Ophir Goodness Sakes!

On Labor Day, while we wanted to go out and do something, we didn't want to go too far because the kids had been acting whiny and we didn't want a long car ride with tired and cranky kids.

So, we explored the little mining town of Ophir, tucked up in a little canyon all by itself.

There were leftover mining things, and old railroads to play on.

You can't see it from this picture, but this whole pile of dirt and gravel sparkled! The kids loved finding little gold nuggets.






I've been working on the railroad, all the livelong day...





We thought this was funny.



Learning some history...



Our first taste of fall!



Skipping rocks.



All in all, a great day. And we got home right before the meltdowns began!

Growing Up...

Remember this little guy?

He's not so little anymore. He's a big Kindergartner now. Today was his first day and he LOVED it! I'm so excited for him. (And nervous and a little bit sad, too, but I keep that to myself).

When did he get so big and handsome?

I had to crack up at the mom that wouldn't leave her son, so she stood in the line and walked with them.

When I was in Arkansas as a missionary, we taught a lady who was in the advanced stages of MS. She didn't have a lot of control over her muscles. She decided to get baptized, and we worried about how she would do physically in the font. It turns out our worries were legitimate--it took seven times to finally get her baptized correctly. Each time that she came up and the witnesses had to shake their heads no, I felt worse and worse.

Only a little miracle occurred: when we were talking about it later, she mentioned that she was kinda happy it only took three times! Three times?!? Somehow she only remembered it being three times instead of seven. I think that was a blessing.

Fast forward thirteen years to a small soccer field in small-town Utah. Our soon-to-be-kindergartner and his team (the red dragons) were playing their hearts out. Only it was clear that they and the other team (the pirates) were not evenly matched. The parents stopped counting after the pirates had scored around ten goals to our none in the first few minutes! The other coach moved the cones to our goal closer together so his team wouldn't be able to score as easily. They stopped short of giving us an extra man on the field, but I'm not so sure that would have helped.

Tyler on one of the many kickoffs after the other team scored

After an excruciatingly long game where the other team's goals were probably well into the thirties, the final whistle blew, the kids gave their "good game" cheers, and got their Capri Suns and Teddy Grahams. On the way back to the car, we asked Ty how he felt about the game. With a big smile on his face, he lit up and said, "I think we won!"

Not quite sure what game he was at, but if he's happy, we'll keep up the illusion!

Summertime is...

...swimming lessons with friends...

...sunsets (this one is from our back yard--that's the Great Salt Lake in the distance)

...allergies, asthma, and breathing treatments...

...being silly...

...swinging at Grandma and Grandpa's...

...climbing trees with cousins...

...blowing up balloons...

...crying when balloons pop...

...summer school field trips to the Grocery store...

...playing at the park...

...mastering the scooter and riding bikes...

...taking a rest...

...making a wish...

...climbing to the top of the world (well, at least the top of Ensign Peak!)...

...Having Fun!!!

Blessings

One year ago today Brad came home around 11:30am. I thought he was home for lunch, but it turns out he had lost his job. Without warning, and without valid reasons. The shock and the betrayal still sting a little bit (I'll admit, I had a nightmare about it last night). But the overall feeling I get when I think about this past year is gratitude for a Heavenly Father who knows how to succor His children, and who keeps His promises. I'm amazed at all the intricate details the Lord worked out for our benefit.

I've learned that faith and fear really cannot coexist. As we spent all our energy trying to hang on to that little morsel of faith, we grew in ways we never thought possible. While I certainly don't want another trial anytime soon, I am learning that the Lord's tutorials are valuable and I don't need to be afraid.

God lives and he loves us. He has a plan for each of us. If we do what we should, and have faith in Him, everything will work out eventually. This I know.

"Be strong, and of a good courage. Be not afraid; neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, withersoever thou goest." Joshua 1:9

Yum!

You know that song by Toby Maquire--no wait--Toby Keith that goes:

Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me me me me me. I wanna talk about me?

Well, I made up a new one tonight:

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum yum yum yum yum.

I wanna talk about Yum!

I made these for Brad for Father's Day (along with some good pad thai, I might add!)

Anyway, yes, they taste as good as they look. My new favorite brownies!

Jenny over at picky-palate made these up and they are divine!

It's pretty self-explanatory, but click above for the recipe if you want.

The Graduate

Tyler graduated from preschool last week, and is officially on the road to Kindergarten! He was so excited to wear his mortar board hat, and show us all the fun things he's learned this year.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my fun, thoughtful, optimistic, funny, insightful, loyal, encouraging, knowledgable, talented, spiritual, joyful, smart, with-it, beloved Mom!

I LOVE YOU!

Heber Valley Camp

We had a great time this weekend with Brad's family up at the Heber Valley Camp. 4 out of the 5 siblings were there with their families, making it 12 out of 15 grandchildren. Ty and Lauren had a blast with all their cousins, roaming free in the great outdoors.

That camp is amazing! I wish our Girls Camp was held there.

Grandma with Meikel, Brinley, Emma, and Tyler

John building a fire, with Andrea and Marie in the background

Everyone in this picture looks a little weird!

We had good food (even if it was a bit late--oops!), a fun Family Home Evening by the campfire, boating in the lake, a scavenger hunt, snow, and only one lost child! Luckily the Camp Host Missionaries found him. By the way, that has to be the Best. Mission. Ever. We all decided we want to be camp host missionaries one day.

Seth, Wyatt and Tyler playing in the sand.

Lauren just chillin'.

Grandpa, Brad, Natalie, Brinley, and Ty in the paddle boat.

We had such a good time, we can't wait for next year!

Mirror Lake Highway

One of our favorite places to go in Utah is the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway in the Uintah mountains. It is basically a loop that starts in Park City, through Kamas, up in the mountains, over into Evanston, WY, and back to Park City. There are some beautiful views, great campgrounds, fun hikes, waterfalls, and lots of fresh air. We used to go a lot BK (before kids), and even some with Ty before we moved to Texas. This was our first time back since being back in Utah, and we had a blast, even though the full loop wasn't open yet--still so much snow this late in the year! We drove by our favorite campground, Moosehorn, and it was still under 4 feet of snow, and the lake was still frozen over!

Crossing the creek on a fallen tree. The strong smell of pine and the cold babbling brook reminded me of all the great times I had camping as a kid at North Davis Creek Campground, #14 in Oregon. That was the best camping spot in the whole world! This was Soapstone Campground, #20, not as good, but still nice.

Further up the road we stopped to throw snow in the Provo River.

It was fun to see so much snow, but still be comfortable in shorts and capris.



One of my favorite places, the Provo River Falls. It was not snow plowed, so we had some serious trailblazing in over a foot of snow to get down there! We had expected there to be more spring runoff (we've been here enough to see it really rushing and almost dry) but the ranger guy said it has been a really wet and cold spring, so the big runoff hasn't started yet.

Can't wait to come back in the summer, and hopefully camp at Moosehorn--if it ever opens!