Grandeur Peak

I absolutely love the fall as the leaves are changing. We had a beautiful Saturday morning hiking Grandeur Peak.

At the summit

Hansens

This is Michael smiling for me... it needs a little work, but it's a step in the right direction. I have dozens of pictures of his back because when I would pull out the camera he would run away.

Mount Olympus

So we had this wonderful idea to go on a hike last Saturday. Johnn and I had both already done our workouts for the morning so we thought we would just take on something simple...

Then we somehow decided to hike Mt Olympus. Lets just say that we were and are still a little sore.

I have hiked this mountain a dozen times, but that was in high school & college, you know, way back in the day. We used to hike it for sunrise then run down in under 3 hours then go to school. It is a very different hike carrying a 2 year old. Thanks to my wonderful hubby for taking on that task.

It was absolutely gorgeous, but I forgot how steep that hike is. It took us 5 hours.

Mikey was actually amazing. He didn't walk very far but that was mostly our fault. He probably would walk half of it, but going Mikey pace, it would be a two day hike.

Mikey loved picking leaves off the trees and eating the snow up top. When he got fussy about 3/4 the way up, Johnn put a movie on his phone for him and he was so happy. Pretty posh hiking right? Get carried up with a blankie and a movie.

I highly recommend this hike to anyone willing to take on the 6 1/2 miles. However, I would leave the kid behind.

Silver Lake

Okay, so here's the deal. Johnn and I have this tradition where we go up to Silver Lake every fall when the leaves are changing. It is always gorgeous up there & Mikey loves the "wa-wa", aka the lake. You know when you have a great plan, but it just doesn't turn out the way you expected. So here's what happened. We were enjoying the beautiful drive up Big Cottonwood Canyon, and were seriously 1 minute from the parking lot for the lake when Mikey threw up everywhere. That's right, not just the spit up but the projectile vomiting that just keeps coming and coming to the point where you wonder how that much stuff could come out of such a little person. Have I grossed you out yet? Michael apparently gets car sick like his mommy. I'm just glad that Johnn was there because there's not much you can do to help a child throwing up in the back seat while you are driving, and with his quick thinking, he was able to catch a lot of it in the towel that we keep under his car seat, which now has a new purpose. My plan was to take some cute pictures of Mikey by the lake, but instead he ran around like this.

That's right. You gotta love the diaper and sandals look. I swore to myself that I would never be one of those moms that took her kid places in only a diaper (if any of you reading this do, I am sorry, but don't). I now understand that there are certain circumstances where you don't have any other option. I didn't have an extra set of clothes since we are past the blowout and spill allover when we eat stage. We washed out his clothes in the bathroom sink and used the car windshield to dry them off. The good thing is after a half an hour they were dry enough to put back on & we were able to enjoy our walk around the lake fully clothed. And I was still able to get some good pictures.

Jackson Century Celebration Reunion

Last weekend was the big Jackson Family Reunion up at the Heber Girls Camp property. I had never been there, but for a camp, it's about as posh as you can get. The weather was dreamy and the leaves were beautiful. It was fun to see several of my cousins and second cousins that I don't see very often and meet some extended family that I didn't know. Each family branch got different colored shirts and hats. Gotta love that we got the bright orange. It was so appropriate for my Grandpa's family. I think they will be great to have up at our cabin to wear during hunting season. We have some pretty hideous, white trash orange tank tops that we got from Walmart up there now.

The Miller girls on our hike. We were sad that Alli & Nats couldn't be there.

The kiddies

Andrea and Meggers

Our little hikers. That's Mikey in the lead. He led the whole way and did the whole hike all by himself. This was a first. I am so glad that he is going to be a hiker. He loved every minute of it.

Papa and the girls

Mikey absolutely loved it up there. I spent hours chasing him around all the trails through the camps.

Playing with cousins in the pavilion.

Playing in the bunk houses.

Weekend in Wyoming

We had another fun weekend up in Wyoming, this time with the Hansens. I love the cabin this time of year as the leaves are starting to turn. It is so beautiful. We had fun four-wheeling, playing with the kids on the playground, doing puzzles, watching movies, and relaxing.

Josh, Amy, and Jaxson

My Boys

Utah Sate Fair

We had such a fun day out at the fairgrounds. The kids loved the animals and the rides. The little farm that they had was so cute. Michael loved planting seeds and riding on the John Deere tricycle. He couldn't reach the pedals, but that didn't stop him. The deep fried foods didn't temps us, but my fair favorites are the frozen lemonade and the kettle corn.

Zoo Babies

Okay so for those of you who haven't been to the zoo this summer, you need to go. With my zoo pass (thanks Chris) we go at least twice a week. This summer has been so fun with all the baby animals. The elephant is just about the cutest little thing ever. We watched her roll in the mud and push around the ball this morning at her debut, and it wasn't crowded at all. We also love the three tiger cubs, baby snow leopard, and the baby giraffe. Michael loves all the animals, but climbing on the statues and hanging on the railings are probably his favorite part.

Labor Day Weekend in McCall

I would like to tell you that you do not want to go to McCall because I don't want it to get too popular for selfish reasons, but it's simply too wonderful to pass up. Did I mention that it's an 8 HOUR drive from Salt Lake, maybe that will scare you away. When Lindsay invited us to their gorgeous cabin, we didn't hesitate for an instant. It is absolutely worth an 8 hour drive, even with a toddler, and those of you parents know that is saying a lot. We had such a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Here are a few pictures of their amazing cabin, Linds I hope you don't mind. The woodwork is amazing & the staircase is my favorite. I also love the humongous trees surrounding the cabin.

My favorite thing to do is to bike the 19 1/2 miles around the lake.

Mikey would have been happy to stay and play on the Ranger the whole time. It was definitely his favorite.

It is so nice to have the boat at their dock so we could go and ski whenever we wanted. The water was a little chilly for my preference around 65 degrees, but you could get decent water almost any time of the day, so it was a fair trade-off.

Mikey loves the "wa-wa" as he calls it.

Our first morning in McCall we went to the Pancake House for breakfast. Andy and Lindsay ordered a sweet roll with their meals, not expecting it to be so large. "I believe I ordered the LARGE sweet roll, Hello!" Thanks guys for a wonderful weekend.

Lake Powell- take 2

So starting this year, we will be going to Lake Powell in both May & August every year instead of rotating between the two. I know what you are thinking... what a rough life. This second trip was quite different this year because the water was choppy most of the time, so we did very little skiing & we spent a lot of time in the water because of the heat.

My boys

Mikey's favorite thing is to push people off the back of the houseboat. Thanks to all of the good sports for letting him push them in over and over again.

Michael is warming up to tubing. He holds your arm against him while he goes to feel safer. I think he is still a little afraid since our near tumble in Flaming Gorge.

The Aqua Roller= a workout.
We had so much fun with our new toy. It definitely looks easier than it is. Camie and I hold the record for 5 rolls in a row.

Johnn and me on the wave runner. Johnn had fun trying to throw me off. We don't own wave runners, so having one this year was quite the novelty. We all had so much fun.

The ladies dragging

"Double, No Triple, Knee Boarding!"

I love that the little boys made hats out of the empty boxes. Who needs to buy actual toys?

Todd eating it while surfing behind the wave runner.

Johnn- high speed dragging. I think he looks like a superhero.

We had such a fun trip & are glad to say that no babies were born on the houseboat. Becky was 36 weeks pregnant and has always come early. We welcomed baby Lily just a few days ago.

Also, my favorite quote of the trip, little Kylie came up to me while I was laying out on top of the boat & tapped me on the shoulder and said very concerned,

"Monica, you're getting very white!"

I asked her if she meant I was getting red, as in burnt, but she said again, "No, your getting very white right there (pointing to my stomach where I had my tankini pulled up)".

I just love how kids can be brutally honest.

Bear Lake with the Hansens

Okay, so believe it or not, Johnn and I had never been to Bear Lake. Shocker huh! So we were very excited when our good friends Josh and Amy invited us up for the weekend.


First night there at the rodeo. It was very entertaining, even though most of the participants didn't do too well. My favorite part was the horde of kids chasing the calf trying to get the ribbon off his tail but were too afraid to grab it when they got close.


We stayed at the Shaw's cabin, which was very nice of them to take us in as strangers, & Michael thought that their riding lawn mower was pretty cool. The best part was that when we got home he tried to ride on our regular lawn mower. It was hilarious!


Me & Michael



Jaxson & Michael on the 4-wheeler. Doesn't that look like a happy face? Michael does not like getting his picture taken. We just tried to get his picture taken at Kiddie Kandids and it was a joke.


The boys picking fresh raspberries. The raspberry shakes at Bear Lake, I would say, definitely lived up to my expectations.


Michael


Jaxson


With how low the water is, you would go in up to your knees for a few feet, then back to your ankles before it started getting deeper. It was perfect for the little ones.


Josh & Amy... going, going, gone!


Thanks Hansens for such a fun trip.

Flaming Gorge

Okay so I am finally posting pictures a month later, but that's what happens when you are busy moving and don't have internet. Anyways, we had a blast with the Miles family up at Flaming Gorge over the 24th of July. I could not believe how high the water was. Your legs dragged in the water on the rope swing and most of our beach was underwater. We had a great time. The kids did a lot of tubing and playing with these great dump trucks. We definitely need to get Michael one for his birthday. Johnn had school so he met us up there half way through. Without him there I didn't take very many pictures.

Living the High Life

We had such a fun 4th of July weekend up at the cabin. The weather was perfect and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. We had a blast 4-wheeling, hiking, making smores around the bonfire, playing games, and simply hanging out together. We were so glad that the Elggrens were able to drive over for the weekend now that they live in Colorado. We are looking forward to more cabin adventures with them now that they are not as far away.

The hikers- Notice there is no Johnn in the picture. He stayed back at the cabin to do homework. Sorry honey, but I am proud of you for going back to school to get your MBA.

Cute CJ and Brooke

We had such a nice walk over in the national forest, which borders the back of our property. The kids collected every different kind of flower that they found to look up in Nanny's flower book. They are getting to be pretty good with a lot of the names, probably better than I am at it already. The picture with my parents and the tree is what they did for their wedding announcements when they got married. I wish that I had a copy of it, because it was so cute.

The Whitmores

Michael loves 4-wheeling. I love that he will climb up on them and make engine noises. He is such a boy. He Just learned how to push that gas, which he is super excited about. I also love that he grabs your arm to hold around him.

4-wheeling pictures. The bigger one on the bottom left of the Elggrens is where they came in and clearcut the forrest a few years ago. It's so sad to see when you know just how beautiful it used to be, but new trees are starting to grow. For now there are just a bunch of cows there that the kids like to chase.

I just thought this was so cute. Nanny took Michael out on a 4-wheeler ride and he fell asleep while they were going. It was his only nap for the day since he refuses to sleep when there are fun things going on. The poor little guy gets so tired, but he cannot miss a minute of being at his favorite place.

Somethimes I just don't know how I ever functioned without a digital camera. We were trying really hard to get a good picture of the three little ones (Michael, Noah, and Claire), but I seriously took 30+ pictures trying to get one. I couldn't imagine having to pay to get a role of film developed only to end up with a few good pictures. These are a few of my favorites. Michael kept taking his hat on and off, Noah was worried about protecting his can, and Claire was more interested in everything else around her than looking at the camera. They definitely are cute little cowboys, even though we never got a picture with all three smiling at the same time. I might need to try a little photoshop magic, but they tell the story this way.

This Is the Place Heritage Park

The train is one of our favorites.

Petting zoo- Michael definitely isn't as shy with the animals & cute Tyler just had to pick all of them up.

Pony rides- Michael did much better this time around. Last time he would not even get on the pony, but this time he wanted he rode and even wanted to go again.

Playing in the schoolhouse

Moab... yes again!

Moab twice within a month, what a rough life we have. We definitely have a vacation packed summer where it's rare to be home for a full week at a time. We have been having so much fun playing. This time we went back down to Moab with the Miles clan. We were sad that half of us couldn't make the trip due to a funeral, knee surgery, and a biopsy- all not fun things, but we still had a fun time. This was Johnn's parents first time to Moab. No joke. Pretty amazing that you can live in Utah for so long & not see Moab. It's almost like living here and having never gone skiing. We were more than happy to show them around.

Dead Horse point

Canyonlands




Michael loved the big sand dune. Johnn carried him most of the way up, but he could have walked up the whole thing. He kept going up and down. He loved finding rocks to throw and crushing clumps of sand in his hands. Plus we got to act like kids too. We had jumping contests and Johnn had fun jumping over our kid.



Fun in the hot tub.


Mill Creek trail. It was a fun short hike that I have never done before. They loved crossing the river and Richard and Miles enjoyed cliff jumping at the waterfall. It was a great hike to do with the kids on a hot day while the guys went biking.


The group, minus me, at Landscape Arch- longest standing arch in the world.


Playing at Sand Dune Arch


Our picnic area in Arches was great. You can't really see the tables, but they were right under this cave in the wall. Someone before us had dug out holds in the rock so the boys, and Michael, just had to go up and check it out.


Delicate Arch, always a favorite.

Buzz Lightyear Ride- Disneyland

So I was checking my e-mail & remembered that I sent our Buzz pictures at the ride. Yes I look serious, but check out my score. That's right, I slaughtered Johnn. Take that honey ;) Mikey loved moving the joystick so we would turn all over the place. I think we went on the ride 5 times since the line was always short & the kids (and the adults) loved it.

Newport Beach 2009

Michael loved the beach. I was hoping that we would be past the eating sand point this year, but nope, he still likes it... crazy kid. He also almost always has a car or truck... or in this case a bus... in his hands. He loves pushing cars around making noises & I now have a train that I'm pretty sure will always have sand in it. He could play on the beach all day long and be in heaven.

Sunday afternoon at the tide pools

I love Nats & Dave's belly pictures and can't wait to meet the little one due in October. There is also a picture of Andrea above feeding Meg at sunset, it's just to pretty not to post so forgive me. Also above, CJ and Brooke swing dancing on the beach. Aren't they cute!

Fun in the sand. We enjoyed a full week on the beach, minus one day that we went to Disneyland. I didn't take my camera so I will post Disneyland pictures once I acquire some from everyone else. Michael loved all the rides. Talk about a great family vacation. I love the time we spend there all together as a family. It is so fun to get to spend time with the Elggrens since they live out of state. They, however, moved from Arizona to Colorado last week. Although it's not next door, we are excited to have them a few hours closer and are looking forward to meeting them at the cabin over the 4th.
The kids enjoyed catching crabs and jumping the waves. We also had fun rollerblading and biking on the boardwalk, boogie boarding, gaming, and simply relaxing.

Newport Temple on Sunday. Notice my little fam is not in any of the pictures? Michael fell asleep in the car on the way there and Johnn stayed with him. He never minds having a good excuse to get out of pictures.

Miller Family Photo Session

My Super 90 Year Old Grandma

Tomorrow is my dear Grammy's 90th birthday. Talk about an amazing woman who has lived an amazing life. She is the youngest 90 year old that I have ever know. She is so sharp and definitely knows what she likes... and what she does not like, and isn't afraid to tell you exactly that. I am so lucky to get to work with her. We do the books together for my Dad's office and always have a great time. She loves numbers, chocolate, and naming all of her grandkids (little family joke).
We all got together and threw her a little party last night. It was so fun to see my cousins that I rarely see and to watch some old family videos of when my Dad was just a little boy & of my grandparents BBQing in the sweetest fifties attire. Miss you dearly Papa Hack.

The Miller cousins with the birthday girl.

At the end of our Happy Birthday song she stopped us all and said, " none of you can say 'and many more'". It's her party so we obayed, but I hope that there are many more birthdays to come.

Grammy with her four boys.

She let the great-grand kids help her blow out the candles. Just a little side note, look how cute little Ellie looks (far right) with her new haircut. She decided to cute it herself the day before so it's a good thing we have a hair stylist in the family.

Memorial Weekend in Moab

We had such a blast in Moab for our annual Miller family Memorial trip. The weather was ideal, slightly overcast most of the time, perfect for hiking. We did have a couple short downpours, but we timed them almost right, I say almost because we had quite an adventure crossing the street to the diner. We hiked to Corona Arch, Delicate Arch, Sand Dune Arch (not that I would call that one a hike), and went up Negro Bills Canyon. We also went over to take in the beautiful views at Canyonlands. It was a great long weekend, and I was so proud of all the kids for being such good hikers. We can't wait to go back nect month with the Miles clan.

This Is the Place

Michael loved playing in the little village

Whitney loved the pony ride, Michael however, wouldn't have anything to do with it. Cute Mindy is having her second little girl this Tuesday.

Kenna & Kylie

Riding the train

Michael with the 100+ baby chicks- it was so fun to see and pet all the new baby animals.