Fall Camping

We convinced Grandma and Grandpa to join us for one more mountain campout. It was beautiful, quite warm in the daytime and cool enough at night to enjoy a fire and good sleeping bags. Now that we are spoiled with a trailer we could have turned the heater on too. We didn't need it though and decided we should go again next September. As you can see from the photo, the aspens were golden and we had a few showers of leaves when the breeze picked up. The guys fished on Gooseberry reservoir and Jared caught several fish, letting Paxton reel in a few too. For some reason there weren't many bugs, we didn't notice any mosquitoes at all so maybe the fish were extra hungry.

Since Bennett managed to nap during the fishing, he played in the canoe before we loaded it up. He's a good little camper overall, he became a little grumpy from a tiny cold or maybe his somewhat rough night's sleep. I guess he doesn't know what to think when he wakes up next to Mommy in the camper with the dog at his feet. But it's great to get away and really forget about the usual responsibilities. We live so close to so many gorgeous places to visit.

 This photo shows part of why the area is so pretty.  The evergreens combined with the aspens were everywhere.  We did take a drive down to see the fire and flood devastation in Huntington canyon.  It is eye-opening how those rain storms caused huge rivers of mud and trees.  You can see areas where flash floods tore through deep slabs of earth and many spots off the side of the road now look like a very unfinished construction site.

Roanna and I wondered why a few aspens here and there have a reddish color. On our way to camping we did see some nice red and orange leaves. It's easy to forget fall in the valley is just around the corner unless you go for a drive in the mountains.

The soccer season is officially over for us.  This picture makes Paxton look like a pro, his co-coach set up a photographer so all the boys could get a photo at the soccer party we had. Thanks Abbie! He liked practice, and LOVED the playground nearby.  Games, well, they were a bit unpredictable. Last game was sooo cute when our tiniest player scored a goal. Paxton did get some great stops when he played goalie and he had fun with his teammates.

Paxton has recently accomplished riding his bike without training wheels. He asked to have them taken off a few weeks ago and was definitely afraid at first. Then when Jared ran (uncomfortably) behind him and made him think Jared was holding on, he totally had the hang of it. Soon after he knew he could ride all by himself. He needs some help getting started but that will probably come soon.

We've had some beautiful mornings to go to the park. It is especially nice since school is now in session because there are far fewer kids and I can see where mine are. They love it and I am amazed at how well Bennett manages to do just about everything Paxton does.

Yep, Bennett running after Paxton. What an athlete! He really is getting quick. That worked against me a couple days ago when he locked himself in the garage and me and Paxton out. Luckily I was able to get a key fast enough but by the time I got it, he had done the deadbolt as well and was headed into the kitchen from the garage. Heaven only knows what he would have done there - he loves to help himself in the pantry!

This illustrates what Jared has done with his free time for the last 4 weeks.  It may be hard to tell but that hole is 15 feet across, big enough to install a trampoline and it represents a LOT of dirt removal. Luckily we had a vacant spot in the garden which I hadn't planted but that area is now a large pile of heavy clay soil. Tonight Jared actually finished removing the last bit so we are closer than ever. We may buy a trampoline frame from our neighbor and we already have a corrugated metal surround to retain the dirt. Paxton was even lucky enough to find a buried treasure in the hole.

Our latest amateur family photo. Even this result was so hard to get I had to cheat a bit with photoshop, and not just for my especially white teeth. Bennett didn't want to sit long or look at the camera and we weren't all posed just how I'd have liked. At least the yard looks good : )

Reunion

It makes me feel old to think that we are some of the oldest people at a reunion.  But that's okay, such is life.  This camping one was fun with Jared's parents, all of his siblings and their children. It was great to have so many little kids around.  And we had such a nice group campsite, complete with a hammock, tons of dirt toys, and this ready-use teeter-totter that Paxton and all the grandkids rode on. Thanks Grandma for your willingness to get a workout!  The highlight for Paxton was probably getting to trade his shoes with his cousin for these boots.

We went to a nearby lake a couple times, for a little fishing but mostly for the kids to play in the water.  Bennett got his feet wet and played in the sand.

This was the usual scene, Grandma also had prepared a lot of activities including target shooting with bows & arrows, boondoggle, homemade harmonicas, and painting rocks. Weston brought his leather tools so we made a lot of great looking bracelets.

Bennett was happy to walk, sometimes run, freely and he was especially interested in a baseball tee and bat.  He played with  it all the time.   It's probably partly from watching Paxton and his team play this summer.  He really didn't get that dirty, but when he did it was so nice to have a shower in the trailer to bathe him.  I am now persuaded that trailer camping is as fun as tent camping.

This little guy is so cute.  Such a big personality and energy to do it all.  He seems to be a lot like his dad, who was so fun swimming in the lake with Paxton and the other kids. We had enough life jackets to keep everyone afloat and two canoes to tour the lake.

This is looking northwest from our site, since we were there during the middle of the week there weren't too many people around and it was lovely. Near here is an area that was burned by a wildfire so we were glad to still have this place to camp.

Above is the before picture of a pit fire Jared did of some of his pottery.  It was an experiment, with a little instruction from You Tube.  The copper color on the pots (they are hand thrown by Jared) is spray paint which is supposed to help give them a different color after firing.  The sawdust is to create black on the pots which you can see in the after photos.  Although Jared built the fire carefully so as not to break any pots, the large one in the back does have a large crack.  As it turns out, some areas that had copper spray paint ended up looking quite silver and a lot of the black rubbed off.  But you can see there are still some interesting smokey patterns.

Bennett climbs up onto everything now.  Our tallest chairs, the counter and dining table if we let him.  If he can't do it himself he says "up".  He can show you where his teeth, nose, ears, hair, and belly button are.  Oh, and his toes
: )

I find it really cute when he paces around the room or across the couch talking on the phone.  He also says "rawr" and tries to scare us from behind the couch.

Summer Fun

First of all, Happy Birthday J! We love you! 


It has been a nice summer so far, although a bit on the hot side.  This shows one of Paxton's first rides on a roller coaster.  We thought he would be afraid or even cry but he didn't.  He ended up pretty close to his older, female (stranger) passenger.  Of course he had to try out a motorcycle and as it went around the first time he said the bike was going to go off the edge.  It was a good time out with some friends of ours who brought their adorable grand-niece (not sure if I got that right).  She was a little doll and I wish I had a good picture of her!

We were lucky to have some family over for the 4th of July.  These two babes are just one week apart. They are both irresistible. Our Bennett outweighs Emmerson by quite a bit.  But, in his defense, Bennett is back down into the 90th percentile for his weight.  He is hilarious sometimes...today in church he got a diaper out of my bag, unfolded it and put in on his head.  Then he tried tuck it under his legs.  Yes, that's where it goes!

Thanks to everyone for bringing the fun water activities.  Paxton LOVED this pool and the water rockets and giant bubbles kept the older boys entertained.  Bennett liked the pool, he mostly wanted to play with all the grass that ended up floating in it.  
You all have inspired us!  We've been figuring out changes to the backyard to make it more fun for kids.  Although we could stick a swingset or playset anywhere on the lawn, we want to re-do some curbing and maybe incorporate an in-ground trampoline.  Just trying to keep up with the Steens : ) Here is one of the GIANT bubbles.  It really worked well with a home-made solution and sticks/strings all due to aunt Denette's research.   

 Our dog enjoys running through the sprinkler more than Bennett.  You can see his concern.  He liked it at first but then when it didn't stop he decided to head the other way.  He has liked the water all along, guess he's more of a pool guy.

This is Paxton's TBall team photo.  It was quite a feat for these little guys to grasp the sport, but by the end they got it!  And medals to prove it! In other sports news, I am now a co-coach for Paxton's soccer team.  Heaven help us.

 This shot is a good illustration of what could be happening at any given moment during a game.  That is Paxton on the left. Running with your batting helmet pulled down over your face, sitting in a hole you found in the middle of the field, wearing a catcher's helmet when it's your turn to bat, throwing your mitt when another player gets to the ball you were trying for, all of these are NORMAL behaviors and widely accepted.

 Thanks to Grandma, we made it to the zoo last week.  In my opinion the best part was the new polar bear exhibit.  This guy would come right up to the glass to push off for his backstroke.  That's B down there with the plaid ballcap.  He wanted to get in the water too.


























We also liked the river otters, very cool to see how much fun they seem to have swimming around.  Paxton got to feed these llamas, the zoo worker was there with these leafy greens when we happened by.

Bennett in a giant egg.  Ok it was my idea to actually put him in there.  They have a cute little playground with slides, animal sculptures, and a huge spider and rope web to play in.  Bennett squatted down by the open alligators mouth and said "raw".  His other words as of late are "up", "papa" and "kitty".

Our little GRAD

Here he is, the newest graduate from our family. Our PALS (Play, Art, Letters, Song) group held a graduation day, complete with a diploma and playing of "Pomp and Circumstance". Each graduate wore a white shirt of their dad's and made their own cap and tassle. The past year has been so great, I love all the kids in Paxton's class and they have added so much to our lives. We had a great balance of teacher styles and areas of expertise and really sweet kids. One good friend from this group will be going to another preschool with Paxton starting this fall.  For now they are playing t-ball together and will play soccer this summer too.

Just for perspective, most of our days are more like this one, silly glasses and, in this case, Crystal Light mustaches.  Paxton has always liked wearing costumes and lately Bennett loves Paxton's sunglasses and a hat of almost any kind, he'll wear his own too which is great for summertime.




This kid is growing so fast!  How sad, in one way, but how amazing in another way.  Although his favourite person lately is mama, the word he prefers is DADA.  He will say it over and over and soft and loud and fast and slow but he won't say mama!  He loves to climb up on anything and bravely stand up, occasionally shaking his head because he knows he isn't supposed to be up there. Some of my family says he is getting blonder and his eyes are as blue as ever.

Now to camping, we took one trip in late April to "the desert" before it got too hot.  It was good weather, only a bit windy at times which did make for the chance to fly our Spiderman kite. This is our campsite and we took 3 or 4 hikes up into those rocks each day, all the way to the top, usually led by Paxton. We have been using my parent's older camp trailer which we hope to buy.

Here are some cactus starting to bloom (yes it really is the desert people). There were a lot of lizards and great twisted old trees too.







We went on top of Cedar mountain to the overlook of the mini-grand canyon where we took this family picture. Grandma & Grandpa were with us, they are fantastic to camp with because they supply the best camping toys for the kids.








Here are the boys with those camping toys, you can't go wrong with a bucket, shovel, and toy truck.


Our second camping trip was this past weekend, we were a little more adventurous and went to a new location.  This first photo is in a place called
Maple Canyon which attracts rock climbers. It's a small canyon with not a lot of sites but we thought it was pretty and would be amazing to visit in the fall. We stayed there one night and the next one moved to higher ground in Ephraim canyon. This time we had more room to spread out and there were some grassy areas which is great for little kids.  There were a few deer around and temperatures were really nice.

We drove to the top of the canyon for the view and found the snow banks which Paxton, Chula, and Grandma played in. Bennett played with some snow (to the point of tears since he held it in his hand too long) and loved picking the wildflowers.

Like I said, Bennett doesn't mind things on his head...and seems to know how silly he looks.  Both of the boys had a great time and we hope to get out again before the "reunion" with all of Jared's siblings and their families.  Now that the heat is getting here, it's really nice to go up to the mountains to cool off and relax.

CONGRATULATIONS J!

"Our" little princess is married!  Jaylene, you have found a fantastic man to be yours and we are so happy for the both of you! It was a beautiful day and so nice to meet more of J's friends and new family.  I should have taken some pictures at the reception because the decorations were all so well done, mostly by Jaylene, but with a few of her gal friends too.  I'm telling you, there isn't anything this woman can't do.  

Here is the new bride and groom, they are such a handsome couple don't you think? A side note: Jaylene had her dress made by a fabulous lady in St. George, the back has a stylish row of buttons all the way up. It has been so fun to see it all unfold, we still can't believe how fast this past year has gone by. These two will have an amazing life together. They have a great future ahead, and already a nice place and jobs to go with it.   Best wishes to you two... you deserve total happiness!