May 2012
Hailee graduated from preschool. Her preschool was just a bunch of moms taking turns teaching it at their houses, but we all loved it! I love it when it was my turn to teach, I really enjoy teaching and had fun coming up with things to learn and do. Hailee loved going to different people's houses (some more than others!) Spencer and Alyssa loved when it was at our house because they got to come too!
We had a graduation bbq and a little program at the park and they each had a speaking part to tell us about their favorite animal. Hailee chose a unicorn. They also did the pledge, some abc's and sang some songs.
This was also the month of Hailee's final Dance Revue! I think she enjoyed dance but she refuses to admit to it. It was like pulling teeth to get her there every week yet she always walked out happy as could be! The last week of practice she let me know that she was NOT doing dance anymore after the performance. Her teacher thinks she is probably more of a performer...and after seeing her that night I believe it! She did a great job and was so excited to be there. She didn't want me to buy any professional pictures of her or her class, which is fine-saves me a few bucks, and she isn't very easy to convince to smile in front of a camera!
When the show was over and we were in the car driving away, I asked her if she wanted to do dance again. She asked if she could perform again, we told her yes but that she would have to go to classes first to practice...she decided it wasn't worth it!
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Alisha and Cousin Sydney for coming down to watch the show!
We chose this month to go on vacation because we wanted to take advantage of our national park pass before it expired, and more importantly so that I wouldn't be hot and uncomfortable while we hiked around!
We left on Thursday night and drove to Richfield (the nearest town to Bryce with an indoor pool) The kids LOVED it! We went swimming as soon as we got there and again in the morning before we left...that was probably the highlight of their trip and of course I didn't bring a camera to the pool!
On Friday we drove to Bryce on our way in we had to stop and wait for almost 1/2 hour (felt like I was in Yellowstone again!) Turns out a car had caught on fire on the side of the road. I didn't get a good look at the flames, we were too far back, but we did see them and we saw plenty of smoke! When we finally got to drive past and see the car it was completely burned to a crisp!
We arrived and had a picnic then went for a hike. We thought we would try and see Fairyland (something fun for Hailee)It was a bit longer than we had planned and the weather was starting to turn windy and rainy so we turned back. The kids didn't really enjoy it, but they made it back. We spent the rest of the day just driving to the viewpoints and jumping out to take a peek, then jumping back in the car to warm up. It was SOOO windy and cold.
We drove to tropic for the night and had pizza and hung out in the hotel. The next morning we headed back to the park. We stopped and hiked to Mossy Cave and waterfall outside of Tropic then went back to the park. We stopped at the visitors center then went for another hike down the Sunrise trail. We thought we were hiking to Thor's hammer and the Queen's garden, but I think we were on the wrong trail for Thor's hammer. Ah well, we saw something that was close enough to make Spencer happy! On the way up the kids were tired and Heath carried ALL 3 for a switchback or two! Several people on the trail were very impressed. Some took pictures and said he deserved Father of the Year!
Our last stop was to see the entire view at Inspiration Point! Wow! What a view!
All in all the kids survived and we had a pretty good time!
1 Alyssa and Steph and Natural Bridge
2 A view into Fairyland
3 Spencer and Steph at the Mossy Cave
4 On our way to the waterfall (photo by Hailee)
5 Our "Tea Party" and the Queen's Garden
6 Heath had to duck through most of the "tunnels" on our hike
7 Spencer and Hailee pointing out what we thought was Thor's hammer
8 The Waterfall
9 Our Chipmunk friend and the Queen's Garden
10 The Happy rider, Alyssa
11 Super Dad!
12 Super Dad! and the kids as happy as could be!
13 Inspiration Point
14 Inspiration Point
15 Hailee got a rainbow painted on at the visitors center, so we became "Team Rainbow Hikers!" It helped encourage us on our Loooong looong hike!
16 Alyssa, Heath and Hailee at one of the windy viewpoints along the way!
(copied from Taryn's blog)
Memorial Day weekend was lots of fun (but without me camera you'll just have to take my word for it!-)
On Friday we drove up to American Fork Canyon and met Jeremy and Taryn, some of Taryn's family and Josh, Mindy and Thomas for a couple days of camping! The kids were so happy to play, they found a trail that looped around our campsite and just ran and ran and had a great time!
Saturday morning we headed over to Timpanogos Cave. The last time I hiked that was about 9 years ago with Becca, Kellee and I think Jonathan.
The hike up was cool and breezy and it started pouring right about the time we made it to the top. The cave was really neat. It was fun to go back and see it. Heath had a hard time in some spots and was crawling on his hands and knees to get through, but we all survived. The kids really liked it when the guide let them "help out" they got to open doors answer questions or lead the way. Dustin even got to hold the flashlight so we could all see an old ladder way up high! (Hailee was jealous!)
By the time we made it through the cave Spencer was hungry and tired but we walked out to more rain. We hurried back down to our backpack which was covered in snow!! We put Alyssa in and I told Heath to hurry down and get her out of the rain. Heath and I had ponchos but none for the kids. Mine ripped while I was putting it on so I turned it sideways and kept the other two kids underneath as best as I could.
Everyone rushed down the mountain as quickly as possible, but for a tired Spencer our rushing was the slowest! After about 1/4 of a mile he was too tired and I held him on my side. Shortly thereafter I ended up putting the backpack on my front and Spencer on my back. He fell asleep and slept most of the way down...losing his grip a little at a time, making an enjoyable experience for me! Hailee was such a trooper. She didn't get carried at all even though she was SOOO tired and really wanted to be! I am so proud of her for hiking the whole thing!
We headed back to camp and ate lunch in our cars or under the canopy. Then Spencer, Alyssa and I headed to our tent to try and warm up and take naps!
We stayed another night and woke up to SNOW! We decided to bag breakfast and we packed up and headed to my mom's house!
We relaxed on Sunday and then on Monday, Heath went hiking with Mindy, Josh and Thomas. The kids and I stayed and played with Grandma and Kellee. We went to the park and after lunch we went swimming! They loved the PG pool! Hailee especially loved the slides. Since all the kids are too short to go alone, Kellee and I took turns taking them down. (I think I made over a dozen trips up those stairs!)
It was a great weekend full of rain, snow, sun and Fun!!!
June 2012
The next weekend we saw the weather was supposed to be better so we tried camping again. We went up Nephi Canyon to the Ponderosa Campground. Our site was right by the river and the kids loved it! We threw rocks, practiced some real log walking. Spencer and Hailee braved the log all on their own! We had hotdogs, gourmet smores and bacon and sausage for breakfast-and decided to change Spencer's name to Spencer Reed Bacon Sausage Hall! That boy likes his pork!!
The weather was great...even a little on the hot side! We slept with the rain fly off and enjoyed the stars.
We had a graduation bbq and a little program at the park and they each had a speaking part to tell us about their favorite animal. Hailee chose a unicorn. They also did the pledge, some abc's and sang some songs.
This was also the month of Hailee's final Dance Revue! I think she enjoyed dance but she refuses to admit to it. It was like pulling teeth to get her there every week yet she always walked out happy as could be! The last week of practice she let me know that she was NOT doing dance anymore after the performance. Her teacher thinks she is probably more of a performer...and after seeing her that night I believe it! She did a great job and was so excited to be there. She didn't want me to buy any professional pictures of her or her class, which is fine-saves me a few bucks, and she isn't very easy to convince to smile in front of a camera!
When the show was over and we were in the car driving away, I asked her if she wanted to do dance again. She asked if she could perform again, we told her yes but that she would have to go to classes first to practice...she decided it wasn't worth it!
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Alisha and Cousin Sydney for coming down to watch the show!
We chose this month to go on vacation because we wanted to take advantage of our national park pass before it expired, and more importantly so that I wouldn't be hot and uncomfortable while we hiked around!
We left on Thursday night and drove to Richfield (the nearest town to Bryce with an indoor pool) The kids LOVED it! We went swimming as soon as we got there and again in the morning before we left...that was probably the highlight of their trip and of course I didn't bring a camera to the pool!
On Friday we drove to Bryce on our way in we had to stop and wait for almost 1/2 hour (felt like I was in Yellowstone again!) Turns out a car had caught on fire on the side of the road. I didn't get a good look at the flames, we were too far back, but we did see them and we saw plenty of smoke! When we finally got to drive past and see the car it was completely burned to a crisp!
We arrived and had a picnic then went for a hike. We thought we would try and see Fairyland (something fun for Hailee)It was a bit longer than we had planned and the weather was starting to turn windy and rainy so we turned back. The kids didn't really enjoy it, but they made it back. We spent the rest of the day just driving to the viewpoints and jumping out to take a peek, then jumping back in the car to warm up. It was SOOO windy and cold.
We drove to tropic for the night and had pizza and hung out in the hotel. The next morning we headed back to the park. We stopped and hiked to Mossy Cave and waterfall outside of Tropic then went back to the park. We stopped at the visitors center then went for another hike down the Sunrise trail. We thought we were hiking to Thor's hammer and the Queen's garden, but I think we were on the wrong trail for Thor's hammer. Ah well, we saw something that was close enough to make Spencer happy! On the way up the kids were tired and Heath carried ALL 3 for a switchback or two! Several people on the trail were very impressed. Some took pictures and said he deserved Father of the Year!
Our last stop was to see the entire view at Inspiration Point! Wow! What a view!
All in all the kids survived and we had a pretty good time!
1 Alyssa and Steph and Natural Bridge
2 A view into Fairyland
3 Spencer and Steph at the Mossy Cave
4 On our way to the waterfall (photo by Hailee)
5 Our "Tea Party" and the Queen's Garden
6 Heath had to duck through most of the "tunnels" on our hike
7 Spencer and Hailee pointing out what we thought was Thor's hammer
8 The Waterfall
9 Our Chipmunk friend and the Queen's Garden
10 The Happy rider, Alyssa
11 Super Dad!
12 Super Dad! and the kids as happy as could be!
13 Inspiration Point
14 Inspiration Point
15 Hailee got a rainbow painted on at the visitors center, so we became "Team Rainbow Hikers!" It helped encourage us on our Loooong looong hike!
16 Alyssa, Heath and Hailee at one of the windy viewpoints along the way!
(copied from Taryn's blog)
Memorial Day weekend was lots of fun (but without me camera you'll just have to take my word for it!-)
On Friday we drove up to American Fork Canyon and met Jeremy and Taryn, some of Taryn's family and Josh, Mindy and Thomas for a couple days of camping! The kids were so happy to play, they found a trail that looped around our campsite and just ran and ran and had a great time!
Saturday morning we headed over to Timpanogos Cave. The last time I hiked that was about 9 years ago with Becca, Kellee and I think Jonathan.
The hike up was cool and breezy and it started pouring right about the time we made it to the top. The cave was really neat. It was fun to go back and see it. Heath had a hard time in some spots and was crawling on his hands and knees to get through, but we all survived. The kids really liked it when the guide let them "help out" they got to open doors answer questions or lead the way. Dustin even got to hold the flashlight so we could all see an old ladder way up high! (Hailee was jealous!)
By the time we made it through the cave Spencer was hungry and tired but we walked out to more rain. We hurried back down to our backpack which was covered in snow!! We put Alyssa in and I told Heath to hurry down and get her out of the rain. Heath and I had ponchos but none for the kids. Mine ripped while I was putting it on so I turned it sideways and kept the other two kids underneath as best as I could.
Everyone rushed down the mountain as quickly as possible, but for a tired Spencer our rushing was the slowest! After about 1/4 of a mile he was too tired and I held him on my side. Shortly thereafter I ended up putting the backpack on my front and Spencer on my back. He fell asleep and slept most of the way down...losing his grip a little at a time, making an enjoyable experience for me! Hailee was such a trooper. She didn't get carried at all even though she was SOOO tired and really wanted to be! I am so proud of her for hiking the whole thing!
We headed back to camp and ate lunch in our cars or under the canopy. Then Spencer, Alyssa and I headed to our tent to try and warm up and take naps!
We stayed another night and woke up to SNOW! We decided to bag breakfast and we packed up and headed to my mom's house!
We relaxed on Sunday and then on Monday, Heath went hiking with Mindy, Josh and Thomas. The kids and I stayed and played with Grandma and Kellee. We went to the park and after lunch we went swimming! They loved the PG pool! Hailee especially loved the slides. Since all the kids are too short to go alone, Kellee and I took turns taking them down. (I think I made over a dozen trips up those stairs!)
It was a great weekend full of rain, snow, sun and Fun!!!
June 2012
The next weekend we saw the weather was supposed to be better so we tried camping again. We went up Nephi Canyon to the Ponderosa Campground. Our site was right by the river and the kids loved it! We threw rocks, practiced some real log walking. Spencer and Hailee braved the log all on their own! We had hotdogs, gourmet smores and bacon and sausage for breakfast-and decided to change Spencer's name to Spencer Reed Bacon Sausage Hall! That boy likes his pork!!
The weather was great...even a little on the hot side! We slept with the rain fly off and enjoyed the stars.
