Snow Day

We don't always get a lot of snow, so when it does snow we enjoy it to the fullest! First on the list is a snowman! Kira and Reese made this snowman all by themselves, and were very proud! Second is sledding behind the 4-wheeler in the field. If we can kick the cats off!

This is Jed's favorite part!

Next is building a snow fort. Dad helped a little by making a huge pile of snow with his tractor. Then Reese, using his trusty snow shovel, smoothed the sides and began excavating the cave.

Add in some snowballs, and end with the snow angels, and you have had a successful snow day!

We only hope the snow lasts until Christmas!

Pumpkin Patch and naps

Jed is starting to fight naps! This is what happens when he skips the nap. He crawled under a kitchen chair and fell asleep on my very hard, very uncomfortable wood floor. He slept through piano practice and me making dinner! Very tired boy. It is definitely that time of year when you feel the need to visit the nearest pumpkin patch! It is always fun to start with the animals. Jed was very excited when the sheep ate pellets out of his hands.
Testing out the pumpkins.

This was on the hay ride to the field. It is so fun to get a picture with all of us in it!

Ash, Adi, and Emi enjoying the hay ride. I don't know how (Reese) but Emi ended up with a diaper full of hay! Poor girl! Very uncomfortable!

Julie, Susan and Bella, along with Rene and Emily also came with us. It was fun to have so many there!

It is a good thing grandma came! She made sure Jed couldn't jump off the trailer which he tried to do several times. (Adi was also a little daredevil)!

The rule for pumpkins is you have to be able to carry your own! Kira was determined to get the biggest one she could!

Jed loved driving his own tractor! It is his favorite word right now.

We can never get a picture when all the kids are looking! We had a great time though.

Sounds Fishy

Reese is now a cub scout and is loving this program. This summer he worked very hard and earned his bobcat plus several belt loops. They have a tradition where you pin the bobcat award on upside down...and after he does a good deed you can sew it on right side up! It was very fun! I also got a mothers pin which was cute to watch Reese try and pin that on me without causing injury to anyone!

Reese has the hardest head! He recently wrecked a 4-wheeler without his helmet on (don't get me started on that) and really banged up his head. He ended up with a big goose egg and a very big shinner but no stitches thankfully! This black eye is not enhanced and looked worse than you can tell by this picture! It was really quite amazing! As you might remember this is his second black eye of the year. The first he received when a brick fell on his head!

Reese went on a trip to Henry's Lake with his dad! He missed two days of school and had the best time catching over 15 fish on his own. This was his biggest from the weekend! Did you ever see a happier boy!

Tom showing off his fish!

Kira and Jed are also doing great! They just don't have any new pictures at this time! Jed is talking more each day, and is currently obsessed with the movie Cars, and Toy Story 2. He is also really into puzzles right now. Kira is doing great and is busy composing a piano song that is really beautiful.

The End of Summer

Summer went so fast, and now we are back to school. (Sad face from mom, happy faces from kids... whats wrong with this picture?) Here is a quick look of how we finished up!

We spent one awesome day at roaring springs. Jed would giggle every time he went down the slide! Kira and Reese went on every slide in the park and we all had a great time!

I just loved how he was all laid out for bed here.

Jed is obsessed with the car movie so we made a "muddy" Lightning McQueen. Very tasty!

Jed turned two!! It has gone by so fast. He received lots of fun gifts and loves them all! It was fun to see him so excited about opening presents, and playing with his new toys.

We take our cake eating seriously around here!

Hanging out with your brother on mom's bed... so fun!

Our first day of school! We are trying something new with Reese this year. We are rolling up matching shirts and shorts together so we don't have "problems". So far it has worked great!

Kira is developing her own fashion sense and doesn't need help! She always looks cute! She just cut her hair and donated 10 inches to locks of love!

The first day of school was a little chilly so we had to bust out the jackets! They both love their teachers and are very excited about this school year! And I am sure I will adjust.

Boulder Lake

We did a quick over-nighter at Boulder Lake last Friday. Jed insists that he have his own pole and he takes it very seriously! I think Tom has created another monster!

Reese is monster number one when it comes to fishing! He wants to fish all the time!

We went on a six mile hike on Saturday to upper Boulder lake. It was gorgeous and the kids did so good!

When you get to the top the upper lake spills across a big rock field that creates all these little waterfalls and wading pools. It is beautiful and so fun to play in after a long hike!

Kira called it a wonderland and I have to agree!

All the little streams run together into a bigger creek that feeds lower Boulder lake. The trail follows the stream most of the way up.

There was a young women's group up there that offered to take a picture of us! It is fun to have us all together in one shot!

The water was cold! But if felt great after the hike!

I love this shot! He looks just like his daddy!

After we played in the falls we hiked around the lake to a fishing hole Tom knew about. He caught 3 fish in 45 minutes! I loved the meadow full of wildflowers leading to the lake! It was gorgeous! The only down side was the man eating gnats!

It was a great trip!

Grandma came out and spent two days helping us get Kira's 4-H project done! It was fun although there were times when we thought we were going to pull out our hair!

This is the finished project! So cute! To bad Ashley wasn't here to help me take a decent picture!

Kira was very excited and can hardly wait to model her outfit at the fair!

Party Party

We had a very busy, very fun weekend! It started with the piano recital on Friday. Reese did a great job, and we were all very proud of him!

Kira also played and was amazing! We love to watch her play, she keeps getting better and better!

I also go suckered into playing in a 5 piano ensemble. It was very challenging, but fun. We played Flight of the Bumble Bee.

This was at Reese's baptism party. Of course Ashley is not in the picture because she was taking photo's and Tom is also missing for the same reason! Thanks to all the family who came to support Reese. We started out with a yummy late lunch. The kids had so much fun running wild in the yard. Next we opened presents and had brownies and ice-cream. Then we were off to the baptism. We finished up by coming back to the house and having root-beer floats, a fire and lots of play time! What a day!

And here is the handsome boy who just got baptized. He was so excited and we had a great day! We are all so proud of him and his decision!

On Sunday we had Kira's birthday party. Lots more family, yummy food, play time, and presents! It just doesn't get better than that!

Spring

It has been a very busy month, and I am sorry to say I don't have very many photos! Earlier this month we decided to take the kids fishing one evening. I packed the camera and we were having a great time. I got some really cute photo's of the kids playing on this amazing tree and then I stashed my camera in my pocket. In one of Jed's attempts to throw himself into the lake I ran to catch him, bent over to grab him, and my camera fell out of my pocket and splash into the lake! I can't even tell you how mad I was. However, the camera has been retrieved and fixed up now so I will try to catch up a bit. Both Kira and Reese had their birthdays! They are now 10 and 8! Reese had an awesome party with 13 of his wild friends. We went to the YMCA and had pizza and root beer floats. Kira is still planning what she wants to do for her party! Hopefully it will be a little tamer!

This is a picture from our family date. We went to the temple and looked at all the amazing flowers. Kira's friend Maddie was able to come with us and we had a really nice time.

Jed would not sit on Dad's lap! To busy!

I love this age where they always have some kind of bruise on their head or face! Jed fell down some patio stairs and had quite the goose egg on his forehead to show for it.

He is like his Daddy and loves to be outside! He was quite enchanted with the flowers! I tried to teach him how to smell them but he kept blowing on them instead.

Kira had her big dance competition in Lagoon. It has been a fun year but I think we are all glad it is over for the summer! I am amazed at how she just gets better every year!

We had planned to go camping over Memorial Day weekend but we all came down with strep throat. (I really mean all of us!) So after a couple of days on our medicine when we were feeling a little better we had a campout at home. We played games, had a fire, made smores, and even slept in the camper in our driveway! We still had lots of fun.

This is our newest addition to the yard! I love it! As our trees get more established we get more great birds that come visit. We love to watch them and try to figure out what they are! For now we are looking forward to Reese's baptism, no more school, and hopefully a little sun!