Mad Dawg Mady!

Years ago we started a tradition with Hailey and Madyson (Jim and Samantha's daughters) where we would have them stay with us for a week or two.  We called it "The Summer of Fun".  I might have paid for it, but Sarah deserves all the credit as she took great pleasure in outlining and planning every minute of their visit.  She really tried hard to make it a special time for them.  Of course, as they get older, they naturally lose interest, but I hope they always appreciated Sarah's efforts and desires to make them feel special.  We did this because we don't get to spend as much time with Hailey and Mady as we do with our nephews, Elijah, Cole, Jake and Emerson.  But the specialness of the tradition spread to include the boys too, and our kids, as Sarah and Molly created the Cousins' Day of Fun (to be chronicled in another post). 

 

As I mentioned before, the girls got older and naturally became involved in other things such as boys, water polo, friends, their phones, etc, and the interest to hang with us old folks up here in Utah lost much of its appeal.  For that reason, we haven't had Hailey up for a few years and Madyson missed a couple years too.  But this year was different and we were able to get Mady to come up for one last BrooHaHa with her Aunt and Uncle and younger cousins.  We had a blast just having her around.  That probably would have been enough, but in typical Aunt Sarah fashion, she tried to make the visit extra special and they did a few fun things.  I don't know that I have all the pics, but here are a few.

 

Mady's trip started with an red carpet greeting (sans red carpet) at the airport.

 

Here is Leah waiting for Madyson to come down the stairs.

 

Sarah, Mady and Grandma at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

We went roller skating. 

Well, Dax went scooting.

As you can see, Mady is an expert....faller.

Leah imitating Mady.

Dax says, "This is how you do it, Mady!  Wanna' borrow my helmet?"

"See Mady!  It's not that hard!"

You can't visit Utah without a hike or two!

Beauty and Beauty

 

Madyson said the trail was steep and rocky, but worth it.

The Hike to Battle Creek Falls



Leah was excited to show off her bike riding skills for her older cousin.

We went up the canyon one night to have a picnic and enjoy Mother Nature.
We are so fortunate to have the canyon so close to us.  Ten minutes and we've
escaped the hustle and bustle of life and can relax in the beauty of God's
green world. 

The kids wanted a bridge across the creek.  What's a Father to do?!

Sarah appears to not be so happy to have her pic taken.  They say smoke
follows beauty.  If so, poor Sarah must always be in a smog of smoke. 
She is after all, SMOKIN'!

Mady getting her wienie roast on!

I'm assuming this pic was taken after he'd consumed a couple dozen s'mores.

Staying warm on a cool Summer's eve.  It's nice having the canyon
so close in the heat of the Summer.  Ten minutes and you're 20
degrees cooler.

Ugh.  He's a mess!  But he's a fun mess.

Mad Dawg and The Princess

There's nothing like a good old fashioned picnic in the canyon.

Such a beautiful little girl with such beautiful blue eyes.

Number 11...and counting.

Brave little girl.

Me and my girl.

Trying to avoid the smoke...

Grasshopper doing the Praying Mantis!

Family time up the canyon.

The cutest couple bumps on a log you ever did see.

Dax warming his biscuits.

Everywhere we go this kid brings home a rock.  This time the hunt was for
granite.



Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to Utah with the Trospers without at least a
couple trips to Shiver Shave Ice Shack.  I have no idea what the face is that
Leah is making in the back.  Perhaps she got skunk flavored shave ice.



Madyson treated us to a wonderful meal of bbq'd sausage and corn soufle!
It was YUMMY!

Madyson and Sarah and the kids loved playing with this app.

Madyson has a "Pass of All Passes" too so they spent a couple days at Trafalga.

Sarah's ready to go and Leah is contemplating life.

Mad Dawg and The Punk hunting for The Princess

The Princess gets a direct hit on Mad Dawg's ship.

Looks like the Princess has the upper hand on Mad Dawg and the Punk. 
I hope Madyson can drive a car better than she can steer a bumper boat!

All washed up!

Daxalicious on the Zip Line.

Leah the pro Zip Liner

Two monkeys on a vine.

The filming of "Mad Max, Back To Thunder Dome".

I think much of Mady's Summer of Fun involved watching her younger
cousins have fun.  She didn't mind though.  She loves her younger cousins
and enjoys watching them.  They enjoy her company too.

Another hike.  this time with the boy cousins.

Everything's a race with these two lately.  Racing to the top, I assume.



The reward for a tough hike. 

Cecret Lake

Our family is so blessed to live where we do with so much beauty at our
fingertips within a short drive or walk. 

Craft Time with Grandma!

Making Treasure Chests.  They each painted their own treasure chest then wrote down their
life's goals and dreams and stored them inside.  Isn't Grandma awesome?!

They even found time to fit in the dinosaur museum!  Dax's favorite.

See?  Leah loves her older cousin, Madyson.

It was a blast having Madyson here.  We are excited that she will be moving nearer to us very soon.  We wish that Hailey was too, but she's got bigger and better things on the horizon and we support her in those efforts.  Hopefully with her family moving closer, we'll see more of her anyway.  The next step in this fun tradition Sarah started is to figure out how and when to start getting Grace, Jane and Lucas up here.  What a blast that will be...and a great break for Cynthia and Scott too! 

 

Thanks, Sarah for being such a cool and fun Auntie.  Your Nieces and Nephews are fortunate to have such a creative and loving Aunt.