Adventures in Houston

On August 12th, I escaped the heat of Utah and went to the hotter heat of Houston to visit with Dustin's family. The next day Jared showed up, and the day after that Dan, Emily and Halle arrived. I guess I just don't have as much to do as the rest of them.

Nice house, but as you can see they can't afford to buy shoes.

The first thing Dylan wanted to do was go "fishing" at the neighborhood lake. Rumor has it (straight from the game warden) there's an alligator living in there.

Emily celebrated her 24th birthday.

Halle celebrated getting lots of attention.


Silly Dan thought he was going for vacation. Dustin had other plans for him. They cut a hole in the wall under the stairs and made a little "clubhouse" for the boys, who were quick to move in when the last nail was in place.

Paulette has quite the sweet tooth. 3 dozen donuts and a whole cake all in one sitting!!!

Halle was determined to find Molly the cat. Molly was just as determined not to be found.

Knowing the Hurtado passion for sports, Dustin was excited to get Astros tickets for Jared, Emily, Dan, Dustin and Dylan. In all the years they have lived in Houston and attended games, never once have they caught a ball. Jared goes one time and without even realizing what had happened, a foul ball dropped out of the sky and straight into his hands. Dylan was so heartbroken HE didn't get to catch it that Jared was kind enough to give it to him.

The backyard teeter totter was a big hit---

And so was the neighborhood pool.

Hayden taught Halle a thing or two.

The blessing of Kolton was, after all, the main excuse we used to visit.


Do they get any cuter than this?

Or this?

Or this? Hopeless was my couch companion aka very large lap dog (only when Paulette wasn't in the room).

I took the boys to Toys R Us to pick out their birthday presents since I won't get to see them on their birthdays. Dylan chose 2 Leapster games--

And this is what Hayden picked out. The kids loved it.

Nauvoo Books is alive and well after all these years.

Halle enjoyed her time Krogering.

I'm not sure whether Dustin was more excited to have us come, or to see us go home. Yes, Dustin, you may be 30, but you haven't changed a bit and you're still my little boy!!

Snowbird!!

On August 9, 2008 Dan and I decided to invite anyone who would like to join us for a day at Snowbird. Since we are a little short on available grandchildren, we find it necessary to borrow someone else's. Lindsay (8) and Katie (5) were happy to accept our offer. So were Emily, Jared and Halle (we didn't have to borrow them, they are the real deal).

The first place we headed was to the lift that would take us up to the Alpine Slide. After plunking down a full week's salary for everyone's tickets, Katie and Lindsay both started tugging on our hands, saying they didn't want to get on the lift, didn't want to go on the slide, didn't want to go on the tram, didn't want to jump on the trampoline, and didn't want to climb the wall. After I informed them we would certainly miss their company throughout the day, and to be sure to meet us back at the car after it got dark, they reluctantly changed their minds.


Halle was just barely old enough to be allowed to go down the slide, yet young enough to have no clue what she was in for. She was hooked and begged for more.


Lindsay caught on quickly, and went down full throttle. She asked me what those signs were for that said "slow" at the curves. I mentioned that some people had been known to fly over the edge if they went too fast. That didn't seem to deter her in the least.


Katie also got the "feel of the road" with no problem. She was too young to go it alone, but she would like to have tried.

During take-off orientation, we were warned there was "no racing allowed." If you could see the determined looks on Emily and Jared's faces you might suspect they weren't listening.

Katie even decided to try the climbing wall, mostly because I wanted to get her picture. That's as far as she made it, but quite honestly I didn't do much better!

My favorite part of the day was going up the new lift that goes ALL THE WAY up the mountain alongside the tram. It was a long, high and very refreshing ride.

Can you see Emily and Jared waving from the seat behind us?

The top of the mountain seemed much higher than it looks in these pictures.

There's a cave at the top of the lift you can walk through to the other side of the mountain. It was a little cold up there.

A Day at the Groomer.

**********************Need I say more?

Weekend At Grandma's (by Halle)

On August 21st my parents very reluctantly (and tearfully) turned me over to Grandma and Grandpa for a few days of rest and relaxation at Lake Powell. This was my first time away from them overnight, and I could tell by my Mom's face that she was just sure she would never see me again. Please don't tell Mom that I actually had fun and hope I can go visit them more often.

My Grandma worked extra hard before I came so that she could spend the whole time with me, and it was a good thing. I hardly ever let her go in the house because I love being outside.

If it weren't for that hot sun, I could spend the entire day on the trampoline.

When I wasn't on the trampoline, I was on the swing. I think Grandma got a little tired of swinging me, but that's too bad because I made her keep going.

The one place that I could usually go to get out of the sun was the sandbox. Grandma noticed that I didn't much like the sand because it was messy. She just plopped me right down on my bottom and I found out that I liked digging and even burying my feet. Radar liked to dig, too.

The slide in Grandma's yard is pretty high and while it doesn't scare me to climb up there, I'm still a little nervous to go down. I learned that the tighter I push my feet against the sides, the slower I go down.

Sometimes I tried to ride the "motorcycle." It was fun but a little big for me. Maybe next year....

I went to visit Mutti, and even though I won't let anyone think that I might like her, I really loved her apricot tree. She gave me a whole bucket-full to take home.

Sometimes Grandma just HAD to go in the house, so she found this relic of a toy for me to play with. I loved the little people, but Radar kept taking them away. All he wanted to do was eat them.

Grandpa likes to make pancakes but he was so busy he needed help. I'm sure my help saved him lots of time. I heard that my cousin Brenden likes this funny creamy stuff on his pancakes so I decided to give it a try. I kept begging for more and more. I hope my Mom doesn't notice that Grandma had me sleep in these little boy truck pajamas. They kept me warm at night.

On Saturday I took a really good nap because Grandma promised me they would take me swimming when I got up. We went with Lindsay and Katie, my borrowed cousins. I went down the big slide a few times with Grandma, but then spent the next 2 hours climbing out and jumping in the pool. Grandma or Grandpa caught me most of the time, but I liked to fool them. They looked real funny (and for some reason frantic) trying to run in water while I ran to jump in where no one was standing. I got to rest on the bottom of the pool a few times while they groped around trying to find me and pull me out. I thought it was hilarious. They didn't.

After swimming we were all hungry so we went to Carl's Jr. for dinner. I didn't eat anything but french fries, but I loved the playground.

Grandma heard that all the other Grandma's were busy taking their grandkids shopping for school clothes. She felt left out because she didn't have anyone to shop for, so she decided to practice and take me.

On Sunday morning we went to church. I had my scriptures all ready for class, but mean old Grandma went and left me in the nursery. I screamed so all could hear, but no one came to save me. Pretty soon I noticed I was having fun with the other kids, and the teachers were even nice.

I had a fun weekend, and I heard Grandma and Grandpa say something about moving away in the middle of the night with me when no one would notice. Gee, I hope Mom and Dad don't get mad.....