Summertime Fun in Utah (or U-talk according to E)

We spent the bulk of our summer in Utah this year. The kids and I were there for 4 weeks and Dan joined us for the last 2 weeks. The kids absolutely love spending time with all of their cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents. We are so grateful to our families who allow us to come and take up residence in their homes for so long. I know it's a huge change for both grandparents to go from peace and quiet to chaos and mayhem! Thank you, Mom and Dad and Mona and Gregg, for your hospitality!

4th of July BB-Q at Mom's House

These 3 amigos were inseparable! They played from sun-up until sun-down. Campbell had a brand new house, but didn't sleep there most nights because he wanted to keep having sleep-overs with his cousins.

                               Is this not the cutest photo ever? Ethan (4), Sydney (6), Campbell (4)   

                                                                  Bro-yo (2) chills out.

                                        Adam (we'll leave his age out of it) is the grill-master.

                                   Eating out on the patio and mom and dad's house-say cheese!

Sydney's 7th Birthday

                                     Sydney opened a few presents first thing in the morning!

We celebrated Syd's birthday by going to the Capitol Theatre to see "Madagascar 3." Then onto the local pizza parlor for a pizza party with Grandpa and Grandma T., Kirk, Heidi, Campbell and Bronson, plus her mom and siblings. We ended the day with cake and ice cream back at Grandma's house. Make a wish!



The Tree House Museum

The Tree House Museum is always one of our favorite stops. Here is Campbell in his cowboy get-up.

                                                            Logan: aka radio clown.

                                                     Having a pow-wow in the teepee.

                                                                The royal Syd and E.

                                                              Ethan- the astronaut.

Splash Pad in Clearfield

                                          The cousins cool off on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Riding 4-wheelers at Grandpa T.'s Farm

Thanksgiving Point and Rio Tinto Mine with the Wagstaffs
Mikelle and Tasha almost perished not being able to see each other until we'd already been in UT a week, but as soon as their cousins on the other side left town, we headed to Springville to see them.

                      The big and the little kids enjoyed the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

I have to admit, the former Bingham Copper Mine--now the Rio Tinto Copper Mine--was way cooler than I thought. Ethan loved watching the enormous dump trucks! The first photo shows just how big each wheel is.

Pioneer Day Float Exhibit at South Towne Expo Center

The week before the Days of '47 Pioneer Days Parade the floats are all on display at the South Towne Expo Center. We were amazed at the creativity and man hours that went into creating so many floats. Our favorite was an ice-cream sundae one where the stems on the cherries could wave back and forth. The "highlight" was waiting  in line for an hour for the little kids to get these balloon swords!

Mikelle's 13th Birthday

Mikelle and I had a mommy-daughter day: we shopped in Salt Lake at Fashion Place mall and got our hair cut at Chad's. Doesn't Mikelle look so grown up with the new 'do?

Mikelle waited until the next day to have her cake and ice cream with the Bairds, Wagstaffs, and Gr/Gr T. when we arrived in Sun Valley, ID. Happy 13th Mikelle!

Ethan's New Glasses

Do you love Ethan's new look? We just picked up his glasses today and love how handsome he looks. He unfortunately, has amblioplia, like Sydney and Dr. Kern felt he needed to start wearing glasses to strengthen the eye muscles. He'll wear them about 5 hours a day when preschool starts, but for now he'll wear them all day, so that he can get used to them. He's already cleaned them numerous times with the spray and cloth the eye doctor gave him and he is so excited that the case is blue--his favorite color!

Happy Birthday, Dan!

Yesterday we celebrated Dan's 39th birthday. After church, the kids churned out several HB signs to hang around the house. Dan's favorite one was made by Syd and hung on the front door: "Dad, You are Awesome! Dad- You are King!" We enjoyed a birthday dinner of Brown-sugar-BBQ chicken, red mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. I made his favorite (from scratch) German chocolate cake.

The big surprise of the day was when he opened his one lone present and found the all-new iPad. Sydney and Ethan commented on how disappointing it must be to just get ONE present. Dan told them if you were only going to get one present, then this is the present to get! The Frosts were very kind and gave him a red cover for the iPad. By bedtime he had all of his apps downloaded and was reading his scriptures from the iPad.

                                                                 Dan and the kids.

             Drum roll while he opens his gift......(Do you like the trick wrapping from the Polo Outlet?)

                                     Everyone wants to get their hands on daddy's new toy.

                                                                 Make a wish!

Dedicated Golf Fans

Dan and I braved the 104 degrees on Friday to watch Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and VJ Singh play in the AT&T National Golf Tournament. It was my first time at a major tournament and it was so impressive to see the shots these golfers can make! We followed Tiger around for a few holes, but after standing in the sun for more than 2 seconds, we just started to melt! We found a nice shady spot where we could watch the approach shots and puts for hole 5 and then turn around and see the players tee off on hole 6. Tiger ended up winning the tournament with a score of 8 under par.

                                                 Yes-we were there! And yes-it was HOT!

An "unauthorized" photo of the 10th hole where the players teed off. Phones were allowed on the course, but no photos of the players were allowed. We loved watching the security personnel walk around and confiscate phones from those who thought they were tricky, but... not so much!

Lost Time

Where did the past 2 months go? Chalk it up to a bad case of tonsillitis, losing my hearing in my left ear and just trying to keep up with life! At any rate, here is a major catch up of what the Kotters have been up to.

Sydney participated in the 1st grade EXPO night at Hillside. They showcase different skills learned in PE, art, music and Spanish. Here she is doing toe taps on the soccer ball.

Each class wore a different color of shirt to symbolize the colors on the Olympic rings.

Mikelle sang in two end of the year concerts. One with the 7th grade chorus and one with her after-school audition choir, Cantare.

Logan played catcher as one of his main positions on the AAA Phillies this spring.

The Phillies finished the season strong and made a run in the play-offs making it all the way to the AAA World Series for Dulles Little League.

They lost a tough battle in the championship game against the Yankees. 9-6 was the final score. Still they came in 2nd place in their entire division and were awarded trophies after the game.

                                        A little craziness after all the stress of the play-offs!

                                              We're proud of you, Logan! He always gives 110%.

Dan and the kids spent Memorial Day at the river in Soloman's Island, MD with the Fords. Here's Kate and Sydney cooling off.

                                       Logan chills after a nail-biting ride on the tube.

                                                            Ethan plays in the sand.

Dan and E take the Kayak for a spin.  The kids love riding the kayaks almost as much as the boat.

Sydney played in her first piano recital. She performed "Ode to Joy" and "Gold Doubloons."

Mikelle and Grandma T. pose next to the Wells Fargo Wagon. (Mom and Dad came for a visit at the beginning of June.) One night mom, Mikelle and I enjoyed a night out at the Arena Stage Theatre in Washington DC. We saw a fabulous production of the "The Music Man". We loved every minute of it!

Sydney performed a tap dance number to "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" from the Aristocats.

                                    Sydney and her friend, Sarah Paisely, strike a crazy pose!

                Mikelle performed a hip-hop number in the recital. She did not "love" the costume.

Dan spent a week at Girl's Camp in Deep Creek, MD. It was Mikelle's first year at girl's camp and she loved it--even though her dad was there! The last day, Dan went on a river rafting course with the YCL's and YW leaders.