Houston Aquarium

We finally are back in Texas! Megan decided before we came that we were going to have a plan. First thing on the schedule is to hop back in the car(after getting to Houston yesterday after a 24 hour car ride) and head downtown to the Houston Aquarium.

We have driven by the Aquarium a million times as we have headed down to Galvastin. The ferris wheel is huge! We walked through the aquarium and saw the white tigers. We waited for Gretchen to feed Logan and got a few pictures of the grandkids and then we made it outside to have a picnic lunch. I'm not sure that the kids ate very much but the had a great time in the splash fountains. Afterwards we rode the train and saw the cool shark tanks, rode the LightHouse Dive(the adults and Emma), the Aquatic Carosel, and the ferris wheel, and then we rode them all again and again. We had a great day!!

Emma and Jenny

Nathan, Katie, Emma, and Zeke

Emma

Nathan

Allie

Emma playing with the white tiger.

Our family

Nathan touching the eels and manta rays.

Katie, Zeke, Emma, Allie, Christie, and Nathan

Emma, Zeke, and Nathan cooling off on a hot day!

On our train ride we saw these in the shark tank.

Ready to go on the train ride!

Allie riding on the carousel. She loved it!

Jenny and Megan on the LightHouse Dive

Emma got up the nerve to ride on this ride and loved it!! She rode it over and over!

On the train again!

On the ferris wheel!

Our Trip to Texas

Sunday-We finally made it after a long 24 hour car ride!

Monday-Houston Aquarium & FHE

Tuesday-Temple, Pool Party, & Cook Out at Stutz's house. Happy Birthday Karin!

Wednesday-Park, Shopping, & WICKED!

Thursday-Mall Indoor Play Area, Shopping & Movies

Friday-Skeet Shooting(men only), more shopping, Laser Tag

Saturday-4th of July Breakfast, Swimming, & Woodlands Patriotic Concert

Sunday-Logan's Baby Blessing, Nathan's 5th Birthday Party, and Fireworks in the Woodlands

Monday-Pack up and Head out Happy Birthday Nathan!

Tuesday-We made it!

Kotter Family Reunion

We left a little after 7 am and got to Nephi about 10. We had breakfast and the kids playing on the horse walker while we visited. Later we headed over to the park where they raffled things off. We guesses how many candies were in the jar, bough things at the country store, played on the playground, listened to cowboy poetry, told family news, and ate a big lunch. We had a great time but at 3pm we jumped back in the car and headed for Texas!

Midview Reservoir

Shelbie holding Allie

Emma & DJ

Dusty & Cassie

Nathan in the tub

We went to the Midview Reservoir with the McKenna's. We took hotdogs to cook over the fire and smores. The kids we swimming in the lake and floated on the tubs. We had a great time!

Utah Valley Half Marathon

Raquel and Cassie

I decided that I would try running to lose weight. My friend started running last year and looks great. So I talked Manda(my sister in law) and Raquel (my friend and next door neighbor) to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon. We trained for 17 weeks. On the morning of our race we woke up at 3:50 AM to get ready and get dropped off. At 5:45 AM the gun went off and 1,500 people started running. Raquel and I were told that if we felt like we were going at a good pace that we were probably going too fast. We stayed at a slow pace while swarms of people ran by us. By mile 1 we were 11 minutes into the race, slower than we had planned. We picked up our pace and by 3 miles we were right on track. We talked most of the time or I sang out loud for fun. This race was our reward for all of the hard work we put into our training. By mile 6 we felt sad that our race would be over, like Christmas when the presents are opened and only the dinner is left. The last mile we had a hill, we sprinted up it, and began passing people all the way to the finish line. It was a BLAST!!! I am addicted and am going to do a triathlon next!! 8 weeks to go!

At the finish with my medal!!

Jeff, Kara, ME, and Manda

Kolton's Baptism

 Cassie and Kolton

 All of the cousins(except Whitney)

Jeff, Dusty, Alan, and Travis

Allie's Cast

Allie with her cast

Dr. Staker saw Allie at church and asked what happened. I told him and he started unwrapping her ace bandage in the chapel and then ripped it off. He did an exam right then and there. He wanted her to have the splint off to see if she would use it. She went around holding her arm and wouldn't use it. After church we went to the hospital to meet Staker. After looking at the x-rays Staker decided that Allie needed a cast because she had a buckle fractor. Emma picked the red stripes, white stars, and blue, because Uncle Bob is serving in Iraq.