They're not babies anymore

Not much can compare to the spectacular views from Angel's Landing. But I mostly watched my kids' feet. I remember racing up and down this trail in my younger years. But with my own children with me, I concentrated a lot more. When the trail got down to 3 feet wide, with 1500 foot drop offs on both sides, I only watched the kids.They were great on the trail. Respectful and calm. They LOVED IT!!!
Above - siblings hiking hand in hand
Below - the chains begin



Sweet success! Ahhhhhh.

Thanks for playing

Cowboy Bob has 5 points.
Jordan has 5 points.
Kiffon has 5 points.
But Kristy wins with 6 points. Yes it's the Mulberry tree used to feed the silkworms brought in to produce silk, of course. Thanks for playing. Miss you Kristy.

Bonus Points - the real last one

This kind of tree was planted in the early settlement of St George to feed what? 3 points for naming the tree

3 points for naming it's purpose

Last one, then we'll declare a winner

Jordan, you scored, thanks to Kassidy.

5 points if you can tell me from what material are the walls of this temple made.

Another 5 points

OK, so Cowboy Bob gets the points, but I think you all cheated by clicking to enlarge.

So here is the next question...

Below is pictured Brigham Young's Winter Home.

5 points to anyone who can tell me why he used green paint. It was a beautiful home.

Fall Break Game

Photo above taken by Mitch

5 points to the first one to name this historical site. (By someone not in this photo)

My Wild Things

I took the kids to see "Where The Wild Things Are". I'd been counting down the days for this one. As I have heard from many others, it is one of my favorite childhood books. It is only 11 sentences long. This short tale contains many human emotions; sadness, joy, hope, fear, love and a sense of adventure. Max promises as King of the Wild Things he won't let in any sadness or loneliness. When he realizes he can't do that, that those are part of the full range of emotions and experiences, he tells the wild things, "I wish you had a mother."

So with a big sigh, here are my wild things... I can't shield them from hurt, sadness or fear. I can only hope to teach them to live in a way to avoid as much hurt as possible and then learn how to cope with it when it comes their way.

A bird in the hand is worth...

taking a photo of. This is a wild bird in my backyard, on my hand.

It flew into our home for a morning.

(We like our doors wide open for fresh air. Our neighbors are always stopping by to make sure we are home and we didn't just leave doors open. We have nice neighbors. )

So this little thing flitted about until it flew SMACK into our big picture window, then as it lay stunned, I picked it up and moved it outside. It recovered and flew away shortly.

This one is for all his football buddies

Pre-op photo op They flapped open the pinky skin, stitched the tendon back down to hold in the shattered bone fragments, then screwed a rod from the tip all the way down the length of his pinky. The rod is currently still sticking out the end of the pinky. It will be removed in 4-6 weeks.
I couldn't make this stuff up.

Just gotta play ball

10 days ago during flag football Brandon bent his left pinky out of place. He "popped" it back into place and carried on. It seemed to not get better during the last 10 days, which included 3 of our co-ed softball games. (He is left handed) In fact, it seemed worse, so he had the doc check it out today. His finger is broken near the top joint and he has another fracture down in the hand. He sees the orthopedic doc next week. Is anyone surprised? His New Year's resolution this year was to not break anything. yep. Maybe next year.

Like father like son...

when it snows in September, this is what happens in our home.

I have an addiction... or two

So I decided to go thru all my purses in my closet and clean them out. I found a few trends. I found $18.34 in change. Score! I recovered 47 hair clips, ties, bobby pins. I hate having my hair in my face and pull it back whenever it bugs.

I also gathered this... Chapstick heaven.

I can't leave the house without chapstick ready and available. Brandon is the same way. He has stated that when he is buried he wants two things with him - his baseball glove and chapstick. He is sure that there will be baseball in heaven and when he is resurrected his lips are gonna be pretty dry after all that time 6 feet under and he's gonna want some chapstick.

So I thought I'd show you his stash in his nightstand drawer.

This is an unstaged nightstand drawer photo. I promise.

Seriously. There are benefits to being married to this kind of man.

It means he will do this without being asked or prodded...

Weet woo.
Don't be jealous ladies. Maybe your guy is still trainable.

Should you choose to accept it

First, we hopped on these... then we rode from our house to get here and see this...

and then we did this...
Mission Complete.

The Deer Whisperer

Doe and two fawns with Mitchell just inches awaywith only a cell phone to capture the moment... again

Matchmaker Matchmaker

In January of 2007 Brandon and I arranged their first blind date. Today we fulfilled our duties as Best Man and Matron of Honor in this gorgeous red rock and greenhill setting. Congrats Robert and Kimberly!

Photos of Brandon wearing pink to follow soon.

Legal Child Abuse

On the last day of school in June, I asked Kassidy what she wanted to accomplish this summer. She quickly replied she wanted to summit a 14er. (mountain over 14,000 ft) I told her we would find a day and provide the time but she would have to do the actual work. And it would be hard. She agreed. So on the last Friday before she started school, we pulled Mitch out of his school and hit the trail. We started hiking around 6:30am at about 10,000 ft.

This sign says MT. ELBERT with an arrow pointing up the trail. And the trail does go UP!!! It warmed up quickly when the sun came up. Kassidy only puked once on the trail and dry heaved near the top. The altitude gets to her and to me. Mitchell and Brandon don't have that problem. Mitchell was a little mountain goat and kept a good pace all the way to the top. Kass and I went a little slower eating our crackers the whole way to fight the nausea.

Priceless shot of my kiddos hiking hand in hand.
I am very proud of my kids. Even though the altitude was causing so much nausea that Kassidy was doubled over every 50 yards near the top, she never once spoke of quitting or giving up. She powered thru and achieved her summer goal of summitting a 14er.

Family on top of the world.

The following day when we were all a little sore and tired, I asked Kass if she felt like she lost a fight. (due to sore muscles tired, etc.)
She replied, "I feel like I won the fight!"
Indeed you did, little girl.
Way to go Mitch and Kassidy!!!

So as school begins I am generally lamenting the close of the summer freedom and children being one year older. This year I am so proud of them that there is no need to lament. When the kids were toddlers they couldn't do this awesome stuff. They are growing into strong, competent, intelligent, happy humans. No more lamenting. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Hidden Treasure

On the top floor, thru a dim hallway, hiding in the back corner of the highly air conditioned museum, there is treasure.

We found it.

The museum of nature and science has a library.

So this is where we had to drag them away from today. (cell phone photo)But if you ever want to read a book about deep space, mysterious places, or shamanic wisdom keepers, they may have the resource for you.

Criminintly Trigger!

It was Kassidy's request to take an archery class.

So they signed up.

The class is taught by a young woman who is a world champion in her specific event. She is also on 3 Outdoor Channel hunting shows. There were children and adults in the class.

My kids LOVED it! They spent 3 tiring hours shooting.

Love this shot of Mitch's arrow just leaving his bow.

(Kass just shot and is trash talking to him in the background)Below is Mitchell with one of his many bullseyes.

When the teams were divided into boys vs. girls he led his team to victory by outscoring EVERYONE.

Twice.

Kassidy was good and consistent and loved shooting. She was also pretty good at some fun trash talking when she and Mitch were shooting against each other. The class got a kick out of them. I think she wants to do it again.
Fun Saturday.

Reunited and it feels so good

We had a fabulous family reunion. I loved it.

My kids loved playing with cousins and 2nd cousins.

We all loved...

marshmallow wars

kickball

tubing the river (see post below)

rapelling in the cave (see post below)

badminton

biking

hiking around the reservoir

holding baby cousins

playing in the campfire

and mtn biking in Fruita on the way home

Beautiful view from the hike around the water hole.
From left: My dad with harmonica in hand, my sis, and me
playing and singing around the campfire.

Newest baby niece Meg with her favorite aunt
(it's my blog, I can post about me if I want to)

My sister's legs outside the cave cause she didn't want to brave the mirky cold cave water.

Can you blame her?

I didn't take a lot of photos, cause sometimes, you have to put the camera down and join in. Thanks to the family that took loads of photos that I can get copies of. :)

I left a 3.5 day family reunion just wanting to spend more time with family and live closer to them. Loved them all. I want to do it again next week. Thanks to DB for all the organization and thought. Thanks to all the siblings and cousins who made it a priority. Love.

Oh what do you do in the Summertime...

When all the world is green? Do you float in a stream? (mom aka Grandma)
Or feel cold water and scream? Go Kassidy!

Is that what you do?

So do I. Do you Rapell into caves? (my dad aka Grandpa)
Be Strong and be Brave!!! Mitchell!!!

Is that what you do?