SEPTEMBER

STILL TRYING TO REACH OUR GOAL
We've been working the last few months to get those 10 hikes in, but we've just been so busy. On Labor day we spent the morning in American Fork Canyon. We hiked up to Timpanogas Cave with our friends. It was steep and long but we made it to the top and enjoyed the tour of the cave. A park ranger fell in love with S. She called him 'squirrel' and was constantly talking to him and laughing at him. She even tried to take him with her into the cave with a different group. He has that kind of personality- people tend to be drawn to him. It's pretty funny. I don't know if we are going to get our other 4 hikes in, but I guess we can keep trying as long as the weather stays nice.
HIKE #6- Our group at the entrance to Timpanogas Cave.

PRANKSTER
It isn't a secret that J loves BYU. He has always been a BYU fan, he doesn't miss a football or basketball game, and he knows all about the players and the statistics. Our sons follow in their dad's footsteps- they love BYU, too. There's always a little bit of rivalry in our house when the BYU vs. Utah game comes around. I wear red- hey I went to school there, I have to be loyal, and the boys all wear blue. This year on the morning of the game, someone thought they'd play a little prank on J. We went outside to find our truck windows painted in red- "Go Utes". J quickly washed the window and we all had a little chuckle. The next morning, after church (and after a huge Ute win), we came out to find our car windows painted red. Someone thought they were being very funny. We know who the culprit is and the boys are already plotting and planning. You know who you are- watch out!


SOCCER SEASON
It's that time of year again. We spend almost the whole month of September on the soccer field. We have all 3 boys playing 2 games a week on different fields and on different days plus the two older have at least one practice if not two every week as well. It gets a little bit insane driving here, there and everywhere. They love it though, so that's why we do it.
The U -10 Shooters after their first win. T was so happy to finally have won a game. Their first few games were pretty rough.

T is the goalie on his team. He is doing pretty good and getting better with every game. He's been working very hard and practicing alot.

S loves playing soccer and he's pretty good, too. His team, The Firecats, had a great season. They had fun playing together and won quite a few of their games. S scored quite a few goals, had some great passes, and learned a lot.




Keep those feet down!













Making a plan.












Win it!







End of the season pizza party.

RUNNERS
These three did a great job running on the cross country team.

RA-RA, RA-RA-RA!
Soccer parents are suppose to volunteer for a fund raiser at one BYU game during the football season. We decided that since I was going over anyway, it would be fun if all the boys stayed and watched the game. First they went to the BYU athletic museum, Legacy Hall. Go Cougars!

Then they enjoyed watching the game.

There were some scary moments but the boys in blue pulled it off.

I joined them for the last quarter and got to see the best part of the game. They were some happy boys! Z wanted to rush the field with all the other crazy Cougar fans, but settled for some high fives and a fist pump.

AUGUST

SO EMBARRASSED

Yep, it's true. I wrecked the truck in a very embarrassing manner, one that I would rather forget. Let's just say it involved me not paying attention, and a large light pole at Walmart. Thank goodness for insurance. All is back to normal now and hopefully one day I can laugh about it.

UP TOWN
Grandma loves to take the kids up to Salt Lake each summer. We usually ride the Trax train up, have lunch, play in the water feature at the Gateway, do something fun, have an icecream and then head for home. Last year we had the adventure with the Trax train accident. This year there was nothing that exciting, but we still had a really good day. We enjoyed lunch, the kids played in the fountain, we went to the Children's Museum, got our treat and headed for home. Fun day- thanks Grandma!

Here are the kids in the Helicopter at the Children's Museum

They love the splash pad!

HIKE #5


The Grotto Trail in Payson Canyon is one of our favorite hikes. We go just about every year with the same 4 families. I love this group shot of all of us. I'm grateful for good friends like these guys!

These three have been friends for a long time.

DINOS AND THE ZOO
We had a great time at the zoo with my friends, Tina and Shana and their families.








The animals were all kind of quiet and lazy, but we did see some really loud, life-sized dinosaurs. Here's T with the T-Rex.
















On the carousel- not sure why, but S really wanted to ride on the penguin.













Yes, they acted like monkeys the whole time!

These two had fun hanging out together.

Z- always trying to be funny.

Our whole group- fun day!

SCOUT STUFF
Our scout leaders are so much fun! T was so excited to get his Bear award this month. Not only did he get to make a bear growling sound from a bucket but he also got to be clawed by the Bear. Very fun! T's favorite things about being in the Bear den have been, day camp (of course) and being the 'denner'. He loves being in charge of things and showing how responsible he is.
T showing off his bear claw marks.

We also experienced our first week long scout camp this month. Z went with the scouts to the Vernal/Flaming Gorge area. We missed him and I worried about him almost the whole time. No need though, he had such a great time! The boys got to tour the Flaming Gorge Dam, swim, hike, river raft the Green River, see some dinosaur tracks, and they even saw a rattle snake. He came home safe and sound and was happy that he had gone.

This month Z also earned a rank advancement to Star and earned some merit badges. He is excited to keep working toward Eagle scout. It is a lot of hard work. I'm proud of him for wanting to do it and for sticking with it even when it's hard.
Z and the other boys at the Court of Honor.

TEMPLE
We decided that we really wanted to take Z to the temple before school started up again. We rounded up some family names (thanks Aunt S.) and made a plan that we would go to the Salt Lake Temple. As we were driving Z asked if we really needed to go all the way to Salt Lake. No- we could go to Oquirrh Mtn, or Draper or Jordan River, we were about to pass all three. He decided on Jordan River, so that's where we went. It was nice to spend time together in the temple. As I thought about it later, I thought how unique of a situation we had. We had set a goal to head to the Salt Lake temple, about 45 minutes from our home. Between our house and Salt Lake we passed 5 other temples: Provo, Mt. Timp, Draper, Jordan River and Oquirrh Mtn. There really isn't any other place in the world where that could have happened. It didn't matter which one he chose, they are all wonderful. The fact that he had so many choices is wonderful. We are blessed to live where we do. We are also very excited for the Payson temple. The ground breaking will be in October and then it won't be long before it will be finished. Can't wait!

GOING BACK
I can't believe that I'm sending a son off to junior high. Z is excited to be going to a new school. I'm trying to be excited with him, but inside I'm a little bit anxious. I guess it's hard to watch him grow up and even harder to let go and give him the opportunity to be more independant. It's going to be a learning experience for both of us.


These two are so excited to be starting school. S is happy to be in first grade. He's looking forward to eating lunch, going to PE and computers, and staying at school all day. T is happy to be in 4th grade. He is excited for the opportunity to be in charge of walking to and from school and of keeping track of his little brother. I'm happy that they are both excited to be back to school.

JULY

THE NEW MEXICO BIRDS
Everyone was so excited to have John, Holly, Riley and Jurnie come to stay for a week.



We don't get to see them very often, and we hadn't met Jurnie at all yet. The boys loved spending so much time at Grandpa and Grandma's house with such great aunts and cousins, and Uncle John, too. Riley and Uncle John were such good sports, playing with them and entertaining them. It was really hard to see them go but so great to have them here.

Cute sisters- Riley and Jurnie.










All the cousins in Grandpa's tree













Z had been wanting to make a movie so he wrote a script, the 3 Musketeers. He, T and S were the Musketeers, Riley was the bad guy, Uncle John was the king and Jurnie was the princess. Z wrote the script and did all of the editing himself, and was very happy with his finished project. Uncle John and Riley were very good sports to go along with his plan and to be a part of the movie. This wasn't the only film experience while the New Mexico Birds were in town. There were movies about balloon rockets, the 4th of July, and everyone playing the Wii game- Just Dance 2. It's fun to have them. Good memories!

Here are the 3 Musketeers. Love the mustaches!

On the fourth of July we celebrated with a BBQ. Sara brought out the pre-firework entertainment and the kids had a blast with balloon rockets. Then we roasted smores because Uncle John really thought we needed them. The kids had no patience, of course, so we did sparklers when it was still light outside. Finally we started the fireworks and then the rain came so we had to dash inside. It didn't rain long, though, and we were able to finish off the fireworks. It was a very fun Independence Day!










HIKES
One of our family goals for the year was that we would do 10 different hikes. We really arn't doing so good, through June we've done...NONE. So this month we've tried to get a few hikes in. Luckily we really don't have to go very far to find a nice trail.

Our first hike was up to the Escalante Cross above Spanish Fork Reservoir. I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures. It was a really nice hike, not too hard and not too hot. Z was excited to be our trail guide since he had recently been on this same hike. At the end of the trail we had a great view of the valley, the windmills, and of course the Escalante Cross.

For our 2nd hike we found a trail off of the internet that we'd never been to before. It is called the Devil's Kitchen and it is up Payson Canyon on the Nebo Loop, almost all the way to Nephi. It was a pretty long drive for a very disappointing hike. The directions said it was about a mile but, not so. It took us all of 10 minutes to get to the end. There were some pretty cool red rock formations and an overlook area to look at them, but it was really more of a stroll than a hike. I wouldn't even consider it a hike, but we did walk around Payson Lakes afterward so I guess that helped make up for it.

This is us at the view area for Devil's Kitchen.

This is the view on the other side of Devil's Kitchen. I can't believe how much snow is still on the top of Mount Nebo in the middle of July. It looks crazy with the snow on the top and the green trees underneath!

Here are pictures of T and S fishing at Payson Lakes after our "hike". They were way too impatient and loud to catch anything but they had fun trying.




Our 3rd hike this month was on the way to Whiting Campground in Mapleton. It was a very nice hike, approximately 1 mile, with lots of shade. There was a river and irrigation canal that we followed- unfortunately we hiked right after a rain storm so the water was moving way too fast for the boys to play in it much. Another problem with hiking right after a rain storm- we were very muddy!
The boys led the way- Z in the front followed by T and then S. J and I bringing up the rear.

This is one spot where the little creek crossed over the trail. This small waterfall was about as close as they could get to the water.

Stewart Falls up Provo Canyon by Sundance was our 4th hike.
It is the longest hike that we've done so far. We all made it to the end despite the heat, and the boys wanting a drink and a rest at every turn, and S worrying about poison ivy the whole time. Seeing the waterfall at the end was well worth the effort. It was so beautiful and green up there and the water was falling very fast and was ICY cold. S didn't care at all and got in the water anyway. The 2 miles back to our car was much more difficult than the 2 miles to the falls, at least for me. I ended up with blisters on both heels and I was limping for pretty much the whole way back. It was very painful, but still we really enjoyed the hike.







PIONEER DAY CELEBRATIONS
It wouldn't be a 24th of July celebration without the childrens parade. This year only S was in it because Z and T were both at soccer practice. S wanted to ride his scooter instead of sitting on the trailer. Here he is in front of our ward's float "Home- The Place To Be".



And of course it wouldn't be the 24th of July without the Fiesta Days parade.


SCOUT STUFF
The scouts were invited to participate in the flag retirement ceremony during Fiesta Days. There was a nice program, then they burned the flags and shot the cannons.
They lit the big fire during the program and let it die down a little before they put the flag on it. S was worried because he was sure the fire was going to go out. He kept saying, "I don't think they're going to make it!"

Z and T and their friends in front of the fire after all of the flags had been burned. Each scout got to carry a flag to the fire and give it to a member of the National Guard, who then put it in the fire.

S getting ready for them to fire the cannons. He had his ear plugs in.

T was excited to go to Jeremiah Johnson for day camp again this year. They did a lot of fun things like BB gun shooting, archery, the raingutter regata, sling-shots, and the astronomy belt loop.


Everyones favorite was the sword fight.