Timpanogos Falls Hike

Fall Break

Saturday, Oct. 10

Hike to Timpanogos Falls

On Saturday, after Dallin's blessing, we went for a nice hike up to Timpanogos Falls.  It's a pretty good climb up to the falls but not terribly long, so the kids did pretty well.  Sydney thought she might die a couple of times, and Bennett eventually refused to walk, and ended up in the backpack.  But everyone else did great.  My cousin Brynn, who is Daphne's age came with us, and the two of them had a great time giggling about who knows what.  And several of the kids scrambled up and down the face of the waterfall (not in the water but just next to it) a few times.  It was pretty steep!  Arthur and I played around with the camera trying to get some cool artsy/nature shots.  It's hard to capture how cool waterfalls are.

A Visit to Grandma & Grandpa Packard's House

Fall Break

Oct 8-12

Grandpa Packard's House, Alpine, UT

BYU, Provo, UT

We like to take the kids to BYU campus whenever we visit Utah.  You know, just so they are familiar with the appropriate team to cheer for.  ;)  We stopped at the Creamery, of course, and the Bean Museum, which is tiny, but we enjoyed it.  I didn't get a picture of the huge grizzly bear they had near the entrance.  It had a motion sensor near it which triggered a scary growling sound whenever anyone walked by.  Bennett was so terrified, he hid in a corner and refused to come back past that bear when it was time to leave.  I had to pick him up and carry him out, poor kid.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was waking up early Saturday morning (before the little ones were awake) and meeting Grandpa upstairs for Dallin's patriarchal blessing.  It was a very special experience to hear what the Lord thinks about his son, Dallin, who we've been entrusted with for awhile.  Dallin is a really good kid and is going to great things.  We have it on good authority.

This photo was taken Sunday morning as we got ready to head back home.  We love to visit Great- Grandpa and Grandma Marsha.  

Arches

Fall Break

Oct. 8-12, 2015

Arches National Park, Utah

For fall break, we went up to Utah so Dallin could receive his Patriarchal Blessing from his Great-Grandpa Packard.  On our way up to Grandpa's, we spent half a day at Arches National Park   We told Sydney we were gonna do some hiking at Arches.  Well, when you stop at the pay station for Arches National Park, you are hundreds of feet below where the park is, and when you look up, all you see are red cliffs.   So as we were in line to pay the park fee, Sydney noticed the red cliffs and started freaking out, "I can't hike THAT!"  Once we drove up into the park and she realized she wasn't required to hike up the faces of cliffs, she handled things a lot better.  We had a great time hiking to Double Arch and Landscape Arch, enjoying a picnic lunch and just letting the kids scramble around in the red dirt.  And Bennett put a hole in the seat of his brand new pants.  So mission accomplished, right?

September Quotes

Sean:  I have a question:  What do you do once you run out of toothpaste on your mission?

Sean:  (Was asked to list qualities about himself in a primary class)  Can I list "Attractive?"

Sydney:  Is my birthday in the fall?

Me:  No, it's in the summer.  We just had it.

Sydney:  But is my NEXT birthday in the fall?

Me:  No, it's always summer.

Syd:  WHAT?? Why is my birthday always in the summer!?!

Sean:  I pledge for the radiation  (Raider Nation)

We have a teacher at the Elementary School who is a huge Raiders fan and will give his students a big candy bar if they can recite the Raider Pledge. I guess Sean was practicing.

Dallin:  Aren't heathens people who don't eat any animal products.

Me:  Uh, no. Those would be vegans.

Bennett:  (Referring to my vocal warmups) I don't like that scary fire truck.

Hayden:  If you have a day to spend, you should spend it fully and happy.

Me:  Sydney, are you listening to your teacher at school?

Syd:  Not really.

Me: Well why not?

Syd:  Because I can't stop talking to my friends when Mrs. Sanchez is talking.

Family:  BEN-NETT, time for prayer!

Bennett:  Okay, Okay, I'm coming guys! (Little feet pitter pattering down hall.)

Sean:  I wish I had hearing aids.

Me:  Why?

Sean: Because then when people are being obnoxious I could turn them off.

Hayden (doing a dangerous stunt with Bennett):  Don't worry Bennett, I have a six-pack.

Me:  Bennett, thank you for drinking out of my cup.

Bennett:  (wiping his peanut butter face with his peanut butter hands) A welcome.

Bennett:  I have a reprise for you! (surprise)

Bennett was "tucking" Dallin and Sean into bed one night and asked, "You boys like a ba-ba?"  (bottle)

Bennett (as we arrived at a store):  I don't like Hobby Lobby!  I don't like Hobby Lobby! (kicking his legs and crying.)

Snippets of September

Snippets of September

Lembas Bread:

Sean and Hayden got an idea to make Lembas Bread one day.  So we looked on google (the proper source of authentic Lord of the Rings recipes) and found a recipe that didn't look unappetizingly healthy, and it was AWESOME! We even made it twice.  And the boys found big leaves outside with which to wrap the Lembas Bread for extra authenticity.

Hair Cut:

Got my hair cut.  Love a good hair cut.

Fire Engines:

A friend of ours is neighbors with the State Fire Marshal who hosts an annual party for the firefighters. Some of them drive over in their trucks and open them up for the neighborhood kids to play in, which of course, was a big hit.  I practically had to drag Bennett out of the engine--I think he would have liked to move in, actually.

Sydney:

She has done this since she was a baby--her tongue rests over her bottom teeth when she's sleeping.  It's so endearing to me.

Projects:

I cut the wood for these picture frames a couple years ago and FINALLY got them sanded and assembled and ready to gift this month.  I love finishing a project.  I'm so much better at starting projects than finishing them, so really.  Hurray for me for finishing one! 

Daphne in YW:

Daphne turned 12 at the end of August and was so excited to come home one night to find that her new Young Women's group, the Beehives, had heart attacked her room.

"Friday Family Fun Night":

Watching the laundry go in the new washer and dryer.  Entertainment at it's best.  And cleanest. ;)

Halloween Costume Construction:

Daphne got a jump on her costume this year.  She made about half of her Galadriel Costume.  In the end, we just couldn't find enough time we were both available to have her make the whole thing, so I finished it.  But she cut it out and sewed a lot of the major seam lines.  Go Daphne!

Lunar Eclipse/Red Moon:

Arthur got this picture through his telescope.  It looked pretty awesome!  Several friends and neighbors stopped by to look through the telescope as well.

Bennett:

I started a new project.  I'm trying to build a shelf.  And I told Bennett we were gonna go outside and cut and some wood.  So, he ran into the kitchen, retrieved a butter knife and came out to help me "cut the wood."  What a helper!

He also is really good at climbing onto any surface and finding forbidden items such as the SHARPEES! He gifted me this artwork on our newly painted kitchen cabinets.  At least the worse of it was on the inside.

Throw Pillows--more time than they deserved

Seems stupid to post about throw pillows, but they took a substantial part of my month of September. I'd go buy some and try them out, and then go buy some more and mix them up, and take back the rejects, get some new ones . . . It took FOREVER!  Just to update some stupid throw pillows.  Bennett was a trooper and made the best of the situation, finding the softest pillows on the aisle and lining his ride with them.  :)

But seriously, this is a big reason why my house is not decorated how I imagine on my pinterest boards.  I don't have time.  If it takes a MONTH to settle on a throw pillow ensemble, I don't have time.  Thus, I have concluded, that my house is not gonna look the way I imagine until all my kids are in school.  Hurray for finally coming to a throw pillow ceasefire, but I'm not decorating for another 5 years or so because I don't have time to make 7 trips to the store over throw pillows.