to the final product than you see in the picture. I'll post final pictures of his new Land Cruiser when he is done with everything. Yes, I am pretty proud that he can take random scraps of metal and turn them into bumpers.

Hoyt's Peak

We took a little day trip up into the mountains behind the Ranch. Mark's boss wanted a nice place to take his family so Mark led them up the half hour, off-road car ride to one of the most beautiful scenes in Utah. Brian actually fell asleep while we bumped over the rocks and then loved hiking around. We'll definitely have to do more hiking and off-roading soon.

This Is The Place Heritage Park

Best of all, my sister Emily was here with her three boys for a few weeks. I just love when she gets to come spend time with us. The time with her went entirely too fast.
One day we met up at Heritage Park and Brian had a blast running around experiencing all they have to offer.
Of course his favorite was the petting coral. The sheep would come up and sniff his fingers and he would giggle over and over again.
He ended up with this sweet little baby goat that I'm afraid was too nice to Brian letting him put wood chips on his back.
The little train ride was also a big hit with all the boys. I had to ride with Brian or I'm pretty sure he would have attempted to bail off in order to go swimming in the beckoning pond. Brian is a sucker for any body of water.

Following the park we met for the traditional Chuck-A-Rama lunch. Sisters picture for 2009.

Melanie, Mandy, Emily, Allison and me

Back at the Ranch

I'm sure Brian can't wait until he's old enough to really hang out with these cousins. They LOVE riding on the six wheeler with Grandpa and I love watching.

We love cousins!

Because Brian's just too little to join the "adventure club" the older cousins started this summer, he mostly hung around the yard playing in any water he could find.

We'll miss you Emily, Clayton, Isaac and Brigham

Isaac represents in this picture how ecstatic we were to have you here.


Slip 'N Slide Fun

Oh how we love summers at the Ranch.

Shakespeare Festival

We took three days to go on our favorite traditional vacation to Cedar City for the Shakespeare Festival. It was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT this year! Everything went so smoothly, Brian was a champ and I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
We got to see As You Like It, The Secret Garden, and Comedy of Errors. Brian played at the day care center during one play and slept at the hotel with my mom watching over him for the other two. THANK YOU MOM!

Here we are at the Green Show. Not the most flattering picture of me, but I was happy to be there.
We had hours of fun in the pool/hot tub. For some reason Brian really took to the warmer water. I had to drag him off the top stair of that hot tub. I think he would have sat there all day if I let him.

Xander's Birthday Party

Brian's cousin on the Hsiao side turned 2 and we celebrated in the back yard. Brian just had a blast playing with his uncles and his cousin. It was a fun relaxing party. Happy way late Birthday Xander!

Independence Day

We had a good fourth full of fun and family. Brian liked watching the parade in Oakley despite his serious face.

Overall it's been such a fun month and it's not over yet.