Race time...

We traveled over to Grand Junction, Colorado for a couple days of racing. Payton is becoming quite the little driver. The track there is quite a bit different that the one we usually race at in Tooele. There were more turns and some elevation changes. He had 4 races total for the weekend. The first heat race on Saturday he took his first win. It was such an amazing moment. He was very proud. The main event that day was a little different. Donny made a change that was a gamble to make him faster and unfortunately it made him a little slower. He came in 4th for that race. There were 14 karts in that race so 4th place was amazing. These drivers came from all over the state of Colorado. Most of them were from Denver on their way to the National Championships. He did so great.

Sunday's heat race was similar to the one on Saturday. He kicked butt and came in first place yet again. This time, Donny decided not to touch a single thing on the kart for the main event. Payton started in the first position. The kart next to him was a boy named Tyler that he became friends with while we had been there. He had a really strong kart also. Tyler was able to take the lead right away. About 4 laps in to the 10 lap race, Tyler spun out at the top of the hill. Payton took the lead away from him and had a good 8 second lead by the time he was able to get going again. He had a good lead on the rest of the field. With 3 laps to go, Payton spun at the top of the hill in the same place as Tyler had laps before. He was in the dirt and couldn't get back to the track in time. Tyler was able to pass him and take a large lead. He finished the race in 2nd place.

It was a very intense race for 6 year olds. We are so proud of the finish he got and couldn't believe the size of the trophy that he received. You can see in the pics how large it is. The boy next to him with the other trophy is Tyler, his Colorado racing buddy. The best part was, when they got off of the track and out of the karts, the first thing the boys did was congratulate each other and give a high five. Even if he didn't come in 1st place, he was so happy that Tyler did.

Jackson Hole

We had a fabulous trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, over the 24th holiday. My friends parents have a cabin about 45 min out of Jackson that they were kind enough to let us stay at. There were 4 families that went out all together. We had a blast. The total came out to be 9 adults, 9 kids, and 3 dogs. Lots of chaos!!!

We picked 1 day out of the 4 and made a caravan up to into town. I was a little shocked that it wasn't a little more like Park City. I guess I had the total wrong impression about what I was going to see. It was beautiful, of course, just not what I was expecting. I thouhgt there would be big lodges and hotels. Not the case. We didn't shop, but I here that is great as well.

We stopped at a pizza place in town to have some lunch. It was called Mountain High Pizza. I can't tell you how delicious it was. Great pizza!!! After lunch, we headed up to Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Forest. Absolutely beautiful!!! The kids all stripped down and went swimming in the lake while they guys went fishing. After a little hike to find a good spot, of course.

Our last stop after we left Jenny Lake was about 20 more minutes into the canyon to Jackson Lake. There is a big lodge with a bunch of cottages that you can stay in. The best part of it was the view out of the window out onto the lake at the mountains. The Teton mountains are incredible. We have wonderful mountains here but these are shaped totally different and were so awesome. My camera decided to stop working the night before so I was really sad not to get pics of them.

Here are some of the pics that I did get before my camera died. We had so much fun with everyone. Thanks to Jenni and Brent for inviting us and I hope we can go again next year!!

The many faces of Addy Mae

I have way too many pictures of Addy Mae to post so I decided to put together a slide show of her many faces. If she sees a camera, she instantly says cheese. Of course, there are always those times when she isn't so happy we are taking her picture.

Sunshine & Summertime

We have had as much time swimming as possible this summer. The kids were getting antsy to get to Grandmas house to swim in her pool. Obviously, we had to wait the whole month of June because it rained all month long. We were happy when the sun showed up and it was time to get wet!! These pics are from various days swimming at Grandmas and in our backyard in the blow up pool. Such a blast!!