A weekend at Sundance

Last weekend which was the last weekend for "good weather" we decided to take a scenic ride up the ski lift at Sundance. This was so much fun, I recommend everyone doing this. The kids loved it. It was as much peaceful as it was beautiful. The leaves on the trees were in full color.
The ride was 45 minutes round trip, which was perfect for the kids. Even Ty enjoyed the ride.

No wiggling Ty! Mommy gets nervous if the ski lift swings at all.

Here we go.... UP, UP and UP!

Fall Soccer Season comes to an end...

Fall Soccer Season has come to an end. This year was Aunika's first year playing on a team. Uncle Marcos was her coach. I was surprised that she wanted to play this year when I asked her. I didn't think she would be interested, but was. To my surprise she actually played each game. To be honest, I thought she would sit in the middle of the field and pick dandelions.
Didn't make a goal this year, but made good effort. GO AUNIKA!!

This year was Hayden's 3rd year playing. He did great! He just comes alive once he steps onto the field. This Fall season was quite a step up from last season. He played with older kids that had more experience in the game, which was good for Hayden to be challenged more. Great Job Hayden!!

Labor Day down South!

This year for Labor Day we headed for St. George. .We love being able to escape down to Mom and Dad's house for a little fun and much needed R & R. We did lots of shopping, swimming, hiking and more shopping. The sales down at the outlets were wonderful. I can never seem to pass up a good deal!

Whenever we go to St. George the kids love hiking, especially Hayden. He just loves climbing all over the red rock down there. We do the same hike each time we go and it never gets old to Hayden. We were going to try and take the kids to Zions National Park that weekend, but they had some rock slides or mud slides a few days before which closed down some of the trails. I guess it gives us another excuse to go again.

I'm a V.I.P. .........

I am a little bit behind in updating the blog.
Aunika started preschool earlier this month. She is attending the very best preschool ever. It is is called the VIP Preschool. She loves it!! Her favorite thing to do at school is color and sing all the fun songs. She also loves attending with her best friend, cousin Addy. This may not be a good thing for her teachers. In fact, she came home just last week and both her and Addison were telling me how they both got new seats. They went on to say that they are the only ones that got new seats. Now instead of sitting next to each other on the same table, they are on seperate tables. They thought this was so COOL! I thought, oh no my first call from the teacher should be happening very soon.

Our camping trip

Ty loved camping. He just loves riding the 4-wheelers and sleeping in the trailer didn't bother him a bit. It's like the "love" for camping is just born in some.

Daddy and the kid's tee-pee that they made at camp.

Dirt, Dirt and more Dirt......

This last weekend we took the kids camping. We took the trailer and 4-wheelers and headed to Skyline Drive up Spanish Fork Canyon. Camping for our family is always an adventure. It has taken all summer for Raul to get me camping. And I did it, because Raul and the kids LOVE IT! Isn't it funny the things we do just for the memories. My kids still remember some of the things we did and some of the things we saw years ago while camping.

1st Grade Jitters

Hayden started First Grade this last week. He loves it. What a relief!!!! After last year's experience with going into Kindergarten, I had to mentally prepare myself for the school year again. For those of you who don't know about the experience last year, let me fill you in. The first 2 weeks of Kindergarten last year was a nightmare. Hayden has an extreme case of anxiety. It seemed to hit its peak when he had to leave mom's side and venture off to school all alone. I will never forget the FEAR he had each morning when I dropped him off. The first two weeks he had to spend with the school counselor. He then finally quit crying and gained courage in himself and trust in his teacher to know that school was okay after all.

So after spending all summer with me, I just assumed it would be a hard transition back into school. So...... we counted down the days to 1 st grade, and talked about it each day. The day finally came and it happens that I was the only one with the tears and anxiety. Hayden jumped out of the car upon arriving. He jumped out so fast I had to yell for my kiss and hug. Then he went running into his classroom. I just sat in the car, wondering what had just happened. Such a different experience than last year!

In all of this, our family has grown. For weeks, Hayden has prayed in our family prayers at night to help him to be brave and strong when school starts. It has been neat for Hayden to see his prayers be answered.

4 LONG Weeks........

We finally finished cherries after 4 long weeks. This year seemed as if it would never end. This was the first year that Raul got to work the day shift. That part of the harvest was very nice. Although, I decided to work the night shift. Which most days I had to wonder if this was a good idea. The kids absolutely love it when cherry harvest rolls around each year. The family activities and all daily routine's come to an end. There is usually a lot less patience around the house. Is that possible? But still after all that.... the kids love cherry harvest. I think what the kids like most about the harvest is the time they get to spend with grandparents, aunts and cousins!!!

1st Swimming Trip

We went swimming as a family last night. First swimming trip of the year, this making it Ty's very 1st swimming trip. I wondered how Ty would take the whole experience. I was actually surprised. As I climbed down the stairs into the water, it was cold enough that I wanted to cry at first. But not Ty...... He just smiled. He loved it. Hayden has gotten a lot braver in the last year. He used to cry every time water would get splashed into his eyes.

Happy Birthday Aunika!!!!

We celebrated Aunika's 4th B-day yesterday! We all gathered at mom's house last night where we had a little party for her. We had Aunika's favorite cake (Kim's Chocolate Cake) and Ice cream. Then, to top it off... she received some gifts from her cousins, Aunts and Uncles, and Grandma and Grandpa. Aunika says thanks to everyone.

We got Aunika a new bike after her's got ran over by the Durango when I was backing out of the garage. Very important lesson learned that day for both Aunika and I.

My kids just love this Chocolate cake that Kim at Daycare would make. Aunika calls it the "black cake". Thanks for the recipe Kim! It almost looks like Hayden is most excited.

Thanks for coming to the party cousin Addison.

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We started off our Holiday with riding 4-wheelers in the canyon above Levan. Beautiful country down there. The kids absolutely love riding the bikes, including Ty. Then, we finished the day off with going and seeing a movie with our friends the Dickies. Daddy and the kids went and saw "Transformers" (for the 2nd time), and Dayna and I went and saw "The Proposal".

Great Day! God Bless those that keep our Country safe so we can enjoy the freedoms that we have.

Temple Trip.......

On Friday night we had the chance to take the kids and Garrett up to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was a neat experience for the kids to see inside the temple, especially for Hayden and Garrett. While in the temple I got separated from the rest of the family. I stopped to use the restroom thinking Raul and the kids would keep moving slowing with the line. When I came out of the restroom I didn't see any of the family. I waited for a minute, but still didn't see any of them. I asked one of the usher's helping families with strollers onto the elevator if by chance she had seen my husband with 4 small kids and a maroon stroller get on the elevator. She said, "not that I can recall". She then proceeded to take me on the elevator to the second floor to look for them. Long story.............. short. I took the entire tour of the temple by myself, why the family continued to wait for me to come out of the restroom. I was worried how Raul would be handling 4 small children and a stroller, and he was worrying if I was okay in the bathroom. Needless to say, Raul had security looking for me. Which they did find me just as I was finishing my tour. I then proceeded to ask the kids what they thought of the tour. They all looked at me and said we haven't been on it yet. Oh, I felt so bad. But, thanks to Raul making friends with the temple workers they helped put us back in line where the family had left off.

This was not exactly the impression that I set out to make by visiting the temple. However, I think the kids enjoyed the experience and the feeling of peace as they were inside the Lord's House.

Run, Run, Run!

Tonight was Hayden's last game of T-ball for the season. He sure enjoyed it and looked forward to each game. He had Keith Richards as his coach, and he did a wonderful job with the kids.

Fun at the lake!

This weekend we got to spend the evening at Payson Lakes. We did a little Barbecuing and a little fishing. We are good at the barbecuing, the fishing............ not so much.

Hayden kept saying, "come daddy the people next to us have caught some fish, why can't we?"
Truth is Hayden, we just don't have the luck when it comes to fishing!! We sure have fun pretending though.

Well, Maybe it is because they are using a pole and not a stick.

The kids thought they were for sure going to catch something with their long pointed sticks.

Put me on my tummy......

Put me on my tummy and watch me roll.

I'm doing it...... almost there!

DID IT!!!!

Ty is extremely happy with his accomplishment!!

Nothing but Smiles, most of the time.

Fathers Day Adventures!

With this weekend being Fathers Day we let Daddy decide what he wanted to do. First choice was to go camping, 2nd choice was to go 4-wheeling for the day. I gladly went with the second choice. We loaded up the barbecue and bikes and headed for "Little Moab" out East of Elberta.

Daddy grilled up some really good Carne Asada.



Hayden loves riding his bike on the little bunny hills and any mud puddle he can find.

At camp Raul found that someone had left behind there rock climbing/repelling equipment. It was all hooked up and ready to go. He tested it and decided, "why not". I had plenty of reasons "why not". No experience being one.

Well, he found that he loved Rock Climbing and went up and down the hillside all afternoon.

While riding, Raul found a snake in the middle of the road. He could not resist, he had to pick him up and come back to camp to show everyone. The kids immediately assumed he were taking him home with us. I said absolutely not. They were lucky enough to have "buster". Well, the kids started crying when I told daddy to take the snake back where he found it. I found myself getting into a long discussion about how daddy had taken the snake away from his family and they would be sad with out him. Then daddy just had to add that he did look identical to "buster" and that it must be his older brother. That means his family is already at our home. This did not help! Needless to say, I gave daddy the eye and away he went to take this long ugly thing back where he came from!

This weekend was filled with one adventure to the next.

Hope you had a great Fathers Day!

Thanks for being the Best Daddy!

Are You Serious!!!

"Are you Serious" , Those were the words that came out of my sweet wifes's mouth, when Hayden and I brought this uninvited pet into our home. We sure had to do a lot of sweet talking to keep Buster (the snake) around. He currently has no choice but to stay next to the Honda Accord in the garage. Buster better hope that he and my wife can become friends or it'll be a long cold winter in the garage!!
We sure love and appreciate everything that my wife does for us and puts up with (I'm trying to help you out here Buster).
We have had Buster now for a couple of months he is a fun pet and the kids sure enjoy him, Hayden especially. Hayden just had to have a snake and their was no giving up. They really do make great and easy pets. Thanks TK.