First Day of School 2014-2015

First Day of School!  First Day of School!

Libby  - 5th Grade

Isaac 8th Grade

Luke - 2nd Grade

Summer Birthdays

Happy Birthday, Dear Libby

June 4, 2014

10!

We celebrated Libby's birthday with a Paris party.  We had a photo booth, decorated sugar cookies, sewed aprons, and had lots of fun!

 Happy Birthday To You

August 9, 2014

7!

We celebrated Luke's birthday in Cedar City, and then continued the celebration back in Sprngville.

Shakespeare Festival Green Show

Trying out his birthday roller skates.

Luke really wanted to celebrate his birthday at
Bombay House with mom!

August 30, 2014

39!

I got to celebrate my birthday playing tennis with Chris, hiking with the kids, and having a nice dinner out.  Pretty great.

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime? (part 3)

Swimming and Hiking

We spent a lot of time this summer swimming and hiking.  Another great way to enjoy our local surroundings.  We got a Provo Rec Center membership and tried to go once or twice a week.  The kids loved it.

Isaac spent the first 4 weeks of summer in a junior life guarding class.  He improved his swimming and learned some life saving skills.  It was a great first step to becoming a life guard in a few years.

Isaac went to scout camp at Flaming Gorge.  Aside from exposure to chicken pox, he had a great week.  He loved rock climbing and repelling and tolerated shooting shotguns and riffles.

At the start of the summer I made a list of some local hikes that looked fun and kid-friendly.  We did our best to get through the list.

Hike to the Springville Limestone

Hike to the Y

Payson Canyon Grotto

We finished off our summer of hiking with a rescheduled trip to Timpanogos Cave.  It was perfect weather and a nice, slightly intense hike.  The cave was really interesting and I can't believe we've never done it before.

Alpine Loop

We learned all about stalactites, stalagmites, cave popcorn,
and cave bacon.

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime? (part 2)

Moab in July

Seriously, we went to Moab in July!

Our great friends, the Lynns, were visiting Utah and after a lot of back and forth, we ended up going to Moab for a couple of fun days of hiking and extreme heat.

 We hiked to Delicate Arch.  A beautiful hike and an amazing monument, but there were times when I felt like we would actually die from the heat.  We tried to sit in the shade any time we found it and drank every last drop of water we had.  I'd love to do this hike again in the spring or fall, never again in July.

Hiking to Delicate Arch

Two old new/old friends

 

Can you tell we are hot?

Isaac and the Delicate Arch

After a night of cooling off and recovery, we hiked again on day two.

 On our way out of town, we took a detour to see some petroglyphs.  They were really amazing.

It was fun to get to spend some quality time with great friends.  We have been friends for 17 years and even though we live far apart we are always able to pick up where we left off.  

Happy Birthday America!

4th of July in Mount Pleasant

We took a quick day trip to Mount Pleasant to spend the 4th of July with the Prussos at the Palmer's cabin. We enjoyed a small town parade and a nice dinner at the cabin.  Since the last time we were there they installed a zip-line.  The kids had tons of fun and we only had one minor head injury.

Mount Pleasant 4th of July Parade 

I love this girl.

Summer Weddings

Our friend Mallory Merrill got married in Utah this summer.  It meant that we got to see some great, Chicago friends. These ladies have been so important to me and helped me grow into an adult when we first met 15 years ago.

One of our fav study abroad students also got married
this summer.  It was a beautiful wedding and we were
glad to be a part of it.

July in Park City

The kids love going to Park City so we found a hotel deal and decided to take a short trip.  Our original plan was to hike Timpanogos Cave on the way, but it was pouring rain and so we came up with plan B -  a trip to the aquarium and a short hike to Ensign Peak in SLC.

On to Park City...

Dad cannonball

The rain stopped long enough for the kids to swim

Alpine Coaster

Alpine Slide

Luke driving his own slide for the 1st time

Strike a pose

He is almost as tall as me.