Temple trip

We've been driving past the Brigham City temple on our way to Idaho for some time now.  I've wanted to take the kids to the temple, and the Fort Collins temple hasn't even broken ground, so, over Labor Day weekend, we made the trip to Brigham City.  Clint and I lived one block south of the temple years ago while he finished up his bachelor's degree, although it was an abandoned elementary school then. 

The kids really got a kick out of riding the bus from parking to the temple.  Not enough that Regan is willing to ride the bus to or from school, though.

The temple is absolutely beautiful.  We had to wear booties over our shoes to protect the carpets.  Lila demanded that hers come off, so she got to be held.  Neither of the other two mentioned them at the time, but several days later Haden asked if daddy and I had to wear those "ugly shoes" when we got married in the temple.  So much for thinking about eternal families while we were in the sealing room, he was just envisioning my beautiful dress with those booties!  I am always amused to see what Haden thinks about!  Regan loved the celestial room and asked if we couldn't please decorate her room like that when we got home?  I don't think they got everything out of their first time in the temple that I wanted to them to, but hopefully it will still be a good memory. 

We ate more than our share of cookies in the parking garage of the temple and then headed onto the grounds for pictures.  It was really bright, thus the kids' squinty eyes and funny faces.

We stopped at Idle Isle for lunch.  I love that little restaurant.  When we lived in Brigham, my visiting teacher worked there and she would always bring me pies, soups, sandwiches,etc.  Needless to say, I loved it when she came! Everyone else must love the restaurant, too, because we had to wait a good 45 minutes for our food.

Seriously, can she get any cuter? 

Rather than disrupt everyone else's meal with our entertaining kids, we took our food to a nearby park.  I miss the huge parks in Utah with the mature trees in the middle of town.  Right after we finished eating, the kids got to watch a truck restock the fish in the pond.  It was pretty neat to watch!

Regan showed off her monkey bar skills.

Lila climbed anything she could.  Her slippery church shoes barely slowed her down.

Haden loved hanging upside down!

Regan will forever be her daddy's girl!  On the way back to Clint's parents' house, we stopped and got Regan some real cowgirl boots.  She loves them and even struts when she wears them.  (She prefers to wear them with her skinny jeans so she can show them off!) Haden wanted something at the hardware store, too, just not cowboy boots.  So, he found a pair of irrigation boots that he couldn't live without.  They actually came in handy.  We had the water that evening and Haden got to help Clint water our piece of land.  We spent that night playing games with some friends.  I loved how well all the kids got along.  It was like they had know each other much longer than a few hours. 

 

No work in Samaria goes unrewarded.  The kids convinced Clint that they had worked hard enough to earn to trip to the Blue Goose.

Notice Lila's one wet pant leg?  Perhaps we should have invested in irrigation boots for her, too!  Lila already knows about filling her own little bag with penny candy. 

The next day we met Clint's brother and his family camping up Emigration Canyon.  I was worried that we were going to be cold in our borrowed tent and sleeping bags, but we are used to camping in Colorado several thousand feet higher than we were there.  We were all toasty warm.

My kids always love playing with their cousins!

The next day we went to Bear Lake.  The day was cold and windy, hardly the kind of day to spend at the beach.  We had also gotten a phone call that a friend of the family's had been killed while working on his ranch.  My kids didn't know him well at all, but the rest of us were just in shock.  Events like that make me so grateful to know that my family can be together forever.

Even with the cold, Haden insisted on wearing his swimsuit. He worked on building sandcastles the entire time we were there.

 Lila worked on destroying everyone's sandcastles most of the time we were there.

 

Regan loves jumping in the waves.  She really does belong on a warm beach somewhere!

While Luke and Shayna were helping with funeral arrangements, we helped do chores.  I wasn't much help-I don't really like to touch animals, but I am really good at telling kids what to do!

Haden loved this tiny day old little chick.  I was impressed he was willing and even eager to hold it!

Lila loved these little lambs!

They built a fort in the haystack and my kids had the best time playing in it!

Lila loved riding in the cow trailer.

Hiding in Grandpa's corn.

Karalee took all the grandkids that were there for a ride on the gator.  It was really peaceful for the few minutes they were all gone!

It was a good trip.  I am very grateful for the chance we had to take our kids to the temple and talk about the importance of eternal families, especially with Jeff's passing.  I love my sweet little family so very much!

Running Club

 Regan loves running club.  This is the second year she has participated.  The kids can come to school early and run around the field.  Six laps is one mile.  Regan ran eight laps yesterday and has a goal to run 10 laps on the final day tomorrow. 

The little boy in the blue shirt next to Regan is in her class and is apparently somewhat of a mischief maker.  He followed Regan over to me after everyone was done running just to tell me that he ran one more lap than Regan did.  Silly kid!  Regan seems to always attract the more mischievous kids! 

Camping

A couple of Thursdays ago at lunch, Haden asked if we could go camping.  We had yet to go that summer and I wanted to go, too.  So, we started planning.  That night, we got a call from a friend, inviting us to go on last minute camping trip with them.  It was perfect!  We camped up Red Cone Pass.  Clint and I had never been there, but it is beautiful!  There's a stretch of rough road that I suspect keeps a lot of campers away.  We didn't mind.  Last minute camping spots are hard to come by! 

 Haden loves these hats that his grandpa gave him.  He claims he's a ninja while he's wearing it.  Luckily, we have two hats!  Haden and Parker chased and even caught the big kids!

 

 Jared took a truckload 4wheeling.  The girls loved it!

 Just beautiful!

 

 The kids all got along fabulously well!  At one point I overheard Regan and Lauren discussing their favorite kind of jeans.  They both prefer skinny jeans.  I couldn't help but laugh!

The next morning we didn't have to get home quite as early as the Seemans, so Clint took our AWD car up the road to show me the neat beaver ponds.  They were really neat, but the road was probably a little too rough for our car.  We wound up with a flat tire.  Gratefully, Clint is very capable at taking care of that kind of stuff!

We were a little stressed navigating the several miles more to go of rough road on a donut, but we arrived home unscathed.  Unfortunately, when one tire goes on an AWD vehicle, all 4 have to be replaced.  Ouch!  We had been debating about getting a new car anyway, but were still kind of undecided about what kind.  That night we took all 3 kids car shopping and brought the new 4WD SUV home on Monday.  So, now our Ford is for sale if anyone is looking for a car.  He's a great car and even has 4 brand new tires!  I just don't recommend taking him off roading!  We're looking forward  to taking our new 4WD on our next camping trip this weekend!

Haden's first day

Haden started preschool 2 days after Regan started school.  It was a very long two days! 

 Haden's friend, Corbin, lines up for Kindergarten while we are waiting for Regan to go into class and for the preschool to open their doors.  Haden has loved seeing Corbin everyday! 

 He's so grown up!  There were no tears this year!  He said he had a wonderful first day, although he couldn't tell me much about what he did.

 We took the "train" to pick him up from school.  Lila cannot be trusted to be nice to anyone strapped in the trailer with her for very long, so Haden rides the trail-a-bike which is attached to my bike and the trailer is attached to the trail-a-bike.  We usually gets lots of looks and comments and even the slightest hill is a beast, but the kids love it!

Regan starts 2nd grade!

Regan started 2nd grade this year!  She was so excited, but terribly nervous about not having any friends in her class. Her first grade teacher earned serious brownie points by ensuring that both of her best friends from first grade, Destiny and Mya, were in her second grade class.  We brought her homemade chocolates the first day of school to say thank you. 

 Regan fell in love with this shirt as soon as she saw it at the store and immediately decided to wear it on the first day of school.  This girl likes anything that sparkles!  After a lot of back and forth, she finally decided to go with her running shoes because she couldn't remember what days she had PE and could not wear heels to PE!

 Regan insisted that I braid her her the night before so it would be wavy for her first day.

 Waiting in line.

 Haden and Lila couldn't have cared less about Regan's big day.  The rocks were all too alluring.  I made both of them empty their pockets and return all the rocks before we left.  I have had rocks that I neglected to take out of pockets prior to throwing them into the laundry fall out of the dryer when I opened it one too many times!

 

 Heading into school as a big 2nd grader!  Her teacher, Miss Berwecky, is in the red shirt.  She is a new transplant into Colorado from New York.  So far, Regan seems to like her.

 And then we headed to Haden's preschool open house.  He has the same teacher, Mr. JP, and a few of the same kids in his class from last year.  However, there are many barely three year olds in his class.  He fits in far better with the kindergarteners than he does in his preschool class, but his teacher assured me that he would do his best to push Haden, both as a leader and in academics.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 Haden missed Regan terribly the first day!  Regan had a positive report and was eagerly anticipating school the following day.  I sincerely hope that she continues to love school!

Santa Claus

At breakfast one day last week, Haden, out of the blue asked, "Mom, is Santa real?"  I was surprised!  One, because it is July and no one around here has mentioned Santa for a long time and two, Haden is my complete believer in all things imaginary.  I mean if Yoda is real, is Santa that far of a stretch?  My major complaint about both Santa and the Easter Bunny is that they bring more presents to some kids and not so many to others.  So, I never encouraged my kids to believe in any of those fictitious characters, but I didn't ever really discourage it either.  I just let them believe whatever they wanted.  So I was rather surprised that Haden was questioning Santa's existence.  When I asked him what he meant, he replied in a very sad voice that, "It just doesn't feel good that he's real".  Poor kid, reality really isn't nearly as much fun as his make believe world!

Lair o' the Bear Park

 Once again, this summer has nearly slipped by and we have yet to take the kids into the mountains (other than for Clint's bike ride, which really doesn't count).  We learned the hard way last year that the kids are NOT avid hikers.  They are fabulous treasure hunters, though!  We haven't visited Lair o' the Bear Park for several years and it is realatively close.  So, we packed a lunch and headed up there. Clint found a "treasure map" or geocache for a kid friendly treasure using some app.  The kids love to follow the compass on the phone to find the treasure.

Lila is actually a decent hiker, as long as you have all day.  She likes to pick up handfuls of dirt and let it slowly sift through her fingers after every few steps.  She's not one that can be hurried either!

Regan found something under the bridge that looked interesting, but was too chicken to climb under there herself.  So she sent the fearless two year old.  Lila didn't hesistate.

Haden is such his father's child.  He scampered out across the river as long as there was a rock within jumping distance.  Just a like a regular mountain goat.

Who needs rocks to cross a river?  On a side note, Lila has fallen in love with pig tails.  She threw an impressive tantrum the one time I tried to style her hair differently.  So, everyday, wherever we go she wears her "two tails".

Regan and Haden prefer blazing their own trail to walking on the established trail.

Clint and Lila instigated a berry fight. I was just hoping that the berries weren't poisonous and no one was going to lick their now purple fingers!

There was a fancy castle across the river.  It really was neat.  I would love to tour it one day.

We were getting close to the treasure, so the kids were all smiles.  When we did find the spot where the treasure was supposed to be, it was missing!  It was supposed to have been hidden in between rocks in a pretty high traffic area.  I suspect someone found it, had no idea what it was, and carried it off.  My kids were devastated!  They complained and complained about how could some mean person steal their treasure? We promised ice cream and that we could make our own treasure on another day to get them in better spirits.  It only kind of worked.  Poor kids!

Lila found a stick that she used as a horse.  She was galloping around neighing!  I guess she didn't realize her treasure had been stolen!

I love this old bridge.  I told the kids there was a troll that lived under it, but they didn't believe me.

This might have been part of the reason that Haden was so distraught.  Our sleeping schedule has been completely off since summer started and I don't think this little kid has been getting nearly enough sleep!  They cheered up by the time we hit the ice cream shop.  Hopefully, we'll be able to find more treasures that haven't been carried off before the summer is over!

Geocaching

 Clint's sister, Lisa, really likes geocaching.  (Using a GPS to find treasures, really just junk, that other people have hidden.)  While they were here, she wanted to see if she could locate a few.  It is the perfect Sunday afternoon activity!  My kids were thrilled at the prospect of finding "treasures".  One cache even had a post that someone had left a Darth Maul pen there earlier in the day.  Haden could hardly contain himself!  And the best part was that there were many within a mile of my house!  I really don't live out in the middle of nowhere, like this picture might seem.  We just have a fantastic trail system and open space behind us that I absolutely love!

This was the best cache ever!  You had to fill the the tube with water from the nearby stream.  (There was a clue online, so we knew to bring along a bucket.)  Ping pong balls would float to the top with the combination to the lock written on it.  The locked box contained all sorts of treasures, a couple of travel bugs, Haden's pen, and directions on how to lock everything back up.  The lady who designed it was very clever.  We ironically met her on the trail en-route to the next stash.  Haden and Regan loved selecting things from each cache.  Thankfully, Lisa had her own stash of "treasures" we could swap with.

The kids didn't care for the micro cache.  They found it inside a bone, yuck, and it only had a piece of paper to write your name and where you were from on.

 

 Lila had to be woken up from her nap to come with us.  We forgot shoes for her so she had to be carried when the stroller couldn't make it all the way to the cache.  I don't think she quite understood what we were doing!

 Double strollers aren't meant for single track trails!

On our way back home, we had to stop at the bridge for pictures.  The board that Clint sits on is responsible for the stream restoration project.  It is going to be awesome when it is done! 

The kids had the best time!  They have each insisted that we start "treasure hunting" every Sunday afternoon.  At least it will be a good way to get rid of all the prizes they get from their happy meals!

Triple Bypass

 No, Clint didn't have heart surgery.  The Triple Bypass is a 120 mile bike ride starting in Evergreen, Colorado winding over three mountain passes and ending in Avon, Colorado.  They climb over 10,000 feet and have an elevation of over 12,00 feet in places.  Clint's buddy talked him into signing up.  I thought they were crazy.  He didn't have nearly the time to train that he would have liked.  He's just too busy!  He would go out on long bike rides every Saturday morning, but the hills around here don't compare much to the mountains.  Clint's nephew, Josh, drove out from Utah (with Clint's sister and mom) to ride as well. 

All week the weather was beautiful.  And I think it was that Saturday as well, until noon or so.  Clint and Josh started in Evergreen around 6:00.  Josh left Clint pretty quickly.  How would it be to be 17 and have all that energy again? Clint called me from Loveland ski resort.  There was thunder and lightening and the rain was pouring down. Clint wiped out on his bike a few weeks ago going a mere 15 miles an hour.  He cracked his helmet and got quite a few bruises and some road rash, so he's a little more cautious than he used to be.  So, racing down a mountain side going much faster than 15 miles an hour in the rain with slick tires and people who think they are invincible racing past him didn't interest him.  Thankfully!  So, I picked him up and dropped him (and another guy who hitched a ride with us) off at the top of Vail Pass just a head of the rain storm.  Apparently it caught him again shortly after I dropped him off.  I continued on to Avon with all three hungry kids, found a Subway and met Clint's mom and sister only to get the phone call that both Clint and Josh had crossed the finish line and no one was there to cheer for them.  I felt bad, but neither seemed to mind. 

We found all the bikers under a tent scarfing down food.  The kids were thrilled to see Clint.  Regan commented several times on the long car drive that she could not believe that he biked all that way!  I can't believe he did either!

 

And then she ran off to dance in the rain. 

Lila was just happy with her new water bottle!  Poor little girl was drenched!  Haden would intentionally jump in the puddles.  He was drenched, too, but didn't mind until he started to get cold.  Little stinker!

 

 I think Clint biked 80 something of the 120 miles, but he was satisfied.  Josh did all 120 miles and the buddy that talked Clint into signing up bailed in Keystone about half way through because of the rain.

 

I wonder if either one of them will be interested in doing in again next year?