2010 Snowflake Pioneer Day Celebration

This years Pioneer Day Celebration was 100 million times better than last year. I was so glad to be present for the whole thing, not on my way to the hospital. We got to Snowflake on Thursday evening we ate dinner and visited that night. Friday morning I woke up and got in a 5 mile bike ride before the rodeo. (I was supposed to do 15 miles, but we visited too late and I couldn't get up early enough.) The rodeo was a lot of fun. I didn't even want to get in the arena this year, but I did long enough to help my kids run their races. It was fun to walk around visiting so many cousins. There were probably around 1,000 of us at the rodeo. I love our William J. Flake Family Reunions. After the rodeo was the potluck lunch and program. My brother Tyler got nominated to be the Flake Family Vice President. He will serve in that capacity for the next two years and then will automatically become the President for two years. He will do a great job. He loves rodeos. Friday night we attended the end of the town rodeo to watch my brothers and nephew Shad participate in the Keg race. My brother Travis won that night.

Friday afternoon at a special meeting at the town hall, Rusty Bowers presented a bust of my Dad that he created to the town of Snowflake. He did a wonderful job, it is a great likeness. A replica will also be placed at the AZ State Capitol.

Saturday morning I woke up early and went with my sister Celeste to the Snowflake Pioneer Day run. Celeste ran the 10K and I ran the 2 mile twice. (I had to run for 40 minutes for my triathlon training and 2 miles wasn't long enough, but I didn't want to do the 10K because that was too long.) After the race we watched the parade. I had to laugh because when we got out of the van Bryant said, "I get to throw the candy." I realized that he has never watched a parade. In the past we were always in the parade helping with my Dad's campaign. He was excited when he found out that he got to collect candy this time. After the parade Chad and my brothers-in-law and nephews played paintball. Then I attended the Beauty and the Beast play. It was great. My sister-in-law Pam was in charge of and sewed most of the costumes. She did SUCH a wonderful job. They were amazing. Saturday night we attended the town rodeo again to watch the finale of the keg race. It was SO fun to watch because it rained a bunch and the whole arena was a big mud pie. My brothers Tyler and Travis and my nephew Shad were in it again. Shad got 4th place, Tyler took 2nd and Travis was first. He won a belt buckle and about $900. After Travis won he ran and slid on his belly in the mud. It was funny.

Sunday we attended Snowflake 8th ward, my home ward, had a family dinner then headed home. It was a fun trip.

The foot races

watching the rodeo

The bust of my Dad

California

Last Thursday my Mom, Spencer, Bryant, Karalee, and I headed over to Huntington Beach, CA to visit Kayla and Jeff in their new home. Chad wasn't able to come because he needed to work and I decided to leave Marlee because she doesn't like to ride in the car much and we were in the car a lot. Thank you Amy for watching Marlee while Chad was at work.

The trip started out kind of rocky. On my way to drop Marlee off at Amy's house I ran out of gas on the freeway. My van still showed that I had 1/8 of a tank left, I guess my gas gauge is broken. Thank you Shannon for coming to our rescue with a little gas. After being stranded, I asked my Mom if we could take her car on the trip instead of our van because her car is pretty new and ours has over 100,000 miles on it. I didn't want to be stranded in the desert again.

Since we got a late start when we got to California we had to wade through rush hour traffic so it took us 7+ hours to make it to Kayla's house. When we got there they had made us a yummy dinner and took us to go see Newport Beach and to walk on the pier.

Friday we met up with my brother Doug's family, who were on vacation to Disneyland, for a beach day. We loaded up in their big van and spent a fabulous day at the beach. It was SO much fun. We stayed for about 5 hours. Then we all went to get cleaned up and met at Marie Calendars for dinner.

Saturday morning we got packed up and headed for home. It only took about 6 hours to make it back. It was a short trip, but well worth it. We hope we can go visit again in Sept. when the water will still be warm enough to swim and when Disneyland won't be so crowded.

I didn't even feel too worried about leaving Marlee this time, probably because I knew Chad would be with her at night so she wouldn't feel completely abandoned. Plus, I know she had a lot more fun playing at Amy's house than she would have spending 13+ hours in the car. Here are the pictures of our trip.

A little glimpse of our car ride, Karalee happened to be throwing a fit at the time. Such is life with a three year old.

Getting our feet wet

Having fun with Aunt Kayla and Jaki

Karalee and Rachel, BFF

Spencer found a starfish near the sidewalk

Beach Day!!

Testing out the waters

Taking Spencer out to teach him how to body surf

Kayla, Mom, Lindsay, Spencer and I think that is Trevor in the water

Happy smiles for everyone

The waves were pretty big, but Mom has still got it. However, we realized later that she sadly lost her mother's ring while riding the waves.

Spencer coming in on a wave

I'm not sure what was so exciting

Kayla's new look

The group

4th of July and a Camping Trip

It was nice to celebrate the 4th of July on Sunday this year. At church I bore my testimony and shared my gratitude for those who helped bring about the freedoms that allowed the church to be restored and I also shared my gratitude for the Pioneers. I love July and the Snowflake Pioneer Day celebration that brings my family together every year. In my opinion, it is the 2nd best time of the year, Christmas being the best.

I only have two pictures from the 4th of July. One of Marlee hanging out the the jeep playing with the empty bubble bottle and wand. They keep her entertained for a long time. She likes putting the wand in the bottle and taking it out over and over again.

I convinced Karalee to take a nap before we had some of Chad's side of the family over to watch fireworks from our backyard and to play games. When they all arrived I went to wake her up for the party and saw this. It made me laugh. Earlier during the day, Marlee got the bottle of Listerine out and left in on the floor. Karalee decided to nap on the floor instead of the bed. The Listerine bottle looks a lot like a liquor bottle and Karalee looks like she passed out from drinking.

For our Sanders' family reunion this year we went camping on Tonto Creek. It was fun, except for the part where I had a melt down, or anxiety attack, or bad attitude, whatever you want to call it. It happened when it started raining and everyone was crowded under the shade areas. I got claustrophobic and started dreading another poor nights sleep. I wanted to go home right then. I get those feelings when I am really tired. I have had them in Snowflake when everyone crowds into the house and I have stayed up too late talking. I don't like those feelings. Anyway, here are the pictures from our camping trip.

Chad and I taught the family how to play Canadian Salad. We laughed when no one could remember the name of it. They called it Caesar Salad, Fruit Salad, and something else I can't remember. Chad has called it Canadian Bacon before. Funny.

Shannon keeping Marlee and Calvin out of the dirt for a little while.

Spencer and Bryant each caught their first fish!

Aaron taught us how to play bowling ball croquet. It was really fun. We let the little kids use a volleyball since the bowling balls were too heavy.

Slip Slidin' with Josh and Mary

A few weeks ago Amy, Josh, and Mary came over to help me bottle some salsa and after we were done we pulled out the slip n' slide for the kids to play on. They didn't actually get to slide much because the babies kept getting in the way, but they still had a fun time.