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.