Father and Son's campout

 Our ward had a father and son's campout this summer at a campground called Camp Zarahemla. We looked up the campground online and found where it was, but since we are new to the ward we didn't realize that there are two camp Zarahemlas in Utah and they chose the wrong one. So the guys kept driving to Brigham City and camped in Benji's parent's backyard. They had fun.

They went to Denny's in the morning for breakfast.

Here he is with his awesome pancake.

10 minutes later....this is all he ate.

And then there's Sam.

Adam's canyon hike

I'm going to try and tell this story without getting too wordy. This was a fun hike we went on earlier this summer. We found the hike online and knew the location and that's about it. We weren't even sure on the length of the hike, but thought that it might be about 3 miles and ended at a 40 foot waterfall.

The beginning of the hike was miserable and we were so hesitant to continue because it was a steep incline on sand. It was also the hottest day of the year so far and the sun was beating down with us as we trudged through the thick, awful sand.

We took a rest and decided to keep going.

And thank goodness the beginning was the hardest part. Once we got into the trees we were on a hard trail and the trees provided some shade from the hot hot temperatures.

It also was gorgeous, so we had to keep going.

We weren't sure how far we had hiked and stopped at this waterfall thinking maybe this could be it. We were all tired and not sure we could make it much further. So we sat down to eat our sandwiches when two other hikers appeared. They told us that the waterfall was SO close and we couldn't stop.

So we just had to climb up over some rocks and carry our kids over a small stream.

And we got there! I was carrying Jordan and he spotted the waterfall first and it was so funny to hear his cheers of excitement. We spent the next 5 minutes cheering and marveling.

After a rest and dinner we hiked back down.It was an awesome hike!

Haircuts

 The Saturday before school started I took the boys for haircuts. The Saturday before school started was not a great idea because every salon was PACKED, but eventually found an opening at Cookie Cutters. It worked out perfectly because they have a playground that was perfect for Hannah while the boys got their cuts. The boys also loved the airplane.

I love that you can see Hannah in the mirror riding a car in the background. She was not supposed to be in there.

 

He was saying, "Aaaaaahhhhh" as she used the blow dryer to get rid of stray hairs.

All done, and mad at me for some reason.

Jordan's turn.

At home with the before and after photos. This is why I can't tell them to smile for the camera. They get pretty silly if I do.

Sam's first day of preschool

Sam is going to preschool at a lady's house in our ward. Her name is Miss KonaDee and so far he looooves school. School will be so good for this guy.

I took him to the park to get a few pictures before I dropped him off. I am so happy with how these pics turned out. I can't get over how handsome he is and how grown up he looks.

Now I want to show you why you should be impressed with the cute pictures above. These are a few from blooper reel of Sammy's photo shoot. Seriously, just a few.

I love him.


Hannah was feeling left out and started posing for pictures. She's cute even with stains on her shirt. She also looks so big in this picture. What the heck!?
 

Back-To-School

Okay, okay, okay. I am officially back to blogging. I have sooooo much to catch up on. This is the longest blogging break I have ever taken. Technically I can't even call it a blogging break because I have been working even harder on my other blog MyMommyStyle.com. So I've been working hard on posting recipes, but I haven't posted any family stuff and I miss it! I'm going to start out with something recent because it will help me ease into things.

One week ago Jordan started 1st grade! He has two teachers Mrs. Usher and Miss Endo and so far he loves them. He likes school, but I could tell the long days were getting to him when on the FOURTH day of school he had a melt down right before we had to leave. He was bawling because he didn't want to go to school and I was holding in evil laughter because I wanted to tell him, "silly boy, this is the fourth day of school, you have no idea how many more of these days and months and years you have, my friend." But instead I pat his back and gave him snuggles and promised snacks when he got home and shoved him out the door.

The first day of school I had all his clothes set out, with his back pack nearby loaded with all of his supplies. I had photo props ready and we woke 90 minutes before school to ensure we would be on time and also be able to get some cute pictures on the way out. Well, just as it was time to take pictures I could hear the bathroom door close and the fan come on. Jordan picked that time to go #2, so our pictures were rushed, but we got some. He was late for school on the first day. Oh well.

Saying goodbye to Den at the car.

Waving to me when I picked him up.