Here are some highlights of the 2nd week of September. The weather has been nice and we enjoyed some fun activities outside.
I went into work this week, taking the train in, passing the construction on the SLC temple. Steve has been busy working on his boat blind that my dad helped him build/weld.
Silly Hudson using the roller on Piper. Carter finally got his loose tooth out, with Steve's help.
As you can see his other tooth has been coming in behind it, so we're glad it's finally out ;)
My cute boys! Nyles and Carter ready for picture day.
Carter and Hudson trying on their pirate costumes for our cruise coming up in November.
We went on a walk and got rained on, but it stopped after a bit thankfully.
Cute Hudson at Scheels, then playing w/ the chalk.
Friday night we went over to Mountain Point Lake and Hot Springs w/ the family. Jeff reserved it for everyone and we all paid our share for the 3 hours we were there. I invited Pauline and Rose to join us, though only Pauline could make it.
Nyles and Hudson swimming. Pauline and Lincoln on our kayak.
Ezra jumping off the highest spot into the lake. Cameron on a paddle board.
Cute Carter. Steve and I on the kayaks. Pretty sunset.
More fun on the lake.
Pauline and I on the kayaks. Hudson and Nyles swimming some more, then over to the hot springs.
Making some s'mores (Kathy, Kim's mom in the back), Claire, Olivia and Nyles. Nyles and Carter rode home w/ Phill/Stacie and stayed the night w/ them. The girl cousins also stayed the night w/ Claire.
The next morning we woke up early (before 7am) and drove up to Farmington Bay for the Youth Waterfowl Festival. It was Hudson and my first time going. The boys were all pretty excited to go. It's a free activity, especially geared towards kids to learn about the outdoors, especially hunting and little bit of fishing.
Hudson w/ his free duck decoy. Going on a boat ride.
Learning how to use their free duck calls. Hudson walking w/ Grandpa Dave.
In addition to all the free stuff they already got going around to the different booths, they then have free door prizes. Incredibly, almost all the kids won a prize. Hudson won a goose call, Nyles won shooting targets that explode, and Carter won a sling shot. After getting their door prizes, we packed up and headed home.
As we were headed home, our friends Dave and Melissa Thomas asked if we wanted to go to the Aquarium w/ them. We got home, I hurried and showered, then we met them at the Aquarium.
The "touch pond" checking out the starfish and sea anemone. The turtle got turned upside down. Hudson watching the penguins.
Piper, Tessa and Carter sitting on the Comodo Dragon. The clouded leopard was out!
Going across the bridge.
Getting some peaches off our tree. There are LOTS this year again! Steve finishing up his blind.
Here are some highlights from the 1st full week of September, after Labor Day.
Steve took Hudson to the Butterfly Museum while the other 2 boys were at school.
Hudson and I coming down the slide at the park, then smelling the flowers at the store while the other 2 were at Martial Arts. Pretty Sunset.
Hudson getting out of bed when he's not supposed to. My cute boys on the morning of my mom's birthday, September 7th. Carter got an award at school from his teachers for working hard. Nyles was also elected by the teacher's at their school to be on the Student Council. Good work boys!
Friday late afternoon, after work, we packed up and headed up to Rockport State Park to go camping. We met Jeff/Kim's family up there as well for the weekend. The boys were excited to use our camper trailer again.
Silly Hudson playing in Piper's kennel. Our camper all set up. Getting a fire going at Jeff/Kim's campsite. We put the kayak's on top of the roof rack on the Honda. The Honda did great going up Parley's Canyon thankfully and we made it in good time.
Hudson playing in the hammock. Pretty sunset. Getting stuff ready for s'mores.
Nyles, Steve, Carter, Cameron, Hudson and Kim.
The next day Hudson playing w/ his boat at the reservoir. Nyles and the kids went on a walk w/ the dogs and Carol (Jeff's friend Richard's neighbor who was camping by us).
We then got our gear and brought them down to the water. Phill came up w/ Claire and Conor for the day. Stacie was gone for the weekend. Hudson playing in the muddy water. Cameron putting mud on his face. Conor, Carter and Nyles playing in the muddy water.
Claire and Alexa putting mud on their faces and playing w/ Hudson.Steve, Hudson and I going on a ride on the kayaks. Jeff flew his drone above us as we were kayaking.
Steve and Nyles in kayaks. Then Nyles in a kayak and Conor and Carter in a raft.
Alexa and Claire playing on the paddleboard.
Steve and Nyles going out for a ride. Kim on the kayaks. Steve took Hudson for a quick ride in the car and he fell asleep, and for a few minutes back in the camper, then came back down to the water.
Nyles trying out the paddleboard. Kim on the kayak. Claire, Hudson and Alexa on the paddleboard.
Nyles and Carter swimming while Conor tried to get on the raft.
Hudson playing in the rocks. Carter and Nyles on the paddleboard.
Beautiful flowers.
That evening a wind came up, so we moved our dinner inside our campers.
Carter, Cameron and Hudson playing on the hammock. Beautiful sunset.
The next morning at breakfast: Cameron and Hudson playing on the hammock again. Kim, Alexa, Carter and Nyles getting breakfast. Jeff and Steve working on getting the fire going.
Steve hit a big achievement this week, he got below 300 lbs. He started at 392 lbs in June. He was also able to use our "regular" kayaks instead of our bigger one that he normally uses which can hold 2 people. He's doing awesome! Good work Steve! Another pretty sunset. The boys racing for fun.
Here are some highlights of the last week of August and into Labor Day weekend.
Hudson got to start preschool this week. He missed his 1st day last week since we drove up to Idaho for the funeral for Sage. He was super excited to be going finally!
Hudson all ready for preschool. Steve said he just went without him and didn't look back.
With his teacher LaKesha Johnson at Sprucewood Elementary.
They finally got the parts in for our Honda and were able to get it done so we can now pull the camper trailer w/ our Honda. We were pretty excited to have it done.
Steve then got new tires for the camper trailer since they were pretty worn out.
While they were waiting for the new tires to be put on, Hudson and Steve explored Wal-Mart and got a pretzel at Sam's Club.
Hudson playing in his bed w/ his firetruck and rocket ship. Hudson pretending to be a Dr. and checking Nyles' eye. Hudson and Carter just swinging at the park.
On Friday, September 1st we packed up and drove up to the Perry/Brigham City KOA. It was our first time to use our camper trailer, so we didn't want to be far away, just in case, and decided on a KOA for the amenities this time. It was only just over an hour away, which was nice, and we were to our campsite. We got the trailer leveled and a few things put up and we were set! It sure was nice to pack the camper and not worry about things getting wet or flying out along the drive. I wasn't sure if things would move around much in cupboards, so I just put them in bags. Everything stayed put though, so that'll be even easier going forward knowing I can just pack the cupboards next time. Either way, it was easier than packing a trailer and having to strap them all down so they don't fly out or get wet.
Hudson and Carter fell asleep on the way. We made it to the KOA. We were also happy to be able to bring Piper w/ us now, which is a lot easier to do vs sleeping in a tent.
We then drove a few minutes to Brigham City and got dinner at Peach City Restaurant. The food was great! There were cool Sycamore Trees along the road, along w/ the "new" Brigham City Temple.
When we got back after dinner, the kids wanted to play some of the games, and try the pool.
The next morning Steve wanted to try out the drains, so Nyles helped him. I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. We then went over to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Center.
We walked through the Visitors Center for a little bit, then took a walk outside.
There were lots of pretty Sunflowers along the way and LOTS of grasshoppers. We all took turns smashing them :)
A few family pictures and exploring the area. We did see some birds as well, though we didn't go out very far from the Visitor's Center.
After our walk, we then came home, got some lunch, then I took Nyles and Carter to do a scavenger hunt around the KOA. There were painted rocks hidden around different areas. We had clues and had to find them. When we were done they were able to turn in their paper for a flavored candy cane prize. It was pretty fun! While we were doing this, Steve was trying to get Hudson to take a nap. He almost fell asleep, but then woke up. So we then decided to go over to the pool to swim.
Finding the painted rocks around the KOA, then getting their treat/prize.
Going swimming at the pool. Steve being silly.
They also set up a bouncy house, so the kids wanted to try that as well. We also played the games more, like throwing plastic axes at a target. It was really fun!
Dave, Joann and Diane drove up to have dinner w/ us.
We had tacos and they brought Mickey Bars for dessert :)
Hudson enjoyed his Mickey Bar. We played a quick game of Hudson's new face game from his birthday. The boys then wanted to show everyone the "playground" and swings.
After cleaning up, we made a fire for s'mores.
Aunt Diane and Hudson enjoying their s'mores.
Carter, Nyles, Steve, Joann and Dave relaxing around the fire.
After s'mores, Diane, Carter, Dave, Hudson and I played Five Crowns.
Hudson showing us his light up sword.
After the game, they headed home. It was fun having them come up to visit us for the evening. Hudson was pretty exhausted, especially considering he didn't get a nap. He fell asleep shortly after we got him in his PJs and had prayers. Nyles and Carter in the bunkbeds, Steve on our queen bed, and Piper on her mat at the floor. We fit just right!
The next morning we had breakfast then packed up and headed home. Again it was a lot easier to pack up in the camper than a tent. We left most everything in the cupboards and they traveled great! We all slept better as well and stayed warmer throughout the night. We didn't need to turn on the heater, and Steve and I actually opened the windows by us during the night. It was pretty warm during the day as well, so we turned on the A/C to cool off while in the camper, which was nice. We thoroughly enjoyed our camping experience in our camper and are looking forward to many more :)
When we got home, we unpacked, showered, made rice, then got ready to go up to Midway for the monthly family dinner. Just before we got to Melanie/Brandon's place we saw a double rainbow. It was so vibrant!
Carter and Hudson fell asleep again on the way home. Beautiful rainbows!
The kids had fun playing, we had dinner, then sang Happy Birthday to Isaac (over the phone).
Monday, September 4th was Labor Day. It started raining, then we had a big down pour. It actually snowed up in the Unitas and at some of the ski resorts. Our gutters got clogged and the rain started piling up in one of our window wells. Steve worked to unclog the gutter then cover the window well. While he was doing that, some of the water was coming through our basement window, so I was working to soak up the water that was coming downstairs. Thankfully we got it covered, and thankfully we were home to take care of it right then. Later that day we went to Home Depot and got a window covering to prevent water and other things from coming in our window well going forward.
The downpour at our place. Snow in the mountains. The new window covering Steve put on.
