Living Outdoors!

As you already know, we love the outdoors. If we have an open weekend we are trying to figure out if we should head to the mountains or to the lake. We enjoy making these memories and everyone made we deeply cherish.

 Here we are up at Mitch's parents condo. What is it about kids in goggles that makes them so darn adorable!?

 This picture makes me laugh every time. I love that Grandpa Larry is playing checkers with Ellie and how she is wearing her cute nightgown and how she is still little enough to sit indian style on the table. Then there is Max. Why on earth does he have that bucket on his head? I have no idea, but I love it. He is such a ham!

 Is there anything better than being with Grandpa in a fishing boat? Perhaps it would have been a little better if they caught something... :) It's all about the memories though right?

 This summer we went back woods camping with some our neighbors the Swains, Guiles, and Pecks. Our kids were by far the youngest but they graciously invited us along. We really had a great time shooting guns, avoiding oodles of stinging nettle, and sitting around the campfire.

 Here are Mitch and Ellie shooting targets while camping. Just for the record, I loathe guns. They scare me. I would be fine if we never touched one. However, Mitch likes them. So sometimes they make it on the trip and sometimes they don't. :)

 Up at Grandpa Ricks capin we decided to go on a hike around Hinckley Pond. There is a cowboy (no really, like a legit cowboy) who patrols the property on horseback. He caught up to us and let the kids go for a walk on his horse.

 I love the Ranger because the whole family can be in it together and Mitch loves the 4 wheelers. He insists on teaching the kids how to drive, shift, etc. I keep reminding them that they are 2 and 4. I kinda like how this picture shows so much of his SEXY leg. ;)

Here we have Max sporting my snowmobile helmet. I get worried that they have to much of their dads adventurous side sometimes. I suppose that's what originally made me like him so much!

Family Pictures

The biggest problem with family pictures is knowing which one to pick! These were a few of my favorites!

Lagoon trail

If you have not been to Lagoon trail, you better get out there. It is beautiful. Not to mention we had this adorable horse to keep us company. It was lovely. Happy Fall!

East Canyon!

Mitch's family has a condo up at east canyon that we love to go up to. The week is full of fishing trips, boating and swimming. Oh, and a whole bunch of crazy grandkids.

Here is Larry, Dax, and Chase. Chase fell into peer pressure this year when he was dared to eat a fishing worm. All for $20 lousy bucks. It was one of the highlights of the year. He gave it a few chews then started gagging profusely. Then all 8 adults around him started throwing up or gagging as well. It sounds awful, but I have not laughed that hard in a LONG time.

 We love cousins. They make the best babysitters! :)

 Grandpa loves fishing and i'm glad. That way, I can just sit on the beach while he takes all the kids out in the fishing boat! :)

 I adore this picture. Making memories are the best.

 Elise and Meg making muddy memories.

 We got Grandma Sherrill on a wave runner and gave her a great ride. What a trooper!

Bridger is the explorer and he found this tiny snake and brought it into the condo. It was the only living creature in this 'zoo'.

 Here again, is grandpa showing the kids how to fish. They caught one fish then they would leave it on the fish for someone else to reel in. It was the fish that keeps on giving.

Once again, the giving fish. The kids were so proud!

A FALL Smatering

Today i'm posting a fall smattering of pictures. It's kinda random but then again, most of our life is! This year fall has been so lovely, the weather has been extra warm which makes everything better. We enjoyed carving pumpkins, dressing up, and everything that has to do with halloween!

 Here are Max and Pyper. If he ever holds her it's usually in this awkward fashion.

 Ellie is growing up and starting to get really creative. Her teacher from preschool sent me this picture of her building a tower. She was pretty impressed with her creativity.

 This is Pyper's 'go-to' smile. She's usually looking at us with this somber smile on. She is not way smily but not really frowny. She's a go with the flow kinda girl. However, she does have some major seperation anxiety right now and screams if anyone other than myself holds her. Which I love and despise at the same time.

 Here is cousin Kate holding Pyper. The dress Pyper has on was originally Kates, then Ellie wore it, now Pyper is! Hurrah for hand me downs!

 This adorable little boy is often overlooked. He is pleasant 90% of the time. He's very quiet and incredibly kind and sweet. He aims to please and is very traumatized if he ever gets sent to time out. However, don't come near his binkies. This boy has a serious binki addiction that is hard to crack!

 I took this picture of Ellie while we were riding on the flying aces at Lagoon. She was giggling and laughing so hard that my soul felt like it would burst with happiness

These two sisters are meant to be best friends. I just love this picture to pieces.

 Here are all of our pumpkins. Max wanted something 'scary' (top left) and ellie took an IKEA kids plastic knife and jabbed away at her pumpkin for an hour. I was impressed how it turned out! (upper right).

 Mitch's work (fusion IO or Sandisk) does a great trick or treat day where they load you up with full size candy bars and other yummies. Ellie was, of course, ELSA and Max was 'a scary Tiger'. Pyper obviously, was a ladybug.

 Ellie is in this phase of her doing her own hair. I agreed that she can do it herself once a week. This was a particularly good day of hair doing.

 While Ellie is at school, Max and I get to have some special alone time. Here he is sitting in the garbage can helping me smash down the weeds. He is as sweet as they come!

We went to the zoo with some cousins which was great. Unfortunatly Grandma Sherrill fell walking down the hill and really hurt her face that hit the pavement. So we spent most of the time on this Lion until Mitch could come from work to drive her home. We are glad that she recovered quickly and is back to canning all 200 jars of grape juice. Happy Harvest!