Summer-time Fun

This summer has been jam packed with fun things; Ella has definitely opened many new doors of entertainment for us.

Here, Ella is playing with two of her best friends, Abby and Savannah Bjorkman, at the beach during the Fourth of July weekend. The weather was just slightly less than perfect this year, but the girls still dug into their fun!

Even Jocey found her little spot of enjoyment.
Who can resist this face?!

Another fun activity that we have enjoyed was a day trip to the Enchanted Forrest. Ella's Aunt Tino was still visiting with us when we made this trip. Christine described this place well when she said that this is probably what Disneyland was like when it first opened.

Here, Ella is checking out the Seven Dwarfs Cottage as Snow White is cleaning up while the dwarfs are at work at the mine. We also visited the mine, Ella described it as, "Scary!" And for a two year old, it was a bit dark and erie, I have to admit.

Ella loves and misses her Tino.

Back in the Saddle Again

I apologize to all you faithful bloggers for my delinquency. But I am proud to say that we are back on line again!

Better Together

For our family vacation this year we teamed up with my sister and her family and rented a home in Bend, Oregon for a week. The landscape was stunning, the weather was perfect, and the memories are priceless. There were so many moments from this vacation that I wanted to share with all of you that I found it easiest to put them all to music.

Family Reunion - Take 1

We have been looking forward to summer-time for several weeks, and now that it is finally here, we are enjoying our many trips. Next on our itinerary was the McCracken Family Reunion. We spent June 6-8 in Salt Lake City; thank you Jana for putting this all together!

Family Fun at Cosmic Bowling

Pizza at Fat Katz

Riding the Trac

Temple Square

All the Grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa
My Siblings and Me

Stay tuned for Family Reunion - Take 2!

While I Was Out

After spending the exciting weekend in Spokane, Ella and I traveled to Idaho Falls to cheer on my baby sister Christine (a.k.a. Tino) at her high school graduation. Way To Go Tino!!!

We then spent a few days with the fam doing exciting things like reading stories, singing songs, and jumping on Grandma and Grandpa's jumpoline (you'll see what I'm getting at in the pictures). I think the most exciting things happened after I left . . . yes, Ella got to stay at her grandma and grandpa's house all by herself! She had the time of her life, with both sets of grandparents (unfortunately I don't have any pictures of her during her time with Grandma and Grandpa Winter's).

Ella hasn't stopped talking about all her adventures with her grandparents and her cousins.

Round 'N Round

Memorial Day weekend was a great experience for our whole family. We were able to spend it in Spokane, Washington being Landon's support crew. He participated, for the second year in a row, in the Round 'N Round 24-Hour Mountain Bike Race! He raced this solo, which means he raced it alone rather than with a team (how far can you ride for 24 consecutive hours?). And you will see, he did AWESOME!

The first leg of the race was a foot race. This helps thin out the group so that when everyone starts mounting their bikes, it's not a bottle-neck.
(Landon is in the left-center of the picture. He's wearing the black shorts with a white stripe down the leg.)Now he's in for the long haul. GO LANDON!!!!
First lap done, 22 3/4 hours left to go!
Landon had his first ever major crash during lap 6, you can see the large bandage on his right knee. Thankfully there were 5 medics right at the base of the mountain (the Devil's Down is appropriately named). But it didn't slow him down.

Here are couple of cool night riding photos.

Oh, daylight.
Here's Ella cheering. She kept a watchful eye out for Landon and would notify all of us when she saw her Daddy coming. "There's my daddy!"
Last lap, you can do it Landon!
You made it! 210 miles!
We love this guy and are so proud of him and his accomplishments!

Talent

Here are a few of the things that we do at home:

Ella is practicing her piano and singing in preparation for Primary. After all, Mom is now the Primary Music Chorister (hooray!).

Getting ready for the day.

Daddy and Ella practicing for the big race in Spokane.

Yep, those dancing skills came in handy! Here I am on the Oak Creek Ward Synchronized Swimming Team! (I'm the one in the pink and blue bathing suit.)

Ella is baking something most delicious.

And finally, Ella demonstrates what she learned while we had some children over for a play-day (argh).