And Now we Introduce...

Yeah!! I can't believe how long we have been talking about, but not doing, this. We are so excited, and can't wait to jump into the photography world. We hope that our name will get out quickly, so we are offering unbelievable prices for the next few months. If you, or any one you know, is thinking about pictures we would love to be of use!
Check out our new blog at simplyblissphoto.blogspot.com or click on the picture above. We would appreciate any one who is willing to add us to their blogs! Love you all.

Birthday Party

Yesterday Porter's friend Grant had a Birthday Party at a Gym. Porter has been asking to take tumbling now for awhile, and this made him want it even more. I guess I better look into some classes. Even Trace was having a blast, and didn't want to leave!

24th of July

Another fun filled Hansen family party. Every year Chads Family has a "Cousin's Party" during the summer. Steve's sister and brother get together with all the kids and grandkids. It is such a fun group! This year they decided to do it on the
24th, and we had a blast.
The fun started pretty early with the water slide, water ballons, and a slip 'n slide. Then we had a hamberger Bar-B-Que... always deliciouse, and the fun ended with a fire work show. Steve bought a huge box of fire works, and Chad had fun lighting them all!

Porter and this cousins playing duck, duck, goose on the tramp.

Chad's fire work presentation was great!

Fishing with Dad and Grandpa

Fishing is one of my boys' favorite thing to do... especially when there is some catching going on. There is a little pond in Syracuse where the fish bite, and often. Porter knows the secret recipe for the "catching", and loves it. This week Chad, Cory and Grandpa took the kids for an evening fishing trip. They had a blast and caught lots of big cat fish.

The kids all gathered around Grandpa most of the time... Chad said there is something special about Grandpa's and fishing. Steve proved that theory right! He was catching fish after fish. The kids love their Grandpa.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirates life for me!

What a week! It is amazing how fast time flies in a Pirates Paradise. Chad's dad has a childhood friend who to say the least has "hit it big". For some reason he is so nice, and continues to let us enjoy some of his properties. All of which are SO amazing words (even pictures) cant describe them. This week was spent at Lake Mead... In Pirates Cove!
This is going to be a very long post, so don't worry reading all my details. I don't keep a journal or a scrapbook... so this is my family's version!
On Monday morning the kids and I packed up and headed to Maria's so we could caravan down South. Chad had some appointments that he couldn't miss so he flew down to meet us on Wednesday. As soon as we got to the resort we picked our suites! It was nearly impossible to choose, because they were all so great! This is a picture of the one I chose for our family. It was perfect!

Brian and Alissa came a little later on Monday, but they didn't waist any time. They were in their swimsuits and playing with the kids in no time!
Grandma had surgery on her toe, so she couldn't get it wet. The first day she wore waiters so she could be a part of the action... but it wasn't enough. By the second day she had figured out some sort of boot that would keep it dry. It was too much fun watching Grandma and Grandpa play with the Grand kids...


The next few days we spent swimming, eating ice cream (there is soft serve ice cream machine there... YIKES), playing games, and just plain having fun.

Porter jumped off this waterfall... It's pretty high! I have to admit I was a little shocked. But he loved it!


Here is Chad jumping off the highest spot you can... we use to jump off the top one, but too many people were getting hurt.
Chad and his brothers doing synchronized back flips off the ship.

Porter loved swimming with his snorkel and fins. He was such a fish. He could swim around where ever he wanted and I wasn't too worried about him. One of my many proud parent moments!



We had lots of fun lunches and dinners. We ate lunch most days in the new outside kitchen. The misters keep it nice and cool, and the kids didn't have to skip a beat swimming to get food! This is a picture of Porter and Trace at our Bar-B-Que... As you can see, they rarely took their swim suits off!
One of the highlights from last year was the bubble baths with Grandpa... This year we couldn't be with out them. Thanks Grandpa!

On Friday we got to go to the Lake. They have two sweet wake boarding boats, but no one really skis. It was my first time on a boat this year! I love just being on the lake. Lake Mead is so pretty and clear. The water is warm, and the wind slowed down just for us. We spent the first part of the day just swimming an cooling off. Brian and Alissa both wakeboarded, but before Chad and Shawn got to go the battery on the boat died... BUMMER! We stilled had fun on the jet ski's. Porter rode one with me and Trace rode on Chads. I ask Porter if he wanted to drive, and he did for a min... but then said he wasn't sure how to drive a jet ski. (Chad rode with him later, and was driving just fine... pretty typical.)






With all the excitement going on, it is hard to believe we found any time to work out, but with a full gym so close, we had to fit it in. Chad is training to run a half marathon in September so he snuck up to the gym every chance he could to run and lift. One day we all went to "work out". Porter is getting really strong!



Here are the last few pictures... The top one is Chads family. They are so much fun to be with. I feel so lucky to have such a great family in law. The other two are just a couple of our family.



Thanks so much Janet and Steve for another PERFECT week!

Off we go...

And we are off for one of the best weeks of the summer. Pirates Cove. (Lake Mead) We will have lots of fun stories to report next week!

Barker family reunion

We had a great time at the family reunion at the Perry park. The kids played lots of games, we ate lots of food, and they even had two little ponies for the kids to ride.
Porter and Audrey playing games with all th other kids! They love to play together.

Camping in Kamas

This past weekend we got to go with some friends to their property above Kamas. It was so fun. Thanks Taggarts!


Tag's friend built this fire... It was huge!! YIKES.