BLOG of the MONTH....

I should be better at updating the blog...but alas, I'm not. We might be getting high speed internet at home so Teeny can do this, and maybe more often. So with that in mind we give you the last month...or so.

First up is backyard camping. The kids loved the tent we just got and so we HAD to put it up in the backyard, especially now that our fence is finished. We had a campfire and marshmallows, that the kids never eat, so I end up eating what they usually burn. After the fire we put up the tent. The boys love running around in circles in it like a race track. Makes it lots of fun trying to put out sleeping bags. We finally got all settled in. We pulled out the portable DVD player and watched a little 'Heffalump'.

The monkeys all settled in

The next day we headed down to Spanish Fark to the County Fair....Giddy-up! It used to be at Thanksgiving Point, which we loved becuase it was closer and there was more shade. But for some reason they moved it back to Spanish. I still love seeing the animals, the smells not so much, but the sights are pretty great. So we cruised the animal parts and then headed over to a shed that had trains, legos, and the vegetables. They could watch trains for hours. This one display was all out of Lego's and was all local stuff like Thanksgiving Point and Salt Lake. We pulled them away from the trains after about half hour and headed over to make some little crafty stuff. They kept asking if we were going to ride the rides and we told them that we could ride them in Payson at Golden Onion Days (keep reading to catch those highlights). We figured we'd reduce the odds of one of the chairs falling off the ride that way too. Of course they loved the tractors too. It was a fine day at the Fair.

These sheep look cold withou their fur

N's windmill

Trains.....gotta love 'em

More trains

My favorite tractor...HOT

So apparently there is family night at Thanksgiving Point every Mon. night and we hadn't known about it until now. So we took the boys there and it was 'Mideval Night'. They had 'Narnia' playing in the theater, a place to make shields, marshmallow catapults, and some other fun themed stuff there for families and it's all at the Gardens which is our favorite part of Thanksgiving Point.

T checkin' the ammo

Loadin' up

Letting it fly. These looked like they'd be pretty easy to make. We'll have to try, but I'm sure I can screw them up somehow.

Bob the builder calls these 'Summer houses' and so do they.....

Makes you wanna take a swim with those slimy bugger huh?

The only way we can get the boys to look the same direction is to have them point at planes, or my belly button, or whatever else. This is the Italian Garden.

A and his shield.

Thanksgiving Point had all the stuff to make them, we just had to help the dudes put them together.

An awesome view of Teeny and Lone Peak.

Me showing off my mad photog skills.

Teeny took the boys on a two-dollar-Tuesday and it was a mad house! There is usually one or two other families there when we are. This just looks crazy.

A loves the water

N - run away, run away.....

Our good friends, the Walkers, invited us to go to a Bees game with them. It was fan appreciation night so we got to watch fireworks after. We got together before the game and had a little BBQ at our place before heading up to the game. We had a great time minus the %$#@! parking ticket we got for parking like everyone else there.

The Walker's and us

Just us, obviously

A breaking out his Kung-Fu Pada moves.

The dudes getting down in front of the rest of the crowd before fireworks.

Teeny made this airplane with the box from our tent. These guys couldn't have loved it more.

So, A has started Kindergarten. We've been dreading this for 5 years and it still seems too early to let him off into the lone and dreary world. I stayed home on his first day and saw him off with Teeny. He has been SO excited about going and didn't even flinch when his teacher took them all inside. After he told us he almost cried, but he was brave and didn't. It is so fun for him and we love hearing about his day and the things that stand out to him the most. So far it's the letter of the day and recess.

Making the hike up to school.

All backpacked up and ready to go.

The final moments. They still haven't finished the playground yet, which is what the orange fence is keeping the kids out of. It should be done today though.

For anyone that knows us, knows that Labor Day in Payson is next to Christmas as far as fun holidays go. My parents grew up there and we've been to Onion Days every year that I can remember. It's a great tradition and get together for our family. We all show up at staggered times on Friday (this year Nate, Neil and I biked there) hit the Carny, eat home made doughnuts and watch fireworks from the Searle's front yard. Then Saturday it's golf (Dave, Tonya, Jess, and Chari's team won this year at 1 under) and just hanging out. Sunday we head up to the Grotto and have another family reunion before we head to the flower show. My Uncle Mark usually has quite a few entries in the show and this year won the Golden Onion Award. Monday we finish things off with the parade (got soaked this year) and lunch at the park. We love being together with such fun family. We get along so well and pretty much act like kids for a weekend.

Ava and T at the Parade
N and T
Cole and A

A at the Grotto
N and I at the band concert
T after hearing there is treats
N's treat, I think...
The Clan and the storm at the parade

These kind of make me sick with all the round and round.
The kiddies bustin' a move at Granny's
T and Saylor
Teeny, Trina and N on the way to the Grotto
The Grotto....what a place. A and Cole
A's lovin' it

We headed down to the Owlz game again. It's an amazing place to watch, or try to watch, baseball. The views there are awesome. The monkeys like the popcorn and keep a close eye out for the Owl.

N and T waiting on the popcorn

Our niece, Maggie, got baptised last weekend. It was great to see her make that choice and we are so proud of her for that. We are always grateful for family that sets the bar for our kids a little higher. We have such great examples on both sides of our family that our kids can look up to and we appreciate it greatly.

All of the grandkiddies (Rach has one more on the way). Maggie's dress was made by my Mom. I would have never guessed, she did great.

Every year after our Stake Conference in the late summer/ early fall we head up to Cascade Springs. We've been doing this for a couple of years now and usually the leaves have all changed and it's been so nice. This year the leaved hadn't started changing, but it's just as beautiful with how green it was. We love the fish and the neat trails they have through there. It's always a nice outing.

the leaf collectors
Noly. What a guy.

Checking for fish. Nice yellow love handles huh?

Contemplating the water skeeters.

Love the waterfalls

Teeny didn't love the stinging nettle

Beauty and the bridge