Another Summer Camping Trip

We had a great time camping last weekend with my cousin Kelly and her hubby Bryan. We just traveled up the nearby canyon, pitched our tent and then bunked up with Kelly and Bryan in their new tent trailer. We felt really spoiled...especially while eating our yummy New York steaks grilled up by Bryan and the delicious BBQ chicken Clint made the next night. Among the fun things our kids found to do, scooting on their bums down a very steep hill ranked high. Here, Micah catches up to his little sister:


They also enjoyed "hiding" from Bryan, who was always a good sport about the children's games and could never seem to find them:

We were also visited by some little critters. Bryan and Clint fearlessly set out to discover the bandits. Their conversation went something like this:

B: Clint, open the window and see what it is.

C: I can't.

B: Just unzip the window cover.

C: Alison won't let me.

B: Why?

C: She's afraid.

Now, in my defense, I had visions of a giant bear claw sweeping through the opened window covering and snatching me up for a midnight snack. There have been a few attacks in the news this summer, and I didn't want my family watching me on the next report.

So Bryan was sent outside by his wife (noble sacrifice, Kelly! :) ), and he found a raccoon busily helping himself to the contents of a Rubbermaid container. In the morning, we took stock of the missing merchandise. Claw marks showed where he pried the lid open. He managed to escape with three Hershey bars, a roll, and a few Doritos (from a previously unopened bag). Didn't know the little guys were such camp food connoisseurs! We packed the food up better the next night, mostly to protect the remaining Hershey bars. This was nearly to Jonah's liking, who suggested an all-night watch rotation. He's pretty serious about his sugar!

Thanks for a great trip, B & K!!

Baby Gets Boppy!

It's hard to get as excited about baby stuff with #4, so I recovered the Boppy today to make it a little more exciting for both me and Baby (he's really into this stuff...i can tell already!)

Before, it had a plain denim cover. I found some cute vintage fabric at a yard sale, but didn't have quite enough for one side. So I pieced the top together with some soft yellow chenille (which is still making the inside of my nose itch like crazy!), then did the back in solid chenille, facing the opposite direction.

Here's what the top looks like:



And here's the bottom, as it looks to me (hard to get the belly out of the picture at this stage of the game!):

Hello again!!

So I've been taking a break from the blogging world. The nesting instinct has kicked in, I'm enjoying summer activities and outings with my family, and a little 3rd-trimester laziness has settled in. But I'm back, with some pictures to let you know a little of what we've been up to. I'll post pictures of the boys' room and the baby's/Autumn's room later (we've been painting and redecorating).

First, there were swim lessons. Micah has been dreading them ALL year (he did not appreciate being forced to put his head under the water last summer), and after a rough start he conquered his fears and did just as awesomely as Autumn and Jonah. We'll try to get another session in before summer's end.




Then we enjoyed the Firth family's annual reunion to Bull Canyon (a ranch owned by one of Clint's uncles in southern Idaho). Thankfully, my sisters-in-law are very good about taking pictures, and sharing them. :)


Part of our family skit:

Kadin and Micah trying to stir up trouble:


Autumn really seemed to enjoy her horse ride with cousin Tate!


Jonah while he was watching the talent show:


Lots of candy was enjoyed!

The little boy posse:

Cousin Kadin showing off his soda bottle rocket. We didn't get a picture of this year's model, but Clint & the kids (mainly Jonah) made major improvements and their rocket enjoyed quite a flight!


I don't know why Autumn seemed to enjoy this so much. But if crying babies are such a hoot, then she should have no problem bunking up with our little guy!

Autumn tickle-torturing Uncle Tyler:

After so much fun, they didn't last five minutes after we pulled out of the homestead:


Then we enjoyed a visit from Val & Sam and their boys (which I took no pictures of...woops!) The kids all played wonderfully together and had a lot of fun. And we got another visit from Tyler & Wendy and their kids. We had fun hanging out at Utah State University, playing games and eating milkshakes! We really enjoy all the visits we get from our family members in the summertime! (My parents and sister Eve treated us to a visit just before our swim lessons began...that was a lot of fun, too.) And we came back from a wonderful trip to CA a couple days ago. Some pictures will have to be posted later (used the dinosaur camera), but here's one from the SD Zoo:

And Tyler's wedding:


Now that'll teach me to wait so long before blogging again!!

Carnival Fun

Our favorite local toy store hosted a carnival in their parking lot this morning. All games were $.10; rides were $.20. We all loaded our pockets with dimes and headed over for a good time. Micah and Jonah were especially adept at the games; Autumn figured a couple out as well. But, no matter what the outcome, they were awarded a prize after every turn. Did I mention this is our favorite toy store??

It's like riding a bike...

Riding without training wheels has eluded 6 year-old Jonah up to this point in his life. We gave it a good shot last summer, but he was unstable on our driveway and sidewalks. He wiped out a couple times, then begged for his training wheels again. Then, at our four year-old nephew's birthday party, we watched as he rode a two-wheeler for the very first time...on their lawn. We decided this would be the perfect way to make attempt #2 at liberating the "Red Rocket" from those pesky side-wheels.

He started out in the backyard grass:


After several trips back and forth, he felt ready to give the dreaded cement-covered ground another shot. Nervously, he set out to conquer fear:


After a few trips around the house, he gained confidence and momentum. He spent the rest of the evening circling our house, always ending with a speedy decline down the hilly lawn of the backyard. Watch how easily he looks up for the camera without losing his balance:


He went to bed lamenting the fact that he couldn't spend more time outside riding. Way to go, bud!!

A new and improved entryway

I don't know if you get the full effect of the state of affairs with regard to our columns, but they had really become quite an eyesore. A real embarrassment to our fine, upstanding neighborhood.



One man, some tools and a can of Latex paint, and things are looking up again.

Ahhh...now that's better. Thanks, honey!!!!!!!!!!

It's a Wonderful Life

We found a beautiful campsite this past weekend, and had a wonderful time hanging out as a family. There was a gorgeous lake small enough to take a nature walk around, a little snow for the kids to toss at each other, majestic pines and -the best part- NO ATVs!! We were having such a good time that I neglected to break out the camera except to take these two shots (but you understand, right??):

Jonah "Pyro #1" hamming it up for the camera. I swear that the boys' main attraction to camping is the campfire (and I'm talkin' all the boys!) Luckily, we escaped without any burns or forest fires. Autumn looks like she's selecting an appropriate potty site in the background. In reality, she was checking to see if a squirrel would come back out of his hole.

Can we say PRINCESS?? She's a much higher maintenance camper than the boys (i.e., she needs propping up when she squats, which was not the highlight of the trip for me), but she still had a great time! Camping to Autumn means hanging out in the tent as much as possible, so she opted out of S'mores in order to get as much camping time as possible... singing all alone in a dark tent. Odd, I know!