Keaton starts school!

Our little Keaton started Kindergarten this year. He was totally ready and counting down the days. The girls and I walked him to school on his first day. He was not nervous or scared at all until I turned to leave....the I saw a tiny tear. I hurried out before I broke down. Savannah had no shame she bawled like a baby :) Keaton is in Mrs. B's class. He really loves her.


He insisted on wearing his Lego Star Wars shirt and picked his friends by who commented on his shirt (except for the little girl he said liked it, "that was just awkward Mom"....oh boy's). Keaton love's school and is a good student. I was a little worried since most of the other kids had some kind of pre-school but Keaton is right up to snuff with all the other kids. I also thought he would be a head taller then all the kids....he is up there but there is even one boy that has a good couple inches and 15 pounds on Keaton. He is pretty tall for his age so that was surprising! Savannah cried the whole time he was gone. "MOOOOOMMMM we HAVE to go FIND Keaton!" She was pretty sure he was not coming back :) Of course we are all pretty excited to walk and pick him up....3 hours is a long time!

Boulder Cave

We are really loving hiking up here. Everything is so lush, green, and shady it makes for a lovely FREE Saturday activity. We had heard about this Boulder Cave hike from a number of people so we figured we needed to go check it out. At the top of the hike there is a big "bat cave" that was made by the river. It goes straight through. In the middle it is pitch dark so trust me you need more then one little pencil flashlight for 5 people...sigh. I guess it wasn't too traumatic for the kids though because they wanted to go right back through again! Here is Lee and the kids at the end of the cave.

This is right before we went through the cave (sorry all the pics are in backwards order). You can see Tessa really enjoys hiking too!

There is a waterfall up here before the cave. There is a sign that says stay on trail we saw afterwards. I am sure the other 59 people hiking up to it didn't see the sign either :)
Savannah chose to ride after a little bit. Her little legs got tired.
This tree stump made the perfect chair. Please, please, note Annie has started to pick out her own clothes. I have given up fighting about it....sigh. Gotta choose my battles with this one. We can't wait to do it again. Maybe when Aunt Amara comes next month?

Silver Falls- Mt. Rainier

Nope, I am not THAT far behind. We took these just a couple weeks ago on Mt Rainier they still had quite a bit of snow! We went on a hike our friends told us about and couldn't resist getting into the snow!

The far peak is Mt. Rainier. It is so lovely up there. It made me feel like the Swiss Alps, not that I have ever been to the Swiss Alps but it was what I thought of :)
The rest of the pictures were taken on our hike. We realize now that the friends that told us about this "easy, family friendly hike" were in much better shape then us. They also told us it was easier then Doughnut Falls. We are thinking they have never been to Doughnut Falls either :). We didn't get up there until 4. I didn't pack snacks or water. It was mostly up hill or down hill and 3 miles. It had to be the most BEAUTIFUL hike I have ever been on. It really made me fall in love with Washington even more.

This was Lee and Keaton on the trail. Savannah had to be carried a lot of the way down. She did pretty great on the way up though!

This is the river coming off the falls. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is really prettier then a postcard!

This is the falls. I should have taken a video! It was so LOUD and majestic!

Here are the kids and I at another falls along the trail..also, lovely!

This is how Annie rode most of the way. By the time we got to the bottom her bum was soaked in Lee's sweat....yuck.

Here is the kids and I at the start of the hike. It was all just breathtaking. Every 10 feet was a photo op!

Annie and Keaton at the visitors center at the base of the campground. There is also a LOVELY campground that we need to talk the Jonsson's into coming up to!

Pretty washed out but I LOVE the wild ferns growing all over. We are loving hiking as a family and exploring the Pacific Northwest!

Temples!

7 Years ago Lee and I started our forever family at the Salt Lake Temple. Fast Forward and we have a 2 year old that is head over heels for Princesses (please note she doesn't like tv so it is not from movies but from a set of tiny princess books our friends gave her). When we started talking about Temples she picked up that it was Heavenly Fathers Castle. If any friend is missing from church or playgroup she tells me they went to the Temple to get married. She always wants to see the picture of Lee and I where I was a "princen" and married Daddy.

Imagine how excited she was when we took her there to see it close up. It was better then Disneyland for our little lady :)Lee and I decided that we would try to take a family picture when we were near a Temple.

Lee also wanted to go on top of the Church Office Building. What a view!

This was the spot Lee proposed to me. Savannah was interested in that too. Not too many years that we can get sentimental and blame Annie!

My cute guys together (best friends).

Draper Temple. Annie was mad about something. I am thankful for Temples. Not just because I got to be a "princen" and marry my prince all those years ago,but also because I get to be with these guys FOREVER!

Utah part 2

Oh, there were so many fun things we did that we didn't get a picture of. From pure brain dead to a dead battery I didn't do so well. One thing I regret not getting a picture of was our time in Vernal. Lee's Mom played with the kids outside with squirt guns. Everyone came in soaked. What a great picture that would have been. This picture of Annie is sadly the only picture of our hike up to Doughnut Falls (not to mention our only picture of camping).
This is little Tessa sporting the new swim suit Aunt Meesh brought for her. If there is one thing my kids can't get enough of it is swimming!
This is at the Dino Museum in Lehi. Lee had never been. My Dad's neighbor gave us some tickets. Keaton and Lee loved it. Lee has since referred to things they learned there a number of times in teaching Keaton things.
Here is the kids and I at the Dino museum. As you can plainly see Tessa adored the Dino Museum :)
We also got to go to Hoggle Zoo with cousins. As you can see Keaton and Kai loved the Carosel. Savannah went on with Amara. She only loved it when it was over.
Keaton loved the Dinos they had displayed there. His cousins Katie and Maggie were not so sure.
Man, we did a lot of stuff :) Here is our evening at Wheeler Farm. My friend Dana was taking Meesha's kids pictures so we just hung out. Nothing better on the trip then my parents helping with Tessa and the kids ;)
Here is my Mama and the girls feeding the ducks. Annie and Brinlee are pretty good friends :)