November

I promise I love all my kids. There are more pictures of Bridget simply because she is so entertaining, spends the most time at home, and loves to take selfies.

Bridget and Audrey both received Citizenship awards at school.

All three kids had well child check ups at the doctor, here are their stats:
Dakota 50lb 49.61in
Audrey 45.9lb 45.5in
Bridget 35.27lb 41.34in

I went to Dakota's RadKids graduation. RadKids is a self-defense type program, and my absolute favorite activity at the school. Kids at our school participate in 2nd and 4th grades. Im too lazy to edit the video to make it shorter, but decided to put it on the blog anyway.

We went to my parents for Thanksgiving. It was a snowy drive... we slid at little just outside Wendover and I did my best to sleep so I wasn't so stressed out about crashing on the way there. Luckily Adam is a braver driver than I am, and we made it there safely. It was cold, so we spent most of our time indoors. We canceled Christmas Tree hunting (and might have regretted it) but we played indoor soccer and sardines at the church. Plus a few board games at night. Saturday we went to Derek's baptism. The drive home on Sunday was less snowy, and therefore less stressful. I didn't get any Thanksgiving pictures... until we were about to leave and I made my parents sit with the kiddos for a quick snapshot.

October

Dakota received a "responsibility" reward at school.

Bridget learned how to take selfies.

We went hiking during fall break.

We went to the sheep parade (Livestock Festival). We took the trailer down there, and got a whopping 8miles to the gallon... we had to stop half way for gas, but having our own place to stay was nice! I was going to drive the truck with all the kids during the parade again, but Devin threw up right before we left, so Ashely drove our truck, and I was able to walk in the parade for the first time! Dakota was excited to follow the sheep all the back to the farm again this year.

Bridget wanted to be a princess for Halloween, but changed her mind when she found a big box. She decorated it multiple times, and we had to tell everyone she was a robot. After trick-or-treating at a few houses, she changed into snow white because it was easier to pick candy from a bowl that way. Sabrina was in town for Halloween, so she went trick-or-treating with us, and we ran into friends and joined them for the rest of the evening. The kids got way too much candy.

September

Bridget bought Beary #2 with the late birthday money grandma sent her. Our garage flooded again, and we bought a pump to prevent future flooding. We picked way more sun gold tomatoes than we could eat. We got a lot of rain, and saw beautiful rainbows. We bought a gym pass so we could take the kids swimming more often.


Dakota requested to go hiking in Moab for his Birthday. Going to Moab wasn't possible around his birthday this year, so we compromised by going to Strawberry. A short hike, lots of fire, and smores made it a good birthday. Once we were home again, he requested brownies instead of a cake, and was thrilled with his new bike. I can't believe we have a 10-year-old!

1st Day of School

After an exciting summer playing with cousins, we were not ready for school to start. Well, Dakota and I were not ready. The girls were excited. Luckily Dakota got an excellent 4th grade teacher and he likes school more than usual. Audrey is doing well in her SALTA class (which only has 16 students!) and Bridget loves Kindergarten. After a few days walking the kids to school, Bridget informed me that I didn't need to come anymore. My kids are growing up way too fast!

The first day of 2nd grade, and 4th grade

Walking to school on the first day of Kindergarten

Summer 2015

I already posted about Twin Lakes and Glacier, but decided to put the rest of our summer pictures in one post.

1- We made a lot of messes, and cleaned them up
2-Audrey turned 7, and requested brown sugar cookies instead of cake
3- Bridget turned 5
4- For Audrey's birthday, Laura Lee and I took her clothes shopping. Bridget wanted the same thing for her birthday, but Laura Lee wasn't in town, so we took Audrey instead. They love their matching outfits.
5- No summer is complete without popsicles
6- After enormous stress trying to find all-day babysitting, I went to cub country with my wolves, and Dakota
7- Biking on the trail
8- Love for the mini van increased when we managed to fit all the bikes and people inside
9- I went to the Manti Pageant with Laura Lee

1- Adam completed the Huntsman 140
2- Audrey at InstaCare. She, Dakota, and I all had allergic reactions during the Family Reunion
3-Playing with our new camera
4- Dakota was pretty excited to see the car at the Tour of Utah
5- The kids participated in the kids ride at the Tour of Utah in Heber. Audrey didn't want to do it, but then changed her mind so we went to the store and bought her new closed toed shoes. She was so proud of herself when she finish 3rd against all boys, and kept saying how glad she was that she did it.
6- Playing with fireworks on the 24th of July, and eating popsicles
7- My Uncle Bill passed away
8- My mom and all her siblings at Bill's funeral
9- Playing in the pool and grandma's hotel after the funeral

1- We spent a lot of time playing with Nicholas this summer, and we miss him!
2- The girls made Adam all kinds of wonderful birthday presents out of paper
3- This girl keeps us on our toes
4- Adams parents watched the kids while we went to Birch Hollow with fiends
5- Finally managed to get a picture with Adam's grandpa (90)
6- picking raspberries in Payson
7- We stopped to see the Payson temple after picking raspberries (never made it to the open house)
8- Swimming at the Smith's
9- More swimming... we love our new waterproof camera!

Canyoneering (Birch Hollow)

I admit that I was starting to get jealous of the adventures Adam would go on with his friends and brother. So the last time he returned from a canyoneering trip I told him he would be taking me the next time. Thanks to the friends who invited us, and Adam's family for watching the kids, we finally made it happen!

Glacier National Park

I started writing about our trip to Glacier, and it was turning into a novel. So here is the condensed version. The kids and I ditched Adam to go to Glacier National Park with Lisa's family, and two of Ryan's sisters families. We had a Crook BBQ in Idaho Falls on our way there. When we got just outside the park we found out that all the campgrounds were full. Even the primitive ones. So we tried the commercial ones outside the park, and they were all full. We finally found a tribe owned campground (which was quite nice, and cheap) and stayed the night there. On Monday we got a couple of campsites at Avalanche Campground. We tried to go on a hike on the way there, but all the parking lots were full. On Tuesday we tried to go to Logan's pass so we could go on a hike and see the visitors center, but the parking lot was full again. So we tried a different spot, but there wasn't parking anywhere. So we went back to the campground and hiked to Avalanche Lake. It was beautiful. We finally found a ranger so we could ask questions about the shuttle (we couldn't find schedules or any information about shuttles anywhere). We planned to take the shuttle to Logan's Pass on Wednesday, but there was a wildfire that closed half of the park. So we found a different hike to go on. It was exposed because of a previous wildfire so the kids didn't last long, but there were some pretty good views. We had a little drama Wednesday night with some lost kids, and potty accident, and some after quiet time screaming. I was very little help because I was packing the van and didn't realize what was going on. But all the kids were found safe, cleaned up, and eventually went to bed. My kids and I left Thursday morning. Luckily they are awesome travelers because it took us 12 hours to get home. It was a fun adventure, but next time I think we'll take Adam with us.

Chewing Blackbones Campground

Going-to-the-Sun Road
I was sad I had to drive and couldn't enjoy the views, but at least we drove it before the fire started.

Avalanche Campground

Hiking to and from Avalanche Lake

Avalanche Lake