Fabulous October!

 

Graham and friend, Jake, hiked Mt Timpanogos this October! It was a beautiful day, and we started right after early out Friday. We got to see a fabulous sunset from the top. Pretty amazing!

It was a quick hike out, these boys didn't stop until we got to the bottom. They did amazing.

I got to see the Treasurer of the US Treasury (Marilyn Malerba) at the Salt Lake Public Library. She is on the right in this picture. They were celebrating the launch of the new quarter, featuring Zitkala Sa. The program of the night was celebrating Zitkala Sa. We heard a song from her opera, had a reading from one of her descendants, were introduced to about 20 other descendants, watched a movie about her, and mostly, just celebrated the role of a strong woman Native American in our country. She was an activist that brought dual citizenship to the Native American people. They could be members of their tribe AND a citizen of our country.

Ok - here are the cutest puppies all dressed up for Halloween! Bagel the candy corn and Einstein the cow.

Fall is here

We celebrated Audrey's birthday this month! She is 23 years old!

It has been a fun BYU Football year so far - 5-0 when they were expected to be a poor team. It is fun to see them win a couple they were not supposed to!

Now, we only have Graham at home. Here are Graham, Bagel and Einstein all hanging out in Kate's room, missing her. At least she has had to come home to visit a couple times!

 

August - The End and New Beginnings

 August, wow! What a crazy life. 

It was another Bair Gutsman! Here is the family crowd that did the race. I ran the race this year, and finished! So did Graham, Kate, Audrey and Chad. We had so many finishers from the family. It is always neat to be part of this race, because of the great people who help and make it great. Big shout out to Marianne and Brett who ran the finish line this year so I could race. You guys are lifesavers!

We took a trip to Logan Canyon and stayed in a little shed with no running water or electricity. What a strange little place, but, it was so peaceful, all by itself in the beautiful canyon.

The next day was surfing day.

We are all excited to get going.

Audrey surfing

Kate is pro surfer.

Graham gives everyone good tips Here he is showing his stuff.

Later - when winds picked up, we switched to tubing. 

Kate and Graham get tipped.

Then we started a new phase of our life - College kid move ins. It was a series of three move ins. 

We found Rachel a house so close to campus and the TRAX line. very amazing. Her room is the one under the front gable. We had to get her a bed, desk, dresser, end table, etc. It was quite a move - and took three loads to get everything there. She is off to a good start this semester. We are very grateful.

Kate is a freshman at USU! We moved her in as a family and then had dinner with her at the dorm meal restaurant. That was an experience for us. Then she attended freshman orientation classes last week and started classes yesterday. She is making tons of friends and enjoying the college life. She even had to handle a car break down, and got it all back on track. She will do great!

Next move in was Audrey. She moved into a spacious apartment with her "old" roommates. I helped drive everything there, and helped her moved in. Then, she was off to the Grand Canyon for the weekend. BYU doesn't start for another week, and she is enjoying her vacation still.

Graham started school this week, and off to a decent start. We love him! He also started a new job, so life is coming at him fast. Way to go, Graham!

July - Warm Summer! Seeking water to cool down!

Graham goes to Bear Lake for Young Men's camp.

Here Graham is playing spike ball (guy on the left).

Helping to prep food with Jake.

Chad's Birthday party!! Happy 52!

Bagel and Einstein on a car ride together.

Filling the swimming pool so we can play with Bagel and Einstein. They love it!

We play swimming with Einstein and Bagel. Bagel wants in, so he just pushes down the side of the pool.

Bagel loves the float-y toys.

4th of July trip to Red Pine lake - Here is Kate with Hammocks

Audrey on top of her rock!

On our way to float the Provo River with Eli. Audrey and Portia met us there. Julie and her kids went also. It was a great way to spend a very hot 24th of July!

June is Smooth Sailing and Soaring Alps

Ok - we have had quite a June! Kate started off with a big event, going on a cruise with her friends as her senior trip. They had a ton of fun, and explored, met new people, and built a ton of memories together. 

Here they are sailing away while in the hot top.

I got to join Audrey and her friends on a Ragnar race! What a cool experience! We had a blast supporting each other, spraying off other hot runners and making fun memories. I was grateful that I had very easy legs after running a really hard first leg.

We celebrated Kate's birthday! She is now 18!

Jen and Julie and I memorialized June 10th, the anniversary of mom Chardan's death. We went to the Poppy fields and made tacos together. We miss you mom!

Then we were off to Athens! We enjoyed the ancient ruins and city. One of our favorite places was the ancient Olympic Stadium. WOW. We all ran on the track and enjoyed that moment.

Then we were off to the Greek islands for another adventure.

We had our own personal sailboat for an adventure around the Greek islands. It was so beautiful. Beautiful blue, clear water, cute Greek towns perched at the very top of steep island mountain. Wow!

At night we ate at restaurants in the cute towns. So much fun!

Here are Audey and I with our skipper, Vas. He did a terrific job for us, we had a great experience. Kate lived out her dreams of being in the Movie "Mamma Mia".

We got to have a dog along, as well. Pirates is Vas' dog, and he went everywhere with us.

Then we made the trek all the way to Murren, Switzerland. This amazing city is at the top of a huge cliff. We loved hiking and exploring around this amazing city.

Here is Audrey paragliding from Murren down 1000 feet to Stechelberg, the town at the base of the cliff.

Audrey loved Paragliding! 

All four kids loved it!

Going on a little hike amongst the cows. Their large bells worn around their neck made it so easy to find them when they were close by.

Doing a via farrata on the cliff wall below Murren

We biked and explored Lauterbruenen. 

Waterfalls are everywhere, and there were also hiking trails and tunnels to explore them close up.

The view from our bedroom. this place is so amazing!

We rode carts down from the "First" mountain at Grindelwald - so much fun!

Rachel and Graham took the scooters down the steepest part.

We had so much fun! We were in cable cars and trains constantly to get around - it was a totally new experience for us. We loved our little Murren town. we were sad to come back home.