Just the Little Brothers at Home

With the older boys gone all day, I get a lot more time to spend with my two little sillies. They keep things exciting for sure. The trouble these two can cause is pretty impressive, most of the time they have a lot of fun together. Just a few shots of some of their crazy antics lately.

Finn eating goldfish crackers with a fork.

I love when they sit and chat with each other, even though it is usually Wyatt trying to talk Finn into something.

Enjoying a nice day in the backyard.

Wyatt is definetely in a costume phase. Nothing like a batman sighting at the park.

Found some of his Dad's tools and was playing very quietly alone with them, until he was discovered.

Finn has also discovered how to open the front door and has been discovered in the act of escaping several times. He is always so proud of himself.

Wyatt is also learning to dress himself... and undress. This has resulted in several random moments of him without a shirt... like at Gavin's soccer game when it was only 70 degrees, but he said he was just too hot and sweaty. He was still wearing his jogging pants though.

Just a cute dressed up little man.

And these two can often be found just like these, being hauled around in the stroller. They do a good job of keeping each other company.

School starts again

I can hardly believe the way that our summer flew by and we were back to school in a frenzy. It is both a happy and sad time for me. I am lucky enough to have kids that really enjoy school and have loved their time there, but getting back into a busy morning schedule and the nagging of the homework routine is always a bit sad. 

Gavin was glad to hop back into his Chinese Immersion and return to seeing some of his good friends every day.

Henry was so excited to start First Grade because he would finally get to fulfill his dream of having lunch and school and staying for the full day, just like Gavin. He has loved Chinese and dived in without any issues, and he also has held up very well to the full day. Just like he always said he would.

This was the second day of school for Gavin, since First Grade started a day late, but they were excited to wear their new shirts from Grandma. Had to have a picture together.

Wyatt started Preschool this year. His biggest motivation for being potty trained was that he could finally go to school just like his "boys". He always just wants to be big and do exactly what they are doing. He is only in school about 4 hours a week, but he really loves it, and loves getting his back pack on and heading off to learn. He keeps saying that he is also learning Chinese at preschool, but he isn't really. The school he attends does have a French Immersion program, but they aren't incorporating that into the preschool curriculum so far. We haven't bother to tell him that, maybe it is all Chinese to him anyway.

Cute brothers

I love these moments before church when everyone is cleaned up and looking handsome. If we aren't running late, I always try for the adventure of getting them all to pose for a group photo. I always end up with a few gems and some hilarious faces.

The Larsons come to Utah

After the fun Marshall Reunion we had a great visit with Heidi and her kids at our house. It was the week of Pioneer Day, which always provides lots of hot Utah fun. We heard about a great float preview event for the Days of '47 Parade in Salt Lake, so we went out to look at the float in the air conditioned convention center. We had the great surprise of balloon animal making clowns and some talent face painters. The kids loved it.

Wyatt was very scared, but also very determined to get his face painted and he was very glad that he braved it. He was such a cute little bear.

Gavin got someone to make him a dragon and was so proud of it.

This also made him decide to have a dragon painted on his far. Pretty cool.

Henry and Wyatt went for the sword ballon. Quick and easy, they must have been a favorite of the clowns. It never takes two tries to make a sword.

Rachel showing off her butterfly which also ended up being an inspiration for her face paint.

All of our painted up kids. Pretty impressive.

We had planned an outing for almost every day of their visit, so we also spent an evening at the zoo. It never disappoints, and since the zoo was open late, it wasn't too hot.

We finished off the last day of their visit with a trip to the Discovery Museum. I take my boys there so often that sometimes it takes fresh faces to get us excited about it again. The kids all loved passing part of a hot summer day there building and having fun.

Lily Pad Lakes Trail

 What a great group of hikers! The Lily Pad Lakes trail was a favorite with our group while in Colorado. The kids all found plenty of of great hiking sticks and we managed to avoid most of the mosquitos. The adults also all enjoyed this hike, since the elevation didn't have as much of an impact as some of the other trails.

Schatzy coming across a bridge.

 Caleb and Finn heading out into the woods.

 Vatti and Wyatt were great hiking buddies. They held hands and managed to keep ahold of a walking stick almost the entire hike. Wyatt also shared some great antic-dotes with Vatti along the way. Things like, "Don't worry about butterflies. I will hit them with my stick." and "I'm not a lefty. I'm Wyatt."

 So many beautiful scenes to take in along this trail.

 Gavin is also great at leading cousins on a hike. He loves to be out exploring, and he was very excited about the Lily Pads when we reached the pond.

 Our smallest hiking buddy having a snack and enjoying a break.

 Heidi and Mark taking a break.

 Caleb and I at Upper Lily Pad Lake, and wearing our matching colors... nerds.

 Duane and Jaxson by the late.

 My cute little hikers.

 The super cool tree seesaw that Gavin and Morgan found on the way down the trail. They had such a great time riding it while everyone else caught up. 

Quandry Peak

While in Colorado for our Marshall reunion, Caleb and I decided to take advantage of the excess of babysitters and the excess of large mountain peaks, and go for a hike. We chose a peak that was close to our cabin with a trail just less than 7 miles. It was our first Fourteener, and felt like a great accomplishment.

About a mile up, just out of the tree line, you can see that our weather wasn't exactly clear and sunny.

 The view down to Blue Lake, the drop off was pretty steep for awhile.

 When the sun broke through the clouds for a few moments. The views were amazing.

 We reached a point at which the weather was getting wet and cloudy with the chance of turning to much worse. We couldn't tell how far we were from the top and the effects of the elevation were getting to both of us and we trudged up the steep and rocky climb. We finally made the decision to go on and push to the summit. It ended up being about another 20 minutes though only about a third of a mile... it was very steep. 

Even though there was really no view, it was a great feeling to reach the top and realize we had made it.

At the summit. Great view of the clouds.

 So glad we got a chance to do this. It was well worth the effort and time, and even the sore legs the next day, and a lot of fun to hike it with my mountain man.