First day of school

These kids don't look nervous at all! Ethan is starting 4th grade and Summer is now a first grader. This feels strange to have both kids gone all day. I'm thinking of the Staples commercial showing a father loading his cart with school supplies to the tune "It's the most wonderful time of the year!". While we have had good times this summer, I'm looking forward to the days having more sense of purpose. I have Thursdays off from work and I was all by myself this week. I read, practiced guitar, exercised and finished up some charts for work. It was nice to have that much uninterrupted time. But I also feel like my kids are growing up so fast. They are at the ages I wish I could freeze in time. I need to make the most of the time that I do have with them after school and on the weekends.
Sweet and wide eyed first grader! She is so excited for school lunch and more recesses!

Last hurrah this summer: Dan and Ethan go to Yellowstone

Moose crossing! What is a Yellowstone trip without a photo of an animal crossing the road?
Dan serves in the Teachers Quorum in our ward. The big camping trip this year was to west Yellowstone. They were able to stay in an old cabin for the week (donated by a kind ward member). They had a refrigerator, stove and beds to sleep in. They planned their meals on the drive up and bought groceries in west Yellowstone. This sounds like the way to do camping! Ethan and Ty ( the 10 year son of another leader) were able to tag along.
I'm so glad Ethan was able to go with Dan for this trip. He saw some amazing sights. They rode bikes on dirt roads and hiked during the day, and played ghost in the graveyard at night. They canoed down a river. They were chased by a coyote. Seriously scary.

This looks like somewhere in a Lord of the Rings movie. Ethan named this "geeser" (geyser): "Daddy Geeser", because it was the biggest one they saw.
Two elk in a meadow off the side of the road in Yellowstone. Thank goodness for telephoto lens! Dan and Ethan were actually across the river from these elk.
Flying four wheelers! Bear World is the best! This is a small amusement park near Rigby, Idaho on the way home from Yellowstone. Driving through the entrance of the park, bear roam free. Keep your windows rolled up. Ethan saw grizzly bears, black bears and 2 cute baby bears. Ethan cooed about those baby bears like women at a baby shower.
Ethan was through with smiling for his over zealous shutterbug dad. However, Ethan reports he only frowned for the camera, when Dan wasn't wanting him to pose, he had a great time.
This is a picture of Sapphire pool, a "geeser", according to Ethan. The water was very hot, but Ethan could still put his hand in the water.

Last hurrah this summer: Our Pioneer Outing

While Ethan and Dan played at Yellowstone, Summer and I spent the day at Heritage Village (located at This is the Place Monument). There are 46 pioneer buildings to tour. In most buildings there were people dressed as pioneers to tell the history of each place. Here we learned how pioneer women wove intricate lace and textiles.
In the hat shop. Coon skin hat worn side pony-tail style, very nice look, Sum Sum.
Brigham Young's Hidden Forest home. I think he had 3-4 wives and their children living here. It looked very comfortable inside, but I guess that depends on how many people actually lived here. I loved the lavender plants and English garden style. This home is surrounded by orchards. It was called Brigham's experimental farm because the pioneer settlers had no idea what would grow well in Utah's soil. So Brigham Young planted a huge variety of fruit and nut trees and vegetable gardens to determine which plants would thrive.
Free pony rides. I think this is the first time Summer has been on a horse.
It felt like we were back in the times of Little House on the Prairie. We had fun riding in this covered wagon, enjoying the slow pace of life. Rare for us. The pioneer village felt so quiet and peaceful. While the work of food preparation, bathing, laundry and all the other "inconveniences" seemed daunting to me, the beauty and serenity of the surroundings was so appealing to me.

Some Favorite Family Pics

Sisters: Krista, Mom, aunt Joy, Lindsey and LeAnn - family dinner in June. What a treat to have LeAnn and Joy there. Now that Lindsey has moved to Texas, I appreciate these family get togethers even more.
This was at Lindsey's wedding May 2007. Ethan was super aggressive and snatched the garter. He wore it like a trophy on his head. His arrogance level raised several notches after that victory.
One of my favorite pictures ever! Summer's 5th birthday at Build-A-Bear. She's very convincing that building a friend at Build-A-Bear is the key to happiness! They could use this picture to advertise.
Dan is a cute dad.

Little buddies. Summer has a vampirish smile these days. I love Ethan's impish look.

Introduction

Summer has her own style of Yoga