Mark's First Game & our Treats

Mark was so excited to go to his first game. And after a little confusion in trying to find the right playing field we made it. Abbie and Spencer set up their little chairs and soon Ken showed up after work. Grandma also came which Mark was especially glad for. At the end of the games I love watching the boys give each other fives and give a cheer for the other team. It makes me feel good when we can be happy for everyone's successes and not just our own.

Jessie's got to be goalie for part of her second game. Although it was a little boring because they other team only came kind of close once.
Abbie and Spencer entertained themselves throwing Abbie's elephant back and forth behind us while we cheered for Jessie's team. It's so fun to watch the kids playing together (until Mark tried to snatch the elephant away). We were surprised to see Ken when we got home from the game. He was supposed to be teaching his accounting class at UVSC but do to a little mix-up he his class was changed from Tuesdays and Thursdays to Mondays and Wednesdays (which is what we were hoping for in the first place).
Today there was a birthday at Ken's work and I've been dying for an excuse to make these cupcakes ever since I saw them. They were super fun and Abbie and Spencer were my super helpers.
They shook the up the sugar with a few drops of food coloring in it and then after I cut a marshmallows into five slices they dipped the sticky sides in the sugar. They turned out cute enough and so I wouldn't eat all the leftovers myself while Spencer took a nap Abbie helped me deliver three little plates of cupcakes to some friends.

Soccer Season Starts

We all piled in the van along with lawn chairs, a blanket, water bottles, a pack of crackers and the camera to go to Jessie's first soccer game. She was so excited to get to play. Spencer and Mark were her loudest cheerleaders. After the game while I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner Abbie found a kitten in our flower bed. That's all she and Jessie talked about for the rest of the evening. Thank goodness we found out it belongs to our neighbors!

Fathers & Owls, Daughters and Horses, and a Sunday play-by-play

We'll start off with the Fathers and Owls. It was actually a Father and Son date to an Owl's game. Since we'd driven back from Missouri on the day of the Fathers and Sons outing for the ward, Ken and Mark found an equally fun outdoor thing to do and lucky for us they didn't even smell like campfire when they got home.
Jessie went with me Saturday morning about 6:30 to help with horses. This was the favorite of the horses she got to bring in from the pasture, Jewel.

After the "work" part of the morning we did a little riding. Here is Jessie on Silky and our friend on Nick. Don't they look good!
After horses we all went to the dollar theater to see Kit Kittredge: An American Girl on recommendation from a friend. It was SO GOOD! Not one bad word, not one bad scene! I can't remember coming out of a theater recently without having been frustrated with "that one part" that they could have totally left out. Thanks a bunch Jodi it was a great afternoon.

That brings us to the play-by-play through Sunday afternoon. After church my new councilor was set apart and so was a new activity day leader. The blessings they received were powerful and I are truly grateful for them.

Grandma came over to play with Ken and the kids while I decorated cupcakes for Stephanie's birthday party. After a few rounds of Go Fish with Abbie and Spencer, Mark got out Settlers.

This was the finished product on the cupcakes and they turned out so cool; and they were so easy! Thank you Rachel for the awesome cupcake book!!
All you do it put enough green frosting in the cupcakes to hold the oreos on. Then fill a bag with half yellow half orange frosting and with a leaf tip pull out little leaves all the way around the oreos. We used regular and mini-oreos.
The leaves are cut outs from a green fruit roll-up.

And the ladybugs are M&M's with a chocolate frosting. A line up the middle, a few dots and a big blob for the head.
I am so silly, but every time I walked past them I just laughed because they turned out so cute.

After cupcakes the kids drew some picture so send to a friend who just found out she has breast cancer. She's a sweet young mom who has put on a smile in the face of something very scary and painful -- what an example.

While the kids finished drawing Ken read another chapter from The Bishop's Horse Race. If you've never read this book it is great. As you can tell it is hilarious and the kids love it too.

Off to the party... We found a spot for one candle.
Cool bag!
And now my kids are all in bed asking for drinks. Ahhhh.....I think I'm ready for bed too.

First Day of School, Garden Galore

All ready for a new adventure and totally on time! Go us. While Jessie and Mark were gone we went for a walk and then checked on the garden. WOW! We actually got 5 small tomatoes, 1 strawberry, 5 zucchini (one two of which had grown to mini-baseball bat size), a big handful of green beans, and peppers, peppers, peppers.

Check out the peppers and guess how many! It took me 56 minutes to wash, gut, and chop them all up so I can freeze them. Do you have a guess??
Abbie and Spencer by our first Canna flower. Thanks so much Dad for helping make our little flower bed. It's looking great.
While I was washing and chopping, Spencer and Abbie made me puzzle cookies to try. They baked them in the coffee table oven and wore special oven mitts, straight from Abbie's sock drawer. It was very cute.
Do you have a guess yet on the peppers? Go ahead pick a number, any number. Then scroll to the bottom of the side bar for the answer!

Swimming

The day before school started the kids got to go meet their teachers. It was very nice. Mark has a first year teacher and Jessie's teacher had her first year last year. Jessie was so excited to tell us that her teacher lives on a chicken farm with 100, 000 chickens. Boy am I glad we don't have that many. Her teacher also has two horses.

After that we took Jennie and Megan to the pool with us. The kids were so excited to play tag and use goggles and practice swimming.

During the pool checks you get just dry enough that the water is a little cool when it's time to get back in, but at the same time it feels good.
And folks, this is what happens on the drive home every time. Ok, maybe not the bunny ears, but the sleeping.

Blog Slacker

Last Monday we had a nice visit at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s in Salt Lake. While we were there I worked on something I promised to the Cub Scouts, but I still got to talk to Grandma quite a bit. She reads so many interesting things. While we were there we talked about this guy who really didn’t have a good family life and not much luck at school but he choose to be something. And it was so cool. When people want to learn they can. Now he is researching cures for diabetes.

Rachel made a bead frog and a flamingo. They turned out very cute. Spencer loves riding the horse that Great-Grandpa made for his kids for Christmas one year.
On Tuesday we went to the Cub Scout Pack night since Mark will be in cub scouts next year and this was a parent meeting. The kids got to go help make homemade ice cream while the parents listened. They had fun.

I babysat this week in the afternoons and therefore Spencer didn’t get any naps which made evenings "fun." On Thursday we cleaned the house because on Friday evening one of Ken’s mission companions and his family came to visit.

They are natives of South Africa and have since moved to England. They were a blast. They had a nine-year old girl who instantly became "bosom" friends with Jessie and Abbie. They had a 6 year old boy who was a little younger than Mark, and a cute baby girl who dumped all her spaghetti noodles all over the table and loves mashed bananas.

While Ken’s companion was here he told us his conversion story. It was very touching. Testimony meeting doesn’t usually do much for me, which is probably mostly my fault, but his testimony was very powerful. I guess I haven’t heard many conversion stories and it was a great evening. Especially when you see other families being so good.

This is their daughter with Abbie and Jessie. And here's all of us.
On Saturday Ken's mom brought over matching skirts for Abbie and Jessie. Although she had to alter Jessie's a few times because her waist is 21 inches, which is a size 6, but for length she's a size 10. Silly girl takes after her dad. The girls were so excited! Abbie wore her skirt on Saturday, again on Sunday and on Monday. But after running though the sprinklers and getting drenched I told her she really needed to pick out a different outfit.

Saturday we played because the house was clean. I worried about primary a whole bunch and Sunday was just nice. We had the high counselor speaker and a missionary just back from Canada. The missionary’s talk on The Fall of Adam and the Atonement was very powerful. The high counselor had some good insights, but I wasn’t taking notes like I should have.

I get to do my first wedding announcement this week and am way excited. I’m also working on placemats of all the fun things we did this summer. I’m getting them printed on 11x17 paper and then laminated.

A Trip to the Cabin

On Friday morning we picked up the house, made chocolate zucchini cake and cooked up the meat for tacos. Ken came home around 1:30 and by 2:30 we were on the road to Scofield, Utah. With all the traveling we've done this summer it was weird to get on the highway and be to where we were going in just one hour.

After arriving we played a new game called Spy Alley and then Ticket to Ride, a new favorite! Ken's dad came outside with Mark, Jennie, Ken, Spencer and I and we played a collection of frisbee, baseball, and kick the soccer ball. It was so peaceful to be outside in the country. Most of us stayed out until it started to sprinkle.

Taco salad with homemade salsa was a totally tasty supper. (With the rain I was so thankful I had decided not to BBQ.) Rachel made her cake into a chocolate truffle with chocolate pudding and frosting. YUMMY and rich.

We watched the opening of the Olympics and ohhh and ahhhed over the spectacular event. We headed home around 9:00 and slept in our own beds and that felt good too.

Mt. Timp Cave

On Thursday Becca and the kids and I hiked up Mt. Timpanogos to the cave. It was an all day trip. We didn't end up getting out of here until almost 11 am. and then once we got there it was an hour wait to get into a tour in the cave.

While we waited our turn to hike we did a little nature hike across the road. Abbie started the eye masks and everyone else joined in.
Along this nature trail there were numbered posts and Jessie read to us from the pamphlet about each area. Spencer and Abbie had races to find the numbered posts, but Abbie had a diffident advantage because she wasn't strapped into a stroller. This led to some sadness on Spencer's part.

This is us at the end of the nature trail.

This is on the hike up Timpanogos. Jessie thought these roots sticking out into the trail were pretty cool.
Poor Mark wasn't feeling to great on the trip, so I had to carry him on my back a couple of times. Between that and Spencer needed a nap (so I carried him too, but not at the same time) my legs are OUCHIE now.

The last few switchbacks at the top a pretty steep, but we made it and sat down for a lovely 10 minute rest.
Once inside the cave I felt tons better only 43 degrees instead of 95 degrees. Unfortunately it was a little too chilly for the kids, especially the little kids. This is Abbie, Becca and Jessie by a column.

This was in the middle cave. It is the biggest and the last cave found. Funny enough it was found by the child and grandchild of the guy who found the first cave.
These are Helictites. (the curly parts) They are hollow tubes. The water runs through them and then somehow defies gravity and goes sideways, or up and then deposits the minerals at the end making little curly noodle looking things. Very cool and very rare. These were Jessie's favorite. She told a bunch of people we passed going back down about them.
This neat formation is named the alligator. Can you pick out its jaws?
This was another of the kids favorites, the dinosaur -- watch your head. The eye is a deposit of calcium.
This is the Caramel Sundae. The crack where color is coming out is the Timpanogos fault line. At first the water seeping through brought calcium, the white part underneath. Then it started bringing iron, which rusted and created the red over the top that looks like caramel.

We saw a bunch of chipmunks while we were hiking. Becca even through them a crumb of her cookie, but don't tell the rangers they might get a little upset.
Spencer watching the chipmunk.
On the hike back down the trail Jessie spotted this caterpillar on the trail and didn't want it to get stepped on.
She thought it was so great when she hung her hat over it and it grabbed on and crawled to the top.
It was a fun day. Of course on the way home we stopped and got chocolate frosties at Wendy's. Yummy! My feet were killing me, but it was still worth it. We got home around 5:30 after a quick stop to get some milk, because we were all out.