Taking August a little slower

The biggest event of August was Audrey rolling her foot at soccer camp, and having crutches, boot and limited activities.  We found that most places had wheelchairs, however, and that gave us more options that she could do.  Here Audrey is with her cousin Breanne at the Utah Museum of Natural History.  We had a great visit.

Shaving cream day!!!! What a fun day.  My sister Julie does this with her boys every summer, and we just happened to visit on the right day!!!  The kids had so much fun, and it was hilarious to watch.

Before

On the ground!

Captivated audience!

Another highlight of our month was getting rid of our huge Russian Olive Tree.  We do enjoy the shade it gave, but NOTHING else.  It was too close to our house, it has horrible thorns, etc.  We got a tree removal crew in, and it was a fascinating experience for a couple of boys to watch (and a mom!)



 I always love the pictures of the hot air balloon festival!  It is so pretty.  The kids are good sports to get up really early on a summer day and go watch.  It was fun to share with our cousins this year, also!

Our visit to the Thanksgiving Point flower gardens.  Audrey in a wheelchair, but it worked really well.  We had a nice morning there.

 We made it to the remodeled Bean Museum of Natural History at BYU.  The kids had fun, it was good to see the place looking so pretty and new.  There is something about getting to see the animals so close up that is really cool.

Audrey has sat out for a lot of soccer in August.  She missed soccer camp, soccer training, the Adidas Cup, and her first games of her season.  Her team did very well, just missing being the champion of the tournament by losing in penalty kicks after a tie game and overtime.  Here is her team photo.

Graham started T-ball, and it is adorable!!!! He is cute at hitting, base running and fielding.  This league is definitely low key and perfect to "play" in.  So far, all smiles.  He loves his baseball cap the best!

One last thing:  Graham and I rode the train to downtown and played at the children's museum while the older kids were in school.  Graham brought friend Camden, and they had a blast playing together.  It was really fun to sneak away for a trip together.

August was great - we still had some amazing trips and experiences.  School is off with a bang.  I am sad to see summer go . . .

Bair Gutsman and Odgen Temple

The Bair Gutsman was Saturday, and Audrey and cousin BJ both ran the epic race.  Since it is a very tough 4000 foot climb and over 10 mile distance, we expected it to take 4 - 5 hours.  However, these tough kids finished it in about 3:22.  Way to go!  It was so fun to see them accomplish hard things.

We also toured the Ogden Temple together on Saturday afternoon.  That was really special.  Temples and families are such neat blessings in our life.

July is a ton of fun

 This month we did swimming lesson at dimple dell (it was quite a change for us from the outdoor pool that we are used to, but they all learned a lot.)  Audrey, Carson and Kate were all in the same class.  Graham couldn't get into a class, so we will probably do him in the fall.  While the others did their lessons, Graham did splash play on the toys the first week and bouldering on their rock wall the second week.  We had fun together.
July was also our big Lagoon trips.  We have gotten in the tradition of going two weeks in a row - because we always want to do their bounce back.  The first week we hit it so hard - and had a great time.  The second week we moved a little slower . . .  We watched their show, Graham explored Pioneer Village, and a few train rides.  It was a fun couple of weeks.

We discovered the Museum of Natural Curiosity this month. The lines and need for close-toed shoes turned us away the first try at it - but we hit is hard the next week, and had a blast.  The kids loved the high tech exhibits, and it was fun to let them try a high ropes course.

July is Chad's birthday month - so Happy Birthday to you Chad!

On the day of his birthday we did a tram ride to the top of Jackson Hole ski resort, and then walked all 7 miles down.  It was memorable because of the extreme storms and hail.  We had to pull together to survive.  My favorite quote of the day from Chad "I want someone else to plan my birthday next year!"

We spent a week camping in Yellowstone.  It was quite a fun experience.  We did so many things we hadn't done before.  One of the coolest parts was that we were joined by cousins and grandparents as well.  It is pretty funny that both brothers planned very similar trips for their families in the same month, almost to the day.  Only slight adjustments and we were all together!


 We stopped at Bear World on the way home.  It was really amazing to see these bears close up.   We drove through 3 times - and thought the baby bears were the cutest.  It was a good day.