Pinewood Derby 2009

Carter was our only Pinewood Derby entrant this year. Ty is now a New Scout and is too old to participate. Carter wanted to make a "flat car". So his car looks like a green arrow. It seemed just like his kind of car. It also seemed like he had a lot of fun. He didn't win any races, but having fun won out. We were very proud of him and his good sportsmanship. Carter is such a caring kid. We are very glad he is part of our family!

First Day of School

The kids all went back to school on September 1st. They were very excited! Lauren is in 2nd grade. Her teacher is Mrs. Smith. I asked her how her first day of school was, her answer was,"It was awesome!". Carter is in 4th grade. His teacher is Mrs. Crook. We are very lucky to have her. She loves Carter and he loves her. Tyler has moved out of Elementary school. He is now in 6th grade. He goes to school on the other side of town at Timpanogos Intermediate School. His teacher is Mrs. Fausett. He says they are currently talking about single cell organizisms, and he thinks that's pretty cool. Life is starting to get back into a normal rhythm since school has been in for 2 weeks. The weather is starting to get cooler and so it's fun to spend the days outside. Spencer starts preschool on September 14th. He is super excited! The deadline for kindergarten was Sept. 1st, and he turns 5 on Sept. 16th. So, he will get to wait until next year to start kindergarten. Ben and I will have to adjust to just the two of us all afternoon.

Getting Wood - A Fall Time Tradition

Getting Wood. It seems to be a Fall Family Tradition. I remember going to get wood for, well, as long as I can remember. I don't even have a wood burning stove, but I love to go get wood. It's just so exciting every time they cut a tree down. Then we form a 'fire brigade' line to pass the wood up to the trucks and trailer to be loaded and stacked. If you are old enough to walk you are big enough to help. Even the tiniest ones helped load. We had an extra special trip this year. All of my sister's families, my parents, my grandparents, one of my aunts, one of my cousins and her boys, and even a few friends came. My parents were really excited to have all their kids and all 16 grandkids together at the same time. We cut about 9 cords of wood in one day. A cord of wood is 4'x4'x8'. Trust me, that's a lot of wood! After we were done with all the wood Brian and I, and our friend Mallory decided to take any of the kids, who wanted to go, geocaching. We found 3 caches. One of those caches has been there for 8 years. It's the second oldest cache in Utah. The amazing part of this caching trip is that the total number of kids who chose to go was 22. So we loaded 22 kids and 3 adults into my pickup truck and headed out. The kids were so good. We had a lot of fun!

Our New Baby!

We welcome our newest addition! Her name is Jasmine. She was born on June 9, 2009. She is a Shih-Tzu. The perk for our extended family is that those who have allergies should have no problem. She has hair instead of fur! These are allergy friendly dogs. She does not wake up for 3am feeding, just 3am potty breaks. She is so tiny and cuddly. We have waited so long for just the perfect addition to our family. The kids love her so much. So far so good on the house training. The kids fight over who gets to take her out to go potty. Much easier for me! All of our kids are big enough now that they don't play in the dog food too. Another perk! She arrived at our house on Brian's and my 12th Anniversary, Sunday, August 16th. Sunday also marked one year since we moved into our house. Now we are anxiously awaiting the beginning of school. Brian starts next week and the kids start on September 1st. Tyler will be in 6th grade, Carter in 4th grade, Lauren in 2nd grade, and Spencer in Preschool 4 days a week(afternoons). So, Ben will be super glad for our new baby. That gives him someone to play with while all the other kids are at school!

Cataract Canyon, Colorado River, UT

After waiting 15 years I have finally been able to do the Cataract Canyon river trip on the Colorado River in Southern Utah. It was so fun! Thanks to our good friend Mallory Herring(who stayed at our house and watched all 5 kids) both Brian and I were able to go on the trip. We left Wednesday and came back late Saturday night. This was Brian's first time rowing what is called a Flyer Cat. It is a metal frame with two inflatable pontoons. One on each side. This was also his first time rowing through all of the rapids in Cataract Canyon. This video is of Brian rowing through Big Drop 3. It is the most dangerous and technical of all the rapids on this run. At the top of the rapid Brian's oar came out of the oar lock. He figured that was the end of his life. Somehow he came through the rapid perfectly. More perfectly, in fact, than all the seasoned river runners. All with one oar! This is the only rapid I didn't ride with Brian. I rode down earlier with my parents. When I went through my dad hit a HUGE rock. My mom has lots of bruises from the experience. We don't know how she was able to stay on the boat. The force of the impact should have knocked her off, but she was able to hang on. We went down just over 100 miles of river. The scenery is overwhelmingly beautiful. I took lots of pictures and none of them really came out bad!

Geocaching Anyone?

You might wonder why I would even take a picture of us like this. You might also wonder why we would be doing this in the first place. The short explanation is: geocaching. Almost exactly a year ago my brother-in-law, Jake took us geocaching for the first time. We had so much fun we decided to get our own geocaching accounts. As of this afternoon I have found 240 geocaches. Brian is in the 300's and the kids are really close to me. Our one year anniversary is Aug. 7th. We will be attending a geocache event that day at Whiting Campground in Mapleton Canyon. I heard this quote that sums up geocaching so well,"I use million dollar satellites to find tupperware in the the woods. What's your hobby?" If you want to try it sometime let me know. We are more than willing to share the joy! Happy caching!

Fourth of July Fun

Brian and I woke up at 5am and went down to Provo with our friend Mallory. We went to a geocaching event down by the balloon festival. Then we found another 12 geocaches. I found my 200th geocache! When we got home the kids were just getting up. They spent the day playing in the pool and relaxing. Later that night we had a BBQ and lit fireworks. We had a very nice day. I spent a lot of time thinking of our friends and family who can't be with us this year. I am so grateful for their sacrifices to ensure our freedoms and the freedoms of others. I can never hear the Star Spangled Banner without tears. Freedom isn't free!