Happy 12th Birthday Noah

Noah turned 12 on July 26th. He was so excited to turn 12 so he could be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and be a Deacon. Brian did a wonderful job at preparing for this new call and responsibility. He was able to get ordained today and we are excited to see him pass the sacrament soon. He was able to have Brian ordain him and Grandpa Cardon and Bro Friend from the Bishopric were there as well. Noah is a good brother to Dean and Julia and is very patient with them. They love having him around and love to play with him. Dean enjoys sharing a room and a bunk bed with him. Noah continues to love to read, enjoys playing games on the computer, Wii, or just a board game. He loves going to Scouts and has already completed a lot of merit badges. We celebrated his birthday with family after church. His cousin Taylor is just 5 days younger so we celebrated together. It was fun getting together with cousins and they had fun blowing out their candle together.

They like acting goofy together!

We got a rainstorm while everyone was still over. The were already outside when it started. It was hailing as well and they had a blast until we said they had to come in because of the lightening.

More Summer Swimming

The kids continue to love swimming! Dean is an excellent swimmer and loves to be thrown in the air by his dad!Julia is also getting better in the water and is starting to jump in with less assistance and kicks her legs.

She loves wearing goggles on her eyes or just on top of her head. She is so cute to watch!

1st Chris and Elizabeth Cardon Family Reunion

We had the first Cardon Family reunion at a cabin in Munds Park which is close to Flagstaff, AZ. It started on Thursday and ended Monday morning. We had everyone there for at least part of it (except Noah who was greatly missed). My mom was kind enough to drive up with Dean, Julia and I because Brian couldn't make it until Saturday morning. The drive up went great and the kids were very good. It was such a treat being in the cooler weather and the mountains. Growing up my family would go to Munds Park and stay at my grandparents cabin. It was fun being in such familiar territory with the next generation. My sister Emily found the cabin we stayed in and it was perfect for the amount of people that were there. We enjoyed spending time together and all of the cousins got along so well. It was a very relaxing trip and memorable. We enjoyed playing games, eating, going on walks, relay races, charades, and just visiting with each other. The first group of pictures are of the softball games and kickball games we played.

Julia loved running around in the backyard

My belly shot

We went to the park next to the fire station where we used to go as kids. The kids played at the park and then did some batting practice. It was fun to watch.

There was a homemade zip line in the back that all of the kids loved to go on.

Dean had so much fun on it!

Brian finally joined us on Saturday morning. We took Dean and Julia to a petting zoo. They were a little fearful of the deer so we had to hold them while we fed them. They eventually warmed up a little bit.

We enjoyed a family talent show on Saturday night. We had at least one participant from each family.

Dean represented our family and did some animal sounds. He was very cute and enjoyed being in front of everyone performing.

My parents and siblings sang a song we sang at a family reunion over 20 years ago. The song is "Somewhere Out There". My parents always made us sing as a family for our talent.

After the talent show the kids wanted to do a dance party.

Sunday we all went to church together and then after we took a picture infront of the cabin

Brian had to go back to work Monday so we decided to leave Sunday afternoon. Since we drove up seperately he took the kids and I stayed a couple of hours longer and caravaned with my brother Scott and his wife Megan. We talked and snacked that afternoon. It was nice to enjoy the cooler weather for a few more hours.