We love Zion NP

For fall break last weekend, we took a trip to Saint George with Nathan and Stacy and family. It was a great time. It was the first trip or even outing that we have done together since Jaren and Wyatt were born, and since their were double the number of kids as adults, we were worn out by the end of the weekend. It was great to spend time together and let the kids run a little wild and crazy. Our first stop was Zion National Park, which we definitely love. I really think that it is a place that everyone should visit. We walked the trail (it is too easy to call a hike, Gavin pointed out) at the Temple of Sinawava. It was a very busy day on the trail, but still very beautiful.

Had to get some proof that the parents of all these children came too.
Any chance to get near the water can make every hike more exciting.
Even Wyatt already loves Zion.

Some seriously cute Cardon kids.

Wyatt got lots of attention from other hikers since he was sleeping through a lot of the scenery. Apparently he is pretty cute when he sleeps, I could not agree more.

There are so many rock cairns at the beginning of this hike in all shapes and sizes. Makes for a pretty cool scene by the river. The kids even built a few small ones. I thought this really showed some artist thought on someone's part.

3 months old And Fishing

Today Wyatt hit 3 months of life with us. What a ride! He has really settled into life and our family. He loves to chatter and smile, which is so fun to see. He still wiggles constantly, which sometimes makes it very hard for me to take a picture of him. He loves the morning, and just cracks us up how happy he is when we go to get him out of bed. It takes him forever to have breakfast because he wants to greet everyone and can't stop smiling. We are still working on his naps, but since he sleeps 10-12 hours a night about 5 nights a week, you will not hear me complaining.

He spends so much time wiggling, that sometimes this is the smiling shots we get.

Today we also got to go on a much anticipated fishing adventure with Brandt and Rena. Brandt has spent the spring and summer learning all of the best fishing spots in the valley and shared his expertise and fishing poles with the boys today. They had a blast. They each caught a fish that we kept and one more that was released.
Rena helping Henry reel in his catch. I think he may have hit the record for longest time to reel in a fish in a small pond. He was so excited to see it, and immediately grabbed the line and touched the fish.

Gavin reeled his in alone, but you can tell from his face that he is a bit worried once he caught sight of the fish. He was the best at focusing on fishing and following Brandt around to get him to show him the details of fishing. (He was also the one that harassed Brandt all summer about going fishing once it was cool enough.)

Gav refused to touch the fish, but when it slowed it's flopping he was more than glad to pose and keep and eye on it.

Gavin's excellent casting skills.

Relaxing by the lake.

Sadly, for my boys. I know nothing about preparing, cooking or eating fish. So we sent ours to the Loo's house since they have skills in all of those areas. Henry and Gavin both stated on the way home that they are excited to eat the fish. We'll see what they say when the time comes.

Taste of Fall

Last weekend we took a stroll up City Creek Canyon. While it is close and I have been running past the mouth of it for years, we had never actually tried to venture up. It was a nice and beautiful day, though I am not sure we will repeat the experience. The trails are pretty dirty, and with the close proximity to downtown, it seems to lend itself to all manner of folk who maybe don't have the same appreciation or respect for the outdoors that we do. We'll leave it at that. It was a nice taste of fall and colors for us. We are hoping to get in a lot more of the same before winter.

Try to ignore the dark socks with shorts. Grandma buys them and the boys love them, so who am I to interfere in the name of fashion. Still a very good looking group of men that I have.

This was in the living room, on the same day and not outside. But very cute and chubby and had to be shared.

So grown up

I am not very good at convincing my boys to wear a tie to church, even though they have plenty. Caleb is already at church for a couple of hours by the time we leave, or I am sure that he would be able to show them that it is the cool dude thing to do. With Vatti in town he kept asking them about wearing a tie until they both finally agreed. He also told them that they looked like missionaries, which reminded Gavin of a plaque that Grandma gave them this summer. It says, "I hope they call me on a mission." They keep it on the shelf in their room. After hearing how great they looked, Gav insisted that they each take a photo with the plaque.

No one in our house can look at this photo without busting up laughing.

Not that we don't think that Henry will make a good missionary, or that he isn't totally handsome and charming, but the serious look on his face is so out of character that it just cracks us up. Even Henry sees it and just busts up. This one is more like the Henry that we spend our days with.

It is only the bare feet that keeps this picture from showing just how tall and old Gavin looks these days. Since there has to be an older brother to show the others the way, I am glad that he is it.

Wyatt's Blessing Day

Sunday was Wyatt's big day. We were so lucky to have so many friends and family to share the occasion. And I was lucky to get lots of good pictures of my chubby little guy and some of his adoring fans. It was a hot 90 degree day so he kept shedding parts of his outfit by lunch time, but we caught a few good shots in the morning. We are so grateful that things have gone so well and that we have so much love and support.
What a super cute guy.

Vatti, Caleb and the boys.

Seriously... I love these guys.

Someday we might be able to get him to look at the camera.

I am so very, very blessed.
What a great big brother.

Adoring Aunt Bridgett.
Nana and Vatti with their 12th grandchild.
Thanks to the whole group who helped bless him- Nathan, Caleb, our friends, Jared and Trevor, and Vatti and Great-Grandpa Cardon (Nick was missing, but we appreciate him too).

Just a cute pose in his favorite spot in the yard.

It was such a great weekend for us. And Wyatt had so much fun that he slept for 12 hours last night! He is amazing and we love love love having him in the family.

Jaren William joins the family

On Saturday we were so blessed to get to hang out with family all day, and go see Jaren be sealed to the family and blessed. He is such a happy and wonderful guy. We love that he is one of our cousins. And can't wait to watch him and Wyatt grow up as friends, since they are just 4 months apart. It was such a great day.
What a seriously handsome man. Welcome to the family Jaren!

These girls love their new brother and we love all of them. They are so much fun.

What a beautiful family! Congrats!

The Angels

We started T-ball this week... and whoever chose my kids for this team had probably never met them before. It is fabulous to hear them say that they are the Angels. Though they certainly are my Angels, and also pretty stinkin cute in their T-ball gear.

Chowing on his gum.

Perhaps we should have invested in a batting helmet, since one size does not fit all when it comes to Gavin's big brain. At least his knowledge is protected from crazy hitters.
First basemen, ready to go.

Henry actually had a stomach flu that kept him up most of the night before the big game, and caused him to not want to eat all day long. He insisted that he needed to go to T-ball and we let him since his fever was gone, but he didn't want to play when we got there. So he lounged on the side with us, and no shoes.

Looking forward to much more Monday night entertainment.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the big day... a little late by average start date standards... but very exciting for us, nonetheless. Gavin headed to kindergarten! He was so excited. He aced his assessment almost 2 weeks ago, so the anticipation to start school was getting intense. We spent several days gathering everything from the supply list and lots of time planning and talking about school. He loved it.

Even though we used this backpack for preschool last year, he still really wanted a picture of it.

What handsome guys.

You may not notice the really tiny toy lizards on the arm of the bench, but that is the whole reason they wanted this picture taken.

At the playground... walking into a room full of 26 kindergartners and all of their parents was a little over powering for Gav, but he shook it off and started in on the fun. He is attending Wasatch Elementary this year, which will mean that we drive to and from school every day. But we have the perfect teacher and morning kindergarten so we are very grateful.

Church goers

It is kind of ridiculous how much I love dressing Wyatt for church, there is nothing cuter than these 2 all spiffed up and ready to go. I am totally looking forward to the holidays when I can find them all matching outfits.. yeah!

We even made ourselves late this morning to get this fabulously handsome photo. (He is such a wiggler, he always starts to tip over before I can take a photo.)

After Wyatt was dressed and eating Henry kept coming over to say, "Wyatt, you look so handsome. Sooo Handsome." It was pretty funny if you have ever heard Henry's voice when he talks to Wyatt. He's the only person I know who makes his voice lower to talk to a baby.

Falling Behind

Lately we are falling behind on blogging...
Mostly because some days Wyatt is a lot like this-

But other days he is much more like this-

And I am tired enough on those second kind of days that the world look a bit like this photo.
We have been having lots of fun though, and hope to find a quiet minute to share it with all of you. Here's to more days of naps and happy baby, cause he is so dang cute when he wants to be.