Fall Break

I didn't take pictures of everything, but here are a few things we were up to for Fall Break.  Jer was already up north for meetings early in the week so I packed and drove the four kids up north to hang out for a few days.  Anton and Liz were so nice to let us stay at their house while they were gone so we had a nice space to hang out and sleep.

This is a picture of what happens when you are trying to get ready for a trip and might have forgotten to change your baby's diaper!

Jer still had his hotel the first day we got there, so we took advantage by swimming at the pool...and the hot tub in the room and just hanging out in the nice room.

We have season passes to the zoo this year so we were sure we wanted to make it there at least one day.  It was amazing weather the whole time we were there and we got to the zoo early enough that we beat the crowds and got to see everything in just a few hours.  Cardon is slightly obsessed with the zoo and animals right now so it was especially fun to take him.

We also got to hang out with Jer's high school friend and his family one night to watch the Utah game and have dinner.  The kids loved playing with Chase and Berkley and Chambers was so exhausted from our trip that he slept through all the cheering, yelling, and jumping up and down.  Sometimes I think he sleeps better when there is lots of noise.  He seems to wake up when it quiets down.

We also drove up to Park City one day to see the beautiful leaves and do a little shopping.  And last but not least, we got to spend some time with Jeremy's parents.  The kids had a lot of fun playing there and being with the Grandma and Grandpa they don't get to see as much.  They even got to pick out a pumpkin to take home with them.  We were all tired and happy to be home.  Jer and I wondered what the definition of a vacation was and weren't sure if we could call this a vacation with 4 kids.  Even though they were all really good!

Staheli Farm 2013

We decided to take the kids to Staheli farm for family home evening last week, while the weather was still nice and before it just got to busy as we got closer to Halloween.  Let me just say that I don't think I have ever seen Cardon so happy and excited.  He talked about it all day until we finally got there.  Every time we got in the car he asked if we were going to the farm.  He was excited about every part.  The animals, pumpkins, tractors, and slide were his favorties.  Luckily we brought my sister Danielle because someone had to just follow him around as he literally ran from one thing to the next.  It was a very memorable and fun family night.  We laughed a lot and enjoyed being totether.  Truman and Tacy were so well behaved and good to play with Cardon.

The kids each picked out their own pumpkin.  We thought it was funny that Cardon picked a little one he could carry that was mostly green.  He was so proud of it.  Truman's was so big he could barly carry it.  The rule is, if you can't carry it you can't get it.

Truman may be getting too cool for kisses from aunts.

The kids got to guess how much their pumpkins weighed.  Truman guessed correctly, so he got a free soda.

Here Danielle is getting pokies out of Tacy's bottom.

Here Jer is getting more pokies out of her bottom.

It was fun riding the wagon back and forth to the pumpkin patch because it went right past all the stinky cows which the kids plugged their noses but loved every minute of it.

We liked it so much we might try to take another trip there before Halloween!

Valley of Fire State Park

For conference last weekend we decided to take a drive to Nevada and visit the Valley of Fire State Park. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea because the national parks were closed. But we packed a lunch, listened to some conference, and enjoyed this park for the first time.  We were impressed with how beautiful it was, but also commented on how it isn't any better than Snow Canyon State Park that is right by us.  There were some amazing petroglyphs and the weather was beautiful.

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When the kids were sitting in the hole in the rock by the visitors center a bus of people from China pulled up and many of them pulled out their phones and wanted to take pictures of them as well.  Then they came over to me and held up four fingers because they couldn't believe I had four kids.  They were pretty excited about their blond hair and blue eyes.

On the way home we all slept.  Except for Jer...he drove and listened to the rest of conference.  I'm always glad when we escape our busy lives and do something as a family.

September in Photos...and a few words

I just uploaded a ton of pictures from mine and Jer's phone, so instead of doing a lot of different post, I thought I would combine them all into one.

The kids continue to enjoy school and Prentice even gives me some smiles and a kiss most mornings before she goes.

Our life is pretty busy now with school, practices, and family time.  I always know when Prentice says that she is in no way tired and couldn't possibly take nap, that she will be out the next time I check on her.

Grandma Tacy had her 88th birthday.  We all came over to sing and have cake and ice cream with her.  We are so grateful to have her in our life.

Cardon has a new fascination with nail polish thanks to Prentice and asks to paint his nails whevener he can.  It doesn't take much begging, because I usually give in pretty quickly.

We went  to Santa Clara Swiss Days on a Friday afternoon.  The kids made yarn dolls, got "prarie rings,"  milked a pretend cow, and roped a pretend calf.  Jer stayed home and took a nap with Chambers, so it was fun to just be with the bigger kids.  On a side note, I did manage to lose my keys in the shuttle, but luckily got them back without too much of  a hassle.

The kids had some major dress up fun on sleepover night with Gigi.  The boys even got in on the action too, but lucky for them I don't have a picture to prove it.

We all pitched in and bottled 66 bottles of jam...strawberry, raspberry, and mixed berry.  It was a lot of work but we are excited about our homemade jam!

Cardon officially learned how to ride a bike with training wheels.  He is so determined and loves to imitate Truman and Tacy.  I'm sure it won't be long before the training wheels are off so he can keep up with them.

Tacy and Kelly at cheer practice.

We got the house all decorated for Halloween.  Jer spent quite a bit of time on this homemade spider web, so I was sure to get a picture.  Mostly so we can remember how to put in up next year.

Cardon is Mr. fix it around our house.  He is always into Jer's tools and working on something.

Truman had his first choir performand at Santa Clara's Swiss Days.  He really sang out and didn't seem shy at all.  I am excited to hear more performances as the year goes on.  I don't want to jinx things but he seems to have a talent for music.  He is a great singer, has good pitch, can play the piano very well, memorizes songs, and can pick out a tune with his ear.  He actually likes to practice so far and does so numerous times a day without any prodding from me.

Tacy and her best friend Kelly at the football game performing their cheer routine.  Love these two girls.  Hope their friendship continues to grow.

After staying up until almost 3 the night before, Truman was a little tired.  After soccer he came into his room with all his soccer gear still on and crashed with lights on and a noisy house.

Cardon loves to get up on the counter and help me cook.  Whenever he finds me in the kitchen he runs for the stool at the table and pushes it over to the counter.  He pulls out a cooking utensil and usually plops himself up on the granite so he can see better.  Sometimes it's hard, but most the time it's a lot of fun to spend that time with him.

I just liked these cute pictures of my little Cardon.  His Aunt Monique comes to our hosue for lunch once or twice a week and every time she is coming he pulls out 2 Tinkerbell chairs (that used to be Moniques) and waits for her in the driveway.  This time he wanted me to sit with him and wait for her red bettle bop.