Sam had a fun time with his cousin Samantha and Grandpa Bean as grandpa took them on a tour of his College-UVU. Grandpa has been a Accounting Professor there for over 30 years!

Grandpa LOVES fishing and his grand kids, so what better thing to do than to take his grandkids fishing. We went to Mirror Lake in American Fork Canyon and each kid was able to catch a fish! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for putting it all together!

Cousins!

Sam gets a lot of attention when we go to Utah. After visiting with my family for awhile, we visited Dan's parents. Grandma Stromberg took Sam to Hogle Zoo, which brought back a flood of memories for me. The day got better as grandma took mommy to Costa Vida, a treat for me, since I only get to eat there when I visit Utah. But then we topped it off with a visit to the Sweet Tooth Fairy! We had so much fun! Thanks Grandma!

A few random shots of Sam playing with his dad's old car mat that Grandma Stromberg made and Sam posing with Grandma's necklaces from different islands she's visited. Crazy boys and their ideas of silly and cool! Left-right: Tristan, Sam, Liam and Luke.

A must for me when I come home to Utah is to have breakfast in the canyons with the family, a tradition my Grandpa Johnson started. So we went to Provo Canyon for Pioneer day and began celebrating. A few random shots of the family. Just missing Danno and my sister Ashley and her husband Jordan.

The kids decided they needed to go on an adventurous hike. It started with a few ninja moves and then climbing the dangerously tall table and finally the tallest tree. When climbing the tree, they felt it necessary their picture be taken to mark how brave they were. Koala Sam.

Here are two pictures of Sam's cousins. The first, Sam screaming! The second, all is well now that he gets to hold his Baby Cousin Josie's hand. Crazy child!! I also love the look that Mia is giving Baby Josie. Little boys can be CRAZY, SILLY and this was there idea of fun! They repeatedly came to me asking me to take a picture of them, each time getting a little messier.

Rain or shine, we were determined to find a little FREE water park fun for the kiddos. We finally ran into a cute park near Herriman.

It was a must on my list that we stop by the replica house of "UP!" It was pretty cool.

Last minute fun before it all ends and it's time for us to say our goodbyes. Grandpa Bean and Uncle Tom took us to Cabelas. We had a pajama party and we went to a fun bounce house!

Strombergs Visit Nixon Library

We decided it would be fun to visit Nixon's Library, since visiting presidential libraries is something we've tried to do when we are near them. The grounds were beautiful.

I absolutely fell in love with the sweet cottage his father had built. Inside was a floor layout of just what you would barely need to live by and nothing more, SIMPLICITY!

We also saw a piece of the Berlin Wall and the helicopter President Nixon took his last flight on as the serving president.

Fourth of July Festivities

For the 4th of July we celebrated the week with Sam participating in my in-law's ward kid bike parade and enjoyed a pancake breakfast with them and my friend Tamara's family. Sam wanted to make a firecracker popper, we had fun with daddy at the Beach Club and sparklers with Sam's cousins.

Summer Fun at the Beach Club

We have spent lots and lots of time this past summer at the Beach Club. But it was always super fun, when we spent it with our friends there.

This is Sam and his little friend Logan. Logan's mom has been a special and super awesome friend to me since we moved here to California. Very grateful for that friendship.

Both of our families had a fun bbq this day, part of the fun at this local spot!

Sam's Last Day of Preschool of 2011

Sam is proudly modeling the candy necklace we made for his teachers!

For Sam's last day in preschool when it was time to pick him up, the teachers invited the parents to come in the class room and share a song and a thank you in honor of the end of the year with them.

Sam had such a GREAT experience at PCOM! I will always be grateful for the moments he had there with his teachers and his friends he made as well as the friends I made.

Sam Visits the Discovery Museum

Dan and I took Sam to the Discovery Museum while they had the Potato Head Exhibit. Funny though, we didn't cspture any pictures of the Potato Head Displays.
Lots of fun, since Sam has a love for that funny little toy.

Strombergs Visit La Brea

So life has been a little crazy around here, hence the reason for slacking on keeping the blog updated. But we feel we are just about back to normal, as I sit here and type smelling paint fumes while Dan runs around trying to complete everything for Scouts, his second calling that he will be done with by Wednesday. But I will get to that later.

Dan has been wanting to visit La Brea Tar Pits since we moved here. La Brea is known for having the largest Ice Age Animal fossils.

The tar pits outside are quite the site to see and smell, all right there in the heart of Los Angeles.