Fall Leaves in the Canyon

We knew if we didn't get up the canyon we would miss the fall leaves.  After dinner, we loaded into the van and made the short drive to American Fork Canyon.  We were not the only ones with this idea!  The canyon was busy - I counted 8-10 families just at Tibblefork getting professional pictures done.

 The leaves were just starting to change - nothing dramatic, but very pretty still.  We went up past Tibblefork to the turn off to Silver Lake.  We hiked around a bit and the kids loved it.

Guard's favorite were the orange leaves.  Really?!

We lost Enoch along the trail and had to spend about 15 minutes looking for him. Grrr!  If I had a nickel for every time I lost that kid....

The kids were shocked when we told them there was a lake up the road.  They couldn't believe we had never taken them there before.  I guess we know what day trip will be first in the spring.

As we were driving home, just past the ranger station, we spotted this cute little guy in the road.  He just stood there for about 20 seconds and then bounded off to the left.  When we looked over where he was running, we saw an entire herd of mountain goats scaling the almost-sheer cliff face of the canyon.  It was amazing!  We had never seen anything like it before.

It was a great night!  We made it up the canyon just in time.  On our way home, we were treated to a spectacular lightening storm.

Apple Picking

It's harvest season at our house.  I love this time of year.  We get to reap the benefits of all our hard work throughout the summer in the garden.  I hate this time of year.  It means the mess of canning.
Our kids all love apples.  Guard loves to go and eat them off the trees even when they are not ripe.  We finally picked all our apples, saved a few for snacking with my incredible caramel sauce, and made applesauce (20 quarts) from the rest.  It's a sticky process, but the kids love homemade applesauce.
(pictures courtesy of Kate)

We also canned tomatoes, froze peaches and froze berries for pie.  I'm surprised we had any raspberries left.  Enoch and Guard love to eat raspberries fresh from the bush and are often in the garden snitching berries.
Yummy!

Enoch's Religious Square Knot

Tonight at Pack Meeting, Enoch earned his Religious Square Knot.  We are so proud of him and all the work he put into earning this award.

He was so excited to get this award and have me sew it onto his shirt right away.

(Sorry so blurry - I hate taking picture in the church gym!)
Congrats, Enoch!

I also found some cute pictures of Kate and Taylor at Pack Meeting on the camera when I downloaded pictures.  Silly girls!

PS - Greg and I have been released from Cub Scouts.  It has been almost four years I have served as the Cub Committee Chair and Greg as the Webelos Assistant Leader.  I am now in nursery and Greg has just been called to serve as a ward clerk over membership.

Scattered Thoughts

1.  Now that the weather is cooling off in the mornings, the kids are wearing pants and short-sleeved shirts to school (along with a jacket, mittens and a knit hat under their helmets as they ride their bikes to school).  Every morning we got through the same routine with Enoch and Kate.  They come into the kitchen, whine that their pants don't fit and ask that I fix them.  It's as easy as adjusting the waist on their new pants and jeans, but I still think it's funny that it has happened every day this week to both of them.  Hopefully, we had adjusted the waist in all their pants.  I've also had to adjust Guard's.  Poor thing, I sometimes feel like I am taking in the waist by half on his pants and he has all these gathers in his jeans! 
Thank goodness for adjustable elastic waists!  I don't know what we would do without them in our family!

2.  Last night we got our flu shots.  It went surprisingly well.  Enoch volunteered to be first, which was great because he could declare to Kate that is really wasn't that bad.  Guard insisted on being next.  Aside from a jerk and grimace, he did great and was very excited about his band-aid.  I went next and put on my happy face for Kate who had tucked herself way in the corner and was looking very nervous.  Greg and Gavin were up.  Unfortunately, they both wore long-sleeved shirts and had to basically take off their shirts, which Enoch thought was hilarious since Gavin was teasing him about pulling down his pants to get his shot in his leg.  Kate's turn.  She was very nervous, but did it without crying.  Her eyes were a little wet and red, but she did great.  The kids all got suckers, which made it totally worth it to them.
The nurse told us to rub our shots for the rest of the night.  Guard insisted on rubbing everyone's for them. It was very sweet.  So glad that is over for one more year!

3.  Last night Guard was stalking me in the hallway.  He was down on his hands and knees, growling and looking as threatening as an adorable two-year-old can.  He would sit in front of me, and when I moved, he would move and growl.  I asked him what he was, "a dinosaur?, a lion?, a tiger? a jaguar?, an elephant?, a giraffe?, a dog?, etc."  You get the idea.  Finally, I gave up.  "What are you?" I asked him.  "Guard," he explained with a smile.  Then he got up and ran away.
The mind of a child - so simple, yet so complex.

Flying Bikes

Guard got a new bike for Easter this year, but he hasn't ridden it much because he was still a bit short to sit on the seat and reach the ground.  As the kids were getting their bikes out to ride to school today, Guard got his out too and put on his helmet.  Wow!  He has grown a lot over the summer.  He can now sit on the seat, put his feet flat on the ground and still have a bit of a bend in his legs.
He now thinks that riding bikes is so much fun!  He rode around all morning thinking he was quite cool and he was so proud of himself.
Before Greg left for work, Guard wanted him to watch him ride his bike.  When Greg spotted Bradley's bike ramp in the front yard, things got really fun for Guard.

That smile is great! (too bad it's blury).  Guard couldn't get enough of the bike ramp.  He kept yelling, "gain, gain, gain (again, again, again)."  He would giggle, clap, run up to Greg and demand he do it again.  They had so much fun.  I hope Brad doesn't mind us using his ramp!

Guard's Prayer Dance

Whenever our family kneels down to pray, Guard will run up to Greg and yell, "me, me, me!"  He loves to pray.  Greg or I will say the words and Guard repeats the last few words of the sentence.  If it is something he really likes he will get really excited and repeat if a few times with great enthusiasm.  Lately, he has added in some fist pumps if we are praying for things that he really has strong feeling about (such as Coal, Gavin, food, etc).
Last night we were praying around Mom and Dad's bed.  Guard was on the bed and the rest of us were kneeling around the bed.  I was saying the prayer and even though it wasn't Guard's turn, he was still repeating everything.  When I said, "We are thankful for Guard...", Guard stood up, starting yelling, "Guard! Guard! Guard!", while doing rapid-fire fist pumps and doing a dance on the bed.  It was so cute and funny.  All of us burst out laughing and couldn't stop for a few minutes. 
I know - not appropriate prayer behavior, but it was so great!

The Healing Field

This year we did something new.  I have wanted to do it for as long as I have known about it.  The timing finally worked out.
We took our family (minus Gavin) to The Healing Field in Sandy.  Around the anniversary of 9/11, they cover a grassy area in flags.  A lot of flags.  Each flag represents a person who died that day.  It is an overwhelming sight.
It was a great opportunity for us to talk to the kids about September 11, 2001, and what happened that day.  Enoch knows quite a bit that he has learned from school and reading books.  Kate was hearing this for the first time. Gavin was in preschool and even he doesn't recall too much.  In some ways, I'm glad they do not remember it first hand.  That they did not live through it.  It was in many ways a horrific day.  I'm proud that we can remember the good that came from that day and still celebrate those who died.  Our kids can hear the story and hopefully learn from it, but they don't have the awful emotions, fear, anxiety attached to that day. 
We talked about what happened, we asked the kids to be quiet and respectful and we walked through the flags (Enoch and Kate did great, Guard not so much).  Enoch had a lot of questions, Kate really couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that this many people died all on one day. 
It was a good thing for our family.

 

Football and Patriot Day

Football season is here!  Gavin is going to the first home game tonight with some friends on a double date.  Grandma and Grandpa are out of town and they gave their tickets to Gavin so he could use them for his date (because his parents make him double date or not date).
I'm a bit jealous.  I didn't realize they would be doing so many fun things because today is Patriot Day (one of those Thursday night games we all love).
They have special helmets:

The BYU and Houston players unfurled an American flag:

 They redid the field with a Y transiting into an American flag.
And the fans even got involved:

It would have been awesome to be there!  I'm glad Gavin was able to go.  He had a great time with his friends and BYU won!
Very cool day all around.

Ogden Temple Open House

Our family was excited to attend the Ogden Temple Open House.  We had to reschedule our tickets three times, but it was worth it!
The temple is beautiful!  They have done an amazing job on the remodel.  It looks completely different, but in a good way!
We started by watching a movie about temples, their history and purpose.  Thankfully, it was short enough that the kids didn't get too antsy.  We then got in line to get our booties on.  They had a difficult time with Gavin's size 13 shoes.

During the tour of the temple, the kids were so reverent and respectful.  We had talked to them before about how we were to act and I am so happy they listened.  I think they were really able to feel the Spirit of the temple.
After the tour, we were able to snap a few pictures outside.

We walked to Farr's Ice Cream a block away for a yummy treat after the temple.

It was a great morning!  I'm so glad we made the effort to go.

Swimming at the Tuttles

We haven't gone swimming as much as the kids would like this summer.  Guard is just at a hard age to have in the pool.  Someone needs to be with him and then someone needs to be watching the other kids.  And, the Legacy Center pool is always so completely crowded that it almost isn't fun for the kids.  We did try to go when we were on vacation and that was very fun for the kids.
Tonight, since it is Friday and friend day, the kids each had a friend over for the afternoon and evening.  They were happily playing and I was getting ready to make pizza when we got a phone call from our amazing neighbor, Kristen.  She asked if the kids wanted to go swimming in their pool.  Really!?  Of course!
The kids were so excited!  They quickly got on their swimming suits (friends borrowed extras from us), grabbed towels and goggles (again, we have extras) and they were off next door.
What a perfect evening for a late summer weekend.  Our family, the Strongs and the Michaelis' had a great time.  We ordered pizza from Costco, let the kids play, the adults visited (minus Greg who was in the pool with Guard - what a great dad!) and enjoyed one of the last warm nights.

Thanks, Tuttles!  You are awesome!