Cousins get together

I've been meaning to get the cousins together that are here in the area and finally managed to do it. We met at Kiwanis park in Provo today. Todd and Trevor weren't able to come, but here's the rest of them: Cheryl's girls Kamry, Shayla and Lynsey, Jan's kids Danielle and Landon, plus Tamsyn, Megyn, Josh, Derek and Jared. Jan was also there, but I didn't get her in the picture. What I also didn't get was pictures of the 3 on 2 soccer game, the three White girls versus Josh and Derek. I won't disclose the results. 

 

 

 

Whitehead Children

Amanda enjoyed babysitting the Whitehead children.  Unfortunately, they moved to Ohio during the summer.  We miss the family.

Amanda & Mia

Mia and her family live in Albequerque.  We get to visit Jason and his family every time we pass through.  As you can imagine, the highlight of the stop is spending time with Mia and her cute sisters, Megan and Zoe.  This picture was taken in the cabin we stayed in at Yellowstone.

Yellowstone

Christi inspired me - she is right, we need to be more active on our family blog. I am a little behind, but better late than never.

Remember my story about my off-road adventure...this picture was taken at the spot where I bailed and turned around.

 

Yes, snow in the middle of June - Amanda is looking for a target.  Jared was a rather large one, but proved to be elusive. 

Amanda and Megan "wind surfing" on a rock

 The girls walking on water

Last Sunday we took some pictures for a girl in our ward who is a senior this year.  The leaves were so pretty and right at their prime.  I was so excited to get some good pictures of Marissa that I forgot to take one of the leaves for the blog so I'll post a couple of her to show you how pretty they are.

An essay

Josh wanted me to share the link for an essay he wrote for class. He hasn't been able to post on the family blog. Here it is.

A Taste of Fall

What is everyone doing? I miss hearing from everyone. I tried a few new recipes this weekend that I thought I would share.
We had company for dinner last night and had this Garlic Cheese Pull Apart Bread from yourhomebasedmom.com and this Caramel Pear Cake for dessert.  Both were delicious and worthy to pass along. I didn't take a picture because I didn't know before we ate them how good they would be. Oh, and there is none left!
I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all.

Back to School

My kids finally started back to school. Kennedy and Tristan had a shaky start to their week last Monday when we missed the bus. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that but needless to say they were a little anxious by the time I finally got them to their classes. Poor little Tristan had a little meltdown and didn't want me to leave. He finally let me go and when he came home he was happy as can be. Kennedy and Tristan both love their teachers.

Jack started his third and final year of preschool today. He is as big as the kids in Tristan's first grade class but he is happy to be in the "froggie" class at preschool. He was a little anxious today too. After school I asked him if he played with the toys and he said, "No, I was too nervous". He did say he might play with them tomorrow though.

The Wizard of Oz

My dear friend, Angie, invited my kids to be part of a backyard production of "The Wizard of Oz".  Each day my kids would go to her house and practice for two hours. At the end of the week we were able to see the play. Kennedy was the scarecrow, Tristan was the wizard and Jack played two parts: munchkin and flying monkey. Here are a few snapshots from the play.

A Trip to Grandfather Mountain

We decided to end our summer with a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. We rented a cabin for a few days and stayed in a place called Boone, yes, it's name comes from Daniel Boone.

 This is the view I woke up to on the first morning. I litteraly took this picture from my room!

 One of the main attractions in Boone is Grandfather Mountain. We had many options for hikes.

 At the end of this hike was a huge boulder. There was a ladder and a rope attached. Kennedy and I couldn't resist. We climbed the rock while Chris waited nervously at the bottom with both boys. When we got to the top I insisted they make their way up. It was beautiful!

It felt like we were on top of the world. My camera doesn't do it justice. The sight was breathtaking. I told my kids to take a mental picture because that is pure beauty.

Here is the "Swinging Bridge" at Grandfather mountain. The bridge is exactly one mile above sea level. We didn't stay here long because it had been raining and the bridge and the rocks were slippery. I saw a man slip and almost fall off the mountain!

On our last day we took the kids fishing at a stocked pond. They had a great time. Chris helped them all catch a fish. Here is Jack, so proud of his first fish. The most amazing thing about this is that he even ate some and said he liked it. If you know how picky he is you will understand why that is so amazing!