August 2017

August was fun! We were able to get back to a summer of leisure and going and doing. 

Though, we still let Thomas nap occasionally. He fell asleep in the "soft corner" which is a small crawl space under our stairs that's about 4 feet off the ground.

 The boys were excited to go to IHOP. We took Gram Graham along mostly because she was a HUGE help with the boys while I was away with my dad. 

 We took the boys along to help us pick out lights for the bathrooms. We only broke one light fixture, which is pretty impressive considering we had 3 boys there and we were there for a couple of hours.

 We love to visit GGPA! They boys love it, and it makes me love it! They love it, mostly because they know how much GGPA loves them. He really can't get enough of them. He's such a sweet guy, and I really hope they have memories of him.

 While we visit, Oliver puts puzzles together and Lincoln makes notes for my grandpa. He is really good at acting genuinely grateful for his 12 second masterpiece. 

  Thomas actually really loves to visit too and will generally give my grandpa a quick hug upon arrival and when we leave. 

 While Kyle's family was still in town, we took a whole bunch of cousins to This is the Place. It's so fun to have them all together. They are pretty lucky to have so many cousins so close in age.

 There was a girl car

 And a boy car.

 We had Ryker come back a few times before school started again. He loves the big train!

 We took the boys to the big ultra sound. This is the first picture of all 4 boys.

 We had the Little's come over and they are always good candidates for some arts and craft time.

 For my birthday I asked for a camping trip. We went to the Uintah's without anywhere reserved. Hindsight, we should probably have a better plan so we drive less. We were still able to have fun as we found us a good river and lake to throw rocks into and get our feet wet...Unfortunately, I only packed one pair of shoes for all the boys, and their feet were drenched just as the sun set. 

 We finally pulled off on the side of the road and set up the tent on a pullout. We had cold cereal for breakfast, packed up the tent and headed up deeper into the Uintah's for some good hikes, views, lakes, waterfalls and fun.

 We played by this lake for a while and the boys even made a makeshift fishing rod. 

 We made it home for my birthday Sunday morning. And would you know it, I got breakfast in bed.

 And cake and ice cream at my mom's that night.

 The week before Lincoln started back to school, we met up with some of my cousins at a fun park in Bountiful. 

 The Little's took us on an aquarium adventure. As always, the boys loved it!

 I talked Dean into going up Milcreek Canyon for hot dogs and s'mores one night. We found a spot that didn't have a crowd, and the weather was perfect!

 Some friends from our old ward in Layton gave a tree to our family to be planted in memory of my dad. We planted it at the park next to their house. 

 Some worked harder than others, but the job got done and there was plenty of snacks for the kids. We also played a "friendly" Poll game of ultimate frisbee.

 Can you believe it? I have a 1st grader. Lincoln was a bit weary to start back to school. But he has absolutely loved his teacher and class. He's excelling academically and is learning to be responsible in many ways!

 Here is our first day dropping him off. Oliver and Thomas continue to be troopers as we get them up to take him to school. After the 1st week, we take him by riding our bikes. I pull the younger boys in the trailer and Lincoln rides his bike. We have got into a good routine...though I'm writing this just a couple of weeks before the baby will be here, and I have no plan for getting him to school when that happens.

 The first day of school was also the rare day that there was a solar eclipse. Had we chosen to drive 4 hours north, we would have been in one of the zones where the moon completely covered the sun. I decided against that adventure and went to the local library to get glasses so we could look at the sun and see the moon right in the way. 

 I hope there was no permanent eye damage to this kid as he wasn't great at keeping those glasses on while he looked at the sun.

 More fun at "This is the Place" We have our annual pass until May, so if you're interested, give us a call and we'll get you in;-)

 We went to Henry Ellison's birthday party. What a fun group of 2 year olds we have in the neighborhood!

I offered to give Grant a ride home because there's always room for 1 more!

 Oliver is getting pretty good at his numbers and dot to dot. When he finished this picture I asked him what he had made. He told me "A Lamanite in a tent." Would you know it, he's was exactly right.