Mom, Dad, Lora, Mark and the kiddies all drove up to Payson Lake for a very relaxing day playing in the water and eating watermelon and potato salad. It was a beautiful day for hanging around...just the kind of summer day I love.


Porter - just like his big cousins!

Mark entertained the kids by first paddling them around...
And then throwing them overboard when they got too naughty. Apparently, they were naughty a whole lot. (and loving it.)

Near the end of the day, Porter finally passed out from fun-exhaustion. Just ask Lora and Mark how much fun they had keeping him from sudden death the entire day. (They passed out later that night.)

Now, all of us loved floating around the lake and paddling around. That is, everyone except Austin. Austin loved getting in the water and he loved the floating bit, too. He just couldn't grasp the whole, kick your feet and paddle your arms to get around. Over and over the poor child had to be 'saved.' The ironic part, was that it was usually little Laina paddling out to save him. Here she is pulling in her lump-on-a-log, frightened brother. Can you even see her little head poking over the huge inner-tube? No wonder he adores her.


And here...just a couple more snapshots. Here is Noah, Ethan, Laina, Austin and little Gracie at the Scottish games in Payson. Another fun-filled summer day. This time filled with bagpipes, sword dancing, strong man competitions (Stone throwing, weight tossing, hammer throwing, caber turning etc.) Oh, and the Italian Ice slushies. Naturally.

Here was the outcome of noodle extravaganza activity morning with Lora. Princess Noodle done up with some of Grandma James' old clip on earrings. She kept those earrings on all day, until her ears were bright red. High fashion isn't a cake-walk, you know.