Utah by Way of Yellowstone

Greg was invited to speak at the BYU Executive Lecture Series over conference weekend.  We made it into a road trip by heading to Rexburg Tuesday night and skipping school on Wednesday (we had Th and F off) so we could go to Yellowstone.

 

We enjoyed a few good hikes on Wednesday but didn't see much wildlife.  It was the day before Mack's Bday so that night in the hotel room I detailed the story of his birth which was so amazing I was begged to tell the other 5 birth stories.  It was fun to have them all gathered around reminiscing together.
Thursday it rained almost all day which didn't make for very good animal sightings.  We did manage to see a few moose including a mom and baby.  We slowly made our way out of the park and on to Utah.  We stayed the night with Pierces and woke early to head to Provo.

This is Mack's early birthday party at Costa Vida with the Wilfords.  The happy birthday boy got lots of Pork Nachos and presents - who could ask for more?

Greg's presentation went great and he and I enjoyed lunch with the Dean of the the business school and some of the other professors while the kids enjoyed the Cannon Center Cafeteria (updated since my day at the dorms).  

After that we went up to Provo Canyon and hiked around Bridal Veil Falls with my niece, Holly.  I'd hoped to enjoy the walk while talking with Holly, but I couldn't get a word in...the kids loved being with her so much they wouldn't stop chatting.  They had a blast and treated her like a superstar.  

We had a fabulous dinner at the Brick Oven, dropped Holly off at her apartment and headed to the BYU game.  We played horrible (the norm lately) but the kids had fun eating cougar tails and mint brownies and hanging out with the Pierces.  We left early because it was getting late and the game was so embarrassing.  Andrew had actually laid down on the floor because he couldn't stand to watch any more. 

We were up bright and early the next morning to head to Draper where Lily and I were dropped off to watch Conference at the Petersens while the others went to SLC to go to a live session of Conference.  

The kids were in the morning session when President Nelson announced 2 hour church.  Pretty cool.  We spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning with cousins and then headed home.  It was a long weekend with a lot of driving but we had a blast.

Homecoming

Natali's first big dance!  Hard to believe she is this grown up.

She looked beautiful and wore a dress that she bought in Boston this summer with her cousins - It looked great.

Here is the whole group.  

She and Matt had a great time with this big bunch of friends.

First Day of School

This year we had three different start days for school.  Our new Middle Schooler and High Schooler got to start school a day before everyone else.  They weren't thrilled but I know it helped Kate feel a bit more comfortable.

Kate - 6th Grade

Mack - Freshman

Round Two

Emily - Mrs. Larsen's 3rd Grade

Natali - Junior (it goes too fast)

Andrew - 8th Grade.  Last year of Middle School (Three in High School next year - yikes)

They don't usually enjoy first day pics so much - they were having fun and just being silly together.  I love times like that.  I'm going to miss having them around everyday but I'm looking forward to my mornings with Lily and a little quite in the afternoon.

Third (and hardest) Round

Lily - Kindergarten -Mrs. GW's
I have been so worried about sending Lily to kindergarten.  She has a bit of a hard time leaving Mama and I wasn't sure how this would go over.  Excited but very nervous she walked her to her line and didn't break down too much when it was time to go into class.  We have had a few days that were hard for her to get on the bus, and we've had to work through a issues like substitute teachers, new bus drivers, and alternate ways home but overall she is doing great.

Here she is with her two buddies from Church, Libby and Brooke.  They all wore unicorns for their first day.  So fun. 

Homecoming week - Decade Days.  Natali was 80's.  Mack was 60's.  He didn't really know what to do so in an attempt to look like a basketball player from the 60's he straightened his hair (a fun project), and pulled his shorts up really high.

Close up of the hair straightened - he has so much curl it amazes me.  He has way more than me!

It was Wacky Day at the Elementary School so we did "Whoville" hair by putting a plastic cup on her head.  Then she put on every bow she could find.  She also wore pants with shorts over the top, shirt inside out and backwards, mismatched socks and two different shoes.  Emily looked amazing.

McCall

Our fabulous week in McCall started with a rocky climb with the Wilfords.

We enjoyed a boat ride into town for milk shakes.

Luke and Andrew

And the kids did a lot of tubing; I mean a LOT of tubing.  We actually finished off this tube by the end of the week, but luckily Grandpa already had a new one ready at the condo. 

Mack's attempts at skiing paid off and he got up for a few brief moments.  Man, he was cold after wards.  (Grandpa took him out over Labor Day and he stayed up for quite a while)

Mack with Abby on the left and Lily's first try on the right.

Andrew and Emmy - I loved how Emmy's hair just billowed out behind her while she rode.  I tried to capture it but never quite succeeded.

The Wilfords only stayed three days with us so we were happy to welcome Natali and Greg after work on Thursday.  We then enjoyed a long hot hike where we all wished we had more water, some tennis matches, ice cream alley, more tubing, swimming, and sand time.

No trip would be complete without buring Lily in the sand.

Love this place.

Summer Moments

Emily's taken piano from our neighbor Emma for 2 years.  They had a little recital this summer before Emma headed off to college.

Emmy's beloved Primary Teachers brought us corn from their garden.  She loves them so much that she was willing to try the corn and huge surprise --she liked it enough to eat several bites.

Andrew canvassed the neighborhood this summer trying to get pet sitting jobs.  He only got one customer but all that effort was worth the one job.  He got to feed her farm animals for a week.  He fed goats, pigs, turkeys, chickens, rabbits, cats, and guinea pigs twice a day.  He collected eggs and made sure everyone had water.  It was a lot of work but he loved it.  Especially when he got $100 when it was all done.  

Honestly though, the best part was that one of the guinea pigs had four babies two days before the family went out of town so we took the mom and babies to our house to keep them out of the heat.  The kids loved holding and playing with them.  We also had the adventure of finding another baby pig when feeding the other guinea pigs at the farm.  It was quite an adventure figuring out which pig was the mom and bringing she and the baby back to our house for safe keeping.  When the family got home they let Andrew keep two of the babies (after being weened of course).  They even gave him a cage.  He couldn't get his favorite one because it was the only female in the lot but he loves S'mores, and Spots and takes pretty good care of them.  I just have to buy a lot more veggies because they seem to disappear in spite of all the guinea pig food I buy.