Our Top Ten of Utah (a.k.a "the longest post ever")

10. My sisters and I hit up Barnes and Noble, then Walmart to grab our copies of Breaking Dawn at midnight. They were some weirdo super-fans at Barnes and Noble (dressed in wedding dresses and chanting and stuff...), so we headed to Walmart and got our books and were driving home fifteen minutes after midnight. I have never seen such efficient service at Walmart.

Lindsey made us these wicked t-shirts. On the back they said, "frequently dazzled." She is so clever:) By the way, I won't put my thoughts on the book since maybe some haven't read it, but basically I thought it was entertaining, but lacked what the other 3 books had.

Following in the Roundy tradition, Lindsey was grateful for a diet coke.9. The main reason I was out in Utah...this little "dudeski." I was helping watch Max while his sisters and parents were away. Reagan loved having a constant companion and mimicked EVERYTHING Max did. She would watch Max all day long.
Highlight for Reagan: getting a lift in the ol' John Deere that Max calls his own!
8. This place rocked. It was the rec center in Bountiful and had an indoor water park, complete with a huge slide and lazy river, as well as an outdoor water place for younger kids, with a pirate ship. We all went crazy and for 5 bucks a pop (Max and Reagan were free!) you just can't beat it. The weather was morbidly hot, so this place felt good.

We all went down the slide, it was pretty fun. Not exactly Raging Waters, but hey...5 bucks, remember??! Actually, Matt and Lindsey both took Max and Reagan down on their laps and they LOVED it!

This is Matt and Max splashing into the water. Max swallowed a little water on that one, but he was up and waving in no time! We were sad to go, but it was getting late. Max fell asleep around 7PM that night and didn't wake up until past 8 the next day.
7. My sister Lindsey knows all the hot-spots for kids in Utah, especially because she works for Kindercare. So she also told us about the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It is much like the Discovery Museum at Gateway, but smaller, cheaper, and less crowded. It was perfect for our little tots. My mom and sisters were present, which I was MORE than grateful for, since Max and Reagan both wanted to explore their own areas. This was the first place Reagan went to...naturally. She loves babies.
Lindsey dressed up as something Alice in Wonderland-ish. She looks like my mom here. Not the outfit, her expression.
Max and Reagan in the kitchen. The cooked us plenty of pizza and vegetables......while we lounged on this bad boy. Most comfy spot in the house and once we snagged it, we didn't move till exit time.
6. Watching Reagan this time around with her grandparents was a real treat. I didn't grab any photos of her with my parents, but I did get some of her with Gram and Gramps Rasmussen. It was awesome to see her go to everyone so willingly and wanting to give love. She remembered names and faces, which is really special when you live so far away.
5. We were so lucky to be out here on Utah's very own holiday, Pioneer Day. We spent the day down at Mel and Aaron's house, which really is more like Disneyland, when you count all the toys that they and their neighbors have. We had a great time. Mel and Aaron bbq'd some tri-tip, which was AMAZING! I think I had about 5 pieces of steak. The kids and a few adults slipped and slided and tried out Mel's skim board. We visited the fair in downtown Spanish Fork. Even though we felt like we were somewhere between Tijuana and RedNeck-Ville at the fair, it was still so much fun. Reagan and Brooklyn rode this ride together.

Driving the cars.
Reg, Lindsay, Whitney, Mel and Lyle.
I would have liked to have gone on this ride, but we sent Matt and Aaron instead. It went really really fast. Like just watching made us dizzy.
Mel, the family pyro, let off some amazing fireworks. I like a woman who will take her shopping money, and instead of buying shoes and purses, she buys fireworks!!! Awesome.
4. Our Pioneer Day celebration began the night before the 24th. My sister wanted everyone to come down to Bountiful and see the parade and fireworks. It was hot as hades, but we had fun anyways! One of the first floats was the Utah Jazz, which featured more cheerleaders than players and Matt kindly asked me to get a photo of it. Out of kindness I took one, but out of spite, I will not post it. Instead, I will post my mom, Regs, Lindsey, Emma, Kelly and Max.

Once Reagan realized these floats were tossing candy and we were eating it, she became VERY insterested in the parade. I had to hide some of the candy from her because she was eating all of it.
This was Reagan's favorite float. She is really into singing lately, especially the songs she learns in nursery, which includes The Ants Go Marching. That was the theme of this float. There were some gorgeous floats in the parade and most were North Salt Lake stakes ;)
Most went home, but a small group of us hung out for the fireworks. We had Pier 49 Pizza. I was super tired, but so dang glad I did because it was by far the best fireworks show I have ever seen. It was beautiful and unique, and very long. We must have had like 5 finales. I did, however remember why I usually stay indoors during the summer nights in Utah...I hate mosquitos.
3. Miss Reagan got to experience her own seat on the slight. This is actually her (and her baby) on the flight out there. It was really early, left at 6AM, so she was out of it, but liked having her own seat buckle.

2. Matt is such a kid at heart. He and Max spent a very long time playing Legos and building this award-winning pirate ship below. I know that he is into it when I hand him a microscopic piece that is a wheel to a boat and he says, "Thanks, I have been looking for that piece forever!"


1. My 27th birthday was last Sunday, so Matt got me some roses on Saturday, my favorite cookies which also happen to bear my name (although spelled wrong). He arranged a sitter, took me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Walnut Creek and we did some shopping afterwards. It was such a treat to come home after not seeing him and being dead tired and he lined up all this!

One last pic for the record: Reagan's favorite spot in Grandma Rasmussen's house! Move over Little Tykes Kitchen, here is the hot spot.