San Diego Temple and Beach Trip

The youth from our ward went on a temple trip to San Diego.

It was a beautiful day, as it usually is in San Diego.

Ian and his friend Emi

Kevin got to perform the baptisms with his two oldest children.

And if there hadn't been 13 additional youth in the group, 

who were also baptized for 10 individuals each, 

Kevin's arm wouldn't have been so tired by the end.

All in all, it was a lovely experience for everyone.

Younger siblings and mothers waited on the temple grounds until they were finished.

(The moms took turns swapping child care and doing initiatories.)

Then the Davis family and ours visited one of the beaches along Mission Bay area.

We discovered a head in the sand!!!

...and another one!!!

Others braved the cold water and went swimming.

Megan was tired out from waking up so early 

(it's a 3-hour drive from Yuma), so she chose to nap.

Davis Family Photo

These guys have been great friends the past year. Brian works with Kevin in YM, and Bethany works with April in Primary. Ian enjoys babysitting Benny and Baker, and we've been on several playdates with them too. Sadly, they will be moving to a new job in Ohio in a couple more months.

Father & Son Campout

Kevin took Ian and Dallin on the annual Father and Son Campout.

It was held at a campground near Julian, CA.

Dallin enjoyed climbing this tree stump.

And those are the only photos that Kevin took.

Super Moon 2012

We heard on the news about the "Super Moon" that would appear larger than normal tonight.

It was incredibly beautiful.

Megan and Ian had some fun posing and taking photos.

Here are their results:

Trip to Dunes

We were invited by Professor Lahti to accompany her ecology class
on a field trip to the edge of the Algodones Dunes.

Our job was to catch lizards to show the class after they did some field experiments.

Armed with lizard nooses, our children were ready for work.

Ian was the master lizard nooser and caught a fringe-toed lizard, 

a desert iguana, and a zebra-tailed lizard to show the class.

FTHL Update

Some Flattails still insist on basking on the road on the BMGR.

Unfortunately, other drivers don't notice them too well.

Hmmm...looks like another drought year.

Where are all the annuals???

This guy was trying his best to hide from me.

This one must have thought if he closed his eyes and 

couldn't see me that I couldn't see him either.

Regardless of what this lizard did to avoid being seen,

it sadly failed and ended up getting munched by a predator.
That's one less lizard to have to radio track.

Playtime at the Park

We mentioned meeting up with our friend Natasia last year when we went to Phoenix. Hoping to visit again, we contacted her prior to our trip and arranged to meet at a park across the street from the Mesa Temple, while Kevin took Megan and Ian to do baptisms.

The children had a great time playing, in spite of the heat.

The little guys enjoyed the slides...

...and the swings.

Erin and Little Miss C acted like best friends 

even though they don't know each other too well.

The zipline was fun to ride.

We ate snacks and drank home-squeezed lemonade.