Summer Synopsis

Fun kids with their nice olive skin that I wish I had. The first day of being out in the sun they get a perfect tan that lasts until winter.

This is Tanner in his football helmet kayaking in Oregon. I wasn't on this trip but my brothers are all getting pretty good at this latest sport they've taken up. I'm too scared of flipping over and not being able to get out of the boat.

We all (Whitney missed this year) did the Pole, Pedal, Paddle race in Bend, OR this year. Carlos and I were a team so he started the race by snowboarding, then handed off to me and I skate-skiied 3 miles (it was my 2nd time being on my skate skiis), then Carlos biked over 20 miles down from Mt. Bachelor, then I ran 5 miles on trails along the Deschutes river, then Carlos kayaked about 1 1/2 miles, and Rivers and I did the sprint to the finish of 500 meters. It's such a great race - really well put on, tons of people, booths, music etc, plus the weather was PERFECT! Jason and Diana were a team, and Tyler, Tanner, and Cody were a team. My mom got babysitting and photographer duties. We stayed in a cool condo in Bend for a couple of nights to make it a fun weekend.

Right after I finished the skate skii and handed off to Carlos for the bike. Rivers is pumping me up for my next leg. Our team name was 'Buff and Tuff'. Those sunglasses I'm wearing are Hannah Montana. I have a really small head and was excited to find sunglasses that fit my head until I got them home and noticed they were Hannah Montana and fit because they were made for a 9 year old.

Carlos was at first coerced into playing for the Cache Valley Bears football team and then ended up loving it. They won the regional championship in triple overtime. Carlos played offense and defense during the overtimes and had an exciting interception to help win the game.

He played on the team with his brother Daniel and brother in law Ben Moa. He played against a lot of people from the college days.

Tanner and Tyler celebrating with Rivers post championship game. They look a little more excited than Rivers.

Rivers turned 6 one month after Dwight turned 1. She had a pajama party/ outdoor movie night and the hit was the 'snack stop' - we gave them all fake money to buy popcorn, candy, drinks and movie tickets with. It was a late night since we couldn't start the movie until dark and her birthday is 2 days after the longest day of the year.
Tanner and I got asked last minute by 2 different teams to join them for the Wasatch Back Relay (basically Hood to Coast in Utah). It started in Logan and we ran to Park City all night. I didn't really know anyone on my team, but I had so much fun. I loved running in the middle of the night because there was a huge full moon right on the horizon and I was on a little mountain road in the middle of nowhere- the surroundings were so perfect that I was running with a smile on my face the whole time and it must have numbed the pain because my mile splits were faster than I've run in a long time.

Gathering Together Farms - located in my hometown of Philomath, Oregon. There is a little restaurant at this farm and they grow everything they serve, all organic etc. It is absolutely delicious and one of my favorite places. I had a salmon omelete stuffed with fresh veggies and a drink that was fresh squeezed lemonade and herbal tea mixed. Mmmm!

Another favorite joint in P-town, Oregon is the Tea Room. We took Rivers and her cousin Madison and they acted like such little ladies. They bring you a cute little bowl of ice cream first, then delicious soup, then a three tiered tray of mini sandwiches, h'ordeurves, and mini desserts. Oh, and of course a pot of tea.

Having fun at my Mom's house. Rivs and Madison stayed in the pool for almost 6 hours this day.

Walking along the Willamette river near Whitney's house while she was at her rowing class.

Refreshment at Whitney's lush yard. I wish I had a picture of the rest of her yard. It looks like it should be featured in Better Homes and Gardens. Check out her blog for more pics of it - and some giggles (she's a funny writer).

Carlos Dwight has turned into a daddy's boy.

I never get tired of this kid. I mean he makes me very tired because he likes to unload every drawer, cupboard, and basket, and run into the street, but his smile and mannerisms are so addicting.

We camped for a week in Santa Cruz for the Nuno family reunion. Lots of fun beach time.

This was before all 4 of them got into a tiny raft with no oars and ventured out into the sea. Lucky for them the air hole got knocked open (they thought it popped) and they were close enough to swim back to shore. Carlos has an aversion to cold water and wore his wet suit the whole time. And Ben.... I'm not exactly sure what he's doing.

In the bike cart coming back from playing in the park until dark. This was a main mode of transportation during the summer. Dwight is being such a chivalrous brother, holding Rivers head on his chest while she slept.

Dwight posing in our backyard under our huge birch tree.

We had a few "track nights" where we'd go to the track by our house and work out together. Rivers usually ended up being the boss and made us do the drills she would make up. Here she is outleaning her Dad for the win.

The kids rode their patriotic scooters in the kid parade (a mass of scooters and bikes going down the street 200 meters and coming back). That's Sione, Aisea and Rivers in front and Carlos' parents in back. The girls (me, Christina, and Karlie - sisters in law) did a 5k in the morning.

I couldn't capture this night with the camera, but it was one of those hot nights and the kids and I sat out on the sidewalk after 10pm and ate blueberries and goofed off (it kills me to have to buy berries when I'm so used to just being able to just pick them). Dwight was pooping straight blueberries for days after this night. He ate at least 50.

This may have been the nicest day at the beach in Oregon that we've ever had. We went to Nye beach in Newport for the day (45 miles from my mom's house). Rivers is looking very surfer-chic.

The hardest part of the day was making my son stop eating sand - he's all smiles here though.

Jason ran up and down the beach with the girls trying to get this kite in the air, but for the first time ever, there wasn't a drop of wind.

This picture is of the same beach last December - another beautiful day but cold and that's Tyler and Tanner taking the kayaks in their bike and football helmets out into the ocean. It looks nice and peaceful in this picture, but when they got to those waves, it was a different story. It ended with Tanner dashing out into the waves and trying to help Tyler get back in who was caught in some weird tide.

We didn't really plan to all match - but it made for a good picture. This was on our trip to Oregon. This post was long - I need to add pictures more than once a season.

Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Australia

We went on a trip of a lifetime the day after we moved into our half remodeled house. My older brother Jason and family lived in Singapore and we took a trip to visit them and that part of the world. So many incredible experiences that I'm not going to write about them here, but I'll add a few pics and notes. This one is of Rivers on the plane making herself comfortable on the floor during the 20 hours of flying.

Cambodia was my favorite country we visited. Their culture, recent oppression, and living circumstances left quite an impression on us all. It's a memory I hope to never forget.

These pictures are of their huts, huge banyan trees taking over the ruins of Angkor Wat, and hiking back from the local hangout waterfalls.

Rivers and Madison with a Cambodian Monk and Jason, me and kids.

We all loved taking the Tuk-Tuks (carts pulled behind mopeds - their version of taxis). This was after one of the most delicious dinners I've ever had and it cost like $2.50. We were on our way to the night market.

We rode bikes around Pulau Uben (a more remote island of singapore). I rode with my legs like a frog the whole time.

Tioman, Malaysia was the most relaxing country we visited (as you can see by the almost dead look on Jason's face). We took a 2 hour boat ride to get to this island with the bluest water, whitest sand and we felt like we were almost alone there. It was soooo great!

We took a few hikes through the jungle in Malaysia and saw lots of monkeys and humongous (I mean like 5 feet long) lizards. We got caught in the dark on the way back and the monkeys were freaking us all out. That's Jason sporting the sweet spandex.

My mom met us there too (providing entertainment because she slipped while staring at the monkeys in the dark and hit her head on a rock - good thing I had my trusty first-aid kit). Lots of good grandkid bonding moments with Jason's kids (Brody, Madison and Warwick) and my two. My mom is holding my chunk of a boy.

Night time beach fun and Rivers and Madison showing off their new Malaysian outfits (Rivers apparently thinks she's auditioning for America's Next Top Model).

Australia was our next stop. We landed in Darwin and drove inland to Katherine Gorge and Kakadu National Park. This northern part of Australia is mostly inhabited by the Aboriginees.

I love this picture of Rivers and Madison - hiking back from the water hole and falls pictured above them. Yea, we let the kids swim in their undies. We had the whole place to ourselves. The first picture in this bunch shows Carlos and Jason scaring the kids (and me) pretending like the river was sweeping them down toward the huge waterfalls just to the right of this picture. Madison is trying to pull her dad to safety. Good to know Jason hasn't changed - still likes scaring little kids (I'm still scared of going up stairs in the dark because I feel like there's someone chasing behind me like Jason always did until I cried when I was like 4).

I bunched these pictures together to make you think we were swimming with the crocodiles. We went on this boat and huge crocodiles would jump out of the water for the meat dangling a few feet from our arms! Even Carlos got a little nervous with this stunt. The one of us in the water was one of the few places we could swim without crocodile danger. It was at the bottom of a bunch of little waterfalls and was the temperature you could swim in all day! Felt sooo good!

Even Rivers got in on the rock/cliff jumping. That's Rivers, then me (the bright white thing in a purple swimsuit), then Carlos. We were always a little bit nervous in the water because of all the crocodile and deadly jellyfish stories.

Our last day in Singapore before heading back. I could have stayed another month. That day we bought a few pieces of great chinese antique furniture for a steal since Jason could have it shipped back with his stuff. What a great trip!