Pony Rides

We had a really fun time at the Olsen's house a couple of weeks ago getting a pony ride from Cricket. The kids all piled onto the cart and went for a fun ride through the woods that is the Olsen's backyard. It was such great fun! Sammi has been drawing an endless supply of pictures of Cricket ever since! This is one thing I love about living in Elma. It's normal to have a friend who can give your kid a pony ride!

Jacksons Meet: The Jacksons!

In August, Grant's little brother Jeremy and his family came to stay at our house. We had such a great time! They were such fun! The kids played at our house and messed around Lake Sylvia. It all started with a fascinating couple of days at Mt. St. Helens. All the kids loved seeing how the whole side of the mountain just fell off! It was fun to see them actually understand what happened that day.

Back in Elma, we all went to Lake Sylvia (where the kids got in the water despite the 50 degree weather!) and played at my house. The kids, dirty and cold from their Lake Sylvia adventure, took the biggest bubble bath I have ever seen. They were absolutely covered in bubbles! It was truly unbelievable. Afterward, a little TV was in order in my bed (as per the picture shown here!)

We had a great time combing Rialto Beach and looking for the largest trees in the world (which, by the way, are an unbelievable experience!) We drove around Forks looking for sights from the book and movie Twilight and then rented the movie a couple of days later. It was really fun to see our Northwest highlighted in a movie!

We had a delightful day picking blueberries and cooking them up into a blueberry festival too.

We stayed a couple of nights in a cozy cabin at Mount Rainier to end the trip and we got to hike through all the old growth rainforests and work on Junior Ranger badges. Sadly, Mount Rainier didn't show itself that day, but the wildflowers on its hillside were spectacular! Truly an experience to come back for!

We love Jer and Joni, Cate, Josh, and Heidi. Come back soon!

The Joy of the Youngest

So growing up I always just thought, "Come on parents! We all know that the youngest child often gets spoiled, so now that we are educated, we can change things for the youngest in our own families!" Well, that was before I had this little darling to dote on. How am I ever going to let this child grow up?

Hiking Club!!

This summer, one of our favorite things was hiking club, organized by one of our other favorites Kristin Doyle. We hiked (almost) every Tuesday morning with other moms and their preschoolers. We hiked to Mima Mounds, Lake Sylvia, Schafer State Park, Priest Point Park, and lots of others. What a fun thing to do with preschoolers!

24th of July in SLC!

We had such a fun 24th of July. In SLC, this is Pioneer Day, where they celebrate the day the Pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley and Brigham Young declared, "This is the place!" for the Mormon settlers to settle. We started with the parade with Aunt Rosemary. The floats and bands were the favorite, along with the no-melt popsicles at Rosemary's afterward. The kids were also stunned by a performance of the cheerleaders from Utah State, which they did just for us in the park!

We ended the night with our first professional soccer game with the Beckstrands and my great friend Stacey Ford: The SL Real. We had such a great time. All the kids loved the game, and though Sammi was traumatized by the fireworks afterward, everyone was on cloud nine when we left. Scotti made me promise to let him go down and stand on the grass where the soccer players were. The game was especially fun to me. I had no idea I was such a soccer fan. The excitement of a goal or a good block was almost more than I could handle. Such a great high for me. I love those things.

Snowbird with Jacksons

When in SLC in July, we had a fun day at Snowbird with the Jacksons. Scotti did some rock climbing, and we all got to do the alpine slide. Since I was there without Grant, all the kids found loved ones to go with. They had a great time. It was so beautiful up there in the mountains, but since my kids had just arrived to the desert, we all had climate shock! We couldn't take the heat. I seriously never gets to be too hot here in Elma. That desert just beat us that day I tell you! We loved the tram and especially our family.

We also got to stay with Grandma Janet & Grandpa Kelly, which was really fun. Those two have a fabulous hotel, I tell you. We had a great time miniature golfing with Grandma Janet, too. Cooper got a whole in one and was intent on getting another one the rest of our time there. Sammi was more interested in the turquoise water than in finishing the last few holes. Funny kid.

Fun with Grandma Bird in July!

My highlight of being in Salt Lake City this summer was the time I got to spend with my Grandma Bird. I wish I could have spent a couple of more days with her. A few of us cousins got together at the last minute and went over to visit Grandma when I first got there, and some of us go to have a fun luncheon with her a few days later. Talk about a woman who has blessed my life. I love you Grandma.