September flew by...

The biggest news this month is that Doug and Marin tied the knot! For those who don't know Marin - isn't she BEAUTIFUL!?! But even better than that - she is an amazing person with so much to offer. And the bearded guy is my awesome brother. We love them both. They are a fantastic match and we wish them the very best and happiest future.

I was asked to be a bridesmaid - only the second time in my entire life - and I wore an original LHall creation...what would we do without skilled seamstresses! Our two boys looked dashing; my groomsmen hubby managed to escape the camera.

The ceremony was at a mill within the Tracy Aviary and it was the perfect setup which allowed our boys to generally stay out of trouble by seeing the sights. It was a really fun evening and I am thoroughly impressed with the planning.















I was asked to mix camouflage paint colors for Paxton's Pinewood Derby tank. He and Jared did the design and I helped with the cosmetic side.

 

We all had the chance to ride our neighbors horse one day. It was fun but harder than I thought! I wasn't the best at controlling her but she was patient enough that I didn't get bucked off. Jared could use a taller horse.

This is our homemade gopro camera trying to see what the view would look like from main level of a potential next home. It would sit quite high due to water and sewer line connection depths. Maybe we'll have a temple view.

August

I'll start with the most recent events and go backwards through the month. Unbelievably, it was Bennett's FIRST day of school earlier this week. What a big kid! He has been excited for a while. Jared got to take him since I recently started teaching a morning class two days a week. 

Jared snapped this photo before I went to UVU. I was relieved that Bennett wasn't shy about going and that he didn't need to cling to anyone when they got there.

We were able to get a camping trip in before school started. The weather was perfect, cool at night and warm enough in the day without being hot. I was excited to have the boys hike a couple days and make it with little complaint. There are some benefits to kids growing up!

This panoramic view was at the top of one hike...that's Grandpa on the left of the picture. 

The day we tried the lake out it was very windy so the boys played on the beach a little before we gave up. Driving back to camp Jared had an idea to let the boys take their kayaks down a little canal that runs near camp.

 Paxton was totally game but Bennett wasn't sure. He did try it out but did NOT enjoy it...a lot of tears and eventually we helped him get out. It worked great though because we walked along an old road that followed the canal the whole way.

The fishing at this pond was actually very good. I was fully entertained watching the boys because the fish were jumping and they caught several, albeit modest sized, fish. We were there near sunset so maybe that helped.



Our sweet dog is growing older. She hopped onto Jared's cot to rest and I felt she needed shade so we propped up our large umbrella.

 My grandmother's side of the family holds a reunion every August. My mom decided to rent these inflatable balls that you can knock each other around in. They're fun, and they are quite safe (though probably more so for the kids than the grown-ups). They come in different sizes so kids could manage the smallest ones.

I'm not sure who is copying who here...

July Fun

This photo serves as future proof to Bennett that he did in fact once get to ride on a carnival ride. It was part of the Freedom Festival.

We all went to another local Independence Day celebration where they got their faces painted. They both felt the need to close their eyes so we could see the designs.

I took the boys up to Timpanogos Cave one day. We were the last ones to go on the tour that day and had a hilarious guide. Both boys did very well hiking up the trail but were pretty tired on the way down.

The orthodontic work has begun. This silly shot was at a visit to have an expander appliance put in. It should help him have room for adult teeth. This week - baby teeth will be pulled by our dentist. Good times.

So far Bennett does not appear to have any fear of heights. That could stick or he could just be 5.

Jared does not love fishing but sometimes he does go through the work of letting the boys fish. He seems to have passed on his knack of not catching anything. Jared says he should call it going casting.

Due to Jared's involvement with scouting, he went to an aquatic center for scouts at Bear Lake for 6 days. It was his first organized scouting camp - there were about 500 scouts there in total.






This photo is one of very few that Jared was in. I like the distortion.

I had an interesting discovery this month of this pile of 22 eggs.  One of our hens was sitting on them before I moved her to the coop where she was supposed to be. They were outside the area we normally let the chickens free range. Long story short, one hen had been consistently hopping through the fence to her nest. She'd managed to always come back to the coop at night until this time. When I told Paxton about it he asked how she got the eggs through the fence.

The family reunion we went to at the end of the month was a lot of fun. this photo is from a favorite hike where we have seen elk herds before. They're hard to see in the photo - mostly brown dots - but there's quite a few.

Tent town in our group site.

Paxton is riding a new kayak he and Bennett got to give them a little adventure on the many lakes near our camping area. Paxton is very good at paddling and not afraid to "fall off". Even though he's had swim lessons, it's a good thing we insist on him wearing a life vest.

The Colorado couple - it was really great to see them (and their sweet kids) and we appreciate their 8 hour voyage to get here.  All the cousins seemed to have enjoyed everything grandma and grandpa had planned and the adults got to catch up with each other too.

Maybe this is an indication of how much fun Paxton and Bennett had. I think only Chula was more tired than they were.

June

Strawberry Days for real...finally. My dad gets credit for these berries because he ordered the plants a couple years ago and this year we actually had a crop worth the work of growing them. Bennett helped me pick these that day.

Although Jared wasn't up to sitting through the rodeo, I went with the boys and my mom. About 45 minutes into it Bennett wanted to go home, but then the clowns came out in a ridiculous firetruck and he was happy to stay the rest of the night.

Jared's back is feeling better - or at least he's not feeling the injury due to a 2nd cortisone shot done under x-ray to get it right where it was needed. He did spend a night at girls camp and did okay there, and now he plans to go to scout camp. The bishop told him he's required to get a good cot.

The boys both had swim lessons at the beginning of the month.  This was the last day so they get to go down the slide after a little instruction.

Paxton finished up machine pitch baseball and Bennett is also through with t-ball. I was sort of a co-coach for Bennett's team with a lady in our ward who I'd also worked with in Young Women's so it was pretty fun to do together. I'm going to kind of miss baseball!

My ward went to girls camp and had a good time. The first night we went to the Manti Pageant, and then we spent the next night at the Snow College ropes course (I didn't take my camera there...wish I would've).  It was great with both low and high rope challenges. Nearly every girl participated in at least the lower ones so I was happy and leaders had fun too. Our group site worked out well, right next to this little lake where the girls got to ride kayaks and swim a bit. It was actually quite hot the whole time at camp so that helped to have some water activities.

Although it's hard to know for sure, I'd say most of our younger hens have started laying eggs. Yesterday we got 14 eggs. This one below is a Welsummer, the only one we have of this breed because I gave away her rooster brother.

A few of our younger chickens decided to explore beyond their farm fence boundaries one day, and one flew up to the top of the fence and over into a neighbor's yard who has dogs. I got it back onto our property quickly and the next day we clipped 4 of the younger one's wings. We sort of hated to do it but it's much safer for them and it actually doesn't hurt them at all (what a relief). I haven't seen any more out so hopefully it worked.