Dallin's 5th Birthday Party Saturday, July 31, 2004

Today we celebrated Dallin's birthday. Only 2 of his friends could come, but Dallin didn't even notice because his best friend Jared was there.

First the kids made dinosaurs and flowers out of popsickle sticks. While those dried, I tried making animals out of those long balloons. Eventually I gave up and told them that they were swords.

After their art projects dried, the kids painted them.

Lunch was a big hit. The kids ate corn dogs and used paintbrushes to put ketchup and mustard on them.

Cake followed lunch. Dallin did a great job at blowing out all 5 candles at once. Then Dallin got to cut himself his own piece of cake. He picked the green part of his "painter's palet of colors" cake.

For presents he got a spiderman glove that squirts water, web or darts. He also received 2 transformers, silly golf, and a gun that shots foam disks. He hasn't stopped playing with all his toys.

The last thing we did was break open the pinata that me Dallin, Amanda and Jared made ourselves. Next time I will have to work on making it stronger where it hangs up. All of the kids left with candy, paintbrushes, and play-do from the pinata.

Thanks to all who came!

Transformer Present1

Pinata Candy1

Cake time1

Boys painting1

Balloon fights1

Alexa Cake1

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/31/2004

Swimming Wednesday, July 28, 2004

One day Reid got off early enough to come swimming with us. We packed dinner and went to the pool. This made Dallin very happy, because he has always wanted his Dad to be there when we have a picnic at the pool.

Dallin loves to jump into the water. He doesn't care for the waterslide; however, that is Amanda's favorite thing.

Amanda's idea of jumping into the water is holding your hands as you lower her in.

After an evening of swimming, we were ready to go home and relax.

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/28/2004

Our newest addition to the family

After years of never owning a pet, Reid and I decided it was time. We would have liked a dog, but Dallin is frightened of them. A cat would be nice, but Reid is allergic to them . . .

So we settled on fish. They live in Dallin's room. We are hoping that by having them in there, he will get used to having other people come in and out of his bedroom. Dallin and Amanda picked out their own fish. Dallin's is named Mickey, because of the Mickey Mouse head on its bum, and Amanda named hers Princess.

FYI: I found the light brite at a garage sale for $1, and it has been a huge hit for my kids. I also enjoy doing it with them.

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/28/2004

Gardner Family Reunion- Part 4- Olympics Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Thursday morning, we all ate at the all you can eat pancake tent. After we fueled up, we were ready for the Gardner Family Olympics. This was my favorite part of the reunion.

Scott and Brenda did a great job of picking things for the whole family to do. This was a challenge, because we had 10 kids under the age of ten, 2 pregnant ladys, and 2 over the age of 60. The good news is that Mom and Dad won 1st and 2nd in all the 60 plus catagories.

We had a shoe kicking contest (Pictured is the women's catagorie of the shoe kicking), frisbee golf, ball rolling, and much more.

In the end, the Kurth's won overall. Some say it was because they simply out numbered the other families, but others say it was their pure talent. I am pretty sure it was both.

That evening, we enjoyed left overs and a little campfire (and of course, board games).

In all, it was a wonderful reunion. A special thanks to Mom, Dad, Scott, and Brenda! GREAT JOB.

Kelsey fire1

Go Gardners

Amanda and Kelsey1

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/13/2004

Gardner Family Reunion- Part 3

The next morning we arose for some family pictures in our matching T-shirts. Brenda did a great job of picking shirts that we all want to wear again (and not just to bed).

To keep the kids entertained, there were crafts to do while you waited for it to be your turn for pictures.

If you wanted to be entertained, but didn't want to do crafts, you could just go outside and watch Mark. He was the unoffical picture clown to help out Tyler, the youngest, be happy.

After pictures, most of the family went out on a bike ride.

That evening, we joined back up in the reunion hall for dinner and our family history skits. The Kurth had the most entertaining one, although the kids loved Scott, Brenda and Zach's skit of the sick little boy.

Mom did a great job of tying the whole reunion up with a theme of growing where you are planted. We learned a lot that night about our family and who we are.

Kurth Girls1
Playing with Fire1
Kids at the Rock1
Boys on the Rock1

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/13/2004

Gardner Family Reunion- Part 2

Tuesday morning we headed out to Reptile Gardens. There we saw birds, gators, snakes, flowers, turtles, and prarie dogs. They had wonderful shows so that we could see all the cool things the animals did.

In the evening, the Coverleys and Kurths arrived. We all headed over to Mt. Rushmore for dinner and the lighting show.

After dinner, we hiked up a trail to get a closer look. Then we took our seats in the stadium to watch a short movie and see the 4 faces being lite up after it was dark.

We were all surprised that most of us never noticed that Rosevelt has glasses on in the carving. (It was hard to see around Mark's rear end, but we finnally saw it.)

When we were not doing organized activities all together, we split off to enjoy some other things. There was mini golfing, swimming, hot tubbing, walking, board games, and just hanging out.

Tyler asleep1

Amanda and Turtle1

Amanda icecream1

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/13/2004

Gardner Family Reunion- Part 1- Getting There

Everyone headed East to the farthest sibling's home state . . . South Dakota. For Mark, Katy, the Logans and Grandma and Grandpa, the first stop was Salt Lake City. They arrived Friday night, just in time to visit the Children's Museum. When we came back to the Robison home, Reid was cooking up a pasta bar. We all enjoyed the food and eachother.

The next day we headed off to enjoy some of the fun Salt Lake has to offer. First we stopped at the new Main Library to ride the glass elevator and play in the kids section. After checking out some DVDs and tapes for the long trip, we headed for the Gateway mall. At the Gateway they have a big water fountain, where kids can play and the rest of us can watch. The kids loved it.

Next we went back to the Robison's to enjoy an Independence Day BBQ. We enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, watermellon, corn on the cob, baked beans, and much more.
After filling our tummies, it was time to head down to Provo for the Stadium of Fire. We enjoyed the show. . . especially the fireworks.

On Sunday, we all headed out to go even further East. After spending the night in Casper, we finished our trip to the Palmer Gulch KOA, next to Mt. Rushmore.
The cool breeze and the beautiful trees were a wonderful change from the hot desert most of us were coming from.

Monday night we enjoyed a Steak dinner and a game of softball.

Scott Steaks1

BBQ spread1

Lisa Robison posted this article on 7/13/2004