Cecret Lake Hike

Last week we got a new (to us) van, so I decided that since we now had a car that could carry all of us safely up the canyon without overheating, that we should head up for a hike. We decided on Cecret Lake since it has been a few years since we had taken the boys on that hike.

The fall colors in the canyon are so bright and awesome right now. We were driving up in the morning, so the sun seemed to accent the colors a lot too. It was a great drive.

We had a lot of fun on the hike as well. There was a fair bit of complaining from the troops on the amount of up hill hiking that we had to do on the way there. But we were finally able to convince them that part of climbing a mountain was the go up up up on the way. Finn was also doing a lot of complaining on the steepest part because he was hungry and thought we were taking too long to get to the lake.

 Finn all ready to go on his first long hike.

 We had to stop a do a bit of rock climbing a long the trail.

 Henry got up pretty high and then got a bit scared, but still managed to make his way down.

 Wyatt was obsessed with every rock along the trail and his favorite line was, "More Yocks. I get them. I get Yocks." I love how cute and old he looks in his jeans after a long summer of shorts.

 We finally made it up to the lake. It was lower than I have ever seen it, but still very cool.

 There was a lot of time spent throwing rocks and more rocks into the lake.

 A cool look at the lake surface.

 Wandering out on a rock ledge.

 Finn and I hung out in this spot most of the time while I tried to convince him that it was ok to eat while there was a slight breeze. He was not loving that part.

 Just getting to "Ride shoulders." with Dad. Wyatt was super bossy to Caleb and kept insisting that Caleb keep on hand on each of Wyatt's feet. 

Some handsome men with a great view.

 There wasn't much color at the top of the mountain, but here are a few more shots from our drive.

2 months with Finn

This guy has been a very good baby. He went through his fussy phase, but seems to have left it behind, just in time. He has slept a few nights for 8-9 hours between feedings and he is starting to smile more and more. He didn't handle his first round of immunizations very well, but luckily his Aunt Heidi was in town to help him relax with a little bit of lavender oil. It has now become a necessity at our house.

 

Here are the 2 month stats-

13 pounds even (60 %tile)

23.5 inches (50 %tile)

And lets just say that he have the Cardon head size.

His brothers really love and adore him. Henry loves to have his photo taken with Finn, and whenever we bring Finn into a room and he is awake, Henry will say, "How are you goin', Finn?" Gavin has tried his best to correct this phase with two other options that would be more correct, but Henry doesn't care and we know that Finn gets the sentiments and isn't likely to answer any time soon anyway.

Wyatt is sort of hilarious when it comes to his love for the baby. He likes to try and fit into small spaces once Finn has vacated them, and he loves to kiss him repeatedly. He has also recently taken to smelling Finn. He will come over and save, "Sniff him. Sniff him." And then take a big whiff and get a huge smile on his face. The other thing that cracks us up is when Wyatt comes over to Finn and pretends to take a bite out of his arm or leg or foot and makes a sound like he is taking a big bite, "Rumph." And then says, "Mmm, Nummy." It makes me laugh out loud every time, which just makes him do it more.

Gavin has just become so much older since he has started helping out and entertaining his newest baby brother. He is so good at holding him and cuddling him, as long as there isn't too much crying.

 

 We are really starting to feel like we are getting in the swing of things with this little cutie around. Looking forward to more first with him and the milestones that are happening faster than I could have imagined.

Henry's First Day of Kindergarten

Henry had a great first day of Kindergarten. He is much more brave than his mom. He was very ready to start school this year and is even a little sad that he is only there half of the day and doesn't get to have lunch at school. I know that day will be here before we know it.

He was so brave in his first day at a new school in a new neighborhood and was determined to make a new friend. He met several on that day and has been enjoying school ever since. 

I had a very sad moment when all of the changes that we have made came sneaking up on me- Henry's teacher had the parents come into get their kids settled into class and then see them off. When they were all sitting on the rug, she asked if any of them were feeling nervous or scared. Lots of them raised their hands tenatively. Then she said that she thought that a lot of the parents also looked a bit nervous and scared. She told the kids to look at their moms and dads and wave goodbye. Henry looked over at me, and he just looked so scared and so small sitting on the colored rug with all of the little kids. It was the first minute that it dawned on me that I was leaving him alone in a strange place in a crowd of people that he had never even laid eyes on before. Luckily he is much braver than his mom, and luckily I had brought some sunglasses with me so that I could appear as tough as he is. I am so grateful that he has made such a good transition.

Finn's Blessing Day

Today was a big day for us. We blessed Finn at church. He had a fussy couple of days leading up to it, so we kind of figured that he would spend the whole time crying, but he didn't make a sound. It was great for all of us and a time that we always enjoy as we welcome these little babies into the world.

This is Finn's first on camera smile, even though it wasn't a very big one, we know that it means he is happy. He is becoming all limbs and a round belly. Such a cute funny phase.

With everyone looking their best we tried to get a good shot of the boys together.

 We had to go through several crazy face shots before we got a good one.

 And wow, they are sure handsome when they want to be.

 Dad and Finn. What an amazing husband I have, ready to keep teaching all of these boys. I very much appreciate the example that he is to them.

 We are so grateful for tiny Finn, even when he puts up a fight and makes a point of being heard for a few days at a time. He also seems to calm back down and gives us some very happy moments to enjoy.

 Nana and Vatti came in to town for the occassion. Finn is their 14th grandchild and the 7th boy. (His cousin Jaxson arrived after him and officially tipped the scale for 8 grandsons and only 7 granddaughter... half of those boys live at my house.)

 Wyatt was looking the part of big brother today, even if he is still too short to reach the counter.

 The group that joined the blessing. We love being able to include our friends and family in these special moments. We have been blessed with great relationships in our lives and there is nothing like starting off those bonds when are kids are tiny. We really appreciate all of the support we have in life.

This was also an exciting day in our marriage as it was the first time that we have been able to have a gathering of any decent size at our house and not have to make everyone sit outside. It was great. I hope we are going to do it a lot more often.

Gavin's First Day of School

Today Gavin started 2nd grade... at a new school, with new kids in a new neighborhood. I think I was more anxious about the day than he was. He is also starting the Chinese Immersion program, where they spend half the day being taught in only Chinese. The teacher is actually not allowed to speak anything, but Chinese in her class. This sounded a bit daunting, and then we learned on Sunday that he was in the class that would start their day off in Chinese. I admit I was pretty scared for him. Luckily, he knows one girl in the class and she sat by him and helped him out a bit. 

 When he walked out of school he said, "It's final. I hate Chinese." But then proceeded to tell me things that he remembered about that part of the day than the english half. I also asked him if he hated it enough to want to change classes, but he said no. And he was really in a good mood and happy at the end of the day, so it can't have been as dramatic as he made it sound. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. Here he is all lined up with his class.

 Henry doesn't start kindergarten for another week, though he did meet his teacher today and really liked her. It is safe to say that he and Wyatt were fairly lonely without Gavin, but they found some ways to keep busy... like building a fort while I mopped the floor. They haven't done this in a very long time so Wyatt was very excited. He actually seemed to love having Henry to himself.

Pretty cool fort, I must say. It was a good day and hopefully going forward we will have many more that go as smoothly. I hope that the adjustment to the new school and making new friends will go well for all of the boys.

New House- Before and After

 Well, we have only lived here 2 months and it is starting to seem like if I wait until I have things the way I want them, then I will never post pictures. For the most part things are moving forward, but I am going pretty slow with decorating or adding furniture. There is something about having so many choices that makes me want to wait and consider how I would really like a room to be. So here is a little tour (not all inclusive, since I am sure I will post photos of other things are we get them finished, ie- the kitchen). It is more exciting to see our progress when you look at these Before photos. Makes me feel like we have come a long way, even if we have a long way to go. 

Let's start upstairs

The Living Room- Before

Living Room- After

 Facing the entry way- Before

 Facing the entry way- After

Dining Room- Before

Dining Room- After- from the living room

  Wyatt's Bedroom- Before

After... he seems to have a lot of empty space now.

And now downstairs

Family Room- Before... I know you all wish I had kept that shag carpet for you

Family Room- After (the other couch wouldn't fit into the basement, so the furniture down there is a work in progress.)

Play Area/Storage- Before

Play Area/Storage- After (still in need of some organization and decor)

Gavin and Henry's Room- Before

And After- yes, it does look like a bomb went off. I took this picture on a day that I was pretty tired of telling them to clean up and them insisting they were in the middle of some kind of game. They have tons of space and they love it.

 Guest Room (that's right, I have an extra room for visitors to sleep in, woohoo)- Before

 Guest Room- After

And now for the Bathrooms, we didn't have to do any work to these. They were in great shape and I just got to do a little decorating.

Upstairs Bath

Downstairs Bath.

This one has kind of a retro look, but unlike the shag carpet, we actually like it.

 All of the kids love the tiny weird shaped blue sink that might annoy adults, but is just right for kids.

 Hope you enjoyed finally getting to see our new place. I am sure I will have more photos later.

Happy Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Caleb.

Good thing there is plenty of help around here for blowing out candles.

I used this day as a great excuse to try out 2 different peanut butter chocolate cake recipes. The pound cake was by far the superior choice.

 And we had some great company to enjoy some delicious grilled food. Even the corn and veggies were grilled. It was delicious. (You can tell that Stacy's kids are much better at being photographed than mine are. They are all looking and smiling, while my kids are still eating and drinking. haha.)

Wyatt's Big Bed

Since we have had so many changes in the life of our two year old this summer, I kept putting off moving him to his big bed. Even though we have had it set up and ready to go, bedding and all for almost a month. Finally I realized that it would be months before I start getting more sleep, so using the sleep deprivation excuse just wasn't going to cut it, and we moved him to his big bed on Monday night.

After his bath, the portable crib had been taken down and he was talking tough about how he would sleep in a big bed. "Wyatt bed, BIG." Stuff like that. Then when it was time for bed he said, "No like it, big bed." As we went down the hall, but he climbed up under the covers, surrounded himself with monkeys and didn't get up until morning. It was awesome.

This is how we found him the first night.

 By the second night he seemed to have figured out what the pillow was for and snuggled in for another good nights sleep.

It has not been 3 nights and a couple of naps and he has done so well I can hardly believe it. I am sure he is just relieved to have some room to stretch his legs and move around.

Hooray for good transitions.

4 weeks

Little Finn is just getting so big so quickly. I can hardly believe how fast it goes. He sure is a cute one, and still likes to snuggle when he is awake. I will take whatever I can get.