Peter's Birthday

This kid is now 7 Years old. I can't believe how quickly the time has zoomed by. He was awake at 5am, but we didn't let him open presents until 6:30. We are so incredibly blessed because Brandon is always able to take the day off work for birthdays. After spending most of the morning at home we went to get Peter's pictures taken at the mall (an annual tradition that counts as annual school pictures), and then to Chuck-E-Cheese's for lunch. It was a glouious day, this kid was happy, and he received many wonderful presents. Hopefully he will spend the next several months spending hours and hours playing with them.

Trying to be like Jesus

This is one of the Primary songs my boys are memorizing right now. This past week we were able to put the words of this song into action by sending a special treat to a new missionary at the MTC. He is the son of a great friend who lives in Minnesota. While I got busy making cinnamon rolls the boys colored pictures. It was fun to see them excited and I really loved Peter's drawing. He is at such an enjoyable kid right now.

Witches at Gardner Village

There is a really great homeschool group that goes on biweekly fieldtrips/hikes around utah county. This week they decided to go to Gardner Village. It just happened to work out that Brandon was able to take the day off work and come with us. That made it a super fun day. I loved going and the boys really enjoyed finding all the fun witches scattered throughout the shops. I would love to make this an annual October tradition for our little family.

Thomas Halloween Party

Every year we host a Halloween Party for the Thomas side. Sadly, every year I hardly get any pictures of the event. This year we played a game of clue using our family members and parts of our house. It lasted a little on the long side (about 90 minutes), but it was still fun. Hopefully soon Dad T. will be done editing our annual Thomas side Halloween picture and I can add it to this spot. This is the first year that I dressed up for Halloween in a long, long time.

Homeschool Halloween Party

We love getting together with good homeschool friends and having a party. This year we kept it pretty simple with Halloween Bingo, Pin the heart on the skeleton, and Sugar cookie decorating. We let the kids spend the rest of the time playing together. Everyone had a wonderful time, and I look forward to getting this group together soon for another party.

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

This year we coordinated a trip to Cornbelly's with my cousins on my mothers side. Sadly, the weather got a bit rainy on us. But, that didn't prevent us from doing as many of the activities as we could before we were completely soaked. It was the first year that we have taken the boys. Luke was absolutely thrilled with the Minion theme this year. He is obsessed with minions right now. I think it is overpriced so I doubt we will go again.

Our own hike in Provo

On Tuesday of this week I decided to take the boys up the canyon all by myself. I almost don't recognize myself for this new found "adventure" streak. We went up to Rock Canyon Park and had a very wonderful time being in the outdoors.

Our science lesson for the week was all about rocks, so we took our book along for the ride and learned first hand all about rocks. This canyon is amazing and I am so disappointed that I've never been there before now. There were plenty of little places to take "rest" breaks and I brought a blanket along so we could be comfortable while we studied.

My favorite part was just looking at all the natural beauty up there. We were lucky to go on a day that wasn't very busy at all and we only saw about 6 other people going up/down the trail. The boys thought it was awesome to climb around all the rocks. There was even one spot where they could yell and hear their own echo. They thought that area was the absolute best.

The view looking down from the start of the trail

Our first rest break

Wishing he would walk just a little bit more before resting again

They loved climbing this rock. I was trying to not be a freaked out mother about them climbing it.

We finally made it to the official sign

This kid - always needed a break

Nature at it's best

I am captivated by moss. This particular sight was incredible.

Drawing in our nature journal.

Our perfect little resting spot

On the way out of the park we came across a police barricade. Sadly, someone had passed away in the park while we were there, so the police officers were taking down name/contact info for everyone leaving the park. It left us in a somber mood, but I was able to have a frank and honest conversation with the boys about suicide on the way home. Strangely enough, on our hike up I was thinking that it was such a beautiful day that if you had to die it would be a wonderful day to do it. The temperature was perfect, the smell of the air was delightful, and the fluffy clouds were inspirational.