Daytona Beach

At the first of this month Rick and I took and trip with John and Kaitlyn and Haivyn to Daytona Beach.  We have been planning this trip for about 6 months now.  We flew in on a Monday and stayed a whole week at the Daytona Regency right on the beach.  We enjoyed our time there and got to do some fun things.  John had never been further east than Colorado so this was a completely new experience for him.  Here are some random photos of some of the things we did while we were in Florida.

I spent time by the pool while Haivyn napped and the others played in the ocean.  John tried surfing for a few hours and then gave up.  The waves were getting the best of him!  The water was super warm and Haivyn loved it!  We spent quite a bit of time at the beach and pool!

We visited Ponce De Leon Lighthouse and climbed all 206 steps to the top!

Grandpa and Haivyn enjoying the view!

Went to Universal Florida and visited Diagon Alley.  Pretty Cool!  This building was the Gringott's something or other.  (Candy Store I guess because it was full of candy and treats including Bertie Bott's Jelly Beans)  I have more pics of Diagon Alley plus the Hogwart's express but they all must be on Rick's phone:(

Tool a tour of Angell and Phelps Chocolate store and tasted some chocolate covered potato chips.  Yum!

Visited St. Augustine and had a fabulous Italian dinner there.  We also picked up some specialty popcorn to snack on during General Conference. (Which by the way we watched at the nearby church on Saturday and then on my computer on Sunday.  It was awesome as always!)

Rode beach cruisers on the beach.

Look at the size of those tires.

Ate at Bubba Gump's.......and Sonny's BBQ.......and Joe's Crab Shack.....and one day we bbq'd at the condo and made our own grub!

John and Kait tried some gator tacos!

I made friends with this one!

We took an airboat ride outside of Orlando before our flight to come home.

Isn't Haivyn cute with her earphones???

Held a baby gator

all except me.

Little darlin' having a snack!

and last but not least....ran into a flock of seagulls!

That pretty much wraps it up.  Saw and did some fun stuff!

Birthday Time

Yes, it's true!  Another birthday has rolled around and I am another year older!  Rick and I started the birthday celebrations on Friday the 18th with some shopping.  I bought an awesome pair of jeans from Maurice's that I am excited to wear!  The only problem was the length.  Why do jean makers think that everyone has an inseam of 44.  Seriously, they were at least 8 inches too long!  So my jeans are getting hemmed before I can wear them.   After shopping we got checked into our room and then went to dinner.  Back to The Five Alls!  No surprise there.  It's my favorite place for dinner:)  That night we stayed in the Palace Suite at the Anniversary Inn.

Outside of Five Alls

Some pics of our pretty room.

Rick ordered the fresh rose petals around the bed and the box of chocolates on the table.  The cupcakes are complimentary:)  The left window in the bay leads out to a deck:)

The next morning we went to the Downtown Farmer's Market.  This is such a fun time of the year to hit the market (as compared to June) because there is a plethora of fruits and vegetables available.  I went specifically looking for some more fresh peaches.  We tried five different booths before finding the sweetest tasting.

Rick loves strong cheeses.  Here he is giving some a taste.

I love to go by the bakery booths.  Their breads are SO beautiful!

Plus the pumpkin bread found here is THE BEST!

Speaking of pumpkins........

Aren't these lovely!  They were asking Fifty Dollars for that giant pumpkin.  FIFTY DOLLARS!!

Luckily I had three of them waiting for me at home in my garden:)

Ahh.... Ruby Snap!  Couldn't pass those up:)

After the Farmer's Market we found us a Firehouse Sub Shop because seriously those are the BEST sandwiches anywhere.  Quiznos is a close second, though.  I know that Skylar and Sarah (and Gary because he works there) love Jimmy John's but for me it's Firehouse!  After a little more shopping  (I got some new necklaces and earrings and some much needed Bath and Body) we headed home.  S&S and Kendra came out to spend the evening. (Brach was at his parents watching the late BYU game)  We had dinner at Casa and then three wedding receptions to get to so they basically took our whole evening.  I felt bad but knew that we were all going to be together on Sunday.  Kallie Baker was reporting her mission that day and after church and her luncheon all of our kids (minus Alyssia) came out to celebrate my birthday.  Rick bought a Costco chocolate cake to celebrate with:)  It was good to be with everyone!!

FORTY-EIGHT!

My birthday continued into the next day when my visiting teachers (Peggy and Teresa) took me out to lunch to Applebees.  It was a nice visit with them and a good way to end the weekend festivities!

Swiss Days '15

Last weekend was our annual trip to Swiss Days up in Midway.  I LOVE this tradition!  It's always held over  Labor Day and for me marks the beginning of fall.  I love walking through the booths seeing all of the fine arts and crafts.  The weather was perfect and the company was great!  Brach couldn't come this year but this was Skylar and Sarah's first year and I think they enjoyed it.  My fun buy this year was a set of (12) small Liz Lemmon Swindle framed pictures of the Savior.  They are mostly surrounding the time of his birth.  I am thinking to put them on a Christmas Tree or have them hanging on my mantle garland.  LOVE them!!

Grandpa and Henry in front of the Relief Society booth.  Goodies found there!!

Kendra in one of her favorite booths.  She loves buying new ties for the Boman boys:)

Gramps bought a bow and arrow for Rafe.  It was a hit!  He learned right away how to use it.

So did Uncle Skylar.  You see he's aiming at Henry.....yes, he got him and made him cry:(

Group shot 

The Phelps Fam

Me and my sweetie with my packages:)

It was a beautiful evening so we dropped the top and enjoyed the mountain air.  The trees were starting to get some autumn color and I love that!

We met S & S and Henry in Park City for dinner at the PC Pasta and Noodle for dinner.  We had a gift card and we ordered way too much food and brought about half of it home:)

Fun Times!!!

Hogle Zoo

A few weeks ago when the boys were in Alaska, the girls and I decided to do some fun things throughout the week.  One day we went to Hogle Zoo.  It was a nice hot day and we all had a fun time seeing the animals.  Luckily, the zoo has a splash pad (who knew?)  and that was a nice break from the heat.  All of the kids got their clothes soaking wet but, oh what joy was seen on their faces!!

Henry checking out the desert turtle

Rafe, Henry and Haivyn enthralled by the lioness.

Checking out the elephants.....

A photo op.

Another one:)

Playing at the splash pad.....

Last was the ride on the train.  

After the zoo we had a quick dinner at Zupas.  Summer Fun!!