Bear Lake

This past weekend we joined my Mom's family for the Slade family reunion at Bear Lake. We stayed at the KOA campground. We had all of my Mom's siblings there and several of my cousins. We played at the Lake and enjoyed boating and wave running. I tried wake surfing for the first time--and I even made it to where I could let go of the rope for about a minute. Here's some fun pics--enjoy!

Oral Surgery Part 1: The Steel Post

Well, on the 16th of July Trav made the trip to Ogden (courtesy of my Mom--THANKS MOM!) to Dr. Cassidy's office to get a tooth implant (it is a new fancy way to do a bridge that is lifelong (where a bridge only lasts 7-10 years.) For this tooth implant, Trav had to have a steel post put into his jaw. The bone in his jaw is hopefully going to grow into the post and then in 3 months he will have a tooth put in that screws into the post. In the meantime, he gets to wear a retainer with a tooth on it until the post is ready to support a tooth. So, being the lovely documenting wife that I am, I decided to post some pics of Trav the day of surgery (mind you he's still a little loopy in these pics from the sedative they gave him).

Before I Woke Him Up . . .

All Smiles With the Retainer Tooth InAll Smiles with the Retainer Tooth Out! (Did somebody say Redneck?)

OUCH!

AMS at Zion's National Park

July 11th-13th we had the pleasure of joining most of Trav's co-workers in Zion's National Park in Southern Utah. Since Trav works from home, this was the first time that he'd met some of the individuals that he works with who live out of state.

The AMS Team (minus a few)

We stayed in these awesome little cabins. . . .

. . . saw some wildlife . . .

. . . went ATVing . . .

Travis with Parker( (Bryce and Beth's kid)

. . . . and went hiking where we saw some absolutely amazing scenery.

Trav with Parker

Us (with Parker) underneath the "Weeping Rock"

"The Great White Throne"

Overall, it was an amazing weekend full of fun. We are just going to have to do it again sometime when we have a little more time. We weren't able to see even half of Zion's phenomenol architecture. Thanks Terry and Dawn for getting us all together!

4th of July

The 4th of July in Evanston is AMAZING!!!! In the morning they have a bike parade for kids (which we obviously skipped), and then they have a little carnival with all the big blow-up slides, etc. (which we did attend with our friends Kyle and Andrea and their kids). While there we saw this AWESOME motorcycle. . . .





That night had a barbecue with some of our family and friends and then sat out on our front lawn watching all of the fireworks. . . there are no illegal fireworks, so the skies are full of fireworks from dusk until midnight. It is really pretty neat to watch. Last year it took us about 10 minutes to figure out which set of fireworks were the city firework show. We only figured it out because they were going off more consistently.

My brother Rory, sister Megan, and Dillan (Kyle and Andrea's little boy)

Andrea Campbell and Emily Brown

Mom and Dad Allred

Then on July 5th we were invited by our neighbors Randall and Emily Brown to go boating with them and our friends Nate and Lori Sponenbergh up Highway 150 at Sulfur Creek Reservoir. We rocked the wakeboard our first time out this year!!!

Trav Sportin' the Wet Suit

And Rockin' the Wakeboard

Me catchin' a little bit of airMe Rockin' the Wakeboard

I also slalom skied . . .

. . . and then we both went on these awesome tubes. They are bullet shaped and you climb in the middle of the bullet with the point facing forward. While you are being towed they spin and roll--rotisserie style. It is a crazy ride. Definitely an adult style of tubing!

Here's a cute pic of the kids (except Jackson, he was asleep) . . .

Brock, Sadie, and Kyra

Overall, the day was totally sweet! Who can ask for more than good company and a day on the lake!

The Halfway

We went camping the 27th-29th of June to the Halfway ( a piece of property that Trav's family owns just above Montpelier Reservoir in Idaho). We went 4-wheeling and just hung out with Trav's family. It was gorgeous scenery and we had a blast.

Trav's sister Nikki, her husband Aaron, and our nephew Jack

SPAIN!!!!

All I can say is we loved it, we loved it, we loved it! We left the beautiful USA and went to SPAIN for two whole weeks. It was the ride of a lifetime. We went with my entire family (Mom, Dad, Rory, Megan, and us) to tour my brother Rory's mission (he's been home for 9 months) and a few areas people told him he needed to visit. Here's a play-by-play that hopefully doesn't bore you too much.

Day 1: May 23rd

We left Salt Lake City at 10:00 am on Delta Airlines, and flew for 5 hours to JFK airport in New York City. We left New York at 6 pm and flew all night long.

Day 2: May 24th

We arrived in Madrid at about 10:15 in the morning. The time difference is 8 hours ahead of home. We all slept on and off on the plane, but were still extremely tired. My brother told us the best thing to do to adjust to the new time change was to stay up at late as we possibly could. So, we picked up our rental car, which was a Mercedes Benz Vito (it is about the size of our standard mini vans), and headed to our hotel. THANK GOODNESS for NAVIGATION!!! The roads there are crazy!! Tons of round-a-bouts or a Rotary as the navigation called it. We never would have made it without the Tom Tom Navigation. We then headed on the Metro (or subway) to Retiro Park. It was absolutely beautiful.

A Monument in the Park

A Glass House

A Grassy Area

A Famous Fountain called "The Fallen Angel" except it is in Spanish

Then we walked around downtown Madrid for a little while. We also ate Doner Kabops--they are awesome!! It is some shaved meat in a pita with lettuce and a special sauce. We loved them.

Us Walking in Downtown Madrid

The Post Office

Eating Doner Kabops--Yummy!

We only made it until about 7:00 that night before we crashed in our hotel room and slept until 7:00 the next morning.

Day 3: May 25th

We drove to a town called Mostoles. My brother served there for several months. We attended church. It was tough--we didn't understand a single word, so most of us ended up falling a sleep at some point during the meeting. The members commented to my brother, "Geez your family must be pretty tired from the flight." Then we drove for 5 hours to a town called Grenada.

Day 4: May 26th

In Grenada is a famous place called the La Alahambra. It was nominated for one of the 7 Wonders of the World. It didn't make it, but still it was pretty cool.

Day 5: May 27th (aka My 25th Birthday!)

This day we left the town of Grenada and headed for Sevilla, making a stop in Cordoba along the way. In Cordoba we toured a famous cathedral named La Mezquita. Spain has tons of cathedrals to accomodate their dominant catholic religion. The architecture in these buildings is absolutely amazing, and many are hundreds of years old.

Day 6: May 28th

Sevilla is one of the neatest little towns you will ever visit. We visited the Plaza de Espana where Star Wars was filmed (it is Queen Amadala's Palace). It was really neat. We shopped and found some killer deals there.

We also toured the Toro de Oro or "Tower of Gold" that is now a naval museum, but was once a watch tower/lighthouse back in the day.

Next we visited a castle. When the King of Spain comes to Sevilla he still stays there.

We then met up with one of my brother's old mission companions Roberto Rodriguez and his wife. Together we toured an absolutely amazing cathedral and went to dinner.

Day 7: May 29th

We left Sevilla and stopped in a town by the name of Merida. Merida is full of Roman ruins. There is an old colluseum and an old amphitheatre. We also stopped by the Temple of Diana. Then we got back in the car and drove back to Madrid.

Day 8: May 30th

This day we went to the San Lorenzo Monestary in El Escorial.

Day 9: May 31st

Today we attended the Madrid Temple and had lunch with Rory's mission president and his wife. We also stopped by the palace where the current King of Spain lives.

Day 10: June 1st

We went to church again today in Madrid and met several families that Rory taught. Some people spoke English!!!! Then we went and toured the Prado Museum.

Day 11: June 2nd

Salamanca, the place where the movie Vantage Point was filmed. We toured a cathedral, visited the University where there is the famous hidden frong in the entrance's sculptured wall, and visited the two slanted buildings.

Day 12: June 3rd (aka Our 4 Year Anniversary)

Segovia was probably my favorite town. We got to tour the castle that Walt Disney designed his France Disneyland Castle after. It was beautiful. We also saw another cathedral and an aqueduct.

Day 13: June 4th

We toured a monestary/cathedral known as Valle de los Caidos or "Valley of the Fallen". We hiked 3 miles up to this place. It is built inside a mountain. The cross on the top is 500 feet tall.

Day 14: June 5th

Toledo is famous for its swords and jewelry. We had a great time just touring the city.

So that was our tour of Spain. Hopefully my tour to you wasn't too long or painful!