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.

June adventures

 Our adventures continue from our home base in Draper.  Audrey had a wild girls' camp the week after we got home from Costa Rica.  It snowed 8 inches on their tent, and they had to leave for home.  The leaders improvised, and I think everyone still had fun, though they never returned to their camp site.  Meanwhile, we played at the Children's Museum with the little kids.  Bob the Builder is one of Graham's favorite - and it was fun to check out their Bob exhibit.

 In the midst of it all, Graham learned to ride a bike, and he is very good at it.  Here he is, riding very easily.

We had a girls' night at Grandma's house.  That was really fun.  The girls loved craft projects, hanging out, and eating at a restaurant.

The next day, we all had a family get together, and played sports, laughed a ton, and had dinner.  It was a tremendous time for us all to catch up with each other.

June is Wasatch Back, and this year, we did it Ultra Style.  Half as many people, same distance to go.  I can't believe the six of us did all of the nearly 200 miles of back-country mountain climbs and passes.  What an accomplishment.  It was so fun.

We got our re-visit of the aquarium in.  It was fun to see all the animals in their exhibits, and share it with Kate for the first time.  We also did the 4-D theatre, which was really cool.

We have done 7 peaks twice now, and we are going strong to hit it a few times more.  Here is Audrey with her friend Morgan at 7 peaks.

We went to the former Incredible Pizza turned into All Star bowling - and had a fabulous time.  However, it is not so much a pizza place anymore.  We ended up getting lunch at a pizza restaurant, and then buying passes for here.  The kids had a ton of fun, and we had to hurry home to beat dad there at 6:30 pm!

Fourth of July festivities:  We ran the Sandy Classic 5K - ALL of us!  Even Graham ran it.  They all did really well.  Carson and Kate have been training, and Audrey's soccer keeps her in shape.  Graham just worked his heart out, and he did so well to finish.  We are so proud of these little guys!  Graham got 2nd in his age group, and "won" his race. He was very proud of that.  Audrey got 4th, so just missed a medal.

Then we partied at a carnival in Riverton.  It was fun to ride the rides and watch the kids have fun, but it was VERY hot.  We brought spray bottles to spray ourselves with, but in the end, we all decided to leave and go to the reservoir.

Here we are playing at Herriman Reservoir.  This is such a fun activity for the kids.  We could really spend more time here!  We had to leave for dinner, but we could have stayed longer.

 And finally, the most exciting thing this whole year - Kate was baptized!  July 5th, surrounded by family and friends, our sweet angel was baptized.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.  I know the Holy Ghost testified to us about the sacred and important nature of baptism that day.  What a wonderful memory.  Thank you everyone that shared it with us.

Costa Rica will never be the same!

 Our amazing trip to Costa Rica!  Here are the cloud forests we drove through on narrow, wind-y roads.

Audrey becomes fast buddies with fellow team mate, Morgan.

 Body boarding on the beach at Jaco.  Teaching the girls, then not seeing the boards again until we left.

 Hiking rain forests most days of the week we were there.

Visiting downtown San Jose, Costa Rica.  What an experience.  Very fun to see the fusion of latin with modern, with colonial, with american culture.  What a unique place.

Helping out in an orphanage for 2 days, seeing the girls play together, love being together, then crying when it is time to say goodbye.  What a neat experience.

Playing soccer in the Heredia stadium.  One of the best teams in central america, and we were there, in their stadium for 4 days, being trained by expert coaches.  And the tournament was really neat.  It made every one long for an annual cultural exchange.

Catching soccer fever with the rest of  Costa Rica.  Audrey and Chad wearing the Heredia uniform.  World Cup began, and seeing the country celebrate after their first surprise win.  Very fun to experience.


 Ziplining near Arenal Volcano.  Here is Audrey, brave enough to volunteer to go first!

Canyoneering in Lost Canyon with Desafio adventures.  definitely a high-light of our adventure!

And finally, white water rafting with Desafio - on the Sarapaqui River.  Great times, fun to share with each other.  I am sure the start of more adventures like it.

Spring 2014

 Spring flew by, and in review, I chose a few pics that showed some of the things we were up to.

Over spring break, Kate flew to California and hung out with her cool cousins there.  Meanwhile, the rest of us did things close to home.  Here are Audrey and Carson at the new aquarium together.  It was fun to see the new space, however, we were surprised how many animals had not made the move yet.  We were looking forward to a return trip, and taking Kate there as well.

Carson's birthday party was during spring break.  We celebrated a mine craft party with "Steve" birthday cake, mine craft - craft projects, a Foosball tournament, and of course, a little mine craft.  Fun night, Carson!

 Now for Easter.  We had fun Easter egg hunting, celebrating at Grandma's Easter Party, and other such adventures.  On Easter morning, the girls wore the dresses I made for them this year, and we had a sweet day.  It was an especially poignant day for me as I remembered my dear mom, and the very real hope that Jesus' Resurrection brings for being together again.

 We celebrated Kate's birthday party in May.  We wanted to celebrate before school ended and life got really hectic.  She chose a Frozen theme, and it was really fun to plan the party.  We did "ice castles", snowmen, and marshmallow shooters.  later we had a fight with the shooters and "snowballs" of paper in the back yard.  We danced to Frozen music videos, and did a relay race.  It was a ton of fun.  Kate is EIGHT years old now, I can't believe it!

 May was recital month.  Kate had her dance from the movie Brave.  She is such a beautiful girl, it is a pleasure to be involved with her recital.  Grandma took very good care of her the night of the recital.  And we hear that she had a ton of fun.

Travels:  Chad and I went to Chicago in May, the weekend of the recital.  So, we actually missed the recital.  But, what a sweet experience Chicago was.  We connected with several of our friends from Chicago over dinner in Hyde Park.  Then the next day attended many reunion festivities for the Booth Graduate School of Business 10 year reunion.  My how time flies.  It seemed as though it was just yesterday that we lived there.  I found myself thinking about where I would take Audrey the next week.  Then freak out, because 10 years has passed!  We had a nice visit that included a trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Giordano's pizza, and the old Hyde Park ward.  Wonderful visit.  Glad to go.  Meanwhile, Julie and Josh treated our kids well with BYU pep rally visit with cheerleaders and football gear and s'mores in the canyon.  I don't think we were missed.

Also, Chad spent a week in India in May.  He has crazy stories about running with monkeys, and such.  We are glad he made it safely back to us.

 We did a little hiking as well.  Over Memorial Day weekend, we found a moment to hike Adams' Canyon.  The waterfall was amazing, the hike was great.  The kids enjoyed getting out, despite the incredibly hot temperatures that day.  We thought it was a short hike, but it was probably more like 2-3 miles each way.  Poor Graham got worn out, but he did the whole thing!

And we did soccer, soccer, soccer!  This was Graham's first go at it.  He had a ton of fun, but he was most excited that the coach was his mom.  I on the other had was surprisingly nervous and flustered about coaching.  We all hit our stride mid season, and had some fun.  We are a very young team, but we learned a ton of skills.

Kate had a great season.  She scored several goals, like this one here.  Since she plays mostly defense, that is pretty remarkable.  Her skills are really coming along.  We have really enjoyed watching Kate improve.  Chad is her assistant coach, and one of his favorite jobs.

Audrey is still playing competitive soccer.  Her team jumped from Division 4 to Division 2, and their record shows the challenge that was for them.  However, we think they are on the verge of emerging as a great team.  It will be fun to see the games this fall.

May also saw the return of my dad and Elaine for a visit.  They stayed with us for a week.  It was fun to hang out with them.  Here Bruce is on a field trip to Wheeler Farm with Graham and I.  It was a neat experience to share together.  Thanks for coming, Dad!  It was Elaine's daughter's wedding.  Their reception was my kids favorite one ever.  They threw a very fun party, and I am sure that will be hard to live up to!

That is about it - what fun it has been.