Jon's R & R

The kids like to meet me a the door and take my lunch bag from me when I come home from work. They then open it and eat what ever is left, if they like it. I had leftover cucumber slices this morning and this is what Peter found Jon doing with them.
This is Jon's new thing to do. He will pile up the four pillows we have on the couch and either put them all around him or lay on top of them. He also sleeps with both the purple/blue blanket and the blue/tan blanket and a variety of stuffed animals. It is like a zoo in his bed. He really keeps us smiling! (Be sure to scroll down, I put up 4 posts tongitht.)

Camping with the Larsen's

We went for an overnight campout with our friends the Larsen's on Friday night. We had a great time. The kids loved the fire, smores, and dirt!Arabella was not thrilled that she had to spend so much time in the stroller but she survived.
All of the kids wanted to put wood on the fire, so we had a great steady blaze.

The Larsen's did dinner and we did breakfast. The kids ate tube steaks while the adults ate the most delicious steaks! My mouth is watering just thinking about them. The smores were delicious. We realized that the kids really just wanted to roast the marshmallows and not always eat the marshmallow. They then hand it to you and say, "Look mom, I made this for you." We adults were well fed!

The kids actually went to bed quite easily and so we "big kids" stayed up by the fire and visited. The Larsen's are dear friends to us. Our kids play so well together and we just in general view life in similar ways. Cristi has helped me during this time of unemployment, to keep sane. They unfortunatley experienced the same thing earlier this year and truly know how we feel.

In the morning, the bigger kids needed something to do while we started to clean up camp. I hiked them part way up a hill and that seemed to do the trick, for a while anyway.

Arabella tuckered out right after breakfast. I let her sleep in her clothes because I did not have the hear to chance waking her up when she had fallen asleep.

Tents are always such a trick to take down. We all wished we could have stayed longer. The effort to stay longer camping is so minimal once you get everything loaded up and then set up. We will have to try to stay longer another time. I know the kids would not have minded.

Clean up time! Peter made his yummy sourdough pancakes for breakfast and we all had a yummy feast!

As we drove down from the campsite, we took the Larsen's to Robber's Roost for a short hike. Cristi, Brinley, Arabella, and I stayed at the cars and had a great time visiting.

Busy Times

First Day of Kindergarten There he is our big Joey! He is such a smart boy and was so excited to start Kindergarten. I will take this chance to brag it up. He is in the all day program at school becasue he was one of the top four testers for kindergarten so he is a peer model. Basically, he is in the all day class so he can help those that need help catching up with all of the other students. He has been working hard this summer and has learned to count and write to 100, sound out simple words and stories, and do basic addition and subtraction. I am a proud mother! He is a great big brother and wonderful son!
Lining up to go into Mrs. Gardner's classroom.

We are having Joey ride his bike to school and we run pushing Jon and Arabella in the jog stroller. It has been really fun! Joey is so much better at riding his bike!

First Karate Tournament

These first few pictures are of the barbecue afterwards. We took our shaved ice machine and of course it was a big hit.

There was a water fight. Each of the kids that participated received a squirt gun with their medals. Jon did not participate in the tournament but managed to have a great time getting himself and others wet.

You could not get Arabella to let go of her watermelon, she ate two pieces! We love our peanut!

Joey with his medal -Yea!!

Joey doing his form. For Joey's age group they have someone do the form with them. He has become so much more coordinated and we are working on his strength. Joey also did sparring and ther is a video at the end of this blog.

Final Summer Hike

We heard of a short familyfriendly hike up on Mount Charleston and decided it would be a fun way to end our summer before Joey started school. Joey and Jon really did well on the hike despite a few really tall steps. Arabella loves riding in the backpack because she is up so high and can see so much!

Joey climed all the way up these rocks by himself and Jon had minimal help from dad. Apparently this is a popular rock climbing spot; you could see all sorts of caribeeners and chains for climbing and repelling.

This is how the trail ended. The boys obviously felt they should and could just keep climbing up.

9th Anniversary

We could not decide what to do for our anniversary. Finally, we stole an idea I saw on my friend Wendy's blog. We spent the afternoon cooking a "gourmet" meal together. The boys had a great time helping us shop for, prepare and eat the food. It really was a great day! Peter and the kids suprised me with flowers and a delicious breakfast when I got home that morning from work.

S'mores baked cheesecake (my first baked cheesecake)-so delicious!

The happy couple!

We had baked salmon, monterey shrimp, chiqaritos and guacamole (apptizer), spring mix greens with feta and craisins and a yummy homemade dressing, and grilled corn on the cob!

The boys were really good sports and tried everything. Joey loved the chiqaritos and Jon loved the shrimp. Arabella tried some fish and seemed to like it!

A video of Joey sparring! Quite funny in person. Jon really enjoys sparring and has no problem defending himself against bigger kids.

Virginia City Adventure

Grandma and Grandpa Rabner came and took the boys on an adventure to Virginia City in July. They had a fabulous time. There were trains, tractors, swimming, and lots of love and attention. Here a few pictures from their trip. The above one is just a cool shot they took on their way home but it is a great cowboy shot!
They rode a stage coach!

If you look close you might be able to see the driver's impressive mustache!

I think this was taken by Joey, sorry about the missing eye Grandpa Max!

This is the gold they found, when they panned for gold. Apparently, this is more than most people find. Way to go boys!

I don't really know why this ended up sideways but this is trolley that was pulled by a tractor. We have heard more about this tractor than almost anything else on this trip, including the train. The tractor had a horn and when you "honked" it, the sound was "HOT DOG!" The boys still laugh every time they talk about it.

Wild West show

Standing with the train engineer. I don't know if Joey's smile could get much bigger!

Happy train boy!

And that is the end of the line!

Thanks for the great adventure Grandma and Grandpa Rabner!

St. George

We recently met my parents in St. George for an overnight stay. The boys loved it, they went swimming twice in one day at a really fun pool. I got to go shopping with my mom, so fun! Peter and my dad played a round of golf and it was one of Peter's best rounds ever. Then that night, my parents watched the kids while we attended a play at Tuachan. It was Footloose and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The dancing was wonderful! No trip to St. George is complete without a visit to the temple to walk around the grounds.This series of pictures is me trying to get a good picture of two loving brothers?!

My parents took such a neat shot of themselves, I think my dad was testing how the camera worked before he took our picture but this is really a great shadow shot.

We are a happy family!

I love the contrast of bright, pure white walls against the landscape of the red and orange mountains. The temple almost shines among the town because of its beauty. Today I am especially grateful for the temple and the great peace that can be found there because it is the 9 year anniversary of when I was endowed. My mind brings back the emotions of that evening at the Mt. Timpanogos temple. I was surrounded by my family and my soon to be family and I felt so loved. I remember feeling so strongly that Peter would be the man that would be by my side as we journeyed through this life together. I knew he woudl help me and be with me in the eternal glory that awaits us. I do love that man! And yes I do love him more today than I did even on that day or a few days later when we were sealed for time and all eternity. These last few months I have gained a new love and respect for him as I have seen some new aspects of him. He is brave, patient, and humble. I love you Peter!