The Arredondo Family: Still More Extended Vacation

Oh, mountains, how we love thee! Here we are we up the canyon (Big Cottonwood or Little Cottonwood, can't remember which one) for a picnic. It was a beautiful afternoon and the kids had fun exploring..

Ethan was so sweet and would hold Abby's hand so she wouldn't fall down, and he'd help her if she got stuck or scared. He's a good boy.

I'm not sure what it is but food always tastes better in the mountains..

My JEMCO (John Edwin McMullin cousins..) family had a reunion while we were there. John Edwin was my Mom's grandfather, her Dad's Dad. She has lots of cousins and they all grew up together and always had parties and fun gatherings, so we are pretty lucky to be close to some of our extended family. Now all those cousins are grandmas and grandpas and it's so fun getting together to see everyone and their kids! It's quite the legacy and I think J.E. would be proud of his posterity.

My cousin has a beautiful pool at her house and all the kids and the adults had a blast. This was a big year for Abby she would actually go under the water and hold her breath. She's used to be a bit of a chicken when it came to that. So this "HEY MOM! LOOK AT ME SITTING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL!" is a pretty big deal!

And a giant water slide to play on!

And a clown did balloon animals and a magic show! So fun!

And one more jump off the diving board!

Here's the McMullin Family tree, pretty impressive right?

2 McMullin brothers (one of which was my grandpa) and one sister (J.E.'s kids) listed at the top, and their kids, grandkids and great grandkids..

We went to a parade preview to see the parade floats that are in the July 24th parade. It was fun! My cousin Michelle and her kids and my Uncle Mike joined us! We got to vote on our favorites!

On the 24th, pioneer day, we partied with fireworks with my Mom's neighbors and had a blast!

There was a couple fireworks :)

Sparkler fun!

Movie night outside!

We hit the Days of '47 Rodeo with Kim, and Kristi and My Dad. Ethan rode the mechanical bull and stayed on a long time, he said, "That's right! I'm a Texas boy!"

We also hiked up to Cecret Lake, a pretty little lake up past Alta ski resort. It was really beautiful, however it was a little nerve wracking when a thunderstorm rolled in and we saw some lightning not too far away. Luckily it didn't rain on us until we were about done with our hike, and didn't last long.

We hit the local water park when Alex got back to Utah.

I got to lunch with my cute cousins!

We went to a park up Hobble Creek canyon in Springville, with a little lake or maybe a giant pond, either way it was a fun day but the water was freezing, so we mostly played in the sand.

We got to go horseback riding, my sisters friend has horses and was nice enough to take us riding! The kids LOVED it, they were excited to have their own horse and Ethan was so funny he kept saying, "Easy boy...easy..." and his horse was very laid back even though he was a huge horse. His name was Big Red.

(A) Swan (in a) Lake, which is really more like a pond..A swan pond..Such a beautiful setting to go horse back riding though.

Cutest cowboy ever!

Alex's horse was so hysterical and maybe a little bit dramatic, he would walk extra slow behind everyone else and stop occasionally and just stand there. No matter what Alex would do he would just sort of go slow and stand there. Then near the end of our ride he started making these funny grunting sounds, clearly he was protesting a bit. Horses are funny! Paul (the owner) said he just likes to complain..not unlike his rider (haha! just kidding Alex!)..

Oh beautiful mountains!

Cutest cowgirl ever!

I got to ride Little Black, what a nice, sweet horse he is, not unlike his rider.. Haha! ;)

Great time, horsin' around!

We also hit the aquarium, we went to see the baby penguins but didn't actually see any babies. They were more like adolescents. Bummer!

Then we had to say good bye to Abby's best friend, oh the sadness and tears!

Happy hugs, turned to sad hugs!

Awww, baby brother needed a hug too!

So sweet the friendship they've formed when we get to visit, they are so cute together and really do love each other. Ethan got to be good friends with a boy across the street, they had fun together too. And they are just good boys! Love it!

We got to celebrate my Mom's actual birthday with her! That was awesome and hasn't happened in years! Fun treat to be together to party!