End of Summer Fun

Spencer started back at school with students last week, but being a teacher, he started the Tuesday before. So we thought it'd be nice to live it up during the last day of summer break. We took a gift card we've had forever over to Boondocks and had a little fun.


We took Lucy miniature golfing for the first time and she loved it! Mommy tried to show her how to use the club and she did pretty good but she preferred her own style.


She looked like a little Happy Gilmore the way she insisted on swinging the club.

It was also so funny how she would pick up our balls and set them down wherever we were standing for us to hit them. She would also just pick them up and put them in the cup.

Spencer was such a trooper - he held Sammy in the snugly the whole time - even while putting!


After mini-golf, we let Lucy play in the Kiddie Cove area they have.

She was reluctant at first but after she made it down this slide, she was hooked! What a fun place!

Sammy just got to hang out with Daddy and Mommy while Lucy ran around. I think all the people and noise was enough entertainment for him!

I love his expression in this photo!


I just love this picture and had to throw it in - Lucy loves Mickey and we found one of Spencer's ties with Mickey on it. She loved it and was just hamming it up!




Now that school has started for Spencer, Lucy has decided to give Sammy a few lessons too! Here she is instructing him on how to use his toy mat - so cute!

Straight from the Garden!

We attempted a small square foot garden this year with mixed results. The lettuce worked (but tastes kinda weird), the cucumbers are growing, and the tomatoes are doing great! Here's Lucy with our very first garden tomato! Spencer said it tasted great!


The spinach, peas, carrots, and onions didn't work so well. It's a good thing Spencer's better at remembering to water the garden, or we wouldn't have anything I'm afraid!

Oh, If I were a Pioneer!

The first week of August we had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Martin's Cove, Wyoming. This pretty picture is of the Sweetwater River.

When the pioneers came across the plains to Utah, one group, pulling handcarts, left too late and got caught in a blizzard. They ended up camping out here until rescuers came from Salt Lake.

This picture is taken back in the cove, a place surrounded on three sides by some rocky hills and on one side by a grassy hill. It was a very peaceful, beautiful place.

So why did we choose Martin's Cove of all places to vacation in? Because my Grandma and Grandpa Mac are serving a mission there! The first day we got there, in the evening, they took us on a tour of the cove in a little scooter. It was a lot of fun and so pretty and pleasant.

This is how Sammy spent a lot of his time on our vacation - in Grandma Great's arms! :)

Pictures never do sunsets justice - this was absolutely gorgeous in person!

The next day we did the tour of the little village they have set up. It is in buildings from the Sun Ranch Homestead. We learned about the history of the area and watched a little video.

We also took turns hauling each other and the kiddos around in a handcart. They have a little pathway - Prairie Park - that you can go on if you aren't up for the trek to the cove.

This was surprisingly easy at first. Then after, what? 100 yards?, it got hard. It's amazing to think that the pioneers did this for so long, in such yucky weather, and wearing all those yards of fabric! I'm so grateful they did though - this trip made me appreciate what they went through and made me realize that even though they had trials that seem hard, we do too - they just aren't as physical.

Lucy even got in on the handcart pushing! She helped Daddy go park it after we were done.

Here she is counting the bolts on our picnic table during lunch. So cute!

After a nice nap, we toured the fort. They have rebuilt it to be the same size as the original fort. They also had some different thing from the period you could explore like this buggy and the wagon Lucy is sitting on below.

When the pioneers got to the fort, it was abandoned so the food and supplies they were counting on were obviously not there. Then a group of teamsters came in behind them a few days later (one of which is my great-great-great-great grandpa). There were way too many people to fit in the fort so they went over to the cove to camp out until help arrived.

On the left side of this picture is Devil's Gate, a landmark the pioneers used. People think this was part of the trail they took, but the river goes through there and it is too skinny. They actually went where you see the road. It was a lot of fun to learn about the past, enjoy the beautiful area, and spend time with my grandparents.

Lucy especially loved that - she got so spoiled with Red Vines, taffy, and popcorn! Overall I'd say the trip was a great success! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Sammy 3 Months Old

He may look like a 6 month old but our little Sammy is 3 months old. He is such a happy, content baby!

He loves to chew on his fingers and sometimes suck his thumb. We would prefer he took a binky but he hasn't been too interested in one. That's probably our fault - we were trying to wean Lucy of hers at the time we would have given him one. Oh well! Hopefully he doesn't become a big thumb sucker.

Sammy loves to smile and giggle. When he gets really excited his whole body gets into it - he shrugs his shoulders and turns away kind of like he's shy. It's the cutest thing in the world!

We've been working on tummy time too - he likes it alright, as long as someone is there playing with him.

We weighed him on our wii fit and it said he's 18.1 lbs. He's already starting to move into 6-9 month clothes. I think I may need to get him a different Halloween costume - the one I have for him is 3-6 months. Definitely not going to fit him 2 1/2 months from now! We sure love having this little butterball in our lives!

Summertime and the Livin's Easy :)

We have been thoroughly enjoying our summer. Here are a few shots of what we've been up to lately.

We love having Spencer home for the summer. He is such a great daddy and loves to read to the kiddos. I love Lucy's expression here. I wish I could remember what she was saying!

Here's Lucy cooking her toy fish in one of the nightgowns I made her. This was attempt number 2. It was too small. Attempt number 1 was too big. Attempt number 3? It was ok. I'm no longer attempting. Next time I'll use a pattern! She wore it once and then in storage it went. Hopefully we'll have another girl one day!

My beautiful kids hanging out on my bed while we fold laundry.

A few weeks ago our neighborhood playgroup went to the Gale Center in West Jordan. It is a pioneer museum and a children's museum. And most impressively - it's free! Lucy had a blast fishing off the bridge, shopping in the general store (no pic), and learning to use the telegraph machine (see below).

Last summer my dad rescued this slide and this summer he got Lucy this cute little swimming pool. Spencer had the great idea to play with them together one afternoon. Lucy had fun making all her toys go around it, a la lazy river. Then she had fun sliding them down it. I love the cute smile she's showing off below. We have to show her how to do this if we don't want to see everything that's in her mouth! :)

Here's what Sammy was doing while Lucy was swimming. So cute! :)

Lucy's been taking driving lessons! Just kidding! She was helping clean out the car - one of the many things on our summer to do list. Hmmm.... only one week left and there's still a few things left undone on it. Better stop blogging and get to it!

Sammy showing off his gorgeous smile after one of his very necessary baths. Having big chubby babies during the hottest months of the year makes daily baths a necessity.

Ward Campout

Over the 24th of July, we had our ward campout up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was beautiful up there and it was so nice to have it so close to home.

Lucy loved playing with the other little girls in the ward. They thought this rock was the greatest thing ever.

This shirt Sammy is wearing says "Happy Camper." I thought it was pretty appropriate :). It was a lot of fun to just sit and visit with everyone. We set up camp, explored the area, made dinner with everyone, had s'mores and a campfire sing-a-long. While we were exploring, Lucy pointed to the trees and made the sign for bear. I said, "there's a bear?" and she said yes and then put her finger to her lips to be quiet and said "sleeping." Apparently we needed to be quiet because there was a sleeping bear in the tree! Funny kid! I guess we watch a bit too much Winnie the Pooh!

Later that night, Spencer brought out the telescope. Everyone loved looking at the moon and later that night Spence checked out Jupiter (everyone else was asleep, including me, so no pictures of that!). We were a bit worried about how the kiddos would do in the tent, especially after last year, but they were awesome!

Lucy actually told us she wanted to go to bed and Sammy fell asleep not long afterward. He woke up once about 5 am but fell back asleep after I feed him until morning. We had a great time and look forward to doing this again next year!