Pumpkins!

It's PUMPKIN PATCH TIME!!

Every year we look forward to heading out to Granada with Grandpa Sim and Grandma Lu to pick out the best pumpkins. This year was no exception....luckily we had a very nice day to search the patch. The only problem (for me) was finding a way to take pictures without the sun in people's eyes (got lots of those), or my shadow in the picture (got some of those too), or grimaces on kids face! Other than that, it was a success!

Jace, Brooklyn, and Abby - happy to be here!

Grandma Lu even joined in the searching.


Grandma Lu was also responsible for handing over the super sharp pruners to my 6 and 4 year olds (I was told I was ruining everyone's fun when I tried to protest.....).

Luckily all fingers (and toes) remain intact - and nobody's fun was ruined:)

Jace was Grandpa's little helper.



Grandpa Sim found the most unique pumpkin - there's no one else that has a pumpkin like that around!

Brooklyn came away with the biggest pumpkin.

And the biggest smile! Did Imention we love the pumpkin patch?

Happy Carving!

Mesa Verde

On our way to Lake Powell we decided to take a little detour through Mesa Verde. We've never been before and didn't know when we'd get back down that way so we decided to fit it in. We didn't have a lot of time so we weren't able to see everything but we did manage to get one tour in of what they call Spruce Tree. Amazing!

Here we are in some pit. I'm sure I would know more details about its actual function had we participated in the educational part of the tour! But since we didn't have enough time for that we just made up our own ideas about what it was used for:)



This picture is taken from the trail that we hiked down. We were literally the only family there. We were swarmed by tons of old people. I was actually quite impressed that they all made it down the steep trail without assistance! I'm not sure, but I think my rambunctious kids made them all a little nervous.....




Here's Abby headed down into the pit. We didn't know what the kids would think of Mesa Verde but they ended up really loving it. Brooklyn especially was into reading all the pamphlets we got and asking questions about it. They thought it was pretty cool that these were real Indian dwellings that real Indians used to live in!

Here we all are. The baby bump is there- it's just hiding really well! And then we were off to Lake Powell!

Lake Powell

Have you ever been to Lake Powell? I haven't...until last week! We made our first trip ever and joined most of Darren's family. Our brother-in-law works out there and was able to secure a houseboat for us all to stay on - for free! It was so nice to have a kitchen and a bathroom to use while "roughing it"!!!

We had all kinds of things to play on for our stay. A water trampoline being one of them. We also had a jet ski, two boats (wakeboarding, kneeboarding, tubing, and surfing), a beach (hours of fun), and a hike to a natural arch just a mile or two away from campsite.

Luckily I got a few pictures of Jace early on. He ended up with a really bad diaper rash (courtesy of being wet all day long) and had to go commando for a day and a half! I couldn't even put his swim trunks on because his rash continued half -way down his inner thighs. Poor little guy. I think he quite enjoyed his newfound freedom and was very amazed at being able to watch himself use the restroom.....


The beach proved to be a great spot for the kids to gather seashells, dig pits, create rivers and make mudbaths.

Here they are enjoying the fruits of their labors!

Abby decided to try her hand at wakeboarding. She gave it a good shot but wasn't able to stay up.



Brooklyn on the boat - Ty snacking. One of our favorite activities while boating!

I unfortunately did not take a picture of our houseboat - I don't know why not. But we did have top deck with a hot tub, and a slide that dropped you off into the lake. The drop off was actually quite high, I thought, (probably 4 feet) for little kids but Abby loved it. Brooklyn braved it one time and it wasn't a great experience so she was done with it. Jace thought he wanted to go down the slide but I wouldn't let him. There were also four rooms with queen sized beds, couches and tables that changed into beds, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. The men all slept on the top deck under the stars.

All in all we had a great time and I was thankful that we didn't go in the middle of summer because it was still plenty hot in September!

First Day of School Pictures

The first day of school has finally arrived! Here's my little Brookie all ready for Pre-school! She goes to the afternoon class which is good news for the little man! I don't know what Jace would do without his playmate for the morning!

Brooklyn picked out her school shoes all on her own (as did Abby). I actually tried to persuade her to get more practical shoes. You know, ones that didn't call quite so much attention to themselves. What you may not know about these shoes is that they also light up when you walk. Yes, they are by far the flashiest shoes we saw in all of the bazillion stores we went to. Brooklyn loves them.

I can't believe Abby has started 1st grade! She's already a super reader and loves going to school. She's done great at getting up and getting ready (with some prodding - she's easily distracted) and is doing better about not coming home quite as tired as she was last year.

Here are Abby's Twinkle Toes. She had to have some. And they had to be ones with laces. Now that we're a few weeks into school Abby's not so sure that laces are a good thing. They take a whole lot longer to put on! But they sure are cute!

Happy School Year!

Thoughtful Gifts

My sweet little guy - who couldn't love a handful of wildflowers from him!



Did I mention I'm getting another one of these? Little guys I mean. We're having a boy! What's not to love about that?

Island Park

Here's a quick run-down of our annual trip to the cabin. We head to Island Park every year to hang out with Darren's family and enjoy the great outdoors.

Here's everyone on smore's night. Brooklyn was missing due to nature's call - and we couldn't wait any longer to take the picture!



Here she is with her perfect smore.

Abby, Brooklyn, and their cousin Hannah. The girls had a great time with all their cousins and everyone got along really well for the most part.

Jace took it upon himself to man the 4-wheelers. He was seriously obsessed. We went on plenty of rides over the few days we were there. The growl of the motor and bumpy dirt road even lulled Jace to sleep on one outing!

Here are the boys with the big trout Darren caught - a 6 pounder! Apparently a trout that size is unheard of........are you impressed?

This is what the men spend their time doing at the cabin. Catching fish and then frying them up!

Utah

I'm more than a little late getting this blog together but here are a few snapshots of our trip to UT (that happened the beginning of August!).

Jace and his cousin Parker - the two of them kept us hopping! This is in Uncle Steve's backyard. All you need is a little bit of water and a couple of 2 year olds and you get a big sopping mess!

Here are the girls with their cousin Jenna. Abby and Brooklyn love being able to be around their cousins - especially if it means playing dress up!

Here we are at a restaurant I used to work at - The Mayan! We have never taken the kids there and I thought it was about time they saw just where their mother put herself through college and beyond!

I must say, I had several nightmares leading up to going to the Mayan.....we used to call them Mayan Mares when I worked there. I don't know how to explain it except to say that it was a high stress job. And apparently it triggers something in the far depths of my memory even after 7 years.

I'm so glad to be done with that place.

For those of you who know nothing about the Mayan I'll give a quick explanation.

It's a huge Mexican restaurant that has been built around a rainforest theme. It has no windows and very dim lighting to keep with a primitive Aztecian feel. The most drawing feature of the Mayan is a 25 foot (or therabouts) high cliff with a waterfall and small pool. The purpose of this (besides looking and sounding rainforest-ish) are for the shows that take place during dinner - namely the cliff divers that dive and flip off the cliff to the pool below. Very exciting.

Actually, one would think , a very cool place to work. Except that the restaurant has 3 floors. And if you are working on the top floor your food is being made on the first floor. And while you may not be solely responsible for getting your guests food to the table ( we had table runners) you were solely responsible for the tips you recieve for your guests not receiving their food - which was a very common occurance. And if the food did make it on time you can bet there was a reason it came so fast. Missing dressing, missing fries, missing beans, or whatever. You get the point. And while you were busy fixing problems with one table you could be getting 3 more at that very moment. And if you happen to not have a front row seat to the cliff divers you could have a very unhappy table insisting to be moved. Which sounds like a quick fix but in actuality the seating happens on the first floor long before the guests ever get to the table. So an empty table was never a "real" empty table and that takes some explaining. We also had to get to the bar for drinks which at best was not very close and at worst was a floor or two away. And it takes skill not to slosh the entire drink out before handing it over to a paying guest.

Let's just say there was a whole lot of running around. And a whole lot of nightmares about running around.

Anyway, it's a fantastic place to visit with kids. Very stress-free as guests. And they all loved it. I will say I was quite shocked at the menu prices after 7 years. I guess we're paying for the cliff divers insurance policies! But it was one of the highlights of our trip so it was worth it!